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<blockquote data-quote="Swarmkeeper" data-source="post: 7585101" data-attributes="member: 6921763">If the DM telegraphed that the enemy was on its last legs, then it completely makes sense for the player to declare the knock out if they hit the enemy with their attack.&nbsp; As you quote: &quot;The attacker can make this choice&quot; - they don't need the DM's permission to choose.&nbsp; Or are you saying for every potential killing blow in your game you, as DM, ask the player &quot;Are you going to KO?&quot;&nbsp; In a combat-heavy game, I stand by the claim that doing so over and over and over would be quite tedious.You are absolutely right that the DM should ask for more clarity about the a player's choice of ambiguous action, regardless of playstyle: &quot;I climb the tower&quot; or &quot;I walk down the hallway&quot;.&nbsp; That's exactly what my preferred playstyle encourages when a player is not clear.&nbsp; If the player states an approach and goal, then the DM can then easily do their job of adjudicating the action.&nbsp; A creative approach and/or goal can lead to a success without a roll and sometimes can shape the story in a way the DM had not previously envisioned.Case-in-point:PCs had just cleared out the basement lair of some nasty monsters.&nbsp; They were intent on finding some treasure in the crumbled remains of the base of an old tower that was in the basement.&nbsp; They worked together to succeed on some INT (Investigation) and STR (Athletics) checks to enter the tower without collapsing it further.&nbsp; They found the dusty skeletal remains of a long-dead humanoid with a note. The Storm Sorcerer was convinced this could not be everything and so said he was searching the floor for any cracks.&nbsp; After indicating &quot;you bet&quot;, he then said he would cast create water to see if it drained through the cracks and then listen to what he heard.&nbsp; Now I did not have anything planned here, but after that creative approach and goal, I just improvised and said it sounded like the water was falling and splashing onto the floor of a hidden chamber below.&nbsp; Some more good roleplaying and successful rolls to not cave in the floor resulted in them finding a chest which I had not even planned.&nbsp; Good fun for all which would have been lost had the player simply said &quot;I roll perception&quot; or some other such short-hand that did not involve our approach and goal style.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Swarmkeeper, post: 7585101, member: 6921763"] If the DM telegraphed that the enemy was on its last legs, then it completely makes sense for the player to declare the knock out if they hit the enemy with their attack. As you quote: "The attacker can make this choice" - they don't need the DM's permission to choose. Or are you saying for every potential killing blow in your game you, as DM, ask the player "Are you going to KO?" In a combat-heavy game, I stand by the claim that doing so over and over and over would be quite tedious. You are absolutely right that the DM should ask for more clarity about the a player's choice of ambiguous action, regardless of playstyle: "I climb the tower" or "I walk down the hallway". That's exactly what my preferred playstyle encourages when a player is not clear. If the player states an approach and goal, then the DM can then easily do their job of adjudicating the action. A creative approach and/or goal can lead to a success without a roll and sometimes can shape the story in a way the DM had not previously envisioned. Case-in-point: PCs had just cleared out the basement lair of some nasty monsters. They were intent on finding some treasure in the crumbled remains of the base of an old tower that was in the basement. They worked together to succeed on some INT (Investigation) and STR (Athletics) checks to enter the tower without collapsing it further. They found the dusty skeletal remains of a long-dead humanoid with a note. The Storm Sorcerer was convinced this could not be everything and so said he was searching the floor for any cracks. After indicating "you bet", he then said he would cast create water to see if it drained through the cracks and then listen to what he heard. Now I did not have anything planned here, but after that creative approach and goal, I just improvised and said it sounded like the water was falling and splashing onto the floor of a hidden chamber below. Some more good roleplaying and successful rolls to not cave in the floor resulted in them finding a chest which I had not even planned. Good fun for all which would have been lost had the player simply said "I roll perception" or some other such short-hand that did not involve our approach and goal style. [/QUOTE]

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