How do I play an intimidating character?

[Oramac]

Pretty much just what the title says. I'm playing a Vengeance Paladin and picked up intimidation instead of persuasion, but I'm realizing that I really don't know how to play an intimidating character.

[Spacehamster]

Pretty much just what the title says. I'm playing a Vengeance Paladin and picked up intimidation instead of persuasion, but I'm realizing that I really don't know how to play an intimidating character.

Stare people down while leaning on your great sword, have him have a deep intimidating voice. Maybe have his speech have a tone that suggests risk of violence?

[Corran]

Pretty much just what the title says. I'm playing a Vengeance Paladin and picked up intimidation instead of persuasion, but I'm realizing that I really don't know how to play an intimidating character.
This is how it works. You approach the commoner NPC with whom you want to interact, and politely you ask him to do thing X (roll persuasion check). If that fails, you have your character stare him in the eye for a brief second, and then you say with a cold voice (or shouting, or swearing, whatever fits your style), ''just do it, OR ELSE...'' (roll intimidation).

That's the paladin version of intimidation. Once you master it you can advance into the more hardcore stuff (fun fact: torturing or better yet, enchantment magic lifts the need for intimidation rolls).

[Oramac]

Thanks guys. I can do that.

As a Paladin, I think I'd shy away from outright torture, but the other ideas could work. It doesn't help (or it does) that his race is one most people find extremely scary (which is part of why I took intimidation).

[Corran]

Thanks guys. I can do that.

As a Paladin, I think I'd shy away from outright torture, but the other ideas could work. It doesn't help (or it does) that his race is one most people find extremely scary (which is part of why I took intimidation).
Tiefling or drow? My money is on tiefling. Well, at dm's dicretion you could have advantage against very supersticious common folks. Throw that as an idea, support it by reading to your DM the fluff text about how common people view this race.

[RickAllison]

My rogue with intimidation was very fond of just putting the dagger next to the throat

[WarrentheHero]

Depending on your Strength score, lifting people by their collar is usually pretty effective. If you have a damn high Strength score, grabbing someone by the throat and lifting and with kn hand works even better.

Alternatively, threaten to invoke the wrath of your God. "Speak or Pelor's searing glory shall wither your crops!" "Tell me what I need to know or I swear by Waukeen's golden coin that merchants will never step foot in this town again!"

One of my favorites doesn't really work for Paladins, but as a spellcaster I love placing my hand on someone's head and threatening to cast Fireball.

[Oramac]

Tiefling or drow? My money is on tiefling. Well, at dm's dicretion you could have advantage against very supersticious common folks. Throw that as an idea, support it by reading to your DM the fluff text about how common people view this race.

It's actually a homebrew Worgen (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?474091-Worgen-Race-(Loosely-based-on-Warcraft-Worgen)) race, but that idea might still work! I'll talk to the DM about it.


Depending on your Strength score, lifting people by their collar is usually pretty effective. If you have a damn high Strength score, grabbing someone by the throat and lifting and with kn hand works even better.

Alternatively, threaten to invoke the wrath of your God. "Speak or Pelor's searing glory shall wither your crops!" "Tell me what I need to know or I swear by Waukeen's golden coin that merchants will never step foot in this town again!"

One of my favorites doesn't really work for Paladins, but as a spellcaster I love placing my hand on someone's head and threatening to cast Fireball.

I can't use fireball, sadly, because that's a hilarious idea. I do have an 18 in strength though, so lifting people up might work. Of course, it could also get me killed, but I guess that's the trade-off when you play a race everyone is afraid of.

The wrath of god idea really fits. I'll have to think about how to do it in-character, but I think it'll work out.

[SpawnOfMorbo]

One of the best I saw though was a dude who came out of the marines. He had the whole Mr. Rogers/Bob Ross soft voice thing down in real life. When he played an intimidating character... Holy hell. That soft voice saying those things... In such a polite tone...

Don't scream or yell, just be polite in a soft voice say...

