Player Rolls and Interpretation

Tristram Evans · January 06, 2017, 07:20:06 AM

Quote from: nDervish;938980He's confirmed CRK's guess that it might be Invictus Stream. But no link? Here, LMGTFY.

Even you can't link to something like a normal person.

Omega · January 06, 2017, 08:39:59 AM

Quote from: Anon Adderlan;938971A little late then because we already did that

Again no less.

Omega · January 06, 2017, 08:42:04 AM

Quote from: Spinachcat;938960You got me! After 3 decades of playing and running LARPs, I don't know anything about LARPs.

Well at least you admit your ignorance. :rolleyes:

Black Vulmea · January 06, 2017, 12:49:45 PM

Quote from: Spinachcat;938960So Black Vulmea was right and you're just a bizarro troll.

[BV, sorry for doubting your observation]

Stopped clocks, blind squirrels, and me.

Anon Adderlan · January 06, 2017, 10:25:50 PM

Quote from: Omega;938994Again no less.

And from a reposted archival blog no less

Still, the point isn't the gun or the bottle, but what the player assumes exists so they don't ask about. So am I being out of line if I assume there's a bottle behind the bar. Am I out of line for assuming I can jump behind it in the first place?

Nexus · January 07, 2017, 12:12:01 AM

Quote from: rgrove0172;938529I was watching some guys play CoC on Youtube the other night (great bunch of roleplayers, really got into their characters on a level probably seldom seen at most tables) and I was startled by the way the player's rolls were handled. Ive seen various levels of player/GM interaction and responsibility where character actions were concerned but I think this may be the first time Ive seen the players take FULL responsibility for their own roll and its interpretation with very little GM input.

For example - and this is not a quote from the video only a generality from my memory.

GM - John, the kitchen window is about shoulder high and only opens about a foot or two. Are you going to still try and crawl in?

John - Yeah, Ill squeeze in best I can.

GM - Ok, climb roll please, make it a hard one, you've got nothing to stand on and its a tight squeeze.

John - Rolling and consulting his character sheet then frowning- Crap, I cant seem to get my legs under me and when grabbing for something I pull on the frame and break the glass. I come down in a heap with glass clattering all around me. Am I hurt?

GM - Abysmal failure huh? laugh..Hmm, make a luck roll.

John - Rolling and again looking at his sheet but this time looking relieved- Thankfully I only hurt my dignity and stand up shaking off the pieces of glass in my hair and collar.

The players never even announced their roll, their ability or any part of the mechanic for the most part but instead kept the focus on the roleplaying. The color and detail in their descriptions are normally provided by the GM in my experience but this subtle change was really effective. I admit that as GM you would have to really trust your player's knowledge of the game as well their own honest to let them handle it this way but it really lent itself to the roleplaying element. I was impressed.

The players in my online games are more prone to this that the face to face. I think one reasons is that its faster in the venue instead of making a roll, post it to the gm then wait for his interpretation. Its has happened in face to face play but its often phrased more as suggestion for an interesting outcome. Exalted is the exception since Stunts essentially require the player to set up the action and I guess it feels more natural to complete the follow through for most folks?

Nexus · January 07, 2017, 01:07:17 AM

Quote from: rgrove0172;938718So you guys never speak in first person?

Speaking in 1st person is pretty common for us though some prefer 3rd person narration usually if those with the characters are very different from themselves likr a different gender or very different species. Lengthy or proposed actions are some times narrated as third person too. I thought that was pretty common.

Omega · January 07, 2017, 07:38:15 AM

Pretty common here too. Though my current player group shifts back and fourth. One for example tends to go in first person. "I look around." But on rare occasion shifts to 2nd person.

But I've RPed with ALOT of people who use 2nd person. And at least two who used some sort of 0ot person where they didnt refer to their character at all.

rgrove0172 · January 07, 2017, 11:10:48 AM

My groups have never been hard core role players, shifting in and out of character as many have mentioned here. Occasionally a particular scene will lend itself to dialogue however and we may continue in strict character mode for a good while.

Justin Alexander · January 08, 2017, 06:45:51 AM

Quote from: K Peterson;938556It's not an approach I've encountered. And I'm probably "old-fashioned" in that respect - I prefer the GM to interpret the results of investigator actions, in game. Otherwise I'd feel like I'm sitting around the table with a group of Keepers, group-narrating a story together instead of immersing into my investigator.

That's my mileage: The technique works great for many storytelling games. It creates dissociation and other headaches when used in an RPG.

Simple example: That window wasn't made out of glass. It was made out of transparent aluminum and that temporal anachronism is a significant part of the scenario. Now we have to deal with the disconnect between what you've narrated and what the game world actually is.