How do I make the “success/failure” show up as part of the NPC response to a skill check? Am I supposed to just script the roll and write success/failure as part of the npc response?
GetIsSkillSuccessful() does an automatic floating text string. I don’t remember whether AutoDC, from nw_i0_plot, does too, off the top of my head. :-/
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It’s actually quite easy if you aren’t looking for a super-elegant solution.
This is what the conversation will look like:
NPC: Try to persuade me!
PC: I’ll do my best (check Persuasion skill)
depending on the outcome working with “Text only appears when” and a basic “Skill check” from the Script Wizard built in the Conversation Editor
- NPC (success): OK, I’ll do it. (this line has to be on top of this branch and tied to “text only appears when”)
- NPC (failure): Sorry, I can’t do that. (this line will appear if the line above it does not appear)
If you want the player to know how easy the check was (i.e. by how much he failed) it will get a little more complex.
EDIT: You will find this (much better explained) also in this indispensible work under Chapter 5 “Conversations”: https://neverwintervault.org/project/nwn1/other/guide-building-volume-i-–-aurora-toolset-manual
EDIT2: For conversation skills I prefer as a builder as well as a player to simply check IF the PC has the skill at all. Most players aren’t prepared to pour a lot of points into every single conversation skill for the average module and it’s very frustrating if you have p.e. Intimidate Skill 2, and fail the only 3 skill checks in the whole module because of bad die rolls (even on an easy check a 1 can happen.). Just my 2 cents but for conversations I would rather go for the yes/no solution.
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Thanks for the information and the link.
You make a good point regarding skill rolls vs skill thresholds. And frankly this is regardless of the amount of rolls in the module; I’m just not that big a fan of RNG. Of course, it is also possible to make the positive result of a succesful skill check vary in its magnitude; instead of a skill roll that determines whether or not you get 200 extra gold for completing a task, it could be a roll that yielded 50 gold per amount the roll exceeded the DC; this way points in the skill would never truly be wasted.
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EDIT2: For conversation skills I prefer as a builder as well as a player to simply check IF the PC has the skill at all. Most players aren’t prepared to pour a lot of points into every single conversation skill for the average module and it’s very frustrating if you have p.e. Intimidate Skill 2, and fail the only 3 skill checks in the whole module because of bad die rolls (even on an easy check a 1 can happen.).
This is why I think the whole skill check system in D&D3.x and NWN is broken. Way too much dependency on luck (d20 roll). But rather than a boolean check, I prefer to get the total skill value, e.g. GetSkillRank(nSkill, oPC, FALSE); – the last argument if set to the default of FALSE gets the relevant ability bonus, skill ranks, magic item bonus, enhancement bonus; i.e. the total skill value. In this way I can set DCs to 1 (Very Easy), 2 (Easy), 3 (Normal), 4 (Hard), 5 (Very Hard) without any kind of die rolls. I really hate it when my “diplomancer” fails a people skill check (rolls a 1 or 2) while my half-orc barb can succeed with a natural 20. For me personally, that kills the immersion.
I personally think that players need to make strategic decisions as to which skills to invest in relative to their ability score, which potions to drink, spells to cast, magic items to use, etc. Likewise, there should never be a single solution. Let the fighter intimidate, the rogue bluff, and the cleric persuade. All three skills can reach the same conclusion of getting the NPC to do something.
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Yeah… I’ve often wanted to do skill checks with a 1d4 or something just so skill level has a higher variance than die rolls.
I think I will just have “text appears when persuade higher than X” in conversations and then mark them as skill checks just so players know they’re getting something for their investment.
I’m not a fan of intimidate, bluff and persuade overlapping. My go-to solution is to introduce some kind of high-level powerful thing that can only be achieved with a high level of skill. This could be something like the best henchmen in the game only being available for hire if you have a very high persuade.
Bluff seems to have very little use, though. I could see it’s use in a module that allows you to antagonize important NPCs or that relied heavily on factions or something. I’m thinking of making it the skill you use to convince NPCs you’ve completed a quest when you actually haven’t, making it the “skip quest, but get the rewards and XP anyway” skill. Maybe I could make a little fallout 1 easter egg and make it possible to bluff the end boss into killing himself. 
Intimidate has terrifying rage. No reason to even put it in conversations, it’s already OP.
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