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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mistwell" data-source="post: 1202631" data-attributes="member: 2525">What I don't get is those DMs who base the check on the role playing ability and/or effort of the player, but don't make this VERY clear to the player's prior to their deciding on a character type and assigning skill points.  Some classes are BUILT on the concept of having a high diplomacy, bluff, and intimidate score, and if the results are heavily dependant on their personal ability to role play, it may drastically change their character decisions.  Personally, I think it is highly cheezy to bias the result based on the acting and improvisational abilities of the player, rather than the character.  Do you require your player to be able to cast a spell in real life to cast one in the game? Do they have to have excellent knowledge of anatomy, a strong arm, or a skilled eye, in real life to strike with their weapon in the game?  In my opinion, FAR too often the DM biases against people with poor acting or improvisational skills in real life, but does not bias against physical attributes of that person.  A fat clumsy guy with glasses will blow through his opponents with his sword and/or bow just as well as the guy who, in real life, is muscled and dexterous and has a degree in Anatomy and a black-belt in martial arts.  But the guy who is the lead actor in plays at his university, or skilled at improv, will be given a significant advantage in your games when it comes to diplomacy or bluff, over the guy who doesn't require the use of such skills in his daily life.  That is, in my opinion, wrong. The rules for hitting someone with a sword are essentially the same as the rules for changing an NPC's attitude - roll a d20, apply your modifier, and compare it to a DC or AC, or an opposed role.  You may ask the guy with the sword to describe how he is swinging his sword, just as you may ask the guy how he is persuading the guard, but both are just colorful and fun, and not influential on the dice.</blockquote>

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