Re: [DL] persuading against the odds

[PEGGoff@aol.com]

In a message dated Wed, 1 Mar 2000  3:00:01 PM Eastern Standard Time, "B.D. Flory" <bflory@frontiernet.net> writes:

> The solution to this whole debate is pretty simple: fate chips.
> 
> If they roll well, they succeed.
> 
> If they role-play well, the get fate chips.
> 
> And ne'er the twain shall meet.

In the words of Homer Simpson auditioning for a role as C. Montgomery Burns, "Ex-actly."

I do, however, provide a bonus to the social rolls if the player can give me a good explanation of what he's saying or the approach he's taking. Not the actual words, mind you, just the tack he's using to get the point across.

And, sometimes, just the right approach will do the trick without any rolls. For example, if a player tells me her character is consoling a frightened child to find out what happened, I'm not going to make her roll Persuasion to accomplish it--unless it's a little hellion. Nor am I going to make her actually role-play out her words; otherwise, you run the risk of the pitfalls faced when you've got a silver-tongued player in the party. 

John