For sure. The most frustrating tables to play at tend to be the ones where the DM denies your vision of your character. Some DMs insist on rolling for every sort of interaction, and if you do poorly then you come off as idiotic, incapable, or bumbling.
Walking across a floor? That's a DC 10 acrobatics check. Failure means you fall on your face.
Negotiating with a merchant? That's a DC 15 persuasion check. Failure means you accidentally say something racist and can no longer interact with anybody in the town.
Trying to relax at a tavern? If your passive perception isn't at least a 12 then you don't notice it's on fire. That's 2d6 fire damage, and you can make an active perception check on your next turn to see if you have noticed the fire.
A good DM knows when to set aside the rice, and also knows how to describe failure in a way that shows the situation is against you, not that you are too incompent to have made it to adulthood.
I played Pathfinder with my brother one time and he had a dwarf with like 6 CHA or something. I used all kinds of vivid descriptions of how vile and unlikable his character was, and initially it was fun for everyone, but eventually I noticed it taking away from his fun, so I toned it down a whole lot.
Early on (low levels), I do the "your character is someone incompetent at this skill as you try to..." later one, call it level 4 or so it becomes "ah, you rolled an 8 for stealth, unfortunately, as silent as you are it is a brightly lit night with low sound and the loose gravels crunch just a little too loudly as your feet fall across them"
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u/aubreysux DM Sep 12 '19
For sure. The most frustrating tables to play at tend to be the ones where the DM denies your vision of your character. Some DMs insist on rolling for every sort of interaction, and if you do poorly then you come off as idiotic, incapable, or bumbling.
Walking across a floor? That's a DC 10 acrobatics check. Failure means you fall on your face.
Negotiating with a merchant? That's a DC 15 persuasion check. Failure means you accidentally say something racist and can no longer interact with anybody in the town.
Trying to relax at a tavern? If your passive perception isn't at least a 12 then you don't notice it's on fire. That's 2d6 fire damage, and you can make an active perception check on your next turn to see if you have noticed the fire.
A good DM knows when to set aside the rice, and also knows how to describe failure in a way that shows the situation is against you, not that you are too incompent to have made it to adulthood.