Thajocoth
2010-03-30, 01:20 PM
I'm making a Dragonborn Barbarian. Despite low Cha, he's got a great Intimidate score (trained in it, and I've got a +3 background bonus in it). I want to make a list of intimidating phrases I can use in different situations. I just don't want to use the same 3 phrases every time I talk to someone.
The Barbarian has a Mordenkrad (giant hammer with spikes on the ends). His breath weapon is Fire. His specialty is in charge attacks. He's Unaligned, and believes in taking advantage of the struggles that the forces of Law, Good, Chaos & Evil have with one another to line his own pockets, as every side needs to hire mercs. Having no side himself, he can ally with the group that'll pay the best. Dragonborn are very rare in this setting.
Full background if it helps:
Shamash's parents lived in a poor makeshift structure in the woods. When Shamash was still an egg, his parents were killed by a pack of hyenas who came in the night. Not long after, a small group of Berudian military happened by, killed the hyenas, and their leader, Pieter, took the three eggs that the hyenas had not yet eaten. He sold two of the eggs in the next town they went to in that town's shadier area.
The buyer was a member of the local thieves guild, Wil, who raised Shamash & his brother Rhogar. The two dragonborn were kept out of sight and trained to fight (as well as a simple thief could train somebody). When he decided that they were old enough, Shamash & Rhogar acted as the muscle for Wil's crimes. They were effective, and the success started to go to Wil's head. He took more risks, got a little careless, and Shamash & Rhogar wound up back-to-back surrounded by a dozen guards while Wil snuck away.
Shamash tried to charge through the guards to make an opening for him and his brother to escape. As he did so, one of the guards stabbed Rhogar through the back. As Rhogar let out a roar of pain, Shamash turned around, saw what happened and was filled with such rage that he screamed as he charged the guard who stabbed his brother, smashing through him before the guard even removed his sword from his brother's back. In his fury, he took out several more guards before they finally knocked him out. This was Shamash's first time unleashing primal fury, and he learned of the power that comes from anger.
He woke up in a prison cell. As he got up, a guard called for one of the other guards, Marc, who wanted to talk to Shamash when he woke up. Marc sat outside Shamash's cell:
Marc: "Where's Wil hiding?"
Shamash: "I'm not telling you anything!"
Marc: "How much is Wil paying you? Maybe we can work something out."
Shamash: "He's not paying me anything!"
Marc: "Wait, if he's not paying you anything, then why work for him?"
Shamash: "He raised me. I'm sure you're just as loyal to your parents."
Marc: "You want to know about my parents?"
Shamash: "Not particularly."
Marc: "Well, my father was a town guard here, just like I am now. He's proud of me."
Shamash: "Good for you. What do I care?"
Marc: "Well, he's retired, but he wouldn't leave me to fight an overwhelming group. Wil ditched you. He's no father."
Shamash: *grabs the bars of his cell and tries to open it* "Graah!"
Marc: "That's not going to work."
Shamash: *backs up, runs, and shoulder-slams the bars*
Marc: "Well, think about what I said. Let me know if you want to talk. We might be able to work something out to get you out of here."
Later, after Shamash's head clears and he has time to think, he calls to one of the guards to fetch Marc. When Marc comes back:
Marc: "Are you ready to talk?"
Shamash: "I don't know. You're right. Wil ditched Rhogar & I. But your men killed Rhogar. Wil, while spineless, is still all I have. I have no other friends or family... I don't know anyone else. And I'm VERY angry. If I help you, I'm just going to wind up getting tossed back in here after getting myself into a few dozen fights."
Marc: "You lack direction. I can't give you direction... But if you want an outlet for your anger, we do occasionally hire mercenaries. The pay's not the best, but as a hired merc you would be free to take jobs from other people too."
Shamash: "That would probably be better than picking bar fights... Or sitting here... But how do I know you'll even let me out of here, let alone hire me, if I tell you what you want?"
Marc: "How's this then? You're obviously mad at Wil for what happened. I let you out of here, and I'll hire you to go after Wil. It's a risk, I know. You'll get double the reward if you bring him in alive than dead."
Shamash: "And how do you know I won't just join back up with him?"
Marc: "I don't. But my gut says you'll probably kill him."
Shamash: "Alright, just let me out then."
Marc lets Shamash out, and has guards follow him, not close enough for Shamash to notice. It's night, so Marc is able to have more guards tailing Shamash than he would during the day. Shamash makes a beeline for Wil's hideout.
Wil: "You're alive?"
Shamash: "No thanks to you."
Wil: "I thought you and Rhogar were already dead. Getting myself killed too wasn't going to help anything."
Shamash: "We were both still alive when you ran. The sound of metal on metal should've been loud enough for you to know that."
Wil: "Look, it doesn't matter. Now that you're back I can start my next plan."
Shamash: "Doesn't matter? Rhogar's dead. I'd say that matters. And why's it always your plan? What if I had a plan?"
Wil: "You have a plan?"
Shamash: *grins widely* "I do."
