What is "railroading" to you (as a player)?

[FrozenNorth]

But you did play out the 8 int. That's all I was talking about for my part. How you do it is up to you, and IMO that's how it should be.

You’re posting like « people should play their attributes » is what other posters are taking issue with. It really isn’t.

They take issue when the DM (or another player’s) conception of mental attributes is interpreted narrowly, when their conception is imposed on other players, or when other conceptions are derided as « bad roleplaying ».

 

[Micah Sweet]

You’re posting like « people should play their attributes » is what other posters are taking issue with. It really isn’t.

They take issue when the DM (or another player’s) conception of mental attributes is interpreted narrowly, when their conception is imposed on other players, or when other conceptions are derided as « bad roleplaying ».

I don't think the GM should force their beliefs on the Player's roleplaying, but I do believe they should be allowed to have a conversation with the Player if their roleplaying seems significantly out of step with their stats.

 

[Bill Zebub]

I don't think the GM should force their beliefs on the Player's roleplaying, but I do believe they should be allowed to have a conversation with the Player if their roleplaying seems significantly out of step with their stats.

"Ize just wants to tawk. That's a nice character sheet youze got there. Be a shame if something...happened to it."

 

[Bill Zebub]

Question: what score should I put under Wisdom if I want to be really gullible because I can never tell when people are lying to me, but I'm really well attuned to the natural world?

 

[hawkeyefan]

To me it doesn't matter if your stats aren't the most important part of your character to you. They exist and they're part of what makes up your PC. Not caring about them doesn't make them go away or reduce their influence.

Actually, it can mean exactly that!

I’ve played several games over the last few years that don’t actually have character attributes of these kinds. They work perfectly fine and everyone’s still able to roleplay their characters just fine, without needed to lean on a low stat to define them.

I’m currently running DIE, which uses the same core 6 stats that D&D has always used, but all PCs are at least average in all of them. So none of this is a concern at all… and given the nature of the game, I expect the characters are much more nuanced and relatable than many other RPGs.

 

[Bill Zebub]

In some ways this conversation reminds me of some conversations about freedom of speech (or other rights).

"Freedom of speech is really important, but it can be abused."
"Yes, that's so true."
"For instance, it's not cool to swear around other people's children."
"Definitely."
"I really don't understand why people do that."
"Me, either! So inconsiderate!"
"In fact, there should be a law..."
"WTF? No!"

 

[CreamCloud0]

For reference of newer posters:

G

D&D 5E (2014) Thread 'Geniuses with 5 Int'

Apr 6, 2016

Obviously inspired by that other thread, the goal of this thread is to describe characters who are geniuses, but for whatever reason they often fail at tasks that, in game terms, require a dice roll with an Int modifier.

How might you roleplay it?

My offerings:

Milton von Schlumberg the wizard is a genius, but he is also nearly crippled with self-doubt and insecurities. He'll often be halfway through casting a spell when he'll suddenly have an irrational fear that he's doing it wrong, and he gets so distracted by this fear that he actually bungles the spell, causing it to miss...

• Guest 6801328
• Replies: 601
• Forum: *Dungeons & Dragons

ooh i do like a good threaddive.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Question: what score should I put under Wisdom if I want to be really gullible because I can never tell when people are lying to me, but I'm really well attuned to the natural world?

IMO, if you were playing a game with the requisite granularity, lowish maybe, but give yourself extra skill proficiency in areas associated with the natural world. I could easily play a PC like that in Level Up, for example.

 

[Thomas Shey]

You’re free to introduce examples from other RPGs, but I don’t think it’s fair to ignore examples from the currently most played RPG.

Ignore, no, but treat it as the only relevant advice isn't legitimate either. I've pointed out there are very much games that expect the GM to intervene if some character description elements seem to not be being applied by the player properly. Most of them aren't exactly super-obscure games, either, even if they aren't D&D.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Actually, it can mean exactly that!

I’ve played several games over the last few years that don’t actually have character attributes of these kinds. They work perfectly fine and everyone’s still able to roleplay their characters just fine, without needed to lean on a low stat to define them.

I’m currently running DIE, which uses the same core 6 stats that D&D has always used, but all PCs are at least average in all of them. So none of this is a concern at all… and given the nature of the game, I expect the characters are much more nuanced and relatable than many other RPGs.

If you're using a system where stats explicitly aren't present or aren't representative of aspects of your character, or your don't have any extraordinary stats to roleplay, then of course your situation would be very different. But if the stats are there, and they're indicated as modeling something about you, then IMO that should be represented in how that character is played.