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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Blue" data-source="post: 9810158" data-attributes="member: 20564">It seems obvious to me that you can NEVER pick one or the other -- every action in RPGs is a combination of both.  A player can determine what spell to cast or what foe to attack or where to position themselves (player choice) and use their character's attack (character mechanical interaction).Even for a player talking in third person, the approach is important.  "Brandor brings some ales over to the guardsmen's table and bonds with them over his own experiences as a guard in Waterdeep since that is his background" would likely have a lower DC to become friendly with the guards of a town than an inappropriate approach.Can a player not give any more input than "I search for secret compartments"?  Sure.  Should the player be barred from adding more any more in every circumstance?  No.I can't see that it's "obvious" that you should either use the character mechanics never influenced by what the player chooses, or only go by player actions and never use the mechanics of the character.  That's the antithesis of what roleplaying games are about.</blockquote>