Sense Motive Rules
You try to tell whether a creature's behavior is abnormal. Choose one creature and assess it for odd body language, signs of nervousness, and other indicators that it might be trying to deceive someone. The GM attempts a single secret {Perception} check for you and compares the result to the Deception DC of the creature, the DC of a spell affecting the creature's mental state, or another appropriate DC determined by the GM. You typically can't try to Sense the Motive of the same creature again until the situation changes significantly.
Critical Success You determine the creature's true intentions and get a solid idea of any mental magic affecting it.
Success You can tell whether the creature is behaving normally, but you don't know its exact intentions or what magic might be affecting it.
Failure You detect what a deceptive creature wants you to believe. If they're not being deceptive, you believe they're behaving normally.
Critical Failure You get a false sense of the creature's intentions.
Source, license, and attribution
Source: Pathfinder Player Core (remaster-core-2026-08-10)
This product is licensed under the ORC License located at the Library of Congress at TX 9-307-067 and available online at various locations. All warranties are disclaimed as set forth therein. Attribution: Pathfinder Player Core (c) 2023, Paizo Inc.; Designers: Logan Bonner, Jason Bulmahn, Stephen Radney-MacFarland, and Mark Seifter. Authors: Alexander Augunas, Kate Baker, Logan Bonner, Jason Bulmahn, Carlos Cabrera, Calder CaDavid, James Case, Eleanor Ferron, Steven Hammond, Joan Hong, Vanessa Hoskins, James Jacobs, Jenny Jarzabski, Erik Keith, Dustin Knight, Lyz Liddell, Luis Loza, Patchen Mortimer, Dennis Muldoon, Stephen Radney-MacFarland, Mikhail Rekun, David N. Ross, Michael Sayre, Mark Seifter, Kendra Leigh Speedling, Mark Thompson, Clark Valentine, Andrew White, Landon Winkler, and Linda Zayas-Palmer. Adaptation: Myth Meister PF2e Remaster Compendium, 2026. If you use this Adapted Licensed Material, please credit Myth Meister. The normalized rules records and rules-reference text in the Myth Meister PF2e Remaster Compendium are Adapted Licensed Material offered under the ORC License. Reserved Material in this product includes the Myth Meister name and logos, application source code, visual design and trade dress, and original campaign content. Pathfinder, Paizo, product logos, artwork, maps, trade dress, setting lore, characters, deities, locations, organizations, events, plots, and other Paizo Reserved Material are not included. Myth Meister is not affiliated with or endorsed by Paizo Inc. Expressly Designated Licensed Material: None.