Encounter

[Khamul]

How do you play out your Encounters? Do you roll dice, or role play or both?

Do you want them to role-play and then roll a die...what?

I have been doing Role-playing so far, but think I want to interact with some dice rolling too...to get the
bonuses from the Degree of Success.


/Khamul

[zedturtle]

There are two points of view that commonly come up: either roll first and then roleplay out the result of the roll or do the roleplay first and then make a roll. I usually use the second method (via PbP) and explain that the roll is not how well the character did but how the NPC reacted. To this end, I will tweak TNs based on the roleplay.

[Stormcrow]

In the revised rules, the first step in an encounter is to roll Insight to assign bonus dice.

Next is the Introduction. Here one character or all characters make rolls to get the Loremaster character to be willing to converse with them in a meaningful way.

Then comes the Interaction. This is where you'll have a conversation, what others might call role-playing. Assume the Loremaster character will not change his opinion about anything, commit any resources to the player-heroes, or give away any secrets unless the characters succeed at an appropriate task.

Finally, when the encounter is over—either because the conversation ended or because the players exceeded the Tolerance of the Loremaster character—the Loremaster counts up their successful tasks to see what kind of reward they get.

[Majestic]

I do it very much as Stormcrow wrote, so RAW with a Preliminary Roll right at the start (which spells out bonus dice available) and then a mix of dice rolling and role-play. The actual role-playing itself ends up working in conjunction with the dice rolls to give me (as the LM) the response of the NPC.

[Rich H]

How do you play out your Encounters? Do you roll dice, or role play or both?

Do you want them to role-play and then roll a die...what?

I'm going to assume that this is a question not related to the specific structure of Encounters but to, like you've specifically asked, whether you role then role play or role play then roll. I'm in the former camp for pretty much any RPG and any task within an RPG not just TOR.

The basic structure I go with is:

1) The player (or GM) describes what they want their character to achieve.
2) The roll is then made (or card played or whatever the mode of resolution for the system in question).
3) The results of the roll in (2) are then role-played out by the parties involved.

I really don't like role-play then roll as you can get all kinds of whiffy results which the above, in my opinion, avoids.

[zedturtle]

My only concern (or consideration) with roll then roleplay is the tendency of some players (not my current players, but in the past) to phone it in once they know success (or failure) is assured.

[Glorelendil]

My only concern (or consideration) with roll then roleplay is the tendency of some players (not my current players, but in the past) to phone it in once they know success (or failure) is assured.

Can you elaborate? Do you mean they don't roleplay as creatively/diligently if they know it won't affect the outcome?

[poosticks7]

I've always sorta merged the two.

If the player talks well he will get a reduction in the difficult of the roll, if the player makes an honest attempt to get their point across (but their character is a master orator) then the roll plays more of a role.

I do that with all aspects of roleplay - if the player comes up with something cool or unexpected, the difficulty is often reduced (in my head).

Of course the dice can really let a player down sometimes, and that can be tricky to get around but we usually manage.

[zedturtle]

@EC:

Right, it tends to reward most those who go with "I make an impassioned speech to the king." instead of actually RPing the scene out.

Maybe I need to let go and try the roll first method. But that also introduces delays in PbP. It becomes a series of negotiations about what skill to roll and then how to represent that.

[Stormcrow]

My only concern (or consideration) with roll then roleplay is the tendency of some players (not my current players, but in the past) to phone it in once they know success (or failure) is assured.

If it's a matter of not acting after a roll, then I'd side with your players. I don't go in for spouting poesy during a game.

On the other hand, the rules make it very clear what order you do these things in. First the player describes a task, announces a goal of that task, [then some stuff happens,] then if he succeeds he "briefly narrates how his stated objective has been achieved," including great and extraordinary successes. If he fails, the Loremaster narrates the failure.

Let's look at the example in the rule book of a social skill being used. The description is "Beli’s player declares that the Dwarf starts to chat with the chieftain using his Courtesy skill, with the intention of slowly steering the conversation back towards his excellent suit of armour." This suggests that the task is performed with a brief description, rather than an in-character conversation as its description. The goal is also briefly stated: "Beli wants to know if this suit of armour came from a [dragon's treasure hoard]."

Once Beli succeeds at this task, he can describe the conversation with the chieftain, but he can't invent the details that he'll learn from him. The facts known by the chieftain come from the Loremaster, but the course of the conversation is narrated by Beli's player. This may take the form of the Loremaster simply telling the player everything the chieftain knows, or it may become a true conversation in which Beli's player asks questions and the Loremaster as the chieftain answers them, all in character.

To expand on that last sentence, consider this sequence:

Loremaster: Beli, you can't help but notice a Woodmen chieftain sitting at the head of a table who is wearing an intricately wrought coat of mail.
Beli: I bow to one of the nearby Woodmen and say, "Beli the Dwarf, at your service. That's a remarkable coat of mail your chieftain is wearing. May I ask about its forging?"
Loremaster: The Woodman gives you a wary look, then looks away and continues talking with his neighbor.
Beli: Okay, I'm going to chat with him using my Courtesy skill to try to steer the conversation back to his armor. I especially want to find out if it comes from a dragon's hoard.
Loremaster: That's TN 16.
Beli: (Rolls a 13 with one Tengwar rune.) I'll spend a point of Hope to get a 16 and a great success. The Woodman warms to my conversation and will bring me to talk to the chieftain himself with a good introduction. Then I say, "The armor you wear is most excellent. Where does it come from? Is it of Woodmen-make?"
Loremaster: The chieftain looks pleased with your compliment. "No, indeed. My people have no such craft. This armor has been handed down in my family for generations."
Beli: "Really? But if it is beyond the craft of the Woodmen, who forged it?"
Loremaster: "I don't know. It may be dwarf-make, or from some great race of men long since vanished from these lands."
Beli: "So how did your family obtain it?"
Loremaster: "My ancestor, Evoric One-eye, is said to have won it in battle with a dragon in ages past."