PhoenixPhyre
2018-08-23, 05:35 PM
A thought struck me when reading another thread--
When a player uses an information-gathering ability (spell, skill, move, whatever), what they're saying is "I want to know more about this world/plot/situation. Tell me more." And that's something we should encourage. Whether that's a social move/skill/spell or a divination-type effect, or researching something, we should almost always give them something, even if it's not exactly what they're looking for.
Basically, they're casting summon exposition fairy. Normally, many players are (stereotypically) averse to reading campaign settings, handouts, or knowing much about the world. Here, they're asking for it. How cool is that?
And when it's done in-character (like trying to get information from an NPC), it gives an opportunity to put that NPC's slant on the world. The information isn't necessarily Word of God, nor is it a lie. It's what the NPC actually believes, which doesn't have to be exactly the truth. NPCs have limited information as well.
In short, erring on the side of giving more information (or going full degrees-of-success) on such checks
a) won't hurt
b) will encourage player involvement in the world
c) lets you add some spice from the in-universe perspective
d) lets you show off all that worldbuilding you've been doing without boring the audience by doing a huge info-dump. Because they asked for it, and it's in context.
When a player uses an information-gathering ability (spell, skill, move, whatever), what they're saying is "I want to know more about this world/plot/situation. Tell me more." And that's something we should encourage. Whether that's a social move/skill/spell or a divination-type effect, or researching something, we should almost always give them something, even if it's not exactly what they're looking for.
Basically, they're casting summon exposition fairy. Normally, many players are (stereotypically) averse to reading campaign settings, handouts, or knowing much about the world. Here, they're asking for it. How cool is that?
And when it's done in-character (like trying to get information from an NPC), it gives an opportunity to put that NPC's slant on the world. The information isn't necessarily Word of God, nor is it a lie. It's what the NPC actually believes, which doesn't have to be exactly the truth. NPCs have limited information as well.
In short, erring on the side of giving more information (or going full degrees-of-success) on such checks
a) won't hurt
b) will encourage player involvement in the world
c) lets you add some spice from the in-universe perspective
d) lets you show off all that worldbuilding you've been doing without boring the audience by doing a huge info-dump. Because they asked for it, and it's in context.