I am making a cleric of Zyphus and wanted to get people's opinions: which skill or skills would best serve the function of facilitating "accidents".
One of Zyphus's edicts is to "encourage deadly accidents" and his profile on Nethys says that his Divine Skill is Thievery. I wondered why thievery and if it is only because it is a skill used to Disable a Device? Perhaps there is an implication there that Thievery is meant to be used not to disable a device, but to rig it to fail at some point and cause a potential "accident".
I was also wondering if it would be appropriate to take a lore skill like Sabotage Lore as a catch-all skill for setting up accidents. If this was possible, would you then still need some kind of tool, like thieves' tools, to disable more complicated devices? (I would think so)
But sabotaging complicated devices is not the only way to cause accidents. You could do something simple like moving a ladder to the edge of a roof, hoping for it to slip and cause a fall. Does Thievery seem appropriate for more simple, uncomplicated kinds of sabotage?
Am I focusing too much on thievery and overlooking other viable options? What are your thoughts on the best way to go about this?
Yes, I would probably use Disable a Device to rig something to look like it is working properly, but instead fails catastrophically when someone attempts to use it.
The GM will have to do some serious amounts of adjudication on how to make that work (what DC does it have for detection and repair, and how much damage does it do to the victim), so I am hoping this is for a game among friends rather than an Organized Play PFS character.
Some other things to look into for generally causing mischief and mayhem are Snares and some spells, especially Glyph of Warding.
I can see both Craft and Thievery as options for sabotage.
The GM will have to do some serious amounts of adjudication on how to make that work (what DC does it have for detection and repair, and how much damage does it do to the victim), so I am hoping this is for a game among friends rather than an Organized Play PFS character.
Friends. I plan to keep it light-hearted. Just off-to-the-side stuff, nothing to actually kill enemies or interact with primary NPCs. Flavor and roleplay. I don't even really care if the attempts work out, or if the character constantly fails in his attempts, though it would be funny if it's the latter and then he's surprised when somebody actually dies that one time.
The point is to add fun flavor to the character, not to get the party in trouble or to gain any kind of mechanical advantage in the game or anything like that.
Ah, then you are just looking for a Roll for Flavor to guide your role-play.
Have the GM set a DC - or even set one of your own choosing - based on how cool of a prank it is going to be.
Thievery (disable a device) or crafting (rigging an impromptu snare) are still probably the best go-to skills to use. Though you could probably come up with others given a particular situation and some creativity.
Then roll your check and describe how your prank turned out.
I'd say there's also like, the relevant Lore for a system you're looking to mess with; so Farming Lore would tell you about the normal safety precautions people take to avoid dying at the hands (hooves? horns?) of a dairy cow, which can be reverse-engineered to ENCOURAGE such accidents.
I'd say there's also like, the relevant Lore for a system you're looking to mess with; so Farming Lore would tell you about the normal safety precautions people take to avoid dying at the hands (hooves? horns?) of a dairy cow, which can be reverse-engineered to ENCOURAGE such accidents.
Seconded. Lore (workplace) could be used to rig office furniture or equipment. A case could even be made for Perform in its comedy/slapstick aspects.
And if ‘accident’ can also refer to dicolouration of trousers, Craft (covers cooking and poisons) or Lore hCooking) … or Lore (tailor) for literally messing with pants …