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<blockquote data-quote="TheCosmicKid" data-source="post: 6870089" data-attributes="member: 6683613">Actual rolls aren't required.&nbsp; You come to the same dilemma even if you assume that these players just talk out their characters' interaction.&nbsp; Int 5 means Bruce is mechanically prohibited from the narrative option of seeing through Eloelle's deception, just as it means that Eloelle herself is prohibited from the narrative option of revealing information voluntarily.&nbsp; Even if Eloelle's player agrees that under the circumstances it would be most appropriate or dramatic for Bruce to figure it out, her choice to represent her character mechanically as though the information did not exist means she cannot allow the nonexistent information to get out or else she is breaking the rules.&nbsp; Had she simply modeled the information as existing, or ditched the rules that say it doesn't, they would not have this problem.Alignments and codes are a matter solely of a character's internal decision-making, and a character can choose to break them at any time.&nbsp; If a player decides that her paladin is consumed with rage and renounces her vows to go on a killing spree, the rules can resolve that action perfectly well.&nbsp; On the other hand, being an Int 5 genius as you have described requires a character to act in a certain way which she cannot choose to break, and which furthermore requires external elements in the world to all conspire to maintain her status quo.Given that you've acknowledged you could build Eloelle with a high Intelligence as well as a low one, and your argument has been throughout that the mechanical construct of an Intelligence score doesn't mean anything conceptually... how can this conceptually-meaningless number be a conceptual choice?&nbsp; Per your premises, it's strictly a mechanical choice, as as far as mechanical choices go it's an ill-advised one because it cuts off potentially fruitful paths your narrative might take.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="TheCosmicKid, post: 6870089, member: 6683613"] Actual rolls aren't required. You come to the same dilemma even if you assume that these players just talk out their characters' interaction. Int 5 means Bruce is mechanically prohibited from the narrative option of seeing through Eloelle's deception, just as it means that Eloelle herself is prohibited from the narrative option of revealing information voluntarily. Even if Eloelle's player agrees that under the circumstances it would be most appropriate or dramatic for Bruce to figure it out, her choice to represent her character mechanically as though the information did not exist means she cannot allow the nonexistent information to get out or else she is breaking the rules. Had she simply modeled the information as existing, or ditched the rules that say it doesn't, they would not have this problem. Alignments and codes are a matter solely of a character's internal decision-making, and a character can choose to break them at any time. If a player decides that her paladin is consumed with rage and renounces her vows to go on a killing spree, the rules can resolve that action perfectly well. On the other hand, being an Int 5 genius as you have described requires a character to act in a certain way which she cannot choose to break, and which furthermore requires external elements in the world to all conspire to maintain her status quo. Given that you've acknowledged you could build Eloelle with a high Intelligence as well as a low one, and your argument has been throughout that the mechanical construct of an Intelligence score doesn't mean anything conceptually... how can this conceptually-meaningless number be a conceptual choice? Per your premises, it's strictly a mechanical choice, as as far as mechanical choices go it's an ill-advised one because it cuts off potentially fruitful paths your narrative might take. [/QUOTE]

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