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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Nichwee" data-source="post: 5305478" data-attributes="member: 84242">So you are just asking for a different way of saying "I use .... skill" or you are assessing the RP and saying "Not good enough, you don't get a roll".Basically you have"I threaten him" = "I use Intimidate", "I massage his ego" = "I use Diplomacy" etc. Or you are asking someone who may not like to have to think up entire conversation to do so just so he/she can do a roll. You don't ask the players to cook so they can "roll to find food" do you. You just let them say "We need food, I'll go hunting. I got a .... on my Nature roll" - or I would hope so, or you just went from playing D&D to playing the Sims Tabletop, as D&D isn't about the minute moments, it is about the grand scheme of things being heroic - Bards inspire armies, Fighters defend nations they do so as a string of miniscule events but most can be glossed over and if you don't gloss them you have "buying a bun for as little as I can" becomes a 20 minute event the has the players just going "Sod it, I'll eat a trail ration instead".If you will correct a player using the skill wrong, why not just let them say "I use Diplomacy" and describe what the conversation was like dependent on the success or failure of the roll - don't need to tell them if it succeeded or failed, just how the situation now stands?I have little to no social skills (as evidenced by my very formal attempts on these boards I expect) so I don't want, or feel I need, to know and state how a highly charismatic character I am playing chooses to be diplomatic - I just know that is what he does.I am all for good narrative description, and from the DM it is very important, but as the players are limited in what happens by the rules I feel the description from the players should be "What I want to achieve" and the DM should fill in the "How it actually played out considering the rolls". This doesn't mean a player shouldn't put in some extra bells and whistle in the description, but they shouldn't HAVE to if they are not that kind of player.The example I gave invovled roleplay, it didn't involve indepth descriptions - not the same thing.As roleplaying encompasses all the things why is not simply "playing the role" good enough - why do you ask all your players to be storytellers as well?But what if the player says "By using my character knowledge of the ..... skill to do it right."? Eg.DM : "How does your player want to pick the lock?" Player: "By picking them. He has lockpicks and a lifetime's worth of experince at Theivery, does he need anything else?".DM: "How does he try to analyse the conjuration?"Player: "Look at it, think about it a bit, roll my Arcana check to see if it rings any bells with his studies."Personally, this is how I think it should play out at a table:DM: "How are you going to get the information"Player: "Complement him a bit, chat casually for a while, and then ask nicely. My Diplomacy roll is ..."DM: "He still isn't forthcoming but you think he is warming up to you."Player: "I roll Sense Motive to see if I think he might be more open if I offer a bribe or if he would be insulted or suspicous if I tried it. I got ...."DM: "You think a bribe would probably help, but you also sense he is worried people may realise he told you"Player: "Offer him a bribe and assure him I wouldn't let anyone find out he was the one who told. I got a ... on my Diplomacy score"DM: "That does it. He looks about nervously for a few seconds to make sure no one else can hear and he tells you ...."This amounts to about 2minutes of gameplay and invovles some interaction and dynamic thinking and reactions, but at no point is the player required to justify how any roll worked or provide specifics beyond "My current goal is ..".And to the OP issue. If the rules let you try to grab a swarm, then you should be allowed to try. If you succeed you or the DM can give a "hand-wavey" explaination of how you managed it (quite possibly a literal "I wave my hand fast and the insects are caught in the vortex") and if you fail you or the DM state you tried to grab it in the normal manner and swatted straight through the swarm. Your character realises that he is going to have to try a different tactic if he wants to restrain a swarm (so you can retry "grabbing" and maybe succeed next time).</blockquote>

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