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<blockquote data-quote="Reynard" data-source="post: 9516329" data-attributes="member: 467">Again, saying yes doesn't necessarily mean there are never any die rolls. it depends on the game you are playing and what the player asks of the GM versus what the game engine itself handles.I want to drill down on that difference a little. Some &quot;questions&quot; are really just pulling game engine levers. Most of combat in most traditional RPGs is that. &quot;Can I attack the ogre&quot; is a question but the resolution AFTER the answer of &quot;yes&quot; is up to the game engine (if we are talking about something like D&amp;D). Stealth checks and &quot;Can i sneak past the guard&quot; are a little different because at least as far as 5E and some other versions of D&amp;D are concerned, one of the primary resolution mechanisms in play IS in fact the GM just saying Yes. But, that doesn't mean you don't have situations in which the rules still determine the outcome. Hiding in combat in order to gain sneak attack, for example.The other thing in RPGs with GMs, though, are the times when the player is asking something OF the GM. This is where the thought experiment says &quot;always say Yes.&quot; &quot;Can I play [some weird race or class]&quot; is one such question OF the GM. So is &quot;can I get an audience with the king?&quot; Sometimes asking to affect the world is OF the GM (&quot;can I convince the king to give me lands and title&quot;) and sometimes it is something mechanical (&quot;a DC 30 Persuasion check is required to convince the king to grant you lands and title, with the DC reduced because the PC accomplished X, Y or Z things for the king.&quot;)I don't want to dwell too much on players asking thigs that break the game or ruin the story or other such nonsense, because nobody wants to play with those people regardless of the degree to which the GM might say &quot;Yes.&quot;</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Reynard, post: 9516329, member: 467"] Again, saying yes doesn't necessarily mean there are never any die rolls. it depends on the game you are playing and what the player asks of the GM versus what the game engine itself handles. I want to drill down on that difference a little. Some "questions" are really just pulling game engine levers. Most of combat in most traditional RPGs is that. "Can I attack the ogre" is a question but the resolution AFTER the answer of "yes" is up to the game engine (if we are talking about something like D&D). Stealth checks and "Can i sneak past the guard" are a little different because at least as far as 5E and some other versions of D&D are concerned, one of the primary resolution mechanisms in play IS in fact the GM just saying Yes. But, that doesn't mean you don't have situations in which the rules still determine the outcome. Hiding in combat in order to gain sneak attack, for example. The other thing in RPGs with GMs, though, are the times when the player is asking something OF the GM. This is where the thought experiment says "always say Yes." "Can I play [some weird race or class]" is one such question OF the GM. So is "can I get an audience with the king?" Sometimes asking to affect the world is OF the GM ("can I convince the king to give me lands and title") and sometimes it is something mechanical ("a DC 30 Persuasion check is required to convince the king to grant you lands and title, with the DC reduced because the PC accomplished X, Y or Z things for the king.") I don't want to dwell too much on players asking thigs that break the game or ruin the story or other such nonsense, because nobody wants to play with those people regardless of the degree to which the GM might say "Yes." [/QUOTE]

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