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Skill Levels - Too High or Am I High Handed?
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<blockquote data-quote="Herpes Cineplex" data-source="post: 1555116" data-attributes="member: 16936"><p>This is the part I keep wanting to hear about, too.</p><p></p><p>Having high skill bonuses (even extremely high skill bonuses) is not in and of itself a problem. Even a character with high skills who knows how to use them to the best possible effect isn't necessarily a problem, provided that they're not that good at <em>everything</em>. It sounds like this particular character is a fantastic talker but is pretty much mediocre in other areas, so there's apparently nothing wrong there.</p><p></p><p>Here's a perspective you may want to consider: the player of this character is obviously interested in being able to out-talk any NPC who crosses her path. Probably this should only bother you as a GM if you know for a fact that the game you're running isn't going to have much talking, and therefore the player is sinking skill points and effort into becoming really good at the one thing she'll never, ever get a chance to do during the game. <em>That's</em> a problem, and something you need to resolve (either by adjusting your game to give her a chance to show off these skills she's put so much effort into getting, or by telling the player how the game is going to work so those skills can be put someplace more useful).</p><p></p><p>Or maybe you just don't like the idea of a character being so good at any one thing that it is practically inconceivable that they would ever fail miserably at it. In that case, I'd say that the problem is all yours. Personally, I'd say to let the skills stand and learn to accept and enjoy successful and competent characters as much as we all enjoy failing and overwhelmed ones, but that's just me. If you need to make the character fail, have her fail at something she genuinely sucks at instead of worrying about how to make her fail at the one thing she's devoted all of her energies to being the absolute master of. I mean, she's better than all the NPCs? Then she's better than all the NPCs, big deal. She should probably start becoming famous for it, and should be asked to represent various interests at negotiations all over the place. She should be making enemies and opponents who will discredit her, and she should be able to use her own diplomatic skills to restore her reputation. </p><p></p><p>Or maybe the player has been burned by playing a low-social-skill character before, and is just sick of being pushed around verbally by NPCs. So out comes this social-monster PC, who is capable of accomplishing any diplomatic tasks set before her with a minimum of fuss. If that's the case here, it might make you wonder about how you've been playing out PC/NPC interactions in the past. I remember one GM I had who insisted that every NPC was a iron-willed incorruptible smug little bastard who never revealed any secrets EVER, no matter how much better a PC might have been at talking, or torturing, or anything. Totally annoying, and it took a while to break him of that habit.</p><p></p><p>I suppose if this were my game, I might have a problem with a player who isn't particularly talkative or socially adept playing a character with such high social skills, just because social characters are more fun to listen to when they're actually saying interesting and fun things. "I...uh...get him to let us in...<em>*rolls die*</em>...that's uh...a total of 41," is kind of a drag for everyone involved, I think. On the other hand, I'd probably just let the fumble-tongued player with the very social character run with it, because eventually he'll either start coming up with cool things to say as he develops more confidence in his character, or he'll get sick of "uh...a total of 41"-ing his way through conversations and decide to do something else.</p><p></p><p>--</p><p>but yeah, anyway, i'd like to hear why this character is such a problem</p><p>ryan</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Herpes Cineplex, post: 1555116, member: 16936"] This is the part I keep wanting to hear about, too. Having high skill bonuses (even extremely high skill bonuses) is not in and of itself a problem. Even a character with high skills who knows how to use them to the best possible effect isn't necessarily a problem, provided that they're not that good at [i]everything[/i]. It sounds like this particular character is a fantastic talker but is pretty much mediocre in other areas, so there's apparently nothing wrong there. Here's a perspective you may want to consider: the player of this character is obviously interested in being able to out-talk any NPC who crosses her path. Probably this should only bother you as a GM if you know for a fact that the game you're running isn't going to have much talking, and therefore the player is sinking skill points and effort into becoming really good at the one thing she'll never, ever get a chance to do during the game. [i]That's[/i] a problem, and something you need to resolve (either by adjusting your game to give her a chance to show off these skills she's put so much effort into getting, or by telling the player how the game is going to work so those skills can be put someplace more useful). Or maybe you just don't like the idea of a character being so good at any one thing that it is practically inconceivable that they would ever fail miserably at it. In that case, I'd say that the problem is all yours. Personally, I'd say to let the skills stand and learn to accept and enjoy successful and competent characters as much as we all enjoy failing and overwhelmed ones, but that's just me. If you need to make the character fail, have her fail at something she genuinely sucks at instead of worrying about how to make her fail at the one thing she's devoted all of her energies to being the absolute master of. I mean, she's better than all the NPCs? Then she's better than all the NPCs, big deal. She should probably start becoming famous for it, and should be asked to represent various interests at negotiations all over the place. She should be making enemies and opponents who will discredit her, and she should be able to use her own diplomatic skills to restore her reputation. Or maybe the player has been burned by playing a low-social-skill character before, and is just sick of being pushed around verbally by NPCs. So out comes this social-monster PC, who is capable of accomplishing any diplomatic tasks set before her with a minimum of fuss. If that's the case here, it might make you wonder about how you've been playing out PC/NPC interactions in the past. I remember one GM I had who insisted that every NPC was a iron-willed incorruptible smug little bastard who never revealed any secrets EVER, no matter how much better a PC might have been at talking, or torturing, or anything. Totally annoying, and it took a while to break him of that habit. I suppose if this were my game, I might have a problem with a player who isn't particularly talkative or socially adept playing a character with such high social skills, just because social characters are more fun to listen to when they're actually saying interesting and fun things. "I...uh...get him to let us in...[i]*rolls die*[/i]...that's uh...a total of 41," is kind of a drag for everyone involved, I think. On the other hand, I'd probably just let the fumble-tongued player with the very social character run with it, because eventually he'll either start coming up with cool things to say as he develops more confidence in his character, or he'll get sick of "uh...a total of 41"-ing his way through conversations and decide to do something else. -- but yeah, anyway, i'd like to hear why this character is such a problem ryan [/QUOTE]
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