Liar Liar Pants on Fire

Sense Motive is not an Automatical Lie Detector

Just like magic has limitations, so too do skills. One of the skills that sees the most abuse is Sense Motive. Oftentimes people use sense motive as an automatic lie detector, or in some cases, even a means to read someone’s mind. However, the skill doesn’t really work that way; magic is often not even that precise. So how do we allow a player to use Sense Motive – especially if they’ve maxed out ranks in it – and still make it a skill and not perfect ability?

What many people tend to forget is that there is a big difference between knowing something is up and knowing what that something is. Sense Motive is really looking for non-verbal clues that reveal something about the character. Just saying  “you know he’s lying” honestly pays a disservice to the skill and the character using it. Instead, you should try explaining the ticks that the character sees, and because our character is not our player, talk about what they could mean, because your player may not know.

The Eyes are the Windows to the Soul

A lot of people believe that the eyes will give you away. Some say that when constructing a lie a person will look up and to the right. Others believe that someone can’t look you In the eyes when he is lying. The fact of the matter is that psychologists have done numerous studies on this and have found no connection with eye movement and lying.

Although there is no direct connection, not everyone knows that and that means the eyes can give something away. Bad liars tend to believe the statements about eyes – especially about not being able to look someone in the eye. They will often compensate by trying to stare at you for too long to prove that they aren’t liars. Many professional interrogators now use this as a means to spot a liar.

Studies have also shown that liars tend to blink more. Although the difference between the amount of eye fluttering between a truth-teller and a liar isn’t vast, it is there. Someone with a high sense motive may be able to tell when the subtle line of too much blinking been crossed.

The Face of Fear

Although it’s not foolproof when added to other factors, fear can be a signal of someone obfuscating the truth. Liars are often afraid that the person they are lying to will see through their lies and fear is often one of the clearer emotions that you can read on a person. But the reason I say this should be used in conjunction with other signs is that a truth-teller may be afraid that no one will believe they are telling the truth.

Words a Plenty

Liars will often use overly formal language. Whereas they might normally call their coworker Bob, they will instead call him “Mr. Smith”. Most people use contractions and would say “didn’t” but a liar will often say that they “did not” do something. Innocent people tend to adamant in their defense using hard words like “steal,” they don’t mince words. Liars will often soften the words they use and talk about “borrowing” things.

Liars can be caught, not just in the words they use, but in how they use them. When fibbing, a liar will tend to offer shorter responses. The feeling is that they believe the less they say the less likely they will be to make mistakes. In those short statements, you may also hear more ums, ers, and ahs as the fibber tries to look for the correct word to meet his crafted statement.

Now that you know some of the things your player’s character with the high sense motive might be looking for, you can try and weave these things into your description of what he sees. There are many other signs and a lot of research into proper methods of discerning the truth. But the ones I’ve put forth here have been agreed upon by a number of different studies.

One thing you may want to take into account is: What if your player fails his sense motive roll? Is he just unable to read his target? Does he see false flags in the cues given by the suspect? The biggest fear of a truth-teller in stressful situations is not to be believed, so you can play off this for interesting roleplay situations.

How have you used Sense Motive in your games? Do you just tell your player that his target is lying? What clues do you give your interrogator? What happens when they fail their checks?

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