Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Guest&nbsp; 85555" data-source="post: 5813285">Pemerton, thanks for the in depth response. At this stage, i think it is clear we are coming at the game from very different perspectives and syles, so rather than create an en endless back and forth, i will let your responses be the last word on my position (unless someone else wants to react to my posts)--i think i have stated it enough times anyways, so no need to quote your text blocks and repeat myself again. But you mentioned skill challenges, and arguments about roll v. role aside, i would like to give you my reaction to them just so you have a better understanding of where I am coming from (not to convince you they are bad mechanics).I agree, social skills in d20 are badly designed for a number of reasons. The two big problems i have with them are 1) the way they are worded and explained makes them too powerful in social situations 2) i feel they have a tendancy to dampen role play (which i have seen countless times at my own table). I could elaborate, but the point is they bother me because my perception that they impact role play and have too great an effect on NPCs (though arguably they can vut both ways). That said, skill challenges triubled me even more. I didn't like d20 social skills but they were fairly easy to connect to (in your words) the in game fiction. "i tell the duke these are not the kobolds you are looking for"--"okay, make a bluff roll"I have a feeling you may dislike this word, but it captures how i feel aout skill challenges and many other aspects of 4E: i find the skill challenge process (with adding successes) to be highly dissociative.  I can see how some would argue or feel skill challenges are a more realistic way to handle non combat challenges, i just dont find this to be the case when i have encountered them as a player, read about the in the core books, or seen them in a module. I have found this to be especially true in investigative adventures where dms have used skill challenges. To me the issue is it feels like a minigame that takes my focus away from the interaction with setting and characters, and it doesn't always feel like it connects well to what is going on in the game.Just to be clear, i am not suggesting that others should feel the way i do, ust giving my opinion, so pemerton can have a better understanding of what I want in a game.</blockquote>

Verification