On 27 Feb 2016 12:53 pm, <xxxxxx@mail.de> wrote:
>
> Am 27-Feb-2016 12:01:34 +0100 schrieb xxxxxx@port.ac.uk:
>>
>> Anyway, how legitimate is it for a player to query what difficulty level a task was? I don't tend to say what they are aiming it (is that usual?) but was a bit taken aback to have a (failed) task queried as to how difficult it was. In my head I had a pretty clear idea of the difficulties involved (not all of which were obvious to the PC). But should I be more open with the player about what they're aiming at?
>>
>> If not, how legitimate is it to fudge this in any case to get the outcome you want (or would help the adventure along)?
>>
>> t "newbie referee" c
>>
>
> Well, YMMV, but my rule of thumb was: physical tasks (including combat) within the PC's field of expertise: give them all the info; interpersonal tasks or those where the PC is not an expert: ask them to roll, but do not tell them the exact task difficulty, just than whether it is an attribute check (so that they want to roll low) or a task (so that they want to roll high), and the attributes and skills involved. Sometimes not even that. In my experience, players are usually happy to be a bit uncertain about interpersonal stuff, as long as they feel in control regarding combat, repairs, and the like.
>

Oooh, now that's an interesting distinction to make. I'll try and remember that.

I was going to go through the adventure and make sure that there was a task or two for each character that I've designed but I could also check whether they are physical tasks or interpersonal

thank you

> My own approach when asked about task details in FTF sessions (notice the "was" there...it's been a while) and I did not want those to be public was to offer players to switch to roll-playing, that is, specify ALL tasks clearly before rolling. Meaning the referee would not be able to fudge any roll in the PC's favour... they usually got the hint.

Hah! Nice!

>
> Other than that, the old "Sorry, there is information you don't have" while you quickly put a worried face and make a new roll behind the screen can be pretty effective too <grin>.

Well it didn't occur to me to roll the dice behind the screen while grinning manically (!) but I did say that there was other information they weren't privy to.

Cheers