Player skill vs character skill?

[aramis erak]

Tangent from another thread.

A reoccurring theme of trap discussions (and many others, if we're being honest), is where to draw the line between player skill vs character skill.

So that's what this thread is about. Where are your lines on player skill vs character skill?

Everyone's different, of course. And there are multiple different places the question can come up.

If it's not clearly in the character's abilities, it needs a roll.
Player skill in narration can get moderate bonuses to the roll.

If it's not totally absurd or a clear miscommunication, I generally will set a reachable goal and send to a roll.

I absolutely do NOT let player skill trump character definition; no matter how eloquent the player. If you dumpstat Charisma, everyone's either creeped out by you or thinks you a boor, if not a total ass, by how low.

 

[aramis erak]

I have seen the same with new players and story. Fun to watch. But still, if that player took a Hulk Smash character, no amount of fiction engagement should allow Hulk to delicately sneak across a fragile bridge. That is where the GM needs to explain the choices have consequences concept. Perhaps with a "As soon as Hulk gets on the bridge, it collapses...."

Agree that later versions of D&D linage games are less stat strict. Earlier versions had a much wider spread of stat based penalties and bonuses.

No, the earliest edition was a max +1/-1 from atts... until expansions. Holmes kept that.
BX has a +3/-3 range
AD&D1 ranged from -3 to +4 or more, by attribute. AD&D2 had a similar range. both had extensive secondary abilities off the attribute, too.
3E on has a -5 to +5 range for starting PC att mods.
4E and 5E have the same mods table as 3e; 5e caps atts for PCs at 20 (exception Barbarians). for the +5 att mod cap.

D&D has, except for the AD&D1 predating BX, had a consistent increase in attribute importance over time. Even the 3E/4E and 4E changes increased it by decreasing skill mods...
BX/BECMI/BBB+Cyclo has a wider table, but PC's can't get above the +3 without magic.