Ah, @Misadventure, you are just the person I wanted here for this. I have two problems with the existence of systems in scenes where I'd really like to evoke interesting reactions from characters.
- Systematizing the challenge makes it relatable, understandable. It's a clear solution, an obvious approach; you encounter something that's truly horrific and instead of having to figure out a proper reaction to it, you have a very easy way out.
"Let's roll +init!"
There have been many times when I was the ST when I wish players - rather than characters - didn't always have that option. For starters even one player doing it seals the deal; everyone rolls. It's all broken down neatly into numbers and specific actions from there, an old song and dance.
- Players who front-load the dice. And then roll constantly, going through their goddamn list of powers one at a time, best to worst, trying to solve the encounter rather than participate in it. It's one of the worst things in scenes, particularly because this kind of player spends so little posing and so much of it trying to throw bags of dice at the problem until it goes away.
"So you walk into the room and here he stands, a cloaked figure who..."
"I roll detect magic!"
"There are elemental energies around him! So he lifts a skeletal hands and says..."
"I roll read thoughts!"
"Its thoughts are alien, you glimpse at flickering images and concepts instead of words and sentences, like dipping your hand in dirty oil. So the figure points a finger at you and says..."
"I roll flame shield!"
"Alright, done. So he says, 'Did you bring me what I seek, interlopers? For I...'"
"I roll wits+occult. Do I know anything about skeletal figures?"
"@^&^&*@#@#^&$"