"Surrender or I'll take your friend there and shove him so far up your a** that he ends up right behind your eyes"

Oh and smile, like innocent "I just wanted to say hi neighbor" kinda smile.

So find a gimmick that makes your character stand out and then roll/role with it.

[Once a Fool]

Watch The Legend of Billy Jack and do what he does.

[Spacehamster]

Also saying "they will never find your body" while happily smiling can be effective. :)

Always wanted to play a chaotic evil cannibal stout halfling fighter/warlock/assassin that threatens to eat those he wants to intimidate. :D

[RickAllison]

Just find some gimmick that works. I could see a Great Old One Warlock flashing an image of his patron or invoking the image through his own face as a tactic.

[Oramac]

Just find some gimmick that works. I could see a Great Old One Warlock flashing an image of his patron or invoking the image through his own face as a tactic.

I think this is what it's gonna be. Right now I'm leaning towards the "Wrath of God" angle, but we'll see how it all works out.

Thanks everyone!!

[JumboWheat01]

A Vengeance Paladin, ne? That's essentially Batman. Spend some time watching/reading Batman. That should teach you all you need to know.

[RickAllison]

I think this is what it's gonna be. Right now I'm leaning towards the "Wrath of God" angle, but we'll see how it all works out.

Thanks everyone!!

If you do, see if you can convince your DM to let you have Thaumaturgy. Nothing like going all Gandalf-voice to really inspire the Wrath of God angle!

[Oramac]

A Vengeance Paladin, ne? That's essentially Batman. Spend some time watching/reading Batman. That should teach you all you need to know.

Ahh!! Good point! I hadn't thought of that, but now you mention it, it does kinda fit. Except that my paladin is ok with killing people, if they deserve it.


If you do, see if you can convince your DM to let you have Thaumaturgy. Nothing like going all Gandalf-voice to really inspire the Wrath of God angle!

I doubt he'll let me have it, but it can't hurt to ask!

[RickAllison]

Ahh!! Good point! I hadn't thought of that, but now you mention it, it does kinda fit. Except that my paladin is ok with killing people, if they deserve it.



I doubt he'll let me have it, but it can't hurt to ask!

If not, you could always blow a feat on Magic Initiate for Cleric! (Hardly optimized, but you might be able to find a reason for it.)

[Levism84]

Just use real life examples of how to (and how not to) intimidate someone.

A few good ideas already mentioned:

Almost always maintain control. The "Mr. Roger's voice" is a solid idea for keeping in your mind that, while losing your **** if someone doesn't do what you want can be effective, someone who remains in control of the situation is scarier than a "hotheaded mess". At least, most of the time.

Have a purpose for using intimidate. In any scenario, you should have an objective for your intimidation (an end result you wish to obtain). If your end result is "to have the NPC be afraid of me" then you are probably not using intimidation to its fullest. Instead, figure out what your objective is. Whether it is getting information, causing someone to flee, getting someone to perform a specific task, or some other action, your intimidation should have purpose. Granted, you could decide you want to use intimidation to create a distraction and, thus, intimidate an NPC to be so afraid of you they create a scene, but at least then there is a clear objective that your DM can work with.

Find the path of least resistance. When intimidating someone, it helps to know something about them. This can be difficult because most characters who rely on intimidation as their only social skill lack many of the support skills to gain insight into their targets. However, an observant PC (or at least one with some common sense) can pick up enough information to understand how to motivate an NPC by finding their "path of least resistance". That is to say, give the NPC two choices. One choice will be a relatively simple and clear path towards your objective (see above). The second choice will be a relatively simple and clear path towards a punitive measure the NPC really isn't going to like. It is important to keep this punitive measure realistic (that is, you can and will reasonably follow through with it), simple (over complicating something accesses the higher thought processes of the brain while a simple instinctual punishment accesses the lower thought processes), and allow it to target something of value to them (themselves, their business, their reputation, their family, whatever you believe is most important). If you do this, the path of least resistance becomes more inviting while the punitive path appears to be more daunting and frightening.

