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<blockquote data-quote="Keenath" data-source="post: 4908842" data-attributes="member: 59792">Sometimes you can't just have the enemies attack.&nbsp; Like for example, a bunch of guards on a gate and the PCs are staying outside range.&nbsp; Sometimes things just come up during play that you didn't expect, and I'm trying to figure out how to handle them on the fly.It's not a railroad to say that you can't talk your way past these certain guys!&nbsp; Sometimes there are people who can't be reasoned with despite being intelligent and sane people.&nbsp; Sometimes there are people you can't intimidate no matter how scary you are.&nbsp; Sometimes there are people who won't stand aside no matter how convincing your bluff checks are*.The whole point here isn't &quot;How do I force the PCs to follow my story?&quot; but rather &quot;How do I give the players a benefit for doing something cool without allowing it to totally break the encounter?&quot;* For example, consider the military and the chain of command**.&nbsp; A captain doesn't have the ability to give orders to a private from a different company -- he can't walk up to Private Goober who's guarding a door and order the private to move.&nbsp; Private Goober doesn't take orders from random people who walk past who happen to have a higher rank.&nbsp; The officer has to respect chain of command and get Private Goober's superior officer to have the door opened.&nbsp; There are exceptions, but really Hollywood gets this wrong all the time.&nbsp; In this case, Goober probably can't be bluffed into opening the door by somebody pretending to be an officer.** &quot;It's the chain I go get and beat you with 'til you know who's in ruttin' charge around here!&quot; - Jayne Cobb</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Keenath, post: 4908842, member: 59792"] Sometimes you can't just have the enemies attack. Like for example, a bunch of guards on a gate and the PCs are staying outside range. Sometimes things [I]just come up during play[/I] that you didn't expect, and I'm trying to figure out how to handle them on the fly. It's not a railroad to say that you can't talk your way past these certain guys! Sometimes there are people who can't be reasoned with despite being intelligent and sane people. Sometimes there are people you can't intimidate no matter how scary you are. Sometimes there are people who won't stand aside no matter how convincing your bluff checks are*. The whole point here isn't "How do I force the PCs to follow my story?" but rather "How do I give the players a benefit for doing something cool without allowing it to totally break the encounter?" * For example, consider the military and the chain of command**. A captain doesn't have the ability to give orders to a private from a different company -- he can't walk up to Private Goober who's guarding a door and order the private to move. Private Goober doesn't take orders from random people who walk past who happen to have a higher rank. The officer has to respect chain of command and get Private Goober's superior officer to have the door opened. There are exceptions, but really Hollywood gets this wrong all the time. In this case, Goober probably can't be bluffed into opening the door by somebody pretending to be an officer. ** "It's the chain I go get and beat you with 'til you know who's in ruttin' charge around here!" - Jayne Cobb [/QUOTE]

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