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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Dragonblade" data-source="post: 5661743" data-attributes="member: 2804">Thanks, Lanefan, you bring up some good points and counterpoints. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />You also brought up another deal breaker for me. XP or advancement based on individual "role-play" awards. This also goes to the heart of your point that its better to "role-play" coolness.My problem is that what construes coolness or good RP can really vary from GM to GM. I may portray my character in a way that I perceive as cool, but have had GMs who went out of their way to have their NPCs mock or ignore it. Likewise, I may turn in what I felt was a Shakespearean performance at the table, but the GM didn't agree or didn't get it.Having stuff like this be left up to GM fiat just frustrates me no end. If my coolness is based on mechanics then I don't need anyone to buy into my coolness. The numbers objectively back me up. And interestingly enough, when the GM knows my PC is good at doing something, the NPCs act accordingly. I don't have to fake it through RP and put myself at the subjective mercy of a DM who may be incompetent or oblivious.Its liberating to be free to RP one's character the way they want to. Not the way the GM thinks they should.Its all well and good for some to say, 'Well, find another GM', but that's the whole point. You shouldn't have to. A well designed ruleset can mitigate the impact of poor DMing by eliminating this sort of subjectivity.I see and deal with enough social judgement all around me in the real world. I play RPGs to have fun. I don't want to have to prove myself or fret about whether I'm living up to the subjective RP standards of another when I'm at the game table.</blockquote>

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