Lord of Lies

[graymachine]

As a bit of an exercise, I tried to come up with the highest Bluff check I could get with as few levels as possible. Here is what I came up with:

Bard 7/Truenamer 1

11 skill ranks(Bluff)
11 skill ranks(Bluff, Item Familiar)
+5 (Charisma bonus)
+2 (+4 Cloak of Charisma)
+3 (Skill Focus feat)
+5 (Skill Boosting Utterance)
+1 (Trait)
+5 (Skill Boosting magic item)
+2 (Inspire Confidence)
+30 (Glibness)
----
75 Bluff

I kinda threw this together off the hip. Anyone have a better version, i.e. either a higher check, lower number of levels, or both?

Also, how would you use or abuse your platinum-plated tongue?

[Comet]

I suck at builds and I can't remember any of the bluff ones that I've seen previously. So I can't really help there.

As for epic bluffs, I've always liked the classic one: you convince the other guy that he doesn't exist. Worked in Planescape: torment, worked on many other occasions.
Not sure if it would work in D&D, but I've seen some epic characters pull that stunt the other way around, too. That is, they convinced themselves that they do not exist. Poof, instant suicide and eternal peace. Ok, it's not so much a bluffing thing but more of a feat of willpower, but what the hey.

Sorry I can't give anything more specific, but I just wanted to say this:
Anything is possible if you speak with the tongues of magic and legends. :smalltongue:

[The Glyphstone]

Do you have a Competence bonus included in there somewhere? The Circlet of Persuasion gives +3 bonus to Charisma-based checks.

[graymachine]

Do you have a Competence bonus included in there somewhere? The Circlet of Persuasion gives +3 bonus to Charisma-based checks.

The Skill Booster item is a competence bonus, I believe.

[AstralFire]

The Skill Booster item is a competence bonus, I believe.

Correctamundo.

[Stupendous_Man]

Dip Warlock for +6 to bluff, diplomacy, and Intimidate.

[Person_Man]

The White Mask tattoo of a Tattooed Monk gives you a +10 unnamed bonus to Bluff.

One level of Marshal will give you the Motivate Charisma aura, which let's you add your Cha bonus to all Cha checks and Skills. (Essentially doubling your Cha bonus).

Factotum let's you add your Factotum level to any Skill. You can get Glibness with UMD and a custom wand. There's no need to take Bard levels.

Fear effects and a few other debuffs impose penalties on Skill checks. So you can lower your target's Sense Motive, essentially increasing your Bluff.

There's a mask in the magic item compendium that gives you +10 to Bluff. I forget what type of bonus it is. I'm guessing its an enhancement bonus.

One level of Exemplar will give you a +4 enhancement bonus to any Skill, and the ability to Take 10 on Int bonus Skills.

The master of a snake familiar gains a +3 bonus on Bluff checks. Any caster can get this with the Obtain Familiar feat.

The Persuasive feat gives you +2 to Bluff checks.

Circumstance bonuses will help a lot. So pump Disguise, get access to Alter Self, and have a good story. There are Skill Tricks in Complete Scoundrel that help with this as well.

Putting this together, you should be able to hit DC 100 on your Bluff Skill check, enough to disguise your surface thoughts and convince anyone of anything, assuming you can speak their language. Too bad its so much more difficult to get DC 100 on Sense Motive, so that you can read surface thoughts at will.

[graymachine]

Correctamundo.

Being correctamundo is being the best kind of mundo. :smallbiggrin:

[graymachine]

Dip Warlock for +6 to bluff, diplomacy, and Intimidate.

Ah, true, but Bard 7 is the minimum for casting Glibness, so we would have to pick up a level, which is against the exercise. I assume you are suggest trading out the Truenamer level for a level of Warlock to net a +1?

[MeklorIlavator]

I would. How exactly are you making that truespeech check? And how are you going to make it multiple times in a day? I would definitely take the +6 over a possible +5.

[Cuddly]

You can take the item familiar feat at level 6, which gives you only 2 levels to accrue the 33 skill ranks you invested in it. How are you doing this?

[edit]
My bad. It's 3rd level.
Carry on.

[graymachine]

Putting this together, you should be able to hit DC 100 on your Bluff Skill check, enough to disguise your surface thoughts and convince anyone of anything, assuming you can speak their language.

Hmm. What about this: you take a 1 level dip into Mindbender, or in some other way pick up telepathy. You could leave a trail of broken personalities behind you, people you drove mad in their own heads. What else could you do?

[mabriss lethe]

I'd personally replace the truenamer level with a binder and have Naberious pretty much permanently bound. You lose out on a skill bonus, but replace it with disguise self at will, command 1/5 rounds and the ability to take 10 on bluff and diplomacy checks when distracted or threatened, and the ability to make a rushed diplomacy check with no penalty. Much better for your lord of lies.

Barring that, with a two feat dip, you could acquire the latter ability without sacrificing class levels. not as good as the whole shebang, but will make your lord of lies that much nastier.