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Community
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Players: Why Do You Want to Roll a d20?
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<blockquote data-quote="Guest 6801328" data-source="post: 7794288"><p>I can't say for certain what I'd do, because of course this isn't an actual character in an actual campaign that I'm DMing, but let me give some example answers:</p><p></p><p></p><p style="margin-left: 20px"></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px">Assuming this makes sense for your character (Sage background, History or Nature proficiency) this might be an autosuccess.</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px">But this doesn't make it "magic words" because <em>I didn't have this answer in mind when I created the challenge</em>. Rather, I'm responding to what the player proposes.</p><p></p><p></p><p style="margin-left: 20px"></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px">Ranger with favored terrain, or your character is from this area? Sure, autosuccess.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Roll History. Or maybe roll Nature.</p><p></p><p></p><p style="margin-left: 20px"></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px">"Can you phrase this as an action instead of a question?" (Unless we've already had this conversation several times and you just refuse to try something new, in which case I just shrug and either ask for a roll or maybe say, "Nothing.")</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>See the difference? By phrasing it as an action:</p><p>1) It encourages you to engage with the fiction, instead of engaging with the mechanics.</p><p>2) Why would you NOT want to give the DM some reason for granting you an auto-success?</p><p></p><p>Also bear in mind that maybe (for whatever reason) I think this information is more obscure, in which case I increase the difficulty of everything. So the first two action declarations might become ability checks, and the more vague ones become auto-failures. Or maybe the second one is also an autofailure because the character wouldn't have any knowledge of this area.</p><p></p><p>Like I said, made-up examples, made-up answers. But hopefully that's illustrative.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Yeah, I'd increase the probability of success (that is, more likely to grant an auto-success) if you were more specific like this.</p><p></p><p>Partly because it just makes it easier to DM, because more details make it easier to improvise: "Oh, yeah, you once read an account of a battle, in a diary of a solider attached to a patrol who was tasked with 'taming' this place, where the commanding officer assumed they didn't have ranged attacks and positioned his men accordingly, until the officer was killed by a rock. The irony of his last words made the story stick: 'We are totally safe at this dis....'"</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>If you are 100% convinced you understand, why do you ask the questions? I would assume that asking clarifying questions implies a recognition of complete understanding.</p><p></p><p>But, I suppose the other possibility is that you are 100% convinced we are wrong and your "questions" are really intended as traps designed to prove that.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Yes, it does! It's why I keep trying.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Guest 6801328, post: 7794288"] I can't say for certain what I'd do, because of course this isn't an actual character in an actual campaign that I'm DMing, but let me give some example answers: [INDENT][/INDENT] [INDENT][/INDENT] [INDENT]Assuming this makes sense for your character (Sage background, History or Nature proficiency) this might be an autosuccess.[/INDENT] [INDENT][/INDENT] [INDENT]But this doesn't make it "magic words" because [I]I didn't have this answer in mind when I created the challenge[/I]. Rather, I'm responding to what the player proposes.[/INDENT] [INDENT][/INDENT] [INDENT][/INDENT] [INDENT]Ranger with favored terrain, or your character is from this area? Sure, autosuccess.[/INDENT] Roll History. Or maybe roll Nature. [INDENT][/INDENT] [INDENT][/INDENT] [INDENT]"Can you phrase this as an action instead of a question?" (Unless we've already had this conversation several times and you just refuse to try something new, in which case I just shrug and either ask for a roll or maybe say, "Nothing.")[/INDENT] See the difference? By phrasing it as an action: 1) It encourages you to engage with the fiction, instead of engaging with the mechanics. 2) Why would you NOT want to give the DM some reason for granting you an auto-success? Also bear in mind that maybe (for whatever reason) I think this information is more obscure, in which case I increase the difficulty of everything. So the first two action declarations might become ability checks, and the more vague ones become auto-failures. Or maybe the second one is also an autofailure because the character wouldn't have any knowledge of this area. Like I said, made-up examples, made-up answers. But hopefully that's illustrative. Yeah, I'd increase the probability of success (that is, more likely to grant an auto-success) if you were more specific like this. Partly because it just makes it easier to DM, because more details make it easier to improvise: "Oh, yeah, you once read an account of a battle, in a diary of a solider attached to a patrol who was tasked with 'taming' this place, where the commanding officer assumed they didn't have ranged attacks and positioned his men accordingly, until the officer was killed by a rock. The irony of his last words made the story stick: 'We are totally safe at this dis....'" If you are 100% convinced you understand, why do you ask the questions? I would assume that asking clarifying questions implies a recognition of complete understanding. But, I suppose the other possibility is that you are 100% convinced we are wrong and your "questions" are really intended as traps designed to prove that. Yes, it does! It's why I keep trying. [/QUOTE]
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