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<blockquote data-quote="clearstream" data-source="post: 7534787" data-attributes="member: 71699"><p>For me that isn't a point of differentiation: the players decide what they want their characters to do, and as part of narrating the outcome using the rules, the DM decides if a check should be made. Informally, a player could say "<em>I'd like to make a Persuade check against</em>" which is simply shorthand for describing that they want to persuade someone: the DM still decides if a check should be made.</p><p></p><p>There's been some focus on "uncertain": for me the honest answer to that in regard to a skill is that it's uncertain if the DM decides it is uncertain. We could no doubt enumerate our reasons why we do/don't believe situation X is uncertain. Wargamers sometimes say that the dice represent the myriad of factors that the rules can't simulate. Rosewater speaks about the value of randomness in creating surprise... and I often use it for tension in my games. Garfield discusses uncertainty for increasing variety, protecting egos, broadening audiences; and also player skill in dealing with randomness. When I think of real life, it's not like a movie: if I rewound ten minutes of real life, things could turn out differently on the second run through. D&D is like that, too: maybe everything should be treated as containing some inherent uncertainty.</p><p></p><p>That's why I think the honest answer is, it's uncertain if the DM decides it is. Even if that is through the DM appointing the players to decide whether or not it's uncertain. Uncertainty is a sliding scale, because in speaking of uncertain some good questions are - how uncertain, and what am I uncertain about? Whoever decides the odds and the stakes plays a big role in deciding the meaning of uncertainty. For groups like those I've played with, that is the DM, although the players can certainly have their characters do things that will change the odds or up the stakes!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="clearstream, post: 7534787, member: 71699"] For me that isn't a point of differentiation: the players decide what they want their characters to do, and as part of narrating the outcome using the rules, the DM decides if a check should be made. Informally, a player could say "[I]I'd like to make a Persuade check against[/I]" which is simply shorthand for describing that they want to persuade someone: the DM still decides if a check should be made. There's been some focus on "uncertain": for me the honest answer to that in regard to a skill is that it's uncertain if the DM decides it is uncertain. We could no doubt enumerate our reasons why we do/don't believe situation X is uncertain. Wargamers sometimes say that the dice represent the myriad of factors that the rules can't simulate. Rosewater speaks about the value of randomness in creating surprise... and I often use it for tension in my games. Garfield discusses uncertainty for increasing variety, protecting egos, broadening audiences; and also player skill in dealing with randomness. When I think of real life, it's not like a movie: if I rewound ten minutes of real life, things could turn out differently on the second run through. D&D is like that, too: maybe everything should be treated as containing some inherent uncertainty. That's why I think the honest answer is, it's uncertain if the DM decides it is. Even if that is through the DM appointing the players to decide whether or not it's uncertain. Uncertainty is a sliding scale, because in speaking of uncertain some good questions are - how uncertain, and what am I uncertain about? Whoever decides the odds and the stakes plays a big role in deciding the meaning of uncertainty. For groups like those I've played with, that is the DM, although the players can certainly have their characters do things that will change the odds or up the stakes! [/QUOTE]
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