Zach

zach | he/him | 26

[Zach @_GideonGraves]

@BewareOfWombat @mikemearls I agree that dice exist to simulate actions that have a failure chance, I would just say that 'actions that have 0 failure chance' is a far, far more narrow range of actions to the extent that it would never come up often enough to be a discussion in the first place.

[Zach @_GideonGraves]

@EMurotake @mikemearls The PLAYER might know how to do something, why should that mean the character does as well?

[Zach @_GideonGraves]

@EMurotake @mikemearls That's fine and if you DM consistently like that then I respect it. I was noting the inconsistency that often arises when out-of-game skill is rewarded in social situations to the extent of superseding game mechanics but not in many other areas (puzzles another common exception).

[Zach @_GideonGraves]

@pizzystrizzy @corbomight @mikemearls should players be rewarded for arbitrarily guessing the location you put the key? under the pillow as opposed to in the drawer or above the wardrobe?

[Zach @_GideonGraves]

@Feepstar @LeagueOfLeaks An assassin having dashes? Holy shit bro

[Zach @_GideonGraves]

@LeoRandger for me that's literally the beauty of dnd lol
I can blend the mechanics of the game with my own ideas, I can interact with the mechanics I enjoy and then flavour them or make them part of the story in a cool way that's fun for myself and the whole table

[Zach @_GideonGraves]

@LeoRandger yep the snark on both sides about how this is such a simple and obvious question really shows you how narrowminded most people are

[Zach @_GideonGraves]

@327naaziaf nuance on twitter?

But yeah it really doesn't help that the original post that sparked this was written in the most chud turbo online psuedointellectual tone

[Zach @_GideonGraves]

@poetryalpastor yeah points being missed entirely on both sides
The PC gave a key point which imo is a valid reason for an auto pass, nothing to do w quality of RP
But also the idea that a failure after a good monologue can't reveal anything interesting or create a good moment is narrowmineded

[Zach @_GideonGraves]

@MBV4lentin3 @Xalem_Plays xd it's just an example, I tend to think I'm a decent speaker, how much should that bleed into my dnd PC? I don't think its as black or white as people are making it out to be

[Zach @_GideonGraves]

@moonturtlebitch like the result should be consistent with the game world, if truly what a PC said means they auto convince an NPC, I think that ought to be the case whether the player is a 20 year veteran professional voice actor or a nervous first time player narrating his RP in 3rd person

[Zach @_GideonGraves]

@moonturtlebitch yeah no obviously im not advocating for being able to fully mind control people with charisma rolls of 30+

for me the biggest hesitation really is auto pass / fail based on quality of the RP itself

[Zach @_GideonGraves]

@moonturtlebitch yeah as i said its more nitpicky nuanced design critique territory than anything practically applicable
in reality you just do what makes sense and if everyone enjoys it then yay

[Zach @_GideonGraves]

@moonturtlebitch the distinction being one is the actions of a character and the other is your own subjective interpretation of your friend's roleplaying skills

[Zach @_GideonGraves]

@moonturtlebitch imo it would depend on the reasoning
'The PCs discovered the hidden reason why the BBEG went on his rampage and used that secret to talk him out of it' -> I like it
'I thought the player did an awesome job RPing that plea to the bad guy, so I say auto succeed' -> I dislike it

[Zach @_GideonGraves]

@MorganLeBlank yeah i mean the reality is people pulling up DMG '14 saying you can ignore the dice is kinda missing the bigger picture which is that 5e isn't really designed to hold up well if you ignore the rules imo
so just go play a rules light system like daggerheart instead lol

[Zach @_GideonGraves]

@PixiePrototype i mean mostly this move is done for the audience no?
as a viewer it would be turbo unsatisfying to see it fail
its good to remember these are productions primarily for the enjoyment of the audience

[Zach @_GideonGraves]

@moonturtlebitch afterwards that's maybe more of a game design critique obviously if everyone at the table is having fun who cares

[Zach @_GideonGraves]

@moonturtlebitch my thing is it invalidates other players' choices to some extent? Like if I chose a lot of stuff to make a bard good at persuading people, but my friend picks the wizard with cooler spells but also my friend is a better speaker than me so he can persuade everyone?