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<blockquote data-quote="Ovinomancer" data-source="post: 6770235" data-attributes="member: 16814">Usually I'd just tell them.&nbsp; Typically, I give a chance to evade a bad thing, but don't gatekeep good things behind chance.&nbsp; So, if you're a moron, you have a chance that your otherwise brilliant plan gets anticipated (because, natch, you're just a moron), but if you're a SUUUUPERGENIUS(tm), then you get free information.&nbsp; I won't tell you that you can't do something, but I might put it behind a reasonable ability check.&nbsp; Really, the argument here seems to be that modeling physical abilities should, somehow, be different than modeling mental abilities in game.&nbsp; I agree, to a point, but if your character has really bad mental abilities (a 6 INT qualifies), then I'm going to model that occasionally in game so that your choice was meaningful.&nbsp; Similarly, if you have really great mental abilities, I'm also going to model that in game so that your choice was meaningful.&nbsp; As I said before, i do this with CHA in a largely passive way -- if you have a low CHA, people either tend to ignore you or treat you like you're a jerk even if, as a player, you deliver Shakespeare on demand.&nbsp; If you have a high CHA, people will pay attention to what you say and agree more often than not, even if you have the real life personal presence of a rock hiding behind a potted plant.&nbsp; I don't see any reason to not do the same for INT.&nbsp; Low INT - bad guys will often anticipate you, even if your plan was [airquote] brilliant [/airquote].&nbsp; A high INT, then even your bad plans will often work, as the bad guys won't anticipate that.&nbsp; This gets magnified or reduces by the INT of the badguys.&nbsp; Super geniuses won't be often fooled (nor will they fool you), barely functional ignoramuses will quite often be befuddled by everyone.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Ovinomancer, post: 6770235, member: 16814"] Usually I'd just tell them. Typically, I give a chance to evade a bad thing, but don't gatekeep good things behind chance. So, if you're a moron, you have a chance that your otherwise brilliant plan gets anticipated (because, natch, you're just a moron), but if you're a SUUUUPERGENIUS(tm), then you get free information. I won't tell you that you can't do something, but I might put it behind a reasonable ability check. Really, the argument here seems to be that modeling physical abilities should, somehow, be different than modeling mental abilities in game. I agree, to a point, but if your character has really bad mental abilities (a 6 INT qualifies), then I'm going to model that occasionally in game so that your choice was meaningful. Similarly, if you have really great mental abilities, I'm also going to model that in game so that your choice was meaningful. As I said before, i do this with CHA in a largely passive way -- if you have a low CHA, people either tend to ignore you or treat you like you're a jerk even if, as a player, you deliver Shakespeare on demand. If you have a high CHA, people will pay attention to what you say and agree more often than not, even if you have the real life personal presence of a rock hiding behind a potted plant. I don't see any reason to not do the same for INT. Low INT - bad guys will often anticipate you, even if your plan was [airquote] brilliant [/airquote]. A high INT, then even your bad plans will often work, as the bad guys won't anticipate that. This gets magnified or reduces by the INT of the badguys. Super geniuses won't be often fooled (nor will they fool you), barely functional ignoramuses will quite often be befuddled by everyone. [/QUOTE]

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