A few things to avoid:

Don't be crazy. Someone trying to be intimidating but doing so by making wild overt threats isn't going to be especially effective. The NPC, while probably intimidated, is more likely to run away screaming or call for the guards than do what you want. If you appear unreasonable or monstrous in your approach, you are likely to get a response to fit. Note: being crazy is different than being unstable. Someone who is emotionally unstable but trying to maintain control can be effective in intimidating others (see Moriarty from the Sherlock series on Netflix).

Don't be random. The best intimidation is precise and applied with purpose. If you just start randomly messing with people because it is "fun" you are likely to build a reputation as being a bully and a monster. This will more than likely cause things to work against you. The more times you bully a community or individuals within it, the more likely (mechanically speaking) you are to fail. Also, if you intimidate a lot of people but rarely follow through with anything, you may be seen as all bark and no bite. Such a reputation might impose disadvantage on your rolls.

Don't be loud. Intimation (outside of very rare group intimidation checks) is a private one-on-one social exchange. You are trying to convince one person to act in a way you want and, while others may overhear or be privy to this intimidation attempt, the targeted NPC is the only one who needs to know about the exchange. This is especially true if you have a piece of dirt on the NPC you wish to use as your punitive threat (see above). If you are in a crowded tavern and shout "if you don't, I guess everyone will find out about whats in the trunk in your celler!" while talking with an NPC, you are likely to cause that individual to immediately go on the defensive and distance themselves from you. However, if you are in a crowded tavern and speak in a voice only they can hear that same line, immediately the pressure is on for them to keep you quiet by submitting to your request.

Those are just a few thoughts I had on intimidation. Hopefully they help.

[OldTrees1]

Intimidation can be caused via the perception of threat which is different than hearing someone try to threaten you.

A good attempt at threatening someone has a strong negative consequence that has strong negative correlation with cooperation and is highly credible both in "happening if you don't cooperate" and "not happening if you do cooperate". The easiest way to ruin a threat is to make it lack credibility. Anything that makes you seem less in control ruins this credibility. (Examples of loss of credibility: Emotions are out of control, Known to not be trustworthy, There is a bigger fish, ...)

Intimidation is when someone perceives such a threat regardless about if you attempted to threaten or not (See intimidated by that creepy man/woman).


Personally I prefer the alien approach where your character pretends to have inhuman motivations that make them a big threat unless the victim does something to change that / distract your character:
"I have nothing better to do today than torment you. Let's begin."

[RickAllison]

Tying into Levism84's wonderful analysis, make it your own. Incorporate class features into your intimidation attempts so everything becomes personal. An Open Hand monk might calmly describe in detail how his Quivering Palm technique works and then offer to demonstrate. As I said, Great Old One Warlocks (and to a lesser extent other patrons) can offer glimpses into eldritch realities. An Assassin might explain how a certain poison he is holding effects the body. The point is that by incorporating that in which your character is most proficient, you more readily capture the ambience. Oh, and you might score some Inspiration, just saying :smallbiggrin:

[gfishfunk]

Doors? They don't have handles, as far as you can tell. Kick them open. All of them.

Widows? Hiding something. Ask questions, and to every other answer respond with "....and just HOW did your husband die again?"

Guards? Get their names, rank, and how to contact their superior officer whenever and wherever you encounter them. Just in case.

Kings? Let them know that they are one generation away from an empty throne. And you can make sure it happens.

Merchants? Your father was killed by a merchant. Let them known. Repeatedly. Even thinking about them makes you lose focus and see red...tell them that as well.

Seems like a good start. Remember, you are serving the greater good. Everyone should know that. Everyone should know that it is more important than them. You would hate, absolutely HATE to have to tell your god that you couldn't finish your holy quest because some FARMER was unable to move his donkey and wagon out of the way.

Also let them know that their soul might be in jeopardy. Everyone should be aware of this.

[RickAllison]

Doors? They don't have handles, as far as you can tell. Kick them open. All of them.

Widows? Hiding something. Ask questions, and to every other answer respond with "....and just HOW did your husband die again?"

