D&D 5E Using social skills on other PCs

[HammerMan]

That's just it! I didn't! It wasn't pointing at anything until they asked and then I had to have it pointing somewhere, because there's no way the point wouldn't be facing some direction.

from now on it is face down in the dirt... where the DM is laughing at them.

 

[Maxperson]

but one of them deals with role playing and what it means to play your character every moment of the game, the other a sub set of a sub set of rolls that might not even come up in any given campaign let alone any night.

Ability checks involve roleplaying. In any case, which is more specific would be a DM ruling and could go in either direction.

 

[Lanefan]

Yes. For pages they've been arguing that the simple lack of text preventing such an action constitutes specific permission to do so and overrides the general rule give the players the ability to decide how their characters think, feel and act. I've been flabbergasted by that argument for a long time now.

Why?

This isn't 3e, where you couldn't do something unless a rule said you could, and where rules were hard and fast. This is 5e, where you can do what you like until-unless a rule or ruling says you cannot, and where rules are often presented as guidelines.

Which means, if there's no text dealing with something then that something is fair game until-unless the DM shuts it down.

 

[HammerMan]

Ability checks involve roleplaying. In any case, which is more specific would be a DM ruling and could go in either direction.

yeah pretty much

 

[Maxperson]

This isn't 3e, where you couldn't do something unless a rule said you could, and where rules were hard and fast. This is 5e, where you can do what you like until-unless a rule or ruling says you cannot, and where rules are often presented as guidelines.

5e is not that freeform. It's absolutely looser than 3e was, but it's not like you can just do anything you want so long as nothing is written to make it a no.

 

[Charlaquin]

Ability checks involve roleplaying. In any case, which is more specific would be a DM ruling and could go in either direction.

In fact the rule in question says that roleplaying is part of all aspects of the game.

 

[Lanefan]

You’ve lost me. I don’t understand how what I said denies skills status as game elements that can form specifics that beat generals.

I suspect what's being got at is that if one skill can form such specifics then in theory they all can.

 

[Charlaquin]

I suspect what's being got at is that if one skill can form such specifics then in theory they all can.

They all can. I don’t disagree with that at all. It’s just that nothing about skills contradicts the rules for determining whether or not an action requires an ability check to resolve. They just add proficiency bonus to ability checks that are being made.

 

[Lanefan]

AWESOME.

That's exactly what I was talking about upthread: you don't need dice rolls, because the players have doubts about the situation. It even cost them a 3rd level spell slot.

In fairness I've long since forgotten what level the spell was, I only remember that one was cast (this was some 15-20 years ago, after all).

But if one player said, "I think it's just a kobold, I'm not going anywhere," that's 100% fine. What would be the point about rolling dice to force them to be intimidated?

Exactly. And the same applies to my choosing the Kobold's reaction a round or two later when these now-angry PCs descend on it en masse - yeah, it got scared real fast, no roll required or given!

 

[Faolyn]

I was supposed to come in (new character new game new table new group)one night as soon as other players (I only met 1 of them before and the DM) they already killed all the monsters and just were looting... I showed up a bit late to give them time... not enough.

the door out was locked. Not magically locked not trapped, just locked (and even I who wasn't there realized they had the key) and it took almost 3 hours of "I'm not touching it, we didn't lock it after we came in." like 15 minutes into this 3 hours I blurted out "Doesn't this basement door lock behind you automatically that is why it is propped open?" the DM looked at me with the most pained look and said "Yeah. basement auto locks behind you" but that didn't clue anyone in.

I thought this might be a joke. Back then we didn't have cell phones to play on, but I had a book on me. However after I tried to play with this group through this and another campaign...no, not a joke just how they rolled...

My party freaked out last session when they found a gilded chariot in a smallish treasure room. They couldn't fathom how it got in there. They never seemed to consider that it had been put together inside the room instead of driven in.