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So if I have a charismatic player who invests entirely in combat skills for the character, he should get 100% of the benefits from his combat skills, but still get half the benefits of non-combat skills due to player ability. Meanwhile, a player who is not so charismatic, but invests all their...

If we need both other approaches and different mechanics to achieve the desired playstyle, I suggest it is not the playstyle intended by the authors of the specific game. You consistently refer to how mechanics work in other games. The mechanics of other games has no relevance to the balance...

Wizards whose GM's don't read the rules, maybe. Seems pretty clear this would preclude creation of diamonds. As to the Kingdom issue, coal is derived from plants and oil from animals. Are oil and a Troll in the same Kingdom?

ON TOPIC: Umbran's comments are dead on and well stated. It's also good to hear the group worked out a mature solution. OFF TOPIC GAME MEMORY: I can't remember why our characters were entering the dungeon to undergo the "Tests of Thor". I do recall the group faced, first off, with a room...

I generally get concerned about "player skill" when we deal with interaction skills. I game to play someone with abilities different from my own. A player who is not well spoken, perhaps a wallflower, should be able to play a suave, smooth talking con man, or a diplomat, or whatever (just like...

Thinking on my "in a perfect world", it would have been reasonable role playing for the Wizard to dig in his heels and state that he categorically will not participate in these "tests" demanded of him, so either get on with the matter at hand or seek assistance from someone more willing to jump...

"Any Object" indicates the target gains the new forms INT, CHA and WIS (not sure how I saw INT yesterday, but missed CHA and WIS right after). I'm not sure where the "physical stat" issue came from, as this is consistent across the polymorph spells. So we should get an Efreet with standard...

It seems like it IS in dispute. If they are not privy to every detail of the comings and goings of the Royal Court, then this is "secret backstory", which you dismiss. "Knowing everything relevant to anything they might wish to attempt" is, to me, "knowing everything about the gameworld", or...

In a broad based RPG, how can subjectivity be removed? My understanding is that, in most Indy games, the GM sets challenges, and interprets the results of success or failure when the dice are rolled. How is that "objective"? Removal of subjectivity would seem to me to entail charts for NPC...

As Ahnehnois notes, I don't see reading the spells and applying the rules logically as "secret backstory" or "adversarial DMing". I don't assume the PC's are privy to details of the Royal Court's comings and goings, nor do I allow their adversaries to plan tactics with a perfect knowledge of...

Funny how a lot of "overpowered" spells become a lot less overpowered when we actually read and apply the rules. So, we have a different efreet, with WIS and CHA of 5. I'd say the original Polymorph spell applies and it gets the physical stats of an Efreet. Polymorph indicates the target...

I thought the impetus behind this thread was that some players (the non-spellcasters) were NOT having fun because the characters of other players (the spellcasters) were overpowered. So why is every suggestion that we apply the rules in a manner that results in those spellcasters being less (or...

This point seems to come up a lot lately. Hussar accuses us of wasting time at the gaming table, for example, asking "What's the point?". To me, the point of the entire game is to partake in an enjoyable activity. Ask non-gamers and they will tell you it's ALL a waste of time (if they are...

It does not seem that a plotline involving a wizard the PC’s are seeking out is “completely independent of player choices”. Is it not the GM’s job to provide challenges? The players have decided they can quickly and easily dispose of this magical loot by taking it to the wizard. If he is...

I don't know whether it is a bunch of work for nothing, a plotline in the making (perhaps we can locate this wizard, or alternatively maybe we should seek another buyer for our loot), future foreshadowing or something else. Just because the first idea we had fails to resolve in the exact manner...

Ahn provides a good explanation. Like mine, it will fall on deaf ears, yet hope springs eternal. It comes from your assertions that the Charmed character will now do pretty much anything you ask. He will not act as a character whose attitude is friendly (not, I note, helpful, but friendly) is...

I question whether “perfect knowledge” ever exists. If it is a standard assumption of the setting, I would expect your character to know that, typically, there are spellcasters at the Royal Court who are on the lookout for unauthorized use of magic in the King’s Court. If there are not, and if...

To me, the answer is “it depends”. Real kings had armies, castles and food tasters, and that was pretty well known. In the D&D world, it seems likely real kings would have spellcasters (whether wizards or clerics) or some other means of magic detection (magic items for the Royal Guard would do...

Yet we lock our cars, homes and even briefcases, lock computers to desks or place them in locked desk drawers or cabinets, etc. I largely agree - the lock keeps the honest man honest. But, of course, it also takes longer and looks a lot more obvious to pick or break the lock - similarly, it...

The question unasked is how common PC deaths should be. Given the plan for modular play, it seems reasonable to set a core rules default, and include modules which alter the lethality. The yo-yo effect is easily avoided if the cantrip instead stabilizes the character, but requires he heal from...