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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Dausuul" data-source="post: 4978371" data-attributes="member: 58197">Lately, I've been coming to the conclusion that mental stats should be confined as much as possible to areas that do not impinge upon roleplaying. Much like alignment, concepts that were originally intended to further RPing actually end up hindering it; the player ends up trying to "play my alignment" or "play my Int score" instead of "playing my character."And well-meaning folks get into a "police the other players" mentality. I'd be pretty irritated if someone told me, or even hinted strongly, that I wasn't playing my stats appropriately - correct me on the rules all you want, but if I'm not disrupting the game and everyone's having fun, who the heck are you to tell me how to play my character?Finally, it often sets up a conflict between mechanical effectiveness and RP where one must be sacrificed for the good of the other. I don't like systems that pose that choice. I believe that mechanical effectiveness and RP should flow naturally together, or at least not stand in opposition.So: Intelligence should describe a PC's education and breadth of knowledge, while saying nothing about problem-solving smarts. Wisdom should describe the keenness of the PC's senses, while saying nothing about sagacity. Charisma should describe the PC's innate presence and charm, while saying nothing about appearance or eloquence.Charisma is probably the trickiest of the three, because Charisma-based checks require the DM to distinguish the player's choices from the player's presentation. I don't care how crazy-good your Bluff skill is, if you try to convince the gate guard that you're a god in disguise, it's going to be a tougher roll than if you want to convince him you're a farmer going about your day. If you insult him, you'll have a harder time making friends than if you smile and offer him a cookie.My solution is to let the player's choices set the DC of the check, while doing my best not to let presentation color my thinking. If the player tries to give an inspiring speech, hits the right general themes, but just can't deliver it convincingly, I don't adjust the DC for that. A charismatic character can make the speech seem heartfelt and passionate despite, or even because of, its flaws.But if the player gives a speech about defending truth and justice and virtue to the assembled archdukes of the Nine Hells, well... sorry, dude, but the DC on that Diplomacy check is going to be just a bit higher than if you appealed to their self-interest. (Not impossible, and if you do pull it off the results will be awesome, but I'm not going to make it easy.)</blockquote>

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