Guards? Get their names, rank, and how to contact their superior officer whenever and wherever you encounter them. Just in case.

Kings? Let them know that they are one generation away from an empty throne. And you can make sure it happens.

Merchants? Your father was killed by a merchant. Let them known. Repeatedly. Even thinking about them makes you lose focus and see red...tell them that as well.

Seems like a good start. Remember, you are serving the greater good. Everyone should know that. Everyone should know that it is more important than them. You would hate, absolutely HATE to have to tell your god that you couldn't finish your holy quest because some FARMER was unable to move his donkey and wagon out of the way.

Also let them know that their soul might be in jeopardy. Everyone should be aware of this.

Some notes:
For the kings, it's even better if they mention that they do have an heir. Then you can calmly mention "Not if I don't get what I want."
Merchants: that's just good strategy overall. Oh, and you can slip in a comment about how "I'm trying to hold back, but you are not making this easy for me..." As you snap a limb.

Oh, and feel free to use the talents of your compatriots to your advantage. If you serve a deity related to storms, let a magic user create a storm with Call Lightning (unseen by the target, of course. Then converse with it. The same principle can be related to other phenomena related to those you serve, treat everything you can as a direct message you can actually understand, even if it's just someone casting Prestidigitation.

[N810]

Depending on your Strength score, lifting people by their collar is usually pretty effective. If you have a damn high Strength score, grabbing someone by the throat and lifting and with kn hand works even better.

Alternatively, threaten to invoke the wrath of your God. "Speak or Pelor's searing glory shall wither your crops!" "Tell me what I need to know or I swear by Waukeen's golden coin that merchants will never step foot in this town again!"

One of my favorites doesn't really work for Paladins, but as a spellcaster I love placing my hand on someone's head and threatening to cast Fireball.

also lifting the up by their ankle works as well.
and maybe gently shaking them to see if anything falls out of their pockets.

[gfishfunk]

Some notes:
For the kings, it's even better if they mention that they do have an heir. Then you can calmly mention "Not if I don't get what I want."
Merchants: that's just good strategy overall. Oh, and you can slip in a comment about how "I'm trying to hold back, but you are not making this easy for me..." As you snap a limb.

Oh, and feel free to use the talents of your compatriots to your advantage. If you serve a deity related to storms, let a magic user create a storm with Call Lightning (unseen by the target, of course. Then converse with it. The same principle can be related to other phenomena related to those you serve, treat everything you can as a direct message you can actually understand, even if it's just someone casting Prestidigitation.

Those are great suggests if you are trying to be intimidating.

My suggestions were for if you simply are intimidating. These are the things your character will naturally do, without thinking about it. The world is a small lemon, and you are desperately trying to restrain yourself from clenching it in your fist.

[Oramac]

Just use real life examples of how to (and how not to) intimidate someone.

snip

Holy crap! That's a lot of info. Very useful. Thanks!



Those are great suggests if you are trying to be intimidating.

My suggestions were for if you simply are intimidating. These are the things your character will naturally do, without thinking about it. The world is a small lemon, and you are desperately trying to restrain yourself from clenching it in your fist.

Hmm. An important distinction, I think. In the case of my character, it might be enough to simply be intimidating rather than trying to intimidate. (how would you react if a Hybrid Werewolf was talking to you?)

[gfishfunk]

Slathering, drooling lycanthrope kneels down far closer to the shopkeeper than needed, giving him a fully view of his abnormally sharp teeth.

"HOW MUCH, <rasp>, FOR THE POTIONS?!?"

----

Not trying to be intimidating, but a nice unintended consequence.

[JakOfAllTirades]

Any variation on the Good Cop / Bad Cop routine will also work. You get to be the "Bad Cop" and some goody-two shoes character (like a Cleric of Life, or whatever) in your group gets to be the Good Cop. Or just pick an unsuspecting straight man. Sometimes I just look at the Wizard when my Warlock is questioning someone and yell "Hey, I'm gonna need another one of those Truth Potions! You know, the good ones that turn people inside out when they tell a lie." Then look back at my victim and give him a big fat evil grin as the Wizard hands me his drinking flask....

