Re: Roleplaying or just rolling the dice

From: Alex Ferguson <abf_at_cs.ucc.ie>
Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1998 13:07:34 +0100 (BST)

Mikko Rintasaari says:
> Personally I always tought that the personality trait system of Pendragon
> was a bad idea. It's passably good to have a way of writing down the
> concepts and psychology of a character, but to rely on mandatory dice
> rolling to determine if ones character is, for instance impressed with
> somebody, or perhaps angry enough to kill, is silly.

This is a common misconception. If yuo read the Pendragon rules on this, very rarely is a trait roll "mandatory". Essentially just when one is "Famous" for the behaviour in question, or in magical circumstances. Also, being asked to make a trait roll does not mean one is bound by the outcome. As a KAP GM, I frequently "suggest" trait rolls, but leave it up to the players to interpret it as they feel appropriate. ("Yes, I hate the Saxon, but I spare him because it's the Merciful thing to do.") The main purpose of KAP traits is to _track_ character behaviour, not to enforce in arbitrary ways, IMO.

Slainte,
Alex.

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