Quote from: Ravenswing;691873That's like claiming it's "roleplaying" to say "My character tells the NPC to go screw."[/COLOR]

It IS roleplaying.  Just not the way you like it.

"And the NPC says "Gladly, stud!" and opens the door to her bedroom."

Quote from: Brad;691966Pretty much. The CHARACTER has no concept of "11 points of damage" but his player certainly does. Where did this idea come from that roleplaying isn't a game? Games have rules and games have jargon; using such jargon while playing the game doesn't detract from the overall experience.

Hush, you and your "being sensible."

Quote from: Ravenswing;691873That's like claiming it's "roleplaying" to say "My character tells the NPC to go screw."

Of course that's roleplaying.

Roleplaying is more than in-character dialog. It's all of the decisions you make for your character.

Quote from: Iosue;691964And I don't have an axe and am not swinging it in real life.  It's what my character is doing, so it's roleplaying.

Yes, that's roleplaying.

It's "roleplaying", not "roleperformance".  It can be, if that floats your boat.  But any time I'm describing the will and actions of someone who's not me, it's roleplaying.

Absolutely.

As a GM, I think the player deserves an explanation as to how his blow affects his target, and what his relative state is compared to how he was prior to the blow. Since it's a role-playing game, I try to provide an in-world description.

Player: "I attack the ogre. I hit for 6 damage."
Judge: "Your blow would have killed a normal man, but the ogre merely lurches backward. It's barely bleeding."

When there's a killing blow I'll generally wax more poetic, unless it's against a low-HD monster and there's a series of Cleaves (an ACKS mechanic). Then I'll simply run the mechanics of it and then provide a narration at the end.

Player: I hit. 7 damage.
Judge: Kill. Cleave!
Player: I hit. 6 damage.
Judge: Kill. Cleave!
Player: I hit. 11 damage.
Judge: Kill. Cleave!
Player: Missed. Damn.

"Your swords flash out in a series of whirling slashes. Three orcs crumple to the ground. The fourth ducks out of range of your last slash."

I interspinkle RP commentary by the enemies in between. This has worked well for me as a method for years.

Quote from: Bill;691941Some narration and description is fine when you stab a monster.
Too much might conflict with what actually happened though, or create baggage.

What sort of baggage?

Quote from: Nexus;692028What sort of baggage?

Well, if the level of abstraction of the combat doesn't match the level of abstraction of the description, for one example.

OD&D has quite abstract combat, with a single die roll representing a full minute of furious swording.  Most people, it seems, would rather have a much shorter combat turn.  This caused confusion almost instantly, as people thought the die roll represented a single swing, when it does no such.

Quote from: Nexus;692028What sort of baggage?

If you describe a mace strike as 'over powering' it kind of implies you might have struck down or stunned or killed the enemy.

An over the top example might be "I swing my sword with the fury of the Nine Hells and cleave my foes in half"

Or "I leap at the Bugbear and use him as a shield vs his fellows as I put my rapier in his eye"

I always interpret that sort of thing as "I try to leap at the bugbear and use him as a shield against his fellows as I put my rapier in his eye" and if it sounds ludicrous I might say "uh, the bugbear outweighs you by 50-100 pounds, are you sure about that?"

Quote from: Bill;692034If you describe a mace strike as 'over powering' it kind of implies you might have struck down or stunned or killed the enemy.

An over the top example might be "I swing my sword with the fury of the Nine Hells and cleave my foes in half"

Or "I leap at the Bugbear and use him as a shield vs his fellows as I put my rapier in his eye"

"Overpowering" can just describe a powerful blow that, if your target shrugs it off just proves they're tough (or lucky). The rest can be avoided by not describing the results of attack (leaving it to the gm or at least waiting for the damage results) or describing them as an attempt.

Quote from: Nexus;692068"Overpowering" can just describe a powerful blow that, if your target shrugs it off just proves they're tough (or lucky). The rest can be avoided by not describing the results of attack (leaving it to the gm or at least waiting for the damage results) or describing them as an attempt.

Yes. That's why I feel too much description can be counter productive.

Quote from: Bill;692069Yes. That's why I feel too much description can be counter productive.

I don't think that what you described was an issue of too much description but more poorly timed or executed description.

I liked the method suggested in the RQ3 Gamemaster Book - which is labeled "Dramatic Narrative":

QuotePlayer: Cormac chops desperately - and connects!
Gamemaster: He tries to parry with his spear and, uhh, misses completely.
Player: Good solid hit here, 7 points. Caught him flatfooted, chopped him in the right leg.
Gamemaster: Sure did! The sword slashes through the leather, blood gushes out, and he is staggering around on that leg. But he looks more mad than hurt.

Descriptive, immersive, not too heavy in game lingo but the necessary parts stated.

Quote from: Ravenswing;691873No.  Sorry.  "Alright ... I rolled a six, so I hit.  Here goes ... I did 11 points of damage before armor" is not, and never will be, roleplaying.

I agree with this, but only on a technicality. What you're quoting there is merely a narration of mechanical resolution and it exists entirely in the metagame.

OTOH, saying, "I hit the orc with my sword and I rolled a 22." is roleplaying.

QuoteThat's like claiming it's "roleplaying" to say "My character tells the NPC to go screw."[/COLOR]

That's also roleplaying.

Mistaking "bad roleplaying" or "roleplaying I don't like" as being "not roleplaying" is a common mistake, but it's not productive and it's not informative. Not only is it not particularly useful in making people get better at roleplaying, it can actually serve to inhibit that process.

Quote from: K Peterson;692071I liked the method suggested in the RQ3 Gamemaster Book - which is labeled "Dramatic Narrative":


Descriptive, immersive, not too heavy in game lingo but the necessary parts stated.

Good example. The primary difference being that the description was accurate because the hit, the location, and the effects of the injury were not abstract. Per the game rules, you know what taking 7 damage to that particular location does in game terms.

A D&D "hit" for 7 points would vary wildly in effect.