No, there's no such "truth potion" but I'm not telling him that!

[mgshamster]

This is probably the best story of an intimidating paladin out there right now:

https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Powder_Keg_of_Justice

Just act like that.

[Shining Wrath]

There's different sorts of intimidating, but they all rely in some sense on the idea "I will hurt you if you cross me".

If you want a classic example of a successful intimidation check, Don Corleone with the undertaker in Godfather I.

"Bonasera, Bonasera, what have I ever done to make you treat me so disrespectfully? If you'd come to me in friendship, this scum who ruined your daughter would be suffering this very day. And if by some chance an honest man like yourself made enemies they would become my enemies. And then, they would fear you.
Bonasera: Be my friend... Godfather.
[the Don at first shrugs, but upon hearing the title he lifts his hand, and a humbled Bonasera kisses the ring on it]
Don Corleone: Good. "

[RickAllison]

There's different sorts of intimidating, but they all rely in some sense on the idea "I will hurt you if you cross me".

If you want a classic example of a successful intimidation check, Don Corleone with the undertaker in Godfather I.

"Bonasera, Bonasera, what have I ever done to make you treat me so disrespectfully? If you'd come to me in friendship, this scum who ruined your daughter would be suffering this very day. And if by some chance an honest man like yourself made enemies they would become my enemies. And then, they would fear you.
Bonasera: Be my friend... Godfather.
[the Don at first shrugs, but upon hearing the title he lifts his hand, and a humbled Bonasera kisses the ring on it]
Don Corleone: Good. "

Is it awful that I now want to make a Paladin Godfather... It would be so wonderful after hearing this!

[Oramac]

Sometimes I just look at the Wizard when my Warlock is questioning someone and yell "Hey, I'm gonna need another one of those Truth Potions! You know, the good ones that turn people inside out when they tell a lie." Then look back at my victim and give him a big fat evil grin as the Wizard hands me his drinking flask....

No, there's no such "truth potion" but I'm not telling him that!

Haha. I like that!


This is probably the best story of an intimidating paladin out there right now:

https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Powder_Keg_of_Justice

Just act like that.

I can't see it at work. Is that the one with the big huge speech about a Paladin choosing when/how he's going to Fall, then saying "I wish to roll intimidate"?


There's different sorts of intimidating, but they all rely in some sense on the idea "I will hurt you if you cross me".

If you want a classic example of a successful intimidation check, Don Corleone with the undertaker in Godfather I.

"Bonasera, Bonasera, what have I ever done to make you treat me so disrespectfully? If you'd come to me in friendship, this scum who ruined your daughter would be suffering this very day. And if by some chance an honest man like yourself made enemies they would become my enemies. And then, they would fear you.
Bonasera: Be my friend... Godfather.
[the Don at first shrugs, but upon hearing the title he lifts his hand, and a humbled Bonasera kisses the ring on it]
Don Corleone: Good. "

Good example! No yelling or anything, but very intimidating!

-------------------------

This whole discussion has gotten me thinking about Game Theory within the D&D setting and how it applies to the individual characters. I might just make another thread about that.......

[Finieous]

My advice is to watch any episode of the Sopranos where Tony is interacting with Richie Aprile. It will be a great exhibition of two forms of intimidation: Tony's barely restrained fury and violence, and Richie's calm, dead-eyed, emotionless psychotic menace. There's even an encounter where Richie tries to use The Look on Tony and fails his Intimidate check, and Tony says something like, "Don't give me those Manson Lamps!" :smallbiggrin:

[mgshamster]

I can't see it at work. Is that the one with the big huge speech about a Paladin choosing when/how he's going to Fall, then saying "I wish to roll intimidate"?

Yes it is, good sir.

