Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Rocket your D&D 5E and Level Up: Advanced 5E games into space! Alpha Star Magazine Is Launching... Right Now!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Celebrim" data-source="post: 6699673" data-attributes="member: 4937">My opinion is that the best mechanics are one that are associated with the things that they simulate, stimulating the player to imagine the exact scenario that is occurring within the game.For social challenges, nothing is more exacting - and exciting - than acting out the scene.  If you treat the scene as a combat scene fought by other means, you'll actually make it less imaginative and less exciting.  It might still be tense, but it will be far more abstract and you'll risk the actual scene not occurring in anyone's imagination and instead solely having the game play (throwing dice, declaring maneuvers) represent the scene.  Once the scene is set through acting it out, it's ok to use a fortune mechanic to determine any doubtable branching points in the conversation.  Is the deal accepted?   Is the lie believed?  Is the NPC frightened?  Does the NPC become sympathetic?   For those decisions, you can rely on character resources in social skills and so allow the uncharismatic to create the story of being a charismatic and charming character.   This creates a situation where often the video transcription of the event wouldn't record a scene of a charismatic character, but the script transcription of the same scene might well be a believable scene of persuasion.  All you would need to do is clean it up a bit and hand the script to a thespian with powerful screen presence.</blockquote>

Verification