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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Saeviomagy" data-source="post: 778679" data-attributes="member: 5890">Does anyone notice that half the DM's around (primarily those with a 'problem' with the social interaction rules) seem to think that a 'helpful' character (or even a charmed person) is a mind-controlled-zombie? Or that the average individual who falls for a bluff automatically does what the player wants  - that "I'm actually a lamia polymorphed into a wizard, and we all know lamia's tell the truth, so I'm telling the truth when I say I'll give you the money back" and a successful bluff check results in the character handing over all their cash?Realistically, even if you're GUARANTEED to get all your cash back, would you hand it all over to someone? I don't think anybody would. Maybe you'd make a small investment, but that's pretty much it.Realistically, even if you're a villain shifted to 'helpful' status, that just means that when you obliterate the town, you might arrange to have the PC's be out of town. Hell, you may even lie to them to do it.Add that to the fact that your average flunkey or villain will already have a 'helpful' status towards his boss, and you don't really have that much of a problem when it comes to intriguing plots.Finally - shifting someone's attitude to 'helpful' is done AS WELL AS roleplaying. It's just that the attitude that the NPC takes while you roleplay is 'helpful'. You still ask the questions. You still try to wheedle your way into his confidence. You can still try to prove his boss doesn't care about him by using evidence and rumours you've collected. It's just that he doesn't start his side of the conversation with a broken bottle to your face.Same with intimidate. Intimidate shifts the guy's attitude while you're around. It doesn't mean the guy breaks down and spills all - it just means that the info he gives you while you interrogate him is that bit more likely to be true. He'll still evade questions, he'll still have things he refuses to tell you. But when he does tell you things, he's not going to lie.</blockquote>

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