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Message: <blockquote data-quote="AbdulAlhazred" data-source="post: 7201229" data-attributes="member: 82106">Well, in the non-pay version of my model that's effectively what you get, you sub in Religion or Charisma or WHATEVER so you have a chit-chat with the dead, vs you go whip out your magnifying glass and play Sherlock Holmes (Perception, Arcana, whatever). If you fail your check, well maybe someone lied to you, etc. just like if you questioned a living witness. If you're willing to pay, well, then you get the real goods, you use the potent ritual components and the dead guy tells the truth or whatever. Its more of an "I am willing to put up the stakes to make this happen" kind of thing. 'cause if you think about it, just subbing one skill for another isn't a big deal, why pay for that? Some other PC probably has that skill anyway! Even if they don't, just having the ritual is merely a plot convenience, it gives you a shot at taking one narrative path vs another. Paying OTOH should get you something for your money. THAT was the real issue with 4e rituals. At the core of it you paying just to get the privilege of shaping the possible narrative. In a game where there IS a plot, even if its one directed by the players, there's no literal advantage in having specific abilities, there's always SOME way forward. At most the GM can present a puzzle where finding that way is the game (and combat is one sort of puzzle when no fight is ever really unwinnable). Some people might argue that my version of rituals/practices thwarts the 'puzzle game', but it doesn't really, because narrative coherency is still required, and you WILL run out of resources to pay for auto-success pretty soon if you simply rely on that technique. Eventually the PCs will have staked all their stakes and then they'll just have one huge skill check where it all comes down to one toss of the dice. You are enabled to play that way, which is fine, but you can also simply nudge things in a more interesting direction once in a while.</blockquote>

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