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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Pielorinho" data-source="post: 1108570" data-attributes="member: 259">Mistwell, in combat, I ask players to choose which opponent to attack, where they awant to stand, what weapon they want to use, what feats they'll apply to the attack, what special maneuvers (if any) they want to use, whether they want to do a full attack or a single attack, and so on.  Someone may be playing a fifteenth-level fighter, but if they choose to use poor tactics in battle, they can botch it up; I might offer them limited advice ("um, you recognize that this dragon is going to be very difficult to hit; are you sure you want to power-attack for your full amount?"), but I'll mostly let them determine how good or poor tactics they want to use. D&D doesn't model diplomacy with nearly the loving care with which it models combat:  instead of a round-by-round system, wherein each participant has a multitude of complex options for diplomacy each turn, D&D offers a single die roll.  That's fine for campaigns in which diplomacy is a minor side-issue, but it's very boring for a campaign in which diplomacy is central. The diplomacy system must be spiced up.  I enjoy the roleplaying aspect much more than the dicerolling aspect, so I spice it up in my game by having the player's participation in diplomacy, choice of diplomatic tactics, etc. figure prominently in the outcome of a diplomatic session.  A player who chooses an aggressive, cut-to-the-chase approach when dealing with the Queen of Faerie may have a +30 diplomacy check, but he's still made every bit as poor a decision as the fighter who decides to use expertise and defensive fighting against an opponent who can only hit her on a 20 anyways. If you don't enjoy roleplaying through diplomacy, or if you don't want the pressuree of knowing that how you roleplay through it will actually have any bearing on the outcome of the diplomatic encounter, that's fine for you.  I can even see how that kind of game might be fun, on occasion.  But I love playing through diplomatic scenes, and I love the pressure of knowing that what I say will afect the outcome of the scene. Daniel</blockquote>

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