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Archives of Nethys

Pathfinder 1E | Pathfinder 2E | Starfinder

General Skills
Acrobatics | Arcana | Athletics | Crafting | Deception | Diplomacy | Intimidation | Lore | Medicine | Nature | Occultism | Performance | Religion | Society | Stealth | Survival | Thievery

Deception (Cha)

Source Core Rulebook pg. 245
You can trick and mislead others using disguises, lies, and other forms of subterfuge.

Deception Untrained Actions

Create a Diversion Single Action

Mental
Source Core Rulebook pg. 245
With a gesture, a trick, or some distracting words, you can create a diversion that draws creatures’ attention elsewhere. If you use a gesture or trick, this action gains the manipulate trait. If you use distracting words, it gains the auditory and linguistic traits.

Attempt a single Deception check and compare it to the Perception DCs of the creatures whose attention you’re trying to divert. Whether or not you succeed, creatures you attempt to divert gain a +4 circumstance bonus to their Perception DCs against your attempts to Create a Diversion for 1 minute.

Success You become hidden to each creature whose Perception DC is less than or equal to your result. (The hidden condition allows you to Sneak away, as described on page 252.) This lasts until the end of your turn or until you do anything except Step or use the Hide or the Sneak action of the Stealth skill (pages 251 and 252). If you Strike a creature, the creature remains flat‑footed against that attack, and you then become observed. If you do anything else, you become observed just before you act unless the GM determines otherwise.
Failure You don’t divert the attention of any creatures whose Perception DC exceeds your result, and those creatures are aware you were trying to trick them.

Impersonate

ConcentrateExplorationManipulateSecret
Source Core Rulebook pg. 245
You create a disguise to pass yourself off as someone or something you are not. Assembling a convincing disguise takes 10 minutes and requires a disguise kit (found on page 290), but a simpler, quicker disguise might do the job if you’re not trying to imitate a specific individual, at the GM’s discretion.

In most cases, creatures have a chance to detect your deception only if they use the Seek action to attempt Perception checks against your Deception DC. If you attempt to directly interact with someone while disguised, the GM rolls a secret Deception check for you against that creature’s Perception DC instead. If you’re disguised as a specific individual, the GM might give creatures you interact with a circumstance bonus based on how well they know the person you’re imitating, or the GM might roll a secret Deception check even if you aren’t directly interacting with others.

Success You trick the creature into thinking you’re the person you’re disguised as. You might have to attempt a new check if your behavior changes.
Failure The creature can tell you’re not who you claim to be.
Critical Failure The creature can tell you’re not who you claim to be, and it recognizes you if it would know you without a disguise.

Lie

AuditoryConcentrateLinguisticMentalSecret
Source Core Rulebook pg. 246
You try to fool someone with an untruth. Doing so takes at least 1 round, or longer if the lie is elaborate. You roll a single Deception check and compare it against the Perception DC of every creature you are trying to fool. The GM might give them a circumstance bonus based on the situation and the nature of the lie you are trying to tell. Elaborate or highly unbelievable lies are much harder to get a creature to believe than simpler and more believable lies, and some lies are so big that it’s impossible to get anyone to believe them.

At the GM’s discretion, if a creature initially believes your lie, it might attempt a Perception check later to Sense Motive against your Deception DC to realize it’s a lie. This usually happens if the creature discovers enough evidence to counter your statements.

Success The target believes your lie.
Failure The target doesn’t believe your lie and gains a +4 circumstance bonus against your attempts to Lie for the duration of your conversation. The target is also more likely to be suspicious of you in the future.

Deception Trained Actions

Feint Single Action

Mental
Source Core Rulebook pg. 246
Requirements You are within melee reach of the opponent you attempt to Feint.
With a misleading flourish, you leave an opponent unprepared for your real attack. Attempt a Deception check against that opponent’s Perception DC.

Critical Success You throw your enemy’s defenses against you entirely off. The target is flat-footed against melee attacks that you attempt against it until the end of your next turn.
Success Your foe is fooled, but only momentarily. The target is flat-footed against the next melee attack that you attempt against it before the end of your current turn.
Critical Failure Your feint backfires. You are flat-footed against melee attacks the target attempts against you until the end of your next turn.