[Oramac]

My advice is to watch any episode of the Sopranos where Tony is interacting with Richie Aprile. It will be a great exhibition of two forms of intimidation: Tony's barely restrained fury and violence, and Richie's calm, dead-eyed, emotionless psychotic menace. There's even an encounter where Richie tries to use The Look on Tony and fails his Intimidate check, and Tony says something like, "Don't give me those Manson Lamps!" :smallbiggrin:

I've never seen the Sopranos. I may need to start.


Yes it is, good sir.

Great! That's one of my favorite paladin stories out there.

[Professor Beard]

The best threats require that the victim use his imagination. Personally, I think the "I AM GOING TO DO SOMETHING MEAN ABD HURTY TO YOUR FACE/BUM/GENETALIA" is kinda dumb. Rarely works in movies, even less in DND.

Go with thungs like, "I will wear you out." or "This will not end well for you." Personally, I like Leto's Joker's threat. "Oh, I'm not gonna kill ya. I'm just gonna hurt you really ... really ... bad." Or, "You will do X, Y, and Z. Or, if you choose not to ...." Trail off and give the NPC "The Look."

However, I strongly recommend you look at TVTropes section "Threatening Tropes." Pick a couple that work from there for your character.

Good luck, and happy intimidating!

[RickAllison]

The best threats require that the victim use his imagination. Personally, I think the "I AM GOING TO DO SOMETHING MEAN ABD HURTY TO YOUR FACE/BUM/GENETALIA" is kinda dumb. Rarely works in movies, even less in DND.

Go with thungs like, "I will wear you out." or "This will not end well for you." Personally, I like Leto's Joker's threat. "Oh, I'm not gonna kill ya. I'm just gonna hurt you really ... really ... bad." Or, "You will do X, Y, and Z. Or, if you choose not to ...." Trail off and give the NPC "The Look."

However, I strongly recommend you look at TVTropes section "Threatening Tropes." Pick a couple that work from there for your character.

Good luck, and happy intimidating!

One good line comes from the Aladdin: the Return of Jafar in response to any retorts of preferring to die or not being able to kill someone.

You'd be surprised what you can live through.

It just seems so simple, and yet the meaning behind it becomes very clear, very quickly.

[JakOfAllTirades]

My favorite was Avatar to Necron 99 in Wizards: "I got stuff planned that'll take 20 years to kill ya, and you'll be screaming for mercy in the first 5 minutes."

[Vogonjeltz]

Pretty much just what the title says. I'm playing a Vengeance Paladin and picked up intimidation instead of persuasion, but I'm realizing that I really don't know how to play an intimidating character.

You have a lot of options, but they revolve essentially around the question of how you do the intimidation;

Overt or implied threats?
What type of harm are you threatening? Physical? Economic? Influence/status?

Are you physical or psychologically menacing?

[JohnDoe]

This is how

http://youtu.be/OLCL6OYbSTw

_______________________________

I will say that intimidation is something that can't be faked. It's not a bluff. It's not deception.

Anyone who has worked in corrections or a similar field understands that you have to be mentally and physically ready to go to 100% at any moment. You have to be anticipating that. You can't fake it with people, and you can't fake it in your own mind. You have to be committed to go this instant. You're ready for that gun to go off at the start of the 100 meter, every moment.

There's a certain tension, and suspense that is hard to describe. You can tell someone is thinking of something, and they're never going to blurt it out or talk about it. If they're thinking about murdering you, they're not going to say it. They're not going to start pushing and shoving. If they're the type of person to actually go, they're going to snap.

That's the suspense. You can feel the 'awkward, uncomfortable' pauses, the slight changes in social norms, etc.

It's uncomfortable for a reason. That's what they're doing.

________________

That mystery of what COULD happen is what generates fear. The imagination is far worse than any reality.

If I hold up a spoon, and say,

"I'm going to torture you with this..."

You are going to think of the worst things you could possibly imagine.

[MaxWilson]

Pretty much just what the title says. I'm playing a Vengeance Paladin and picked up intimidation instead of persuasion, but I'm realizing that I really don't know how to play an intimidating character.

