Search results

No. I just do not craft games that can get "stuck" if one path gets blocked. I think you are envisioning the sort of linear games where certain things must occur for the "plot" to proceed, and there is no other direction for the things to go. I try to avoid situations like that.

Yeah, so what? Certainly every GM brings their own voice, their own artistic flair. Just like every player does. This is a feature, not a bug. That's the job of the GM, my friend. Furthermore, I don't think the conflict you imply is particularly severe. It is the GM who chose the personality...

What is this stalling you're imagining? How does it actually manifest in the game table?

I can't answer that. Obviously all the shared information significantly increases the likelihood that the direction will be similar, but there is no guarantees. Also, given that we cannot split timelines in reality we also do not know what decisions Max would have done had he ran it. I am not...

Probably not. Then again, I don't think what you suggest is even possible. Different participants or even the same ones at different time would not have word to word the exact same conversation.

Depends on the system, but yeah, in most I'd allow insight roll or similar. But it just tells you whether you can notice signs of deception. If you don't, it doesn't bind you in believing, you can still make your own mind about that. But certainly this must mean that in such a situation any...

I believe you might get the same narrative. But to me how we get that narrative matters. It is what is revealed by the unfolding narrative. I'm not quite sure what you mean by this, there need not to be overt declarations and probably no illusionism either.

Again, assuming both are PCs, it is for the players to decide how it ends. Outside of the internet people will not have endless unproductive discussions. Someone will just leave. Furthermore, real discussions are about more than winning and losing. Perhaps indeed neither man will stop pursuing...

Firstly, I assumed that in the situation question both chracters are PCs. Like I've said many times I have no issue with using social skills against NPCs. No, I don't see a problem. It is like in real life. People discuss, perhaps an agreement is reached, perhaps not. It is not puzzle any...

I always hated gods of magic in a game where arcane and divine magic are different things and even more so if the god of magic was the source of the arcane.

And had it not been tied, the dice would have made the decision for them. I don't think there was mischaracterisation on my part. Now if the players choice to evoke the mechanic, it is less of an issue, though I still think it is not good practice to substitute roleplaying with dice. And was it...

It is definitely some sort of magic. There are creatures bigger and scarier than dragons, and they don't have fear aura. I really don't like how fear works in 5e though.

I don't like either. But rules that tell me what my character thinks, feels wants etc feel like mind control to me. If it is actual mind control in the fiction too, then that's less of a problem!

I did not say complex combat rules are better. That's why it is besides the point, as the point was that I don't want social rules as complex as combat rules in games that have complex combat rules! Whether the game actually has complex combat rules or not is irrelevant to this point. Assuming...

It doesn't! It is just that the unexpected reactions are generated the same way they're in the real life, rather than by the mindless dice.

I assume you didn't throw the dice to decide which way to go? (And which was it?)

Why? When I am immersed in a character, I certainly have instinctual reactions to the situations the character ends up in. I get that it doesn't always work, as there are a lot of distractions in RPGs. Like D&D style combat rules are rather unimmersive as so much focus is on rules and tactics...

What I do not understand about this, is that why that same unexpectedness that they experience in the real life does not translate to similar unexpectedness of character behaviour. Like, yes, real people can react unexpected ways to unexpected situations. And when you are immersed in the...

Is it? I think orcs being made out of elves is only in Silmarillion and I don't think it is ever stated that they retained the elven immortality. (It also is just one of the several orc origins considered by Tolkien. In some versions are made out of men. The elf version is just what ended up in...

Because such core mechanic is usually way simpler than full combat rules of a game such as D&D or Exalted. Point was that complex social mechanics are unwieldy and cannot be reasonably used in midst of an IC conversations. Whether game has complex combat rules or not is besides the point. In...