Applications for Sense Motive with higher DCs?

[Elvensilver]

Sense Motive scales pretty high- but only for descerning if somebody is lying to you or passing on a secret messages to somebody else. A mid-level bard or cleric will find out things such as if sombody is under a suggestion pretty much automatically.

So- are there any other -different- applications of this Sense Motive that are a little harder to do? Either from not-core-Rulebooks, or well-tried-out houserules? (Not looking for skill-unlocks)

I think it might be reasonable to learn more about the person you're talking to- such as alignment (I mean, as far as it is possible to learn from the context of the conversation), whether the person is interested in you (the trait charming does exist, so maybe you can leverage that?), or possibly even Charisma (in the form of self-assurance)

Thoughts?

[AllanniaNevini]

How we used it often in my homebrew pathfinder was literally to sense motive. A npc was going to take one of the PCs up to his hotel room. He was a character wanting to learn magic and the npc was a wizard.

The player rolled sense motive to see whether he could tell what the wizard wanted or whether he would attack him.

Another use is to try and see why someone is doing something. Like a npc joins the party unexpectedly and they roll sense motive to figure out why he wants to help you. It's very useful against paladins to see why they do things or who they worship.

There are other applications but those are the two we mainly use as well as telling if someone is lying. My party had a hard time when they had to sense motive agonist a vampire with a +23 to bluff

[Zurambas]

You might check with your DM to see if he/she can change the flat DC 20 hunch rules. I know that IRL, you can tell a LOT about what a person may be feeling or thinking if you have skill in reading body language, voice intonation, and even to some extent, their scent. Which is exactly what Sense Motive is. So, maybe use it like a Knowledge check on a monster; give them a DC, and for every 5 they beat the DC, give them more info about what the character is thinking?

[Elvensilver]

Thank you for the responses, I like the ideas, even though I still can't figure out decent DCs for them.
As our GM is still somewhat inexperienced, he likes to follow RAW as much as possible. But since my lvl 10 bard recently aquired a +26 on diplomacy/sense motiv/perform I am
now out of RAW given DCs. To keep it fair but still reflect that bonus, I would love to hear some applications that are useful, but are also proven to not break anything. I wish to have some input about what other people did, and what worked and what didn't.

[MisterKaws]

In 3.5 you can read thoughts with a DC of 100-something. But I guess pathfinder took away most of the ridiculous epic stuff.

[Selion]

In 3.5 you can read thoughts with a DC of 100-something. But I guess pathfinder took away most of the ridiculous epic stuff.

Actually pathfinder unchained covers this feature way better than epic manual (to unlock these additional effects skill focus and the fear "signature skill" are required):

Sense Motive

With sufficient ranks in Sense Motive, you earn the following.

5 Ranks: If you were aware of an opponent before rolling initiative (such as when you ambush an enemy or negotiations break down into combat, but not when both sides happen upon each other or you are surprised), you can attempt a Sense Motive check as part of your initiative check (DC = 11 + the highest Bluff modifier among your opponents or DC 15, whichever is higher). If you succeed, you gain a +1 bonus on the initiative check, plus an additional +1 for every 5 by which you exceeded the DC.

10 Ranks: After 1 minute of conversation, you can read a creature's surface thoughts (as detect thoughts)by attempting a Sense Motive check at a –20 penalty opposed by the creature's Bluff check.

15 Ranks: You can read surface thoughts as above after 1 round. In addition, when attacked, you can attempt a Sense Motive check as an immediate action opposed by your target's attack roll. A successful check grants a +2 insight bonus to your AC against attacks from that specific opponent for 1 minute.

20 Ranks: You can read surface thoughts as above as a standard action. A successful check to gain an insight bonus to your AC also negates the attack that triggered it.