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Message: <blockquote data-quote="LostSoul" data-source="post: 4775586" data-attributes="member: 386">Thanks Imaro!  I appreciate the response.  (I need to spread more XP around, etc.)Let me start off by saying that I want the players to make gamist choices - to try and "win" because they are good players.  "Winning" means different things based on the PC's goals, and I want it to be firmly grounded in the game world.  That's not too hard from my DM's point of view; I set up the threats, especially long-term ones the PCs can't deal with now, and they try and knock them down.  Good players will achieve their PC's goals, and poor players will be struggling to keep their heads above water.So, skill challenges/skill checks.  What you're saying is that the situation in the game world becomes less important than a high number on the character sheet because of this abstraction.  If I can't know what "Arcana" means (is it just knowledge about arcane lore or the ability to manipulate it?), then how does one decide when it can be used and when it can't?What's the point of a player making smart choices in order to use his best abilities when any ability can be used at any time, and all the smart choices can be found on the WotC Char-Op boards?What do you think about this solution: the DM, as a referee and lorekeeper of the world, has a tight rein over what the skills mean in the gameworld.  He uses the in-game situation to decide what skills can be used, which ones can't, and which ones give a bonus/penalty or auto-success/failure.  By adding elements to the gameworld - that can be discovered by the players through experience - smart players can translate their knowledge of the game world into situations where their best skills come into play.That's a lot of babble, but I can't think of an example right now to ground it in actual play.  Hmm...</blockquote>

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