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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 8152769" data-attributes="member: 42582">What matters to me - maybe not to others - is the difference between A and B below:Version A Player: I seem to recall <xyz>. GM: make a Wises check vs Obstacle n. Player: <rolls dice, succeeds> GM: yep, as you recall, it is <xyz>. Version B Player: I want to establish some fact about <xyz>. GM: make a Wises check. Player: <rolls dice, succeeds> GM: OK, tell us what it is that you recall. Player: <starts narrating about xyz>The difference is that, in A, (i) the player has stated a precise thing that s/he is (in character) recalling, and therefore (ii) the GM can set a precise obstacle, and finally (iii) the player never has to step out of in-character action declaration.Whereas in B, the player at the meta-level seeks permission to narrate some fiction, and then makes a check to be granted that permission. And so isn't in character the whole time. Also, in B the GM can't set a difficulty based on what it is that the player hopes to recall.I think that canonical Burning Wheel uses version A. Off the top of my head I don't know a system that uses B - but maybe some PbtA systems could, as those systems used standard dice spreads and don't adjust the throw required to reflect the fictional positioning in the way that BW does.</blockquote>