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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ariosto" data-source="post: 4808842" data-attributes="member: 80487">Oy  ...Supposing LostSoul imagined that he knew the "acceptable" way for all to play, how could he "require" it of you? I don't think the RPG Police are going to demand that you drop your dice and come out with your hands on your head, or else they'll send in tear gas.Back to the subject of interacting with the imagined world.In first edition Advanced D&D, a first-level thief with no bonuses has a "Find/Remove Traps" rating of 20%. As a trap must be located before removal (or other rendering harmless) can be attempted, reliance on the dice alone gives but a 4% chance of success. Put another way, the odds are 24 to 1 against the thief.In such a circumstance, the dice are not Plan A but a backup, a second chance. Clues via any of the character's five senses can bring player skill into play.When a character is doing something very technical, such as picking a lock or writing a computer program, it is pretty natural to substitute a game "stat" (with or without a chance factor) for player skill. (There may be exceptions in games in which the players have some such expertise in common or take roles on the basis of their real-life skills.) It is still possible, and I think often desirable, to give some descriptive "handle" the player can use to engage the situation directly -- rather than being reduced merely to rolling dice (an activity that does not even require a human presence but could be automated).Social interaction is something with which we are all acquainted starting in the cradle. Subtle skill, I think, largely involves things not easily applied in an RPG context, such as fine points of body language -- about as relevant in a tabletop game as fine points of fencing. (Experts may be able to "read" other participants around the table better, but they have that advantage in every aspect of the game. Learning a GM's "tells" is something every player probably does subconsciously.)So, again it is pretty natural to bring game ratings and dice into play. However, there is a big body of common knowledge of general principles that players can bring to bear as readily as combat tactics such as outflanking.If I want to scare someone, I can think of actual things to try. Different actions potentially have different consequences, regardless of whether they succeed or fail in achieving the primary objective. Apart perhaps from some magical means, they are physical phenomena in the imagined world.</blockquote>

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