mhacdebhandia
Explorer
Do you think this is absolutely true of all games of D&D, or is it just the way you prefer to play?There needs to be some place for challenging the player without the need of dice.
Do you think this is absolutely true of all games of D&D, or is it just the way you prefer to play?There needs to be some place for challenging the player without the need of dice.
"It’s up to you to think of ways you can use your skills to meet the challenges you face."
Let us change the wording slightly in conjuction with the rules for skills.
"It’s up to you to pick the correct skill to roll for to meet the challenges you face."
"It’s up to you to pick the correct skill to roll for to meet the challenges you face."
Picking the right skill to use is thinking how to use your characters skills to meet the challenges.
what our group would do in this situation in our weird 1e/3.0 hybrid that we houseruled would be for the dm to tell the player "you cant just use diplomacy and roll. if it is a speech you want to make, you have to stand up, take on you character's voice and physical bearing and mannerisms, and make the speech to rally the troops. the diplomacy skill, as well as the quality of the speech you give will affect its success. i'm not telling you which will weigh more heavily--the speech you give and your ability to act it out in character or the diplomacy skill score--or what the dc is."
Note that I knew many a player in AD&D who only ever hit the enemy with the sword, since it was the only manuever the books described. For such players, the basic 4e combat manuevers are liberating and allow more variety!
It just seems to me that making them understand that they can do more would be better than giving them 4e.
No, it's only part of the equation. Just saying "I use Athletics" doesn't tell me what you're using it to do, since you can do several things with it. That's like just saying "I solve the puzzle." It tells me, at a most basic level, what you want to do, but it doesn't give me the particulars that actually make it a feasible attempt at success.
As has been quoted from the book, multiple times, you have to think of the ways to use your skills to meet the challenge, not just figure out which skill to use.
Well, since there is no mechanical differentiation between "I slash him with my sword." and "I wade into the fray, seeking out the hobgoblin commander and striking him with a mighty blow from my father's blade!" in any previous edition, one would argue that you couldn't do more, you could just describe it differently, which is possible in 4e... which actually provides mechanical differentiation, which allows you to actually do more, especially with the DMG page 42.