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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Celebrim" data-source="post: 7485823" data-attributes="member: 4937">As a player of RPG's that is usually the GM, this comes as no surprise to me:1) It's difficult to play a character that is convincingly smarter than I am.2) It's difficult to play a character that is convincingly wiser than I am.3) It's impossible to play a character that more humorous, wittier, and funnier than I am.  4) It's nearly impossible to play a character that is more likeable than you are. Desiring to have an NPC with those traits is not the same as being able to create one.  You cannot just tell the players, "The NPC is very funny."   Or rather you can, but you cannot make the experience of the players the same for telling them that the NPC is funny and actually presenting  them with a funny NPC.So it's not just social skills.The actual division is this.  The body of the player is not within the game universe.  But the mind of the player is inescapably within the game universe.   Therefore, it is easy to entirely separate the physical skills of the player from the player character.   But it is entirely impossible to separate the mental skills of the player from the player character.And while the player may desperately wish to be able to play someone entirely wittier, more charming, more knowing, and more capable than themselves, it is not in fact desirable to entirely separate the mind of the PC from that of the player.   It is possible to have the fortune mechanics somewhat empower the players missing social and intelligence skills so to bring the PC halfway, but you can never entirely replace the judgment of the player and the volition of the player with the superior judgment and volition of the PC however superior you may describe or envision the PC in those terms.   And again, that's entirely desirable, because on some level you want the player to be a participant in the game and not merely a passive observer of what the PC is doing.</blockquote>

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