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[bert1000]

Originally Posted by Primitive Screwhead

In the case of Heal determining if the wound was lethal, I don't see how that could tie in as part of persuading the NPC to talk. I would not have counted that skill use as a success unless the player came up with an entertaining reason why making sure the guy wasn't going to die soon would be a convincing reason to talk....

I could see a crafty player using heal in this situation, but I would probably only allow 1 use of it for the whole group. Uses I would accept include (but not limited to):

* I use heal to see how badly he is injured and if he can withstand another tongue pull, wrist slashing, etc. Assuming that the next move is to inflict more pain, this directly contributes to the goal
*I use heal to try and figure out the most painful way to hurt him without making him go unconscious or kill him.

I like the Obsidian system because you can limit the "always try to use highest skill or aid another" flaw but still reward clever player skill for using "non-obvious" skills they have a high score in. In the above example, the wizard player that isn't as clever can always use intimidate untrained, and in obsidian trying is better than not trying and skipping your turn.

I really like that the system is weighted toward character skill, but also includes a dash of player skill which I wouldn't want to vanish completely.