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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ratskinner" data-source="post: 7733924" data-attributes="member: 6688937">Except that there are several(many?) games that successfully do manage to hard-code a method (if not the exact specifics) for resolving such things. In Fate, you can even pick between or combine two methods, depending on your goal; and they are the same methods that you can use for physical combat! Similarly with [MENTION=42582]pemerton[/MENTION]'s example with MHRP. Conditions, Complications, and Stress can be applied to NPCs in ways that are reliable from the player's perspective, and thus useful in a tactical way. Just like positioning, HP, and AC for combat. We just saw an example upthread of a PC using "tactical socializing" to remove a threat before the fighting starts.erm...citation needed? especially since "The DM will make up and/or respond however he feels like without clear direction from the rules." doesn't exactly impress me as "handled by the rules."So our DMs should sit in judgement of our acting/improv abilities like a Drama Teacher at auditions for the High School Play? Will a DM be able to distinguish between my character's social skills and mine? Or is it somehow okay for physically unfit and martially-unskilled player to use the rules to establish his character's heroism of muscle and prowess, but not okay for a socially-unskilled player to do the same with charm and cleverness? Or how about the reverse? Why does the silver-tongued player's character have access to resources in social interactions that the black-belt player's character doesn't have in combat resolution?I'm also curious as to this concept of reacting "as someone normally would", especially if we're talking a 13 year-old male DM trying to evaluate a world-weary middle-aged barmaid!This only makes sense to me under the "skilled play" paradigm, where we start from the premise that we are, as players, using as much of our wits and cleverness to overcome this deadly and often absurd or nonsensical dungeon with our hopelessly limited characters. But that kind of play should just about start and end at the Dungeon Entrance. If that's your play goal, there's no reason for the townsfolk to have names, let alone backstory, etc. The town is basically the equipment list and training cost table. Trying to seduce the barmaid doesn't enter into "skilled play". The Interaction pillar is reduced to rolling on the "rumors" table. This is the realm of characters with names like "Fighter IV" and "Draziw". To be clear, there's nothing wrong with this kind of play. I've run and enjoyed it many times. (I'm odd, apparently I can even enjoy wargames and storygames.) But it doesn't work well for a group that concerns itself more with an epic heroic storyline, or with cooperative narrative depth. (Which seems to be the kind of play that this thread has drifted to address.)...and I'm up too late to rant further.</blockquote>

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