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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Bedrockgames" data-source="post: 8669112" data-attributes="member: 85555">I don't think the number is 99 percent. But whatever it is, I think it is bad GMing to stop at "this is one of the guards" (especially if the players are interrogating that aspect of the scenario). I always stop, take a moment and right down some concrete things so I have something to work with when the players try something. And if the players start probing further, you need to come up with traits and motives if you don't have them. That doesn't mean they all have to have obvious ways of being bribed or deceived, but there should be some details there. And again, no one is talking about what the NPC would "realistically do" this keeps getting brought up but everyone who is engaging in this type of play has said realism isn't the goal. When I've explained the goal it is more about the fun of playing out situations with characters who have motivations and goals and aren't just 'one of the guards'. This isn't about simulating realistic social interactions. It is about what aspect of play we find enjoyable. So it isn't about realism. But it is about "I know the guard needs gold to pay off his debts to Fan Batu", and then I can assess whether the players offering him gold would be enough to sway him (or if they have a plan involving gold to distract him if that would work). Its about engaging the RP, puzzle solving and character driven side of play. It isn't about running war-games of prison break scenarios to find out what would realistically happen. I used the example of the players bypassing a whole campaign to kill a big bad in my own experience to make the point that his isn't how I would do it. And I would further say, I don't think prioritizing prep that way is beneficial (I take a pretty minimal approach to prep once i have a campaign set up for this reason). But yes, if the GM is allowing metaconcerns like whether the players will bypass parts of the adventure prep as a way of judging how the NPC reacts, then that is an issue. I've learned to not care about whether they bypass things or not. And it helps with a lot with having sessions I find enjoyable as a GM.</blockquote>

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