Using the Innuendo skill, a character can get a message across to someone else without obviously communicating. The Difficulty Class for a basic message is 10. This number rises to DC 15 or 20 for complex messages, especially those that rely on getting across new information.
A character can also try to discern the hidden message in a con- versation between two other people using this skill. The Difficulty Class is the skill check of the person using Innuendo, less a penalty of –2 for each piece of information the eavesdropper is missing. For example, if a character eavesdrops on people planning to assassi- nate a visiting diplomat, the eavesdropper suffers a –2 penalty if he doesn’t know about the diplomat.
Whether trying to send or intercept a message, a failure by 5 points or more means the character has implied or inferred some false information.
The DM makes the character’s Innuendo check secretly so the player doesn’t necessarily know whether the character succeeded.
Retry: Generally, retries are allowed when trying to send a mes- sage, but not when receiving or intercepting one. Each retry carries the chance of miscommunication.
Special: A character with 5 or more ranks in Bluff gets a +2 synergy bonus on the check to transmit (but not receive) a message. Characters with 5 or more ranks in Sense Motive get a +2 synergy bonus on checks to receive or intercept (but not transmit) a message.
Monte Cook’s Arcana Unearthed ©2003 Monte J. Cook.