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Message: <blockquote data-quote="iserith" data-source="post: 7466270" data-attributes="member: 97077">I see "roleplay" as anything you choose to have your character do while playing the game which might include battling some orcs (combat), talking to the quirky, cagey NPC (social interaction), or searching the door for traps and listening to see if you can hear anything on the other side (exploration). This avoids the perception that other people might have that combat isn't roleplaying, when it very clearly is. I tend to find equal value in each of the three pillars. I love a good combat challenge, the more difficult the better. Social interaction challenges are also fun, if they are presented and resolved well by the DM. Sadly, I don't find that's the case with many DMs. [MENTION=6801813]Valmarius[/MENTION], my DM for Tomb of Annihilation, knocked it out of the park recently with a Snake Moot challenge in that adventure where we negotiated a deal between two different groups of villains (the yuan-ti and a rival adventuring group called the Yahtzees) over brunch. Many DMs fall short on these kinds of challenges in my experience, essentially just putting up a show of resistance to providing what is essentially an exposition dump, until it frustrates the players enough where they relent. I think some serious guidance on how to run these sorts of challenges would be welcome.Exploration is basically anything that isn't combat or social. In my own games, I try to play up this angle a fair bit, depending on the theme of the campaign. In my <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?647365-iserith-s-Sunless-Citadel" target="_blank">Sunless Citadel</a> game, the volume on exploration challenges is turned way up. In my Planescape game, it's somewhat more minimized compared to combat and social. I often chuckle about the frequent "D&D Door Debates" which is a classic thing over the years. I like how you laid out many of the questions that come up when dealing with something as simple as a door.Which suggest, perhaps, that there's really more to the door than just some wood, hinges, and a doorknob, at least symbolically.</blockquote>

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