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<blockquote data-quote="DM_Blake" data-source="post: 4304695" data-attributes="member: 57267">Well said. I agree with all of this.To carry it further, I would rather have the situation define the skills to be used. And no, that doesn't mean the situation defines a list of 10 skills, very few of which actually make sense.In a diplomatic negotiation, there are only a couple skills tha really matter (diplomacy, bluff, intimidate). A few more can be dragged in as peripheral skills (insight, maybe a knowledge check of some kind to know something that can be a bargaining chip).Even then, that's a long list.But allowing for athletics, or stealth, or underwater basket weaving, to play any role at all in a diplomatic negotiation just turns the whole thing into a bunch of silly nonsense. I'll leave that kind of thing for the anime that my kids love to watch.The last thing I want my players doing is scanning their skill list, asking themselves how they can drag in some unrelated skill, in some wacky, fast-talking, used-car-salesman kind of way, to try to convince me to allow this inappropriate skill, just because they have a high score in the skill, and low scores in any skill that should be relevant to the skill challenge at hand.I want them to interact with the situation, the skill challenge, the RP at the moment. I don't want them to interact with their character sheet.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="DM_Blake, post: 4304695, member: 57267"] Well said. I agree with all of this. To carry it further, I would rather have the situation define the skills to be used. And no, that doesn't mean the situation defines a list of 10 skills, very few of which actually make sense. In a diplomatic negotiation, there are only a couple skills tha really matter (diplomacy, bluff, intimidate). A few more can be dragged in as peripheral skills (insight, maybe a knowledge check of some kind to know something that can be a bargaining chip). Even then, that's a long list. But allowing for athletics, or stealth, or underwater basket weaving, to play any role at all in a diplomatic negotiation just turns the whole thing into a bunch of silly nonsense. I'll leave that kind of thing for the anime that my kids love to watch. The last thing I want my players doing is scanning their skill list, asking themselves how they can drag in some unrelated skill, in some wacky, fast-talking, used-car-salesman kind of way, to try to convince me to allow this inappropriate skill, just because they have a high score in the skill, and low scores in any skill that should be relevant to the skill challenge at hand. I want them to interact with the situation, the skill challenge, the RP at the moment. I don't want them to interact with their character sheet. [/QUOTE]

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