Shamash then slams his hammer into the side of Wil's head, knocking him out. He carries Wil's body just outside and drops him. To the hiding guards: "You wanted him so badly, carry him back. I'll stop in later for my pay." Shamash goes back inside the hideout and searches through everything. He finds the pieces of wood that he and Rhogar started training with, back when they were little whelps and takes them with him to remember Rhogar by.
Shamash continues working as a mercenary for a while, honing his skills and learning to direct his anger. He eventually gets a bigger, spikier hammer. His mercenary work eventually brings him to Skeldergate (where the rest of the party is), where he's now looking for his next job.
Example:
Most intimidate situations:
(Holding up Mordenkrad) "I wonder if I can be precise enough to blind you with this without actually killing you."
"You know, I've always wondered what <target's race> tastes like..."
(From Lysander) *hefts hammer* "I am going to kill you with this"
(From Optimystic) *Ask allies for a few random items, using the target's imagination against them*
(From BRC) "When all you have is a hammer, every problem is a nail"? Well, I have a hammer, so the question is, are you a nail?"
(From Octopus Jack) *lifts Mordenkrad* "Have you ever seen someone whose been hit by one of these?"
(From Deep Blue 706) "You're already dead."
(Nero24200) "You know, my friend said I was meant to scare you...you think intense pain is scary right?"
(From Lin Bayaseda) *point at party members* "You know, watching a Dragonborn beat people to death is the closest thing they get to entertainment"
(From Nidogg) "Im very interested in my ancestry, They ate people like you as well."
(From Dogmantra ) "Are you familiar with the Dragonborn sport 'hitting things until they break'? It's a fun sport. You play it by hitting things until they break. Would you like to play it with me?"
Response to "Are you going to kill me?" sorts of things.
"No no... I think it would be more fun to shatter your limbs, rip out your tongue and leave you here to die slowly."
Interrogation:
"Perhaps holding your tongue would be easier if I ripped it from your mouth."
(As I lift my Mordenkrad, walking over to the subject, talking to the party leader [Paladin]) "He's obviously not talking, should I shatter his legs? Or just kill him?"
"He's not talking. Who wants fried <target's race>?" *takes a deep breath*
"Ugh... Can you just answer our questions? You're not worth the time it'll take me to clean your blood from my hammer."
(From Subotei) *Use one of his allies as a puppet to interrogate him with*
To a thief:
"My father's a dead thief too."
To a guard:
(glaring) "A guard killed my brother, you know."
To an enemy we've seen before:
(From Yukitsu) "I looked up where your family lives. Tell me, who do you like more? Your sister, or your son?"
If someone tries to bribe him:
"And why wouldn't I just kill you and then take it?"
Haggling:
(best I could think of and is horrible, and not really Intimidate) "I'm a Barbarian, and even I wouldn't charge that much. Get it? Charge? No?"
The Barbarian has a Mordenkrad (giant hammer with spikes on the ends). His breath weapon is Fire. His specialty is in charge attacks. He's Unaligned, and believes in taking advantage of the struggles that the forces of Law, Good, Chaos & Evil have with one another to line his own pockets, as every side needs to hire mercs. Having no side himself, he can ally with the group that'll pay the best. Dragonborn are very rare in this setting.
Full background if it helps:
Shamash's parents lived in a poor makeshift structure in the woods. When Shamash was still an egg, his parents were killed by a pack of hyenas who came in the night. Not long after, a small group of Berudian military happened by, killed the hyenas, and their leader, Pieter, took the three eggs that the hyenas had not yet eaten. He sold two of the eggs in the next town they went to in that town's shadier area.
The buyer was a member of the local thieves guild, Wil, who raised Shamash & his brother Rhogar. The two dragonborn were kept out of sight and trained to fight (as well as a simple thief could train somebody). When he decided that they were old enough, Shamash & Rhogar acted as the muscle for Wil's crimes. They were effective, and the success started to go to Wil's head. He took more risks, got a little careless, and Shamash & Rhogar wound up back-to-back surrounded by a dozen guards while Wil snuck away.
Shamash tried to charge through the guards to make an opening for him and his brother to escape. As he did so, one of the guards stabbed Rhogar through the back. As Rhogar let out a roar of pain, Shamash turned around, saw what happened and was filled with such rage that he screamed as he charged the guard who stabbed his brother, smashing through him before the guard even removed his sword from his brother's back. In his fury, he took out several more guards before they finally knocked him out. This was Shamash's first time unleashing primal fury, and he learned of the power that comes from anger.
He woke up in a prison cell. As he got up, a guard called for one of the other guards, Marc, who wanted to talk to Shamash when he woke up. Marc sat outside Shamash's cell:
Marc: "Where's Wil hiding?"
Shamash: "I'm not telling you anything!"
Marc: "How much is Wil paying you? Maybe we can work something out."
Shamash: "He's not paying me anything!"
Marc: "Wait, if he's not paying you anything, then why work for him?"
Shamash: "He raised me. I'm sure you're just as loyal to your parents."
Marc: "You want to know about my parents?"
Shamash: "Not particularly."
Marc: "Well, my father was a town guard here, just like I am now. He's proud of me."
Shamash: "Good for you. What do I care?"
