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Archives of Nethys

Archives of Nethys

Pathfinder RPG (1st Edition) Pathfinder RPG (2nd Edition) Starfinder RPG

Rules Index | GM Screen | Player's Guide
Chapter 4: Subsystems / Influence / Influence Stat Blocks

Setting DCs

Source GM Core pg. 189
When setting DCs, it's often good to start with a noncombat level or “social level” for the NPC and set their DCs accordingly. Use the DC adjustments from page 53 just like you normally would. A good starting place is setting the NPC's Will modifier, then taking that DC and adjusting it for skills that are more or less likely to work.

For instance, for a 3rd-level challenge, you might give an NPC a +12 Will modifier and use 22 as the base DC. You might say that's the DC for Diplomacy but then determine that the NPC is difficult to intimidate, and so you apply the hard DC adjustment to make the Intimidation DC 24. Maybe you also determine that she loves different varieties of wine, resulting in an incredibly easy DC adjustment to get DC 12 for Alcohol Lore.