How to gauge a Enemy's power?

[StickMan]

I'm looking for feats, class features, ect... that allow you to watch your enemy and figure out roughly how strong they are. I feel like this kind of a thing must be out there, but can't recall any given instance.

I just would like to be able to have some way to know if the body guards are mooks or if they are a real threat. Seems like fighter types should be able to take a good guess at an enemy fighters power level is before they head into combat.

[Wraithy]

There's a system in the Complete Adventurer involving sense motive checks, but I can't remember the specifics

[Nerd-o-rama]

Sense Motive can do it, as per Complete Adventurer. Combat Intuition, a feat from the same book, improves this use of the skill (as well as giving you a small attack bonus against people you've fought for more than one round, as you get a feel for their style.)

[UserClone]

I know there was one feat in Complete Adventurer; I believe it's called Quick Reconnoiter. Basically, it runs off of Sense Motive.

Edit: Oh, yeah. Combat Intuition. What does Quick Reconnoiter do, then?

[Swordguy]

Scrying magic is a good choice.

That said, learning metagame concepts via scrying or similar abilities like "he's got 75hp" or "she has a +15/10/5 BAB" is a bad thing. Better to have it in relative terms: "he's tougher than our group's barbarian!" or "he's about as good at hitting somebody as our fighter."

[cupkeyk]

http://realmshelps.dandello.net/data...e_motive.shtml

scroll down

quick Reconnoiter lets you use active spot and listen checks as free actions once a round.

[martyboy74]

Making a Knowledge check can give you an approximation of a creatures HD.

Know Vulnerability from SpC lets you know their weaknesses and immunities.

[cupkeyk]

And knowledge local being the most important since it gets humanoids. You can actually gauge a creatures hitdice and some of their abilities, weaknesses even if they have pc classes.

[mostlyharmful]

spellcraft when you watch someone cast magic or otherwise a skill check while you watch them demonstrate their capability. The fighter shouldn't be able to judge bodyguards that are just standing there without a significant breakadge of the third wall, but while they're whuppin ass and taking names is anouther matter.

Beyound analysising their power in combat or during casting or whatever it should be up to a knowledge roll, either concerned with how powerful this particular monster is or the rep accued by this particular fighter/warlock/rabid-bunny/???

Analysis of skill demonstated or knowledge of past exploits.

[StickMan]

Well you can gauge a guy who is a body guard in a few way. Scars for one can tell you he has been in a lot of fights, how someone stands can tell you what they have done in the past. People in certain military and police forces are taught certain stances as combat effective and will often stay in them even in non combat situations. People who come out of jail act a certain way when interacting with others. People in the real world who are trained to do so can detect these things, seems like you should be able to do them in game.

I would never go in charter yea his base attack is way lower than ours lets take him. But that is a matter of roleplay to me. In charter I would say he seems undisciplined based on the stance he is taking and his face is to clean and unscathed, or some other such.

[AslanCross]

Combat Awareness (from the Combat Forms line) tells you the HP of nearby opponents while you're in Combat Focus mode.

[Skjaldbakka]

In charter I would say he seems undisciplined based on the stance he is taking and his face is to clean and unscathed, or some other such.

I'd go with something like "he looks a bit green behind the ears" myself. Ot some other colloquialism.

[martyboy74]

I think that you're mixing idioms. 'Wet behind the ears' and 'green', perhaps?

[Clementx]

"he looks a bit green behind the ears"

"But he's a goblin- he's green everywhere!"