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<blockquote data-quote="MGibster" data-source="post: 8319361" data-attributes="member: 4534">You may have read the title and muttered under your breath with indignation, &quot;What about niche protection?&nbsp; What if I want to role play a gruff abrasive type with the personality of a turnip?&nbsp; Who the #%#% are you to tell me what characters should or shouldn't be good at in my games?&quot;&nbsp; First, do you kiss your mother with that potty mouth?&nbsp; Second, before you compose a righteous evisceration of my position, please allow me to explain myself. In any given story, the protagonist <s>must</s> is usually able to communicate at least at the minimum level necessary in order to provide exposition, characterization, or to move the plot along. And while it's okay to have an RPG light on dialogue -really, what can be a more clear message than an axe to the head- typically someone in the party has to talk to an NPC to get the quest, to talk to others in order to progress, and sometimes players have their character speak with an NPC just for the fun of it.But you made some good points in the first paragraph.&nbsp; We don't expect every character to be good at swinging a sword or shooting a bow, why should we expect all of them to be good at talking to NPCs?&nbsp; While I do like niche protection as it allows each PC some time to shine, I have found that taking it to the extreme often limits a player's ability to participate in the game.&nbsp; Very often I run into situations where characters who have not invested much into social skills are hesitant to participate in dialogues with NPCs.&nbsp; This can result in a session heavy on socializing and light on combat where many PCs don't really do much of anything.&nbsp; When I say characters should be good at talking to NPCs I don't mean they should all be equal.&nbsp; By all means, the player who invests heavily into their character's social skills should have a more persuasive character than the player who invests heavily elsewhere.&nbsp; But they should all be able to move the plot along.&nbsp; So what are some ways you encourage players to fully participate in the game even if they're not social butterflies?</blockquote>

[QUOTE="MGibster, post: 8319361, member: 4534"] You may have read the title and muttered under your breath with indignation, "What about niche protection? What if I want to role play a gruff abrasive type with the personality of a turnip? Who the #%#% are you to tell me what characters should or shouldn't be good at in my games?" First, do you kiss your mother with that potty mouth? Second, before you compose a righteous evisceration of my position, please allow me to explain myself. In any given story, the protagonist [S]must[/S] is usually able to communicate at least at the minimum level necessary in order to provide exposition, characterization, or to move the plot along. And while it's okay to have an RPG light on dialogue -really, what can be a more clear message than an axe to the head- typically [I]someone[/I] in the party has to talk to an NPC to get the quest, to talk to others in order to progress, and sometimes players have their character speak with an NPC just for the fun of it. But you made some good points in the first paragraph. We don't expect every character to be good at swinging a sword or shooting a bow, why should we expect all of them to be good at talking to NPCs? While I do like niche protection as it allows each PC some time to shine, I have found that taking it to the extreme often limits a player's ability to participate in the game. Very often I run into situations where characters who have not invested much into social skills are hesitant to participate in dialogues with NPCs. This can result in a session heavy on socializing and light on combat where many PCs don't really do much of anything. When I say characters should be good at talking to NPCs I don't mean they should all be equal. By all means, the player who invests heavily into their character's social skills should have a more persuasive character than the player who invests heavily elsewhere. But they should all be able to move the plot along. So what are some ways you encourage players to fully participate in the game even if they're not social butterflies? [/QUOTE]

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