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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Hussar" data-source="post: 5755442" data-attributes="member: 22779">Well, the fact that the paper is right there, in front of me, makes it somewhat difficult to ignore.  Plus, the fact that I am not policing anything but myself and expect everyone else to do the same thing means that, to the extent possible, I am ignoring other people's character sheet.But, when you are portraying a character that is different from the character you created, that breaks immersion for everyone at the table.  It's inconsistent for one.  If your character is described as X, but constantly fails at X, then it is not X.  "Challenge to the player"  Ayup, right there, immersion breaking, leaping over the fourth wall.  Why in heck would my barbarian, who's grown up on the steppes, living in yurts and tents all his life, have any idea how to solve a riddle about doors?So, if I the player solve that riddle, I'm now inconsistent to that character.  There is no reasonable way for that character to know the answer that particular riddle.  And, yes, I realize you could come up with some off the cuff justification, but, it would be breaking character for me.  It doesn't matter if it doesn't bother you.  It bothers other people at the table, namely me, and thus, it's behavior that makes for poor play.And, no, puzzles and riddles are not "perfectly appropriate" for the game.  They might be for your games, fine.  But, not for mine thanks.  They're entirely meta-game, frustration building and about as much fun as having your scrotum shaved.Funnily enough though, there are a number of spells which will do EXACTLY that.  All the "DM questioning" type spells.  Plus, I can make an Arcana check to know what the best approach might be to a given situation.  But, you're still missing the point.  It isn't that I know the optimum spell to cast.  It's that in portraying my Int 18 wizard, I'm going to play to the best of my ability and choose spells that I believe will be the most optimum.  OTOH, my 6 Wis barbarian probably won't be the one advocating checking for traps and setting complicated ambushes.Or, the better answer, leave riddles in the same drawer as labyrinths - that drawer marked, "REALLY DON'T DO THIS".The disconnect is entirely on your end.  Role assumption is intrinsic to any mature form of role play.  Yup.  Totally agree. At it's most basic level, that's role playing.  But, I don't want to play at the most basic level and I would never presume that anyone with any modicum of experience playing would remain at this level.I would argue that role-assumption is the most primary drive behind any role playing game.  While you can certainly play an RPG without role assumption, that level of play is generally the most immature and least satisfying.  It's how most people play computer RPG's.  There's little to no role assumption in CRPG's by and large (although there are exceptions).What differentiates a tabletop RPG from a CRPG is role assumption.  Acting, not based on what you the player think is the best course, but from a sense of actively trying to portray a character within an imaginary situation.I would strongly argue against any definition of role playing that was strictly limited to such basic play as what you're advocating here.  That's how people play when they first start into the hobby.  It usually doesn't take too long before players progress beyond this.  And most RPG's recognize this.  The FATE system, for example, is predicated on the idea that you are going to engage in role-assumption.  Without it, the whole game falls apart.Would you actually characterize play with no role assumption as good?</blockquote>

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