[DL] Persuading and a pet peeve

[Hank Woolsey <hwoolsey@precisiongraphics.com>]

Tom H wrote:

Hmm Ö this has become a peeve of mine, one who's resolution I'm not
completely clear on what I want to see.  But my current thinking goes like
this:

You want to ride a horse, you roll some dice.

<snip>

Now Ö I'm not an expert gambler, but I might play one in my game.  I'm not a
fire-and-brimstone minister, but I might play one in my game.  Sometimes I
play characters that are spiritually or mentally better at something than I
am (and maybe even, dare I say it, smarter than I am), and I'd like to think
the dice LET me explore these fantasies without me needing to become that
character.

I know, it's boring as hell to see someone say "I smooth talk him.  I rolled
167."  It's exciting to see someone so completely in character that everyone
wants to throw white chips at his feet.  But - not all the players are this
compelling, this engaging, this dynamic.  Maybe a successful high die roll
should let a player sit back a moment and come up with his compelling
argument.  Maybe he should be able to stumble his way through an explanation,
and the high die roll should induce the Marshal to think of how this might
work if the character were saying it a little bit more charmingly.

I don't know.  Like I said, my own personal jury is still out on this one.
------------------------------------
As a Marshal I try to walk a fine line here.  I know my players 
pretty well (I've been married to one of them for 9+ years and gamed 
at least weekly with the rest for 2+) and I know what each _player_ 
is capable of and willing to give me.

One of them wants to draw the blueprints for his MS's gizmos.  One of 
them wants to keep his Bible at the table and throw out appropriate 
Scripture for given situations.  One of them wants to sit back and 
roll the dice to see what the result is for her Persuasion attempts.

I figure I'm there for everyone to have a good time.  If someone 
wants to try to portray his or her character's skills, great!  If 
not, I don't mind - I will try to push them a little, but never so 
much that they aren't having fun.  I love playing characters who have 
radically different skills than I do - somehow a Wild West textbook 
editor just doesn't seem like much in the way of escapist fun.  (Ooh! 
Maybe we should make up an RPG about the publishing business - then 
all those soldiers of fortune and spies out there could have some 
escapist fun, too.)  I can't explore these options if my GM expects 
me to be able to tell him exactly how my demolitionist sailor ties 
the sheepshank that will hold the bundle of dynamite to the yardarm 
of the enemy ship while scurrying around on the lines in the rigging 
of their ship.

However, I also provide behind-the-screen benefits for those who give 
me more than a die roll.  But what that benefit is varies from player 
to player and situation to situation.  I reward them for working a 
little harder than they usually do.  The Blessed's player doesn't get 
nearly the benefit from making up a brief sermon that the 
"dice-rolling" player gets for giving me a detailed, played out 
description of her attempt to persuade someone.  The Blessed gets 
Fate chip rewards more often, but I expect him to go a little further 
to get another benefit from his behavior.  I try to reward everyone 
who pushes themselves beyond their previously established boundaries 
- some people have set those boundaries higher for themselves.

Just my two bits.

Hank Woolsey