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Message: <blockquote data-quote="sunshadow21" data-source="post: 6736178" data-attributes="member: 6667193"><p>And why must a DM be impartial with their NPC reactions while players have free reign to control how their PCs react? I have never allowed a single dice roll to fully control how my NPCs react, and I don't allow players to think that dice rolls have no impact on their character. In both cases, the dice roll is very real, and it has an impact, but it never by itself dictates every detail of how my NPCs react and I don't expect it to fully control a PC either, but I do expect a player to recognize that success or failure do put certain bounds on their character, and that certain action may be made easier or harder based on the dice roll. If one is going to simply ignore the rules for the social skills because of concerns about mechanical constraints, why bother roll dice and have a rule book in the first place? Mechanical rules and dice rolls should never be the only interaction on the social pillar, save for very simple situations like haggling with a shopkeeper, but used wisely, they can serve as a very strong starting point to build a memorable scene around, which in many cases would not happen without that mechanical reinforcement because it would never occur to the player to look beyond the initial failed attempt.</p></blockquote><p></p>