AW8
Arcane
I agree with the Frankish Jarl, binary is boring. As long as the challenge of convincing someone through dialogue is a single skill check and a TRUE/FALSE state, it's not going to be terribly interesting.
The least that can be done is to incorporate the speech check with the rest of the world, by requiring additional things of the player. The player usually don't just put points into Bashing and then go bash every enemy in their path. No, they have to put points in Bashing, then put on bash-proof gear, buy a bashing weapon, buy some potions, maybe call in a favor and get some allies on your side for the brawl, and THEN they go and bash the enemy.
For speech, the player just puts points in Words, then walks up naked to the enemy and says "Words" upon which the enemy disintegrates out of shame. Avoiding combat by talking enemies to death shouldn't be avoiding challenge. The player should still be forced to explore and interact with the world through subterfuge and tinkering to gather verbal ammunition for settling things peacefully.
If the persuasion of a target had required the player to find or plant evidence, neutralizing someone supporting the target, forging a police ID to make the target more susceptible for persuasion etc. it would be more interesting.
The binary TRUE/FALSE state can also be evolved. A complete success might convince the target and his henchmen to stand down. A partial success might convince the henchmen to leave for an easier fight. An almost complete failure might convince one henchman to sneak away before the fight, while a total failure leaves the enemy party fully manned for the fight.
The least that can be done is to incorporate the speech check with the rest of the world, by requiring additional things of the player. The player usually don't just put points into Bashing and then go bash every enemy in their path. No, they have to put points in Bashing, then put on bash-proof gear, buy a bashing weapon, buy some potions, maybe call in a favor and get some allies on your side for the brawl, and THEN they go and bash the enemy.
For speech, the player just puts points in Words, then walks up naked to the enemy and says "Words" upon which the enemy disintegrates out of shame. Avoiding combat by talking enemies to death shouldn't be avoiding challenge. The player should still be forced to explore and interact with the world through subterfuge and tinkering to gather verbal ammunition for settling things peacefully.
If the persuasion of a target had required the player to find or plant evidence, neutralizing someone supporting the target, forging a police ID to make the target more susceptible for persuasion etc. it would be more interesting.
The binary TRUE/FALSE state can also be evolved. A complete success might convince the target and his henchmen to stand down. A partial success might convince the henchmen to leave for an easier fight. An almost complete failure might convince one henchman to sneak away before the fight, while a total failure leaves the enemy party fully manned for the fight.
