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Message: <blockquote data-quote="MerricB" data-source="post: 2520803" data-attributes="member: 3586">Where I think the point gets lost is in what makes a challenge and requires a task resolution system.Having diplomatic skills to resolve "going to the market" is a resolution system for something that isn't a challenge - and thus there's no need of it. Of course, there can be specific challenges in a market, but for the vast majority of cases, that's not the point. (This isn't D&D: the Haggling)Having diplomatic skills to resolve a petition before the Emperor to send aid to a beleagured garrison is another matter entirely!The "let's jump into combat" mindset - from both players and DM - is more of a problem than the "we can't use Diplomacy during combat" issue.That is an issue of adventure design, not the D&D rules - in other words, the entire point of this thread. (Consider that you get XP in D&D for overcoming a challenge, not for killing it in combat; then consider how often you see that occur).As the Shaman notes, non-combat encounters also need what makes combat interesting: meaningful choices. If you talk to the old man in the town and he just reels off everything you need to know without any interaction, what fun is that? Obviously, some basics need to be given so that the adventure will move along regardless of how the players act, but there should be rewards for those who dedicate the time to the encounter.I ran a Living Greyhawk adventure yesterday in which there was one encounter that, based on the players' choices, could either have the NPCs attack the party, offer their aid, or just leave them alone. The first two options required effort from the PCs. (Well, not that much effort for the combat, given how players normally treat unknown situations...) The result of that encounter was the NPCs left the player's alone - and as a result, the subsequent encounters were much harder than they could have been, and their reward for the adventure was substantially reduced.Having such an encounter, which not only is interesting of itself, but affects the adventure afterwards, is fantastic.There are aspects to adventure and campaign design and structure that need to be examined on more than the single encounter level.Cheers!</blockquote>

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