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Message: <blockquote data-quote="1Mac" data-source="post: 5736126" data-attributes="member: 48998">The case for 2: Like it or not, DnD has codified social encounters with the same essential dice-rolling mechanic as combat. We don't allow an attack to succeed just because it is described well, so we shouldn't allow a social encounter to succeed for the same reason. In either case, we want to reward characters that invest in an ability, and that reward is mitigated if it can also be achieved by clever descriptions. At the same time, this is a roleplaying game. So for both combat and social encounters, let the dice fall first, then let the roleplaying be based off the results.The case for 1: First, may I say that my interlocutor states the case for 2 quite convincingly! But surely roleplaying should be more a part of the game than illuminating cold die results after the fact? Roleplaying should shape the results as well. The dice should still be paramount, but a clever tactic or evocative description, whether it applies to a swing of the sword in battle or a turn of phrase in argument, should increase the odds of success in the player's favor. That way both die rolls and creative roleplaying have a part in success.I'm in favor of 1, but I think that same approach ought to be taken with combat, social encounters, and any other sort of encounter. In this way of looking at it, the roleplay-before-the-roll is really just a way of earning a stunt bonus peculiar to social encounters. It's still a stunt bonus all the same.</blockquote>

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