Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lanefan" data-source="post: 7751652" data-attributes="member: 29398">Social skills and knowledge skills are two different things, with different issues and possibilities.First, knowledge skills.  The problem with codifying knowledge skills into specific areas a la 3e is that it far too strongly implies complete lack of knowledge outside these areas and utterly demolishes the idea of a jack-of-all-trades unless you've got a zillion skill points to spread around, which most classes don't.Far better to scrap 'em.  Build a very few class-specific knowledges e.g. arcana into those classes that need it, and de-formalize the rest.  Some obscure bit of religious history: everyone roll d20.  Clerics and Bards need only roll very well, anyone else if it's not a 20 (or 1, depending on edition) don't bother telling me about it. (obviously, in this example if the obscure bit of history pertains to a deity or pantheon that has a Cleric in the party, the  roll is considerably easier for that character)Second, social skills.  For my own part I'd prefer to see players roleplay - or at least try to - even if it involves going "against" the DM.  The problem with any sort of formalized mechanical system for this is that a significant proportion of players (and, sadly, some DMs) immediately want to use it as a shortcut: "Oh, screw all the talking, I'll just roll to see if I convince him or not".  The only way to excise this sort of thinking from the game - which would be my preference - is to remove* those mechanics.* - or better yet, never have introduced them in the first place; but it's too late for that.I don't believe that players or PCs need 'mechanical safeguards', to use your term, in a general sense.  The DM does, however, have to take into account the attributes (good or bad!) of the PC(s) doing the talking when coming up with the responses from her NPCs, and divorce that from her own opinion of the player at the table.Lanefan</blockquote>

Verification