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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Kabouter Games" data-source="post: 6750101" data-attributes="member: 6788812">You're right. That's not equivalent. But I still disagree: It's not the same. It's more. It's an expectation of more detail, specifically - and only - in this one type of interaction with the game world. Why? Why reward one and not the other? That's not generally what happens. Generally what happens is the DM says, "Okay, give me an Acrobatics or Athletics check to see if you climb." That's actually a penalty.That's what I was getting into with the longsword play. There are consequences for that; each longsword (or indeed rapier or sword-and-shield or axe or dagger) play has a distinct advantage against presented defenses. It has a definite bearing on the outcome of things. Yet to you it's fluff.To speak to a different part of the counterpoint I was making, it still has a chance of failure. Just as carefully describing how your character is searching for and disarming the trap has a chance of failure. The claim was made that description can bring automatic success, and I'm trying to show how that's something with which I disagree.  With this I have no problem. I have a problem with granting bonuses - or, heaven forbid, automatic success - to players who do that. That should be automatic description. It should be the rogue's equivalent of "I attack with my axe." All I'm saying is there's a large difference between throwing a die roll at every problem and front-loading an approach with description to gain a benefit. I'm also pointing out the inconsistency of how what you're advocating is very, very specific to traps. Yes, I'm aware that's the nature of the thread, but if you're going to give a benefit to one manifestation of player skill, you have to give it to all. Or, if you prefer to think of it that way, punish all instances where the player can't use textual approach and description to gain the benefit. It comes down to this: Veteran players and war movie watchers know how to approach possible traps. But what about picking pockets? Jane has no idea how to pick a pocket, even though her Rogue is pretty good at it. Why should she be penalized (let's face it, being unable to gain a benefit amounts to a penalty) for not being able to describe the circumstances of her PC's action? Or, put another way, why should she be rewarded in one narrow set of circumstances and not others?Thank you! <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" />If I implied that die rolls were to replace detail, I apologize. I have no intention of doing so. In the circumstance of the player having no idea how to go about describing some action at which her character is very, very good, whether it's picking pockets, attacking with a melee weapon, or casting a spell, I see it as unavoidable, as described in the picking pockets example above. As a player, if there is a mechanic where I gain benefit by reducing uncertainty, I'm certainly going to take advantage of it. The trouble is nobody is showing how to do that across the board, for all actions. They're just saying it's okay for traps. I find that inconsistent.It's inconsistent because "I attack with my sword" is exactly equivalent to "I search for traps." Once the warrior closes with the enemy, she attacks. Once the rogue narrows down the search parameters, she searches. There are opportunities for clever play in both scenarios. Why not award both? Why not award the warrior automatic success on an attack? But nobody's saying that. I can't see why; I can't see a difference.This is an excellent approach. Good point. Thank you for addressing it. NB: My bringing that up was a bit of devil's advocacy on a slow afternoon. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" /></blockquote>

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