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<blockquote data-quote="iserith" data-source="post: 6749085" data-attributes="member: 97077">Building on this, consider describing fictional actions your character does rather than ask questions.&quot;Do I notice anything odd about the NPC?&quot; --&gt; &quot;I examine the NPC's behavior closely and make note of anything odd.&quot;&quot;Is he holding a weapon or is he unarmed?&quot; --&gt; &quot;I scan him quickly to make sure he's unarmed.&quot;&quot;What kind of body language does she have?&quot; --&gt; &quot;I observe her body language carefully to gain clues as to her true intentions.&quot;And so on. By taking action instead of asking questions while making your goal and approach clear, it makes it easier on the DM to narrate a result of the adventurers' actions without assuming a character takes a particular action and also makes it easy to see when an ability check is necessary.Here's a tip unrelated to the above, too: When it comes to interacting with NPCs, try to figure out what the NPC wants or needs first. If you can then provide the NPC with that, you might be able to improve your chances of getting what you want or need out of them. Often you can just ask an NPC what they want or need, but in some cases, the NPC might have secret motivations. In this case, you'll have to tease it out of the NPC through deception or persuasion or by carefully observing them and listening to what they say and deducing the information. (And when it comes to secret information, you can generally count on DMs to ask for ability checks. Just hope that they use &quot;progress combined with a setback&quot; on a failed check or else the interaction can really stall.)</blockquote>

[QUOTE="iserith, post: 6749085, member: 97077"] Building on this, consider describing fictional actions your character does rather than ask questions. "Do I notice anything odd about the NPC?" --> "I examine the NPC's behavior closely and make note of anything odd." "Is he holding a weapon or is he unarmed?" --> "I scan him quickly to make sure he's unarmed." "What kind of body language does she have?" --> "I observe her body language carefully to gain clues as to her true intentions." And so on. By taking action instead of asking questions while making your goal and approach clear, it makes it easier on the DM to narrate a result of the adventurers' actions without assuming a character takes a particular action and also makes it easy to see when an ability check is necessary. Here's a tip unrelated to the above, too: When it comes to interacting with NPCs, try to figure out what the NPC wants or needs first. If you can then provide the NPC with that, you might be able to improve your chances of getting what you want or need out of them. Often you can just ask an NPC what they want or need, but in some cases, the NPC might have secret motivations. In this case, you'll have to tease it out of the NPC through deception or persuasion or by carefully observing them and listening to what they say and deducing the information. (And when it comes to secret information, you can generally count on DMs to ask for ability checks. Just hope that they use "progress combined with a setback" on a failed check or else the interaction can really stall.) [/QUOTE]

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