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<blockquote data-quote="redrick" data-source="post: 7301264" data-attributes="member: 6777696"><p>Haha, man, I have never had the opportunity to spend this much time considering the adjudication of a player action before! It's quite an exercise. I should record my sessions and invite all y'all to mark up my DM-voice in red pen.</p><p></p><p>But, since we're all having fun here, and we've made this hypothetical DM, a hypothetical set of players and a hypothetical fictional room with a mid-sized stone table in the center, which may or may not have any significance, I'm gonna justify how my fantasy fantasy roleplaying team ran it.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>This room has two features. It is small. And it has a table. We've noted that the table is worn (worn means used! PCs use things too!) and that it is stone. Stone is heavy. Many stone tables are too heavy to lift. Some small stone tables, say a stone chess board, can be lifted.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Maybe the player wants a table? Maybe the only way the player can think to interact with this room is by picking something up. The player certainly can't think of how to interact with the "small" feature of the room. (I lay across the floor and try to touch one wall with my feet and the other with my hands?) The player must assume this is a stone chessboard table that can be picked up and possibly taken back home.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Time to tell more about the table. The DM can run this two basic ways — they can let the character try to pick up the table, and fail, or they can give the player information the character would probably have before trying to pick up the table. (It's not a small chess-board table. It's a big stone table.) In this case, there's no real reason not to let the character try (and fail) to pick up the table, unless the DM plans to call for a Hernia Save, but the DM is giving the player the benefit of the doubt that the character might behave differently with this additional information, and doesn't want to make the character look like an <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /><img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /><img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /><img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /><img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /><img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /><img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /> straining over a non-chessboard-sized table.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Players never back down from an empty room. If the table is too heavy for one person to pick up, that just means they need a new solution. Fortunately, it seems like the whole party is united behind the Table Quest.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Why would the DM harsh on this moment of player unity? I dunno. I mean, they just saw it as a medium sized table and they can't imagine 4 adventurers squeezing around one side of it to push the thing. Now we've had the opportunity to learn a lot more about this table. It is way too heavy for one person to lift. And it is more or less exactly three shoulder-widths long. We know way more about this table than we would have if the DM had simply let PLAYER roll an Athletics check to pick it up in the first place.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>An action, with a goal and an approach and an uncertain outcome! Check time. The DM is also specifying the "group check" mechanic, so the players understand how their success will be determined. (Half of the participants need to beat the DC of the check in order to succeed.) This way, when Job rolls a 4 on their Athletics check, players will immediately understand that that's not a deal-breaker, so long as Rob and Bob rolled high.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="redrick, post: 7301264, member: 6777696"] Haha, man, I have never had the opportunity to spend this much time considering the adjudication of a player action before! It's quite an exercise. I should record my sessions and invite all y'all to mark up my DM-voice in red pen. But, since we're all having fun here, and we've made this hypothetical DM, a hypothetical set of players and a hypothetical fictional room with a mid-sized stone table in the center, which may or may not have any significance, I'm gonna justify how my fantasy fantasy roleplaying team ran it. This room has two features. It is small. And it has a table. We've noted that the table is worn (worn means used! PCs use things too!) and that it is stone. Stone is heavy. Many stone tables are too heavy to lift. Some small stone tables, say a stone chess board, can be lifted. Maybe the player wants a table? Maybe the only way the player can think to interact with this room is by picking something up. The player certainly can't think of how to interact with the "small" feature of the room. (I lay across the floor and try to touch one wall with my feet and the other with my hands?) The player must assume this is a stone chessboard table that can be picked up and possibly taken back home. Time to tell more about the table. The DM can run this two basic ways — they can let the character try to pick up the table, and fail, or they can give the player information the character would probably have before trying to pick up the table. (It's not a small chess-board table. It's a big stone table.) In this case, there's no real reason not to let the character try (and fail) to pick up the table, unless the DM plans to call for a Hernia Save, but the DM is giving the player the benefit of the doubt that the character might behave differently with this additional information, and doesn't want to make the character look like an :):):):):):):) straining over a non-chessboard-sized table. Players never back down from an empty room. If the table is too heavy for one person to pick up, that just means they need a new solution. Fortunately, it seems like the whole party is united behind the Table Quest. Why would the DM harsh on this moment of player unity? I dunno. I mean, they just saw it as a medium sized table and they can't imagine 4 adventurers squeezing around one side of it to push the thing. Now we've had the opportunity to learn a lot more about this table. It is way too heavy for one person to lift. And it is more or less exactly three shoulder-widths long. We know way more about this table than we would have if the DM had simply let PLAYER roll an Athletics check to pick it up in the first place. An action, with a goal and an approach and an uncertain outcome! Check time. The DM is also specifying the "group check" mechanic, so the players understand how their success will be determined. (Half of the participants need to beat the DC of the check in order to succeed.) This way, when Job rolls a 4 on their Athletics check, players will immediately understand that that's not a deal-breaker, so long as Rob and Bob rolled high. [/QUOTE]
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