1.  Just to clarify, I wasn't upset about the bluff.  I was upset that I had to resolve a very complicated action without any sort of rule support.  Technically, Chanticleer attempted to (1) impersonate a goblin, (2) deceive the goblins, and (3) suggest a course of action to the goblins as a free action.  Instead of backing it up, Chanticleer attempted to be humorous about it in the OOC.  This had the unfortunate effect of annoying me.  At the time, to me, it essentially read as "here is a very complicated action, you figure it out, GM.  Teehee."<br/><br/>2.  I understand that part of my job as GM is to make rule determinations, but I've asked players to be direct when addressing me in the OOC.  I don't have the time to deal with player ambiguity.<br/><br/>3.  Honestly, another part of the reason as to why I was annoyed with Chanticleer's bluff action was because I -knew- I would have to devote a lot of time and energy litigating the issue with the other players.  So, this is the last time I will discuss the matter, though I hope that all of you will at least ultimately find that the ruling was<em>fair.</em><br/><br/>As I said earlier, the action in question had three parts: (1) impersonate a goblin, (2) deceive the goblins, and (3) suggest a course of action to the goblins within a free action.  The action was structured in such a way to facilitate its conclusion.  Because of (1), actions (2) and (3) would be easier because the goblins wouldn't be hostile to another goblin.  Mechanically, I had no issue with actions (1) and (2), and indeed, I ruled that the goblins were indeed deceived by Shani.<br/><br/>But my issue was (3).  To me, (3) is almost like a godmode.  Here is a text of the action:<br/><br/><div class="quoteheader"><div class="topslice_quote">Quote</div></div><blockquote class="bbc_standard_quote">[I DON'T EVEN KNOW]Shani yells in PERFECTLY ACCENTED goblin, trying to BLUFF (NATURAL 20) the goblins above into thinking they face a large force and should run.</blockquote><div class="quotefooter"><div class="botslice_quote"></div></div><br/>I've omitted other things said that suggest the outcome of the action.  However, the intent of the action is clear to me: because of Shani's deception, the goblins should desire to flee.  It's a logical conclusion given the information that the goblins believe that they know.  But it isn't the only logical conclusion available.  Instead of fleeing, the goblins might batten down the hatches and prepare for a siege.  They could come out in force to attempt to repel the enemy forces because they are more afraid of the wizard controlling them than any would-be military coming for them.  They might know that there is no large enemy force because they have a scout who would notice a large enemy force coming.<br/><br/>In other words, just because they believe that there is a large force coming doesn't mean that they should think that they should run.  So, in conclusion,<strong>my ruling is that players are free to deceive NPCs as a free action, but they can't use bluff to force NPCs to react to said deceptions in a particular way as a free action.</strong>If you really think about it, it was like Chanticleer was attempting to perform a level 3 spell (mass suggestion) off of a bluff, and even that requires a standard action to cast.<br/><br/>I don't think that my ruling is averse to the rules or common sense.