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Message: <blockquote data-quote="William Ronald" data-source="post: 2380884" data-attributes="member: 426">I think most players make something of a distinction between combat, and their ability to make a decision as a character.  I think that the approach of having people forced to respond to the results of a social conflict roll tends to remove player control of characters.  People should be able to chose how their characters react to a given situation.  Most of the players that I have known in 25 years of gaming would prefer to chose how their characters react to a situation, as opposed to following the dictates of dice.  ("Sorry, your character is convinced to go on a mission.  The dice say so.")I would prefer to have the freedom as a DM to say that someone seems to be very persuasive and other people (NPCs) seem to be responding, but giving players a choice of how to respond --- instead of just following the results of a die roll. In some stories, one person is able to see through the well spoken words of another character. Perhaps in a D&D game, player characters are that sort of person  -- the one person who does NOT cheer a dictator's speech.  Or perhaps DMs can chose to judge how an NPC will respond, based on an NPC's nature and the result of a die roll.  (You may not be able to convince a blackguard that he should repent and follow your god, but you may win his respect for your character's devotion.)The current rules uses DCs for Diplomacy and Bluff.  However, I have always required someont to try to make a statement even before allowing a die roll.  You can still have rules to cover diplomacy and still have role playing.  Also, a player should have the option of deciding his characters actions -- a diplomacy roll is NOT a charm spell.  I agree that the current social rules are not perfect, but having rules determine how a PLAYER CHARACTER will respond will likely diminish many player's enjoyment of the game.  I agree that a good roleplayer can choose how to react to a defeat, but should not the player not the dice determine how the PC will react?</blockquote>

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