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<blockquote data-quote="Water Bob" data-source="post: 6022330" data-attributes="member: 92305">The merchant example, I made up as I wrote, but the gnoll thing happened in my AD&amp;D 2E Forgotten Realms games.&nbsp;Back in the day, once FR came out, we fell in love with the setting.&nbsp; I've got most of my AD&amp;D 1E and 2E hours logged there (we spent quite a lot of time in Dragonlance, too).&nbsp;Merchant roleplaying happened in FR just as frequently as it does in my Conan game.&nbsp;I mentioned above that I think the good GM keeps a finger on the pulse of his game.&nbsp; When these impromptu roleplaying moments pop up, he lets them live.&nbsp; But, he doesn't do it 100% of the time.&nbsp; No, sometimes it gets old....&quot;Oh, great, another stingy merchant to deal with.&quot;&nbsp; As GM, you've got to know when an RP moment will enhance the game and just roll dice and move on if it feels like the game is bogging down.&nbsp;I mix and match all the time.&nbsp; Sometimes visting a town for a few days takes five minutes of game time, and everybody buys replacement gear.&nbsp; And, sometimes, we take three game sessions in the town, roleplaying.&nbsp;As long as it's fun and interesting.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Here's the rub with the 3.0/3.5 rules, though:&nbsp; We play out an encounter strictly with roleplay.&nbsp; Let's say the PCs have approached a town after sundown, and the town gates have closed.&nbsp; I describe the guard on the battlement that looks down at them.&nbsp; There's another in a guard tower with a crossbow.&nbsp; We play out the interchange between the guard that the PCs.&nbsp; It's fun.&nbsp; But, ultimately, the PCs don't convince the guard to let them inside this night.&nbsp; They'll have to spend the night in the wilderness then come back to the gate in the morning.&nbsp;The roleplaying went that way, but then a player looks at his sheet and says, &quot;Hey, I've got a 16 CHA, and I'm +11 at Diplomacy...I shoulda convinced that guard to let us in!&quot;&nbsp;But, he didnt'.&nbsp; When we roleplayed it out, although it was an enjoyable RP momemt.&nbsp; The players even laughed at my rendition of the guard.&nbsp; The juxtapositon of the characters stats and the outcome of the roleplay may not seem correct.&nbsp;In my view, the character did what the character did as the player played him.&nbsp;In a 3.0/3.5 view, it was an unlikely occurence that the character would roll so low as to miss the throw to let the PCs inside the town at night.&nbsp; The character could have Taken 10 and made the throw.&nbsp;Thus, this is the problem I sometimes have with the game.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Water Bob, post: 6022330, member: 92305"] The merchant example, I made up as I wrote, but the gnoll thing happened in my AD&D 2E Forgotten Realms games. Back in the day, once FR came out, we fell in love with the setting. I've got most of my AD&D 1E and 2E hours logged there (we spent quite a lot of time in Dragonlance, too). Merchant roleplaying happened in FR just as frequently as it does in my Conan game. I mentioned above that I think the good GM keeps a finger on the pulse of his game. When these impromptu roleplaying moments pop up, he lets them live. But, he doesn't do it 100% of the time. No, sometimes it gets old...."Oh, great, another stingy merchant to deal with." As GM, you've got to know when an RP moment will enhance the game and just roll dice and move on if it feels like the game is bogging down. I mix and match all the time. Sometimes visting a town for a few days takes five minutes of game time, and everybody buys replacement gear. And, sometimes, we take three game sessions in the town, roleplaying. As long as it's fun and interesting. [COLOR=darkorange]Here's the rub with the 3.0/3.5 rules, though:[/COLOR] We play out an encounter strictly with roleplay. Let's say the PCs have approached a town after sundown, and the town gates have closed. I describe the guard on the battlement that looks down at them. There's another in a guard tower with a crossbow. We play out the interchange between the guard that the PCs. It's fun. But, ultimately, the PCs don't convince the guard to let them inside this night. They'll have to spend the night in the wilderness then come back to the gate in the morning. The roleplaying went that way, but then a player looks at his sheet and says, "Hey, I've got a 16 CHA, and I'm +11 at Diplomacy...I shoulda convinced that guard to let us in!" But, he didnt'. When we roleplayed it out, although it was an enjoyable RP momemt. The players even laughed at my rendition of the guard. The juxtapositon of the characters stats and the outcome of the roleplay may not seem correct. In my view, the character did what the character did as the player played him. In a 3.0/3.5 view, it was an unlikely occurence that the character would roll so low as to miss the throw to let the PCs inside the town at night. The character could have Taken 10 and made the throw. Thus, this is the problem I sometimes have with the game. [/QUOTE]

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