I fully agree. If you want to be able to cast subtle spells, invest in the abilities required to do so. Otherwise I say someone starting to cast a spell without warning will be treated the same as someone pulling out a knife without warning: sure they might be planning something on doing something harmless like peel an apple, but without context, you’re going to assume the worst and react accordingly.
This made slightly less sense before I remembered that manga is supposed to be read right to left.
It depends on what the author was actually trying to say. I’ve never pretended to know what their intention was, and they haven’t added any further commentary to let us know.
You asked why the comment was getting downvoted. I responded with how the comment could be interpreted in a way that warrants downvotes.
You seem to have taken that proposed explanation very personally for some reason.
Way too harsh there.
What if someone wants to be a cripple? Wouldn’t healing them ruin their self esteem?
Your earlier comment was not “what if someone wants to role-play a cripple?” If it was meant to mean that, I don’t understand the relevance of healing hurting their self esteem. Whose self-esteem? The player’s, or the character’s?
The response made sense by querying why would a character want to be crippled, not why a player would find it interesting to do so.
I just got here, but I’d guess it’s because their comment reads like they are saying “no, facists aren’t the bad guys, both sides show contempt for the weak sometimes!” It’s a false balance fallacy.
I’m not sure if that was the intention, or it was just unfortunately worded.
I don’t agree with the overall view there.
The example the blog gives is: “I flash the barkeep my best smile, order a cup of ale and pay with a handsome tip and try to get him talking about the local rumours in a chatty friendly manner.” The mistake in the reasoning is assuming the GM must call for a roll.
From my point of view, players don’t call for rolls, the GM does. Players just say what they are trying to do. While the GM can call for a roll in a situation, they don’t have to. Something might just succeed or not. What if the barkeep likes gossiping with anyone who walks in the door, no matter how persuasive the other person is?
It’s also odd that they state in the d20 version of the example “the roleplaying doesn’t actually affect the outcome” right after suggesting the GM give a +2 modifier to the roll for the roleplaying.
My current campaign has a character whose parents still live in the town where the adventure is largely based. A lot of effort is spent convincing other townsfolk not to tell his mother what he’s been up to. It’s fantastic.
Time to use Lay on Hands.
The barbarian isn’t going to just say “I roll athletics” without explaining what they are trying to achieve. Same for persuasion. “I try to convince the mayor we are experienced enough adventurers to assist” is enough to let the GM know what the intention is and give context for the NPC’s possible reponse.
That all depends on how many bird corpses per hour you’re earning.