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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lizard" data-source="post: 4176889" data-attributes="member: 1054">Well, we run things differently. I generally do it as follows:Everyone roleplays. If I feel the NPC needs to make an important decision, I ask the player to roll diplomacy, or bluff if they're lying, or intimidate, or whatever. Often, I'll ask what the player is trying to do and pick the skill they should use. Any time they wish, players can roll sense motive if they think the NPC is lying.I've never used the 'one roll turns an enemy into a friend' mechanic, except for dealing with mook guards. I don't know anyone who does. The bulk of a game session is PCs interacting with NPCs, with dice rolled only at crucial decision points. I think more detailed mechanics would be nice, but 3e provides a decent framework. Maybe 4e will to; I know we've only seen a stripped-down sample.I don't use published adventures, so I don't know. And, sure, I've done that sort of handwaving, but it's a PITA, because players want to know how it works according to the rules, and just mumbling "magic rituals....yadda yadda" isn't very satisfying to them. The broader the rules, the easier it is for me to say "Well, it's a lot like X, but due to...uh..sunspots...it's actually Y". Then the players have a strong conceptual framework. It's easier to fudge 10% than 90%.Then I think you'd be supporting more hard-and-fast rules for out of combat abilities, instead of "make it up". That way, when you are forced to improvise, you have something to use, instead of saying, "Well, OK, let's have you meet a vampire...oh, wait, there's nothing in here about how vampires operate when they're not being attacked by PCs...let me decide on the 'physics' of vampires, then we can have an adventure with one."Worlds that don't survive even a seconds introspection give me headaches and ruin my fun. If I'm in a game and the plot hinges on people acting contrary to how the world 'works', and this isn't a Big Honkin' Clue The Something Is Up, I stop having fun.This is fun:Player 1:"Hey guys, according to my research, aboleths can't control people at this range. This one can. What's going on?"Player 2: "Well, maybe it's not an aboleth...just something pretending to be. Or maybe there's something else going on. Hmm. I do a research check. Got a 30!"DM:"You spend four hours at the library well everyone else looks bored and edgy. About the time they're about to kill you, you do make something of a discovery. You don't find too much on aboleths, but you do learn that mind flayers make artifacts which greatly enhance the range of telepathic abilities. BTW, just to remind you, you did find aboleth slime on the guy you killed."Player 1:"Well, that means it probably is an aboleth, or a really elaborate hoax. Hmm. I wonder if this one has made a deal with a mind flayer, or stolen a mind flayer artifact...you know, old squid-face down at the pub owes us for not killing him. Let's extract some information from him." (Begin fun roleplaying with cowardly mind flayer)This is not fun:Player 1:"Hey guys, according to my research, aboleths can't control people at this range. This one can. What's going on?"DM:"Look, just go to the damn lair and kill it already. I changed the rules. Deal with it."</blockquote>

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