this post was submitted on 13 Oct 2025
521 points (98.7% liked)
RPGMemes
13968 readers
1491 users here now
Humor, jokes, memes about TTRPGs
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Skill issue.
PvP dialogue checks only work on other players if they allow them to, because every player can effectively set the difficulty of the check to "impossible"
This is just how the mechanics are supposed to work, btw. Persuasion checks are rarely supposed to be simple +0 contested rolls. The DM sets the difficulty for NPCs, but only you are supposed to be able to say how difficult it is to persuade your character of something.
Further, even a contested success doesn't always equal a complete success. If the paladin is willing to buy the heart attack story because there's no actual evidence otherwise they might still decide to harbor suspicions that make the next check harder, for example.
Uh... What? Your skills are still just a d20+bonuses even against another player. Their sense motive check has to beat my bluff check to catch my lie.
I roll d20, add my whopping 33 bonus to it and that's the DC the other player's sense motive has to beat.
Wrong. For one thing, players don't have to agree to contested persuasion at all, feel free to look that up. Even if they do it's not just a simple dice contest, otherwise every face character would have free mind control over their entire party.
For example:
Player Elon Musk throws a Nazi salute. He uses his Deception +6 to claim that's not what it is, rolls a 5 for a total of 11.
Player Not A Moron rolls a 1. This does not matter, because they know what they saw, and further, they remember all that other Nazi shit he's been saying. They have effectly set their own Deception/Persuasion check DC to 30+, or roll+bonus+30 circumstance bonus.
Player Stupid Fucking Simp rolls a 20. This also does not matter because, as a stupid fucking simp, they already believe everything Elon says and take a -30 circumstantial negative and critical success skill checks are silly homebrew nonsense.
Tl;Dr you're forgetting that circumstance, including character emotions and affection, affects difficulty of all skill checks. If a player agrees to ignore that that's on them.
This also, btw, applies to NPCs trying to persuade the party. The DM does not a have a right to tell your character what they believe or disbelieve without magical effects.
If you think about it, beyond the fact of the player being the only one can say what their character is in totality and is biased towards as a result, this is how a system must work to prevent RPG horror stories of incels forcing other players into sexual or abusive situations, eg "ummm I rolled a +29 so your character has to sleep with mine and you have to roleplay it"
Wouldn't that be metagaming?
I know general game mechanics pretty well to perceive many things a character would not know. I am pretty sure that in the spirit of roleplay i have to adjust to my characters Stats.
In the example it would be Elon rolling their deception against my intelligence/perception, which whatever skill the Dm decides is most relevant. Also because the game Master is always right and has the final say as an actual dictator.
The player abuse and sex stuff just seems like a consent issue. There are probably groups that are into that just like there are many that don’t. A good Dm and play group should communicate beforehand if they allow such things and also respect peoples wish to stop playing if they are uncomfortable.
They can also use the x-card system
It could be, but it doesn't have to be. It all depends on the characters involved.
The DM can referee in the dispute but they (usually) can't say your character would or wouldn't believe something.
A good DM might ask you to in-character justify your bias, for example. They're also supposed to listen if you say "I don't trust Count Fuckface on account of him having a history of being a Fuckface and also he's standing over a cooling corpse with bloody hands."
If a player is metagaming that's a separate problem from their character being biased, or having a reasonably justified suspicion or whatever.
Or never, ever being interested in the creepy player's character because they don't like their vibes.