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ShortQuests -- Pocket Sized Adventures! An all-new collection of digest-sized D&D adventures designed for 1-2 game sessions.

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="totoro" data-source="post: 1069417" data-attributes="member: 11939">I think social skills work great.  They help show on paper what your character's strengths are, even if it has nothing to do with spells or prowess in combat.  Even for those players who have an excellent grasp of their characters' abilities, there may be a temptation (at times) to pretend your character is pretty good at negotiation so you can get more profit.  The social skills help make sure that even the (very skilled) player of that half-orc barbarian doesn't suddenly sweet talk the merchant into selling him an axe at a good price.  And the DM won't fall into the trap of stereotyping each character based on race (by refusing to allow the half-orc any social benefit even though he has a reasonably good charisma and some decent education and social skill.)IMO, a good way to use social skills is to make a roll, then do the encounter.  For example, if the roll is diplomacy, then the encounter will go better if you roll well.  If the roll is gather information, then the person with whom you speak will be more likely to provide information.  You can still roleplay everything; the DM just adjusts how friendly or useful the target is.And, if you want to gloss over an encounter, you can always just handle it with a roll.  "I'll buy a longsword."  "Make a diplomacy check to see if you have to pay more than the listed price."  Or, "I want to find out more about the temple on the hill."  "Make a gather information check and I'll give you some info based on how well you roll."</blockquote>

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