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Mitigating players spamming Help, Guidance, Bardic Inspiration, and oh I’ll roll too?
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<blockquote data-quote="Reynard" data-source="post: 7496088" data-attributes="member: 467"><p>I'd like to present a counter argument to the majority of the advice in this thread so far: don't sweat it. it's not your job to play the PCs, or tell the players how to play the PCs. You have plenty to do without doing their work, too.</p><p></p><p>Now, if a player breaks the game rules, that's different. If a player makes a skill check and fails by 1 and another player says, "I want to cast guidance on her!" then tell them next time they need to do that before the skill check is made. But if the rogue is looking at a lock and the bard wants to inspire the rogue, what's the problem? That's the bard's job.</p><p></p><p>It does sound like you might have a communication problem if the players can't distinguish between something that is a group check, a solo check that can benefit from assistance or a check that must be made alone. But that is on your end as a DM, not theirs.</p><p></p><p>As to the idea that players don't declare using skill checks -- that's true as far as it goes, but it does not preclude a player asking. If a player says, "I use my thieves tools proficiency on the lock," there is no reason to say, "No, use slight of hands instead." The same goes for the different interaction skills, acrobatics versus athletics and so on. Players spend character creation and development resources intentionally and you should not do your best to make them regret their choices. Demanding players describe every action they take in hopes that you'll get the hint that they want to Persuade rather than Deceive is a waste of everyone's time and more damaging to player enjoyment and immersion than just letting them tell you what they want to do. Relatedly, if they do describe rather than declare, and it is in anyway ambiguous, try to tease out more information or even directly ask: "It sounds like your are trying to intimidate the guard, not deceive him, is that right?"</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Reynard, post: 7496088, member: 467"] I'd like to present a counter argument to the majority of the advice in this thread so far: don't sweat it. it's not your job to play the PCs, or tell the players how to play the PCs. You have plenty to do without doing their work, too. Now, if a player breaks the game rules, that's different. If a player makes a skill check and fails by 1 and another player says, "I want to cast guidance on her!" then tell them next time they need to do that before the skill check is made. But if the rogue is looking at a lock and the bard wants to inspire the rogue, what's the problem? That's the bard's job. It does sound like you might have a communication problem if the players can't distinguish between something that is a group check, a solo check that can benefit from assistance or a check that must be made alone. But that is on your end as a DM, not theirs. As to the idea that players don't declare using skill checks -- that's true as far as it goes, but it does not preclude a player asking. If a player says, "I use my thieves tools proficiency on the lock," there is no reason to say, "No, use slight of hands instead." The same goes for the different interaction skills, acrobatics versus athletics and so on. Players spend character creation and development resources intentionally and you should not do your best to make them regret their choices. Demanding players describe every action they take in hopes that you'll get the hint that they want to Persuade rather than Deceive is a waste of everyone's time and more damaging to player enjoyment and immersion than just letting them tell you what they want to do. Relatedly, if they do describe rather than declare, and it is in anyway ambiguous, try to tease out more information or even directly ask: "It sounds like your are trying to intimidate the guard, not deceive him, is that right?" [/QUOTE]
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