Look, here's how intimidation works:

Let's say that for any interaction between two individuals, there's a cost and a benefit to both parties, which doesn't have to be the same. Let's take the Prisoner's Dilemma for an example (police are asking you to rat out your friend in exchange for a lighter sentence, while offering him the same deal), and assign semi-arbitrary values derived from the number of years in prison you're each looking at.


He rats He keeps quiet
I rat (Me: -19; Him: -19) (Me: 0; Him: -20)
I keep quiet (Me: -20; Him: 0) (Me: -1; Him: -1)

Of course, a major feature of the prisoner's dilemma is that it's pathological: no matter what he does, it's better for me if I rat (19 years in prison is still better than 20) and yet I really don't want him to apply the same logic to me. Given the choice between neither of us ratting and both of us ratting we would rather neither rat; but because we don't get to coordinate, there's no way to tell that you're not just getting burned.

Now, the thing is that for any multiagent decision or game (not just Prisoner's Dilemma), the only thing you can actually do to change someone's behavior is to alter their payoffs. You can do that either by increasing their rewards for cooperating with you, or increasing the penalty for defecting. Suppose that before the police arrested us, I managed to catch my buddy's eye and tell him, "If you rat on me, bro, I don't care what they do to me or how much it costs, I will hunt you down and END you with extreme prejudice." Assuming he believes me, his mental model of my decision tree now looks like this:


He rats He keeps quiet
I rat (Me: -49; Him: -999) (Me: 0; Him: -20)
I keep quiet (Me: -50; Him: -999) (Me: -1; Him: -1)

So now he has an incentive to keep quiet. Maybe he tries to threaten me in return so we both end up at (-1, -1). Maybe it works on me and maybe it doesn't, but at minimum at least I'm not going to be getting stuck for 19 years in jail.

Controlling people's behavior by giving them negative payoffs doesn't have to be this dramatic. When you ask someone for an inconvenient favor, sometimes they help out even when they don't really want to, and one reason they might do that could be because you can make their lives unpleasant if they don't help you, and it's just easier to do what you're asking. (Or not. It doesn't always work.) Over time though, controlling people by inflicting negative payoffs damages relationships and erodes social capital, so it doesn't work well within the context of friendships and intimate relationships. Long-term partnerships work better if you instead sweeten the pot: "I have a rich uncle who can get us off, but you have to keep your mouth shut for both of us, okay man?" If he believes that, his payoff model might look like this:


He rats He keeps quiet
I rat (Me: -19; Him: -19) (Me: 0; Him: 0)
I keep quiet (Me: -20; Him: 0) (Me: 0; Him: 0)

Now he has no reason to rat on me, because I've persuaded him that he doesn't have anything to gain by it.

So, intimidation is the skill of persuading people that the payoff for not cooperating with you is a large negative number, enough so that it is even worse than cooperating; deception and persuasion can be potentially used to persuade people that cooperating with you has a high positive payoff, even better than not cooperating.

So if you want to play an intimidating character in a enjoyable way, spend time thinking about what it is you want people to do, and if it's not already in their best interest to cooperate, think of ways to make it in their best interest by making the other alternatives worse.

[JackPhoenix]

This is probably the best story of an intimidating paladin out there right now:

https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Powder_Keg_of_Justice

Just act like that.

That was one of he first things I thought of when I've read the topic.



One good line comes from the Aladdin: the Return of Jafar in response to any retorts of preferring to die or not being able to kill someone.


It just seems so simple, and yet the meaning behind it becomes very clear, very quickly.
reminds me of:
Zoë: Preacher, don't the Bible have some pretty specific things to say about killin'?
Book: Quite specific. It is, however, somewhat fuzzier on the subject of kneecaps.

[Oramac]

Love it! Thanks for all the replies guys!

I'm playing the character tomorrow, so this should help out a ton. I've got quite a lot more ideas for how to play it now than I did before. Interestingly, now I have the problem of having to choose from so many good ideas! haha. But that's a good problem to have.

Thanks again!