Marc: "Well, he's retired, but he wouldn't leave me to fight an overwhelming group. Wil ditched you. He's no father."
Shamash: *grabs the bars of his cell and tries to open it* "Graah!"
Marc: "That's not going to work."
Shamash: *backs up, runs, and shoulder-slams the bars*
Marc: "Well, think about what I said. Let me know if you want to talk. We might be able to work something out to get you out of here."
Later, after Shamash's head clears and he has time to think, he calls to one of the guards to fetch Marc. When Marc comes back:
Marc: "Are you ready to talk?"
Shamash: "I don't know. You're right. Wil ditched Rhogar & I. But your men killed Rhogar. Wil, while spineless, is still all I have. I have no other friends or family... I don't know anyone else. And I'm VERY angry. If I help you, I'm just going to wind up getting tossed back in here after getting myself into a few dozen fights."
Marc: "You lack direction. I can't give you direction... But if you want an outlet for your anger, we do occasionally hire mercenaries. The pay's not the best, but as a hired merc you would be free to take jobs from other people too."
Shamash: "That would probably be better than picking bar fights... Or sitting here... But how do I know you'll even let me out of here, let alone hire me, if I tell you what you want?"
Marc: "How's this then? You're obviously mad at Wil for what happened. I let you out of here, and I'll hire you to go after Wil. It's a risk, I know. You'll get double the reward if you bring him in alive than dead."
Shamash: "And how do you know I won't just join back up with him?"
Marc: "I don't. But my gut says you'll probably kill him."
Shamash: "Alright, just let me out then."
Marc lets Shamash out, and has guards follow him, not close enough for Shamash to notice. It's night, so Marc is able to have more guards tailing Shamash than he would during the day. Shamash makes a beeline for Wil's hideout.
Wil: "You're alive?"
Shamash: "No thanks to you."
Wil: "I thought you and Rhogar were already dead. Getting myself killed too wasn't going to help anything."
Shamash: "We were both still alive when you ran. The sound of metal on metal should've been loud enough for you to know that."
Wil: "Look, it doesn't matter. Now that you're back I can start my next plan."
Shamash: "Doesn't matter? Rhogar's dead. I'd say that matters. And why's it always your plan? What if I had a plan?"
Wil: "You have a plan?"
Shamash: *grins widely* "I do."
Shamash then slams his hammer into the side of Wil's head, knocking him out. He carries Wil's body just outside and drops him. To the hiding guards: "You wanted him so badly, carry him back. I'll stop in later for my pay." Shamash goes back inside the hideout and searches through everything. He finds the pieces of wood that he and Rhogar started training with, back when they were little whelps and takes them with him to remember Rhogar by.
Shamash continues working as a mercenary for a while, honing his skills and learning to direct his anger. He eventually gets a bigger, spikier hammer. His mercenary work eventually brings him to Skeldergate (where the rest of the party is), where he's now looking for his next job.
Example:
Most intimidate situations:
(Holding up Mordenkrad) "I wonder if I can be precise enough to blind you with this without actually killing you."
"You know, I've always wondered what <target's race> tastes like..."
(From Lysander) *hefts hammer* "I am going to kill you with this"
(From Optimystic) *Ask allies for a few random items, using the target's imagination against them*
(From BRC) "When all you have is a hammer, every problem is a nail"? Well, I have a hammer, so the question is, are you a nail?"
(From Octopus Jack) *lifts Mordenkrad* "Have you ever seen someone whose been hit by one of these?"
(From Deep Blue 706) "You're already dead."
(Nero24200) "You know, my friend said I was meant to scare you...you think intense pain is scary right?"
(From Lin Bayaseda) *point at party members* "You know, watching a Dragonborn beat people to death is the closest thing they get to entertainment"
(From Nidogg) "Im very interested in my ancestry, They ate people like you as well."
(From Dogmantra ) "Are you familiar with the Dragonborn sport 'hitting things until they break'? It's a fun sport. You play it by hitting things until they break. Would you like to play it with me?"
Response to "Are you going to kill me?" sorts of things.
"No no... I think it would be more fun to shatter your limbs, rip out your tongue and leave you here to die slowly."
Interrogation:
"Perhaps holding your tongue would be easier if I ripped it from your mouth."
(As I lift my Mordenkrad, walking over to the subject, talking to the party leader [Paladin]) "He's obviously not talking, should I shatter his legs? Or just kill him?"
"He's not talking. Who wants fried <target's race>?" *takes a deep breath*
"Ugh... Can you just answer our questions? You're not worth the time it'll take me to clean your blood from my hammer."
(From Subotei) *Use one of his allies as a puppet to interrogate him with*
To a thief:
"My father's a dead thief too."
To a guard:
(glaring) "A guard killed my brother, you know."
To an enemy we've seen before:
(From Yukitsu) "I looked up where your family lives. Tell me, who do you like more? Your sister, or your son?"
If someone tries to bribe him:
"And why wouldn't I just kill you and then take it?"
Haggling:
(best I could think of and is horrible, and not really Intimidate) "I'm a Barbarian, and even I wouldn't charge that much. Get it? Charge? No?"