You can make the untrue seem true, the outrageous seem plausible, and the nefarious seem ordinary. The skill encompasses conning, fast-talking, misdirection, forgery, disguise, and outright lying. Use a Deception check to sow temporary confusion, pass as someone you’re not, get someone to turn his head in the direction you point, or pass faked documents off as genuine.
Skill Traits
Key Ability: |
|
|---|---|
Trained Only? |
Some; see individual skill applications |
Armor Check Penalty? |
No |
Retry: |
Generally, a failed Deception check makes the target too suspicious for you to try another deception in the same circumstances. For feinting in combat, you may retry freely. |
Special: |
You can take 10 when making a deception (except for feinting in combat), but you can’t take 20. |
Time: |
A deception takes at least a standard action, but can take much longer if you try something elaborate. Disguises that require major changes to your physical outline, or forged documents with many safeguards, can take hours or even days. |
Skill Applications
Alternate Story
Scum and Villainy, page 19.
Whenever you fail a Deception check to convey deceptive information or a deceptive appearance, you can immediately attempt a second Deception check to avert suspicion. This second check is at a −10 penalty.
Cheat
Scum and Villainy, page 19.
Trained only
When you gamble, you can use Deception to improve your chances to win. However, you risk getting caught. When gambling against other characters, you can substitute your Deception check for your Wisdom check, but your opponents are entitled to a Perception check to catch you in the act. If the Perception check equals or exceeds your Deception check, they detect your cheating.
Gambling against the house is far riskier. If your Deception check fails to beat the location’s security (DC 15 for common locations, DC 25 for good locations, and DC 35 or higher for the best), you are caught and the house responds as appropriate.
Creating a Diversion to Hide
Saga Edition Core Rulebook, page 66.
Starships of the Galaxy, page 18.
You can use Deception to help you hide. A successful Deception check that equals or exceeds the target’s Will Defense gives you the momentary diversion you need to attempt a Stealth check while the target is aware of you.
Starship/Vehicle: If you re the pilot of a vehicle, you can make Deception checks to create a diversion to hide. Add your vehicle’s size modifier and Dexterity modifier to your Deception check, and take a −5 penalty if you are not trained in the Pilot skill.
Creating a Diversion to Hide an Item
Force Unleashed Campaign Guide, page 29.
A successful Deception check that equals or exceeds the target’s Will Defense gives you the momentary diversion you need to attempt a Stealth check to hide an item on or near your person while the target is aware of you.
Deceive
Saga Edition Core Rulebook, page 64.
When you want to make another character believe something that is untrue, you can attempt to deceive them. You can deceive a target in one of two ways: by producing a deceptive appearance or by communicating deceptive information.
Deceptive Appearance: When you produce a deceptive appearance, such as disguising your appearance or producing forged documents, make a Deception check opposed by the Perception check of any target that sees the deception. If you succeed, that character believes that the appearance is authentic. If you fail, the target detects the deception. Creating a deceptive appearance requires at least 1 minute (10 rounds) for simple deceptions, 10 minutes for moderate deceptions, 1 hour for difficult deceptions, 1 day for incredible deceptions, or 2 weeks (10 days) for outrageous deceptions. You can rush and create the deception in less time (treating it as if it were one step easier, to a minimum of simple), but you take a −10 penalty on your Deception check. In all cases, make a single Deception check at the time you create the deceptive appearance and compare your check result to the Perception check of any character who encounters it.
Deceptive Information: when you communicate deceptive information, such as telling a lie or distorting facts to lead the target to a false conclusion, make a Deception check against the Will Defense of any target that can understand you. If you succeed, the target believes that what you’re telling them is true. While most cases of deceptive information are either verbal or written (requiring the target to be able to understand you), you can deceive with gestures, body language, facial expressions, and so forth. Communicating deceptive information requires at least a standard action for simple deceptions, a full-round action for moderate deceptions, and 1 minute (10 rounds) or even more for difficult, incredible, or outrageous deceptions. You can rush and communicate your deception in less time (treating as if it were one step easier, to a minimum of simple), but you take a −10 penalty on your Deception check. If your deceptive information is written, recorded, or otherwise preserved for later viewing, your original Deception check result is compared to the Will Defense of all targets who later read or observe your deception.
