When held under someone. I'm assuming something like 1 point lethal per round?
Additionally what would doing this damage do as a bonus to an Intimidate check?
1 point of fire damage seems reasonable for holding a candle or other small source of fire against someone. It's painful but not going to kill anyone quickly.
I would also say that over so many rounds it has the potential to cause certain materials to catch fire. I know the rules address this somewhere, I just don't know if they address it for such a small flame source.
As for the intimidate bonus, if it is being applied as torture, I'd say that you can allow a will save at some DC (maybe 15 or even slightly higher), every point that they fail that save gives a penalty to intimidate. Of course, every point of damage gives them a penalty to save (which is not generally how the rules go, but I figure a cumulative affect would occur quickly under such circumstances).
This seems like it would be more for the Suggestion part of the forum since the rules don't go into such tiny sources of fire and their effects.
Is the flame touching the person?
If you decide to give a circumstantial bonus to intimidate to the candle holder, that would be a GM/DM call. There is no RAW of that.
Just because something causes a lot of pain doesn't mean that it causes actual hit point damage. A candles flame is not lethal. Yeah it hurts, but it won't kill you.
As for any bonus to Intimidate, when in doubt, +2 seems to be the norm.
so at one point of damage a round a commoner is going to pass out in about 30 seconds that does not feel right
I could see see 30 seconds of direct candle exposure causing at least second degree burns, maybe third.. not really willing to test that theory, but it'd be quite painful.
I'd say that from a game mechanic standpoint though, you can't allow something so cheap to give a substantial bonus. For flavor purposes I'd allow candles to come as part of a "torturer's kit" and confer a +2 bonus for masterwork tools. I'd probably price it at, I dunno... 100gp? And of course it'd come with a variety of other things like serrated knives, etc.
Also, check the equipment section. A lit torch does 1 point of fire damage. A candle, having a much smaller flame than a torch, wouldn't do any (hit point) damage at all, just pain.
Also, check the equipment section. A lit torch does 1 point of fire damage. A candle, having a much smaller flame than a torch, wouldn't do any (hit point) damage at all, just pain.
Action
Using Intimidate to change an opponent’s attitude requires 1 minute of conversation.
So, 10 rounds. Using a candle, I would say you could reasonably deal 1 point of non-lethal damage per this use of intimidate. Of course...
Try Again
You can attempt to intimidate an opponent again, but each additional check increases the DC by +5. This increase resets after one hour has passed.
So, you can use the candle for one minute, then wait about an hour, do it again. This sounds reasonable, because you don't want your subject to build even the slightest tolerance to your technique. Sounds sadistic, but hey, we're talking about torture.
So, after a whole day of this sort of treatment, taking 1 point of non-lethal damage per "session" of torture, a level 1 commoner might be unconscious. It's just a candle, but the exhaustion of being tortured would get to him. Is it "realistic?" Probably not. I'd probably do it this way, though, because it's not something I see players wasting a lot of time on, but it allows them to do what they're attempting to do.
Or allows the DM to do this to players, if that's the route you're going.
When held under someone. I'm assuming something like 1 point lethal per round?
Additionally what would doing this damage do as a bonus to an Intimidate check?
My two cents:
I'd go with one point of non-lethal damage/round with the circumstance bonus to intimidate increasing by 1 for each point of non-lethal damage applied in this manner.Edit: forgot this. I'd also allow a new intimidate check every round instead of every minute, as in this case you'd be standing over him going "I'll stop if you tell me" or whatever.
When held under someone. I'm assuming something like 1 point lethal per round?
Additionally what would doing this damage do as a bonus to an Intimidate check?
My two cents:
I'd go with one point of non-lethal damage/round with the circumstance bonus to intimidate increasing by 1 for each point of non-lethal damage applied in this manner.Edit: forgot this. I'd also allow a new intimidate check every round instead of every minute, as in this case you'd be standing over him going "I'll stop if you tell me" or whatever.
No, that still falls under the description of Influence Attitude in the intimidate entry in the CRB. You're coercing your victim over the course of the 10 rounds to see things your way through threats and/or violence. Demoralization is a standard action and is really only used in combat.