[PF] What skill to imitate a voice?

[Frosty]

If someone is trying to imitate another character's voice, what skill should be used? And for that matter, what should the listener use to tell if the voice is being faked?

Are we talking about a Disguise vs Perception check? Or a Bluff vs Sense Motive Check? Or a Perform vs Sense Motive check?

[subject42]

Are we talking about a Disguise vs Perception check? Or a Bluff vs Sense Motive Check? Or a Perform vs Sense Motive check?

I lean to Perform (oratory) vs Perception or Perform (oratory) vs Sense Motive, depending on whether you're trying to determine the (false) identity of the imitator, or if you're trying to determine the veracity of what the imitator is saying, respectively.

[Frosty]

The character is untrained in Perform (oratory) but did cast Alter Self to change her physical body to that of someone else (a male). I'm thinking a +10 bonus is in order since she is literally in that man's shape (I guess vocal cords and all). It's kind of like how Disguise/Alter self gives a +10 to Disuise checks?

[BlueInc]

I would say Bluff vs. Sense Motive or Disguise vs. Perception.

[Telonius]

I'd call it a Bluff vs Sense Motive. The bluff could be for one of two things. To pass it off like you have a cold, so they're not suspicious of any change in voice. Or, to escape detection if the other person starts talking about something that the person you're impersonating would know, but you don't.

[Larpus]

I'd throw it with Disguise (but a bump on difficulty) as long as the intended voice is anything similar to yours, also this is needed so you act like the person, as in, its speech patterns, accent, etc.

Bluff would be to convince there is a plausible reason for your voice to be weird, the old "I have a cold, cough".

Perform (oratory) or similar, maybe (singing) could apply too, is indeed what I'd request to alter your voice by just controlling it.

As for Alter Self, if you're using Pathfinder rules, the spell now just changes your appearance, you need a cast of Vocal Alteration (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/v/vocal-alteration), if not, then you indeed do have the vocal cords of the person you're impersonating and as such cannot be detected by auditory means (or so I remember it to be).

[Otacon17]

A player of mine did this recently... I used Bluff (although I could see Perform (Oratory) or Disguise working equally well) vs. Perception (to see if they noticed that the voice was off).

[Frosty]

I think I'm going to let the player choose between using Disguise or Perform (Oratory) as the base skill, with bonuses if the person casted Vocal Alteration.

I still can't decide whether it shouldbe opposed by Perception or Sense Motive. Someone doesn't have to be great lie detector to tell if his friend's voice seems wierd right?

[Larpus]

I think it's Perception, since you have to perceive the voice as being weird, while Sense Motive I think to be more like a sixth sense, where you can't precisely say why, but you just know that the person is telling the truth or lying.

Though yeah, if the player says something that seems unlikely for the victim's friend to say, either based on personality (such as "the king sucks" when the impersonated was a king adorer 'till yesterday) or a wrong (but not too obvious) piece of information (such as getting his sister's name wrong, when they're rather distant), then yeah, a Bluff vs. Sense Motive is called for.

But if you want to, you can just go with whatever is higher, so the target either notices something different about his/her friend or feels like there's something wrong with his/her friend, which also speaks a bit about the personality of the NPC, if he is one to trust his senses (Perception) or his instinct (Sense Motive).

EDIT: Oh yeah, I also think that a bonus might be in order in case he grabs both, since he'll have control over his vocal cords to impersonate others and have the knowledge about how to act like other people/not act suspiciously like you're not the person you're trying to look like.

[Rogue Shadows]

I think you should use the Mimic skill!

...oh wait, that was Rokugan only. And in 3.0 besides.

I dunno, Bluff sounds about right.

[Rixx]

I'm almost certain this falls within the realm of Disguise. I played a Disguise specialist before (pictured in my avatar) and had a lot of fun throwing her voice around into all sorts of pitches when the situation demanded it.