In some cases, you can convey both a deceptive appearance and deceptive information. For example, if you create a falsified document (such as an official report, a letter from a senator, or orders from a military commander), you have to produce something that looks authentic (deceptive appearance) while also creating believable content (deceptive information), in this case, make a single Deception check and compare it to both the target’s Perception check and Will Defense. Similarly, you might disguise yourself as an Imperial general (deceptive appearance) and then give fake orders to a stormtrooper (deceptive information). In this example, you make one Deception check ahead of time to create the disguise and another Deception check at the time you give the stormtrooper his new orders.
Favorable and unfavorable circumstances weigh heavily on the outcome of a deception. Two circumstances can weigh against you: The deception is hard to believe, or the action that the deception requires the target to take goes against the target’s self-interest, nature, personality, or orders.
If it’s important, the GM can distinguish between a deception that fails because the target doesn’t believe it and one that fails because it just asks too much of the target. For instance, if the deception demands something risky of the target, and your Deception check fails by 10 or less, then the target didn’t so much see through the deception as prove reluctant to go along with it even if he believes it’s true. If your deception check fails by 11 or more, he has seen through the deception (and would have done so even if it had not placed any demand on him).
A successful Deception check indicates that the target reacts as you wish, at least for a short time, or the target believes something that you want him to believe. For example, you could use a deception to put someone off guard by telling him someone was behind him. At best, such a deception would make the target glance over his shoulder. It would not cause the target to ignore you completely and turn around. Alternatively, you could use a deception to make a starship captain believe that he has orders to take his vessel to Tatooine. If successful, the captain would carry out his new “orders” even though that would take quite some time, but as soon as he encounters contradictory information (such as receiving contradictory orders from his real commander, or arriving at Tatooine and discovering that no one sent for him) he will realize that he has been fooled.
Feign Haywire
Force Unleashed Campaign Guide, page 29.
Droids only
As a full-round action, you can make a Deception check, comparing the result to the Will Defense of all targets within line of sight. If the result of the Deception check is equal to or greater than a target’s Will Defense, that target is considered flat-footed against you. If you take any action, the deception ends at the end of your turn, and targets are not considered flat-footed against you after the deception ends.
Feint
Saga Edition Core Rulebook, page 66.
Starships of the Galaxy, page 18.
Make a Deception check as a standard action to set the DC of your opponent’s Initiative check. If you beat your opponent’s roll, that target is treated as flat-footed against the first attack you make against him in the next round. You take a −5 penalty against non-humanoid creatures or against creatures with an Intelligence lower than 3.
Starship/Vehicle: If you re the pilot of a vehicle, you can make Deception checks to feint. Add your vehicle’s size modifier and Dexterity modifier to your Deception check, and take a −5 penalty if you are not trained in the Pilot skill. If you successfuly feint against a target, it is considered flat-footed against only your first attack, not those of any gunners on your vehicled.
Group Feint
Scum and Villainy, page 19.
Trained only
You can feint multiple targets at once as a full-round action. You can target any number of opponents who are clearly visible and who are within 6 squares of you. Each target beyond the first imposes a −5 penalty on your Deception check. You roll just once to set the DC for your opponents’ Initiative checks. Any opponent whose roll you beat is treated as flat-footed against the first attack you make against him in the next round.
Innuendo
Scum and Villainy, page 19.
Trained only
You can use Deception to transmit a secret message to another character trained in Deception. You do so by using subtle hand gestures, slipping in code words, and using body language. The DC depends on the complexity of the communication. A simple message in which you convey general concepts is a DC 10. Complex messages that involve multiple steps or complicated information start at DC 15 and can rise as high as DC 25.
Any character who can both see and hear the transmitted message is entitled to a Perception check to decipher the message. The DC is equal to the Deception check DC. The GM can modify the DC for environmental factors such as loud noise, dim lighting, and distance.