New Noonage

[Kobold Avenger]

I prefer talk then roll. If the player says something good or bad I can always apply a situational modifier.

Most of my experience with social checks has been, "are you lying" and that's about it.

 

[EricNoah]

I also like talk, then roll. If the "talk" is good, I'll usually skip the roll. If the talk is bad, I'll let the player roll to simulate the fact that his character might be a bit more suave than he is in person.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

I typically play talk, then roll ... but roll, then talk comes up occasionally, and is tremendous fun when the player rolls badly.

 

[Mephistopheles]

I talk then roll because it works both ways. One of my players is both more intelligent and more charismatic than his character. It comes naturally to him to be clever and charming when he's talking to my NPCs, but it doesn't come naturally to his character. So we play out the conversation the way he'd like it to go and at any point where a reaction from an NPC is required I roll against his character's abilities to see the impression he actually makes. It's not unlike a real life situation where you know what you want to say and how you want to say it but when it comes to actually saying it you don't quite get it across the way you wanted.

 

[TarionzCousin]

I also like talk, then roll. If the "talk" is good, I'll usually skip the roll. If the talk is bad, I'll let the player roll to simulate the fact that his character might be a bit more suave than he is in person.

I prefer to do this too, although my players haven't always liked it.

Mephistopheles

Yeah, that too.

Others preferred to roll the skill check first, then deliver dialogue that matched their result (good or bad). The system works either way, so I might just make it explicit that you can "roll, then talk" or "talk, then roll."

This can be very funny at the table.

4) There is a totally valid D&D playstyle that haaaaates the idea of social interactions being resolved with a die roll. This system should work for that playstyle, too, once you flip a few switches. That just isn't the playstyle we were testing last night.

And this is for the rest of us you.

Great blog. Thanks for the link!

 

[William Ronald]

Not everyone can be charismatic or strong in real life. I think complex social interaction rules can help.

While a player may make a glib remark, someone might interpret what the character said the wrong way. Hence some need for rules.

One thing that will help is setting some ground rules in a group (i.e. when will a PC be influenced in his reactions by dice rolls.) So, I hope we will see a lot of play testing of the social skills rules so that it will be a lot easier to use.

 

[Seeten]

I am annoyed that a str 4 weakling can easily play a str 36 half-dragon, but a charisma 9 nerd is unable to play a charisma 26 bard, because he cant sing and make brilliantly witty remarks to the NPCs.

Call me weird.

 

[TarionzCousin]

I am annoyed that a str 4 weakling can easily play a str 36 half-dragon, but a charisma 9 nerd is unable to play a charisma 26 bard, because he cant sing and make brilliantly witty remarks to the NPCs.

Call me weird.

You're weird.

But even the current 3E rules allow for Perform checks to sing well and Diplomacy checks to make brilliantly witty remarks to the NPC's. Sure, they aren't ideal, but they do make it possible.

 

[RFisher]

I am annoyed that a str 4 weakling can easily play a str 36 half-dragon, but a charisma 9 nerd is unable to play a charisma 26 bard, because he cant sing and make brilliantly witty remarks to the NPCs.

I don't see the problem. We've always played it that the nerd's tone-deaf singing is heard as beautiful by the NPCs & his awkward remark was heard as brilliantly witty.

 

[Li Shenron]

I always run it "talk, then roll" because almost every time I give circumstance bonuses/penalties depending on the content of the speech...

I think it's good to have (simple) social interaction rules. A group that doesn't like these rules at all and wants to just roleplay out of it, can always do that. But a goofy DM that doesn't know how to make the NPC react or change the course of the adventure, can get a benefit from these rules.