No, the NPC is not 'immune to bluffs'

[efftem]

Short and sweet:

Group of PCs is trying to take down a big bad villain. Said villain has taken a member of the group hostage. One character (let's call her Princess Twinkletoes, since she's a runaway princess and a dancer and... yadda yadda yadda), having high charisma and ranks in diplomacy and bluff, goes to negotiate. She rolls VERY WELL.

Now,

Comments

[pyrephox]

Wow, that sounds about as fun as the warrior getting a great critical hit on some wild and improbable stunt...and then the GM deciding that the forces of inertia mean that he just broke his arm in three places, knocked the villain into a load-bearing column, which caused part of the roof to cave in and fall on their party's head

[sagelylegs]

We've got one of those, too; you'd think he'd learn to rescind his decision by the time we get around to "are you sure?" yet he keeps coming with perhaps dumber ideas than before. ^^

[beccastareyes]

To use a counter example, if the warrior, who has fought thousands of battles and has a high BAB to reflect this, charges into the Big Bad's room where he knows there is a gallery full of archers waiting in ambush, then the GM should follow through with the fact this is a Bad Tactical Decision. Granted, I might have the player make a roll to determine that her character realizes what might happen*, and/or make a suggestion that makes more sense. But if s/he insisted... well, then, you're the boss

[pyrephox]

Dude. A high-level fighter in a D&D style game /can/, in fact, charge into a gallery full of archers waiting to ambush, and probably come out on top, looking deeply badass. That's what high-level fighters do, and why they've got ridiculous BABs and ACs in the first place. Because every one of those archers has to roll an attack roll, and the fighter has tons of HP to absorb any bad rolls. So, yeah, that's absolutely fair.

On the other hand, if a tricked out fighter burst into the room, yelling a battle cry, rolled a crit for perceiving the ambush, and the GM said, "Sure, you see the archers! And they fill you full of holes. No, you don't get to roll anything, because you were just stupid," then that'd be pretty crappy.

I think a GM's best friend is the dual-question of: "Are you sure that's a good idea?" and "What's your character's goal, here?"

[beccastareyes]

Fair enough. Perhaps a cinematic game, such as D&D, was not the best example here. Or I should have thrown in spells -- fighters have poor Reflex Saves.

I think a GM's best friend is the dual-question of: "Are you sure that's a good idea?" and "What's your character's goal, here?"

True. Mostly I want to leave room for (and encourage) the players to come up with ideas on their own, with the possibility they could be bad ideas*, without penalizing them for not knowing things their (highly trained) characters would. Which is why I agree with that question, with the proviso that sometimes it gets asked when you have an unorthodox good idea.

* Not bad as in 'Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies', but bad as in 'Suddenly your characters' lives got a lot more dramatic, in the 'added complications' sense'. TPKs are no fun for anyone, with the exception of (maybe) heroic and willing sacrifices at the end of a game.

[painangrrfear]

This. Too many DMs like to gripe about how "stupid" the party is. What they don't take into account is that the NPCs aren't emotionally invested in the outcome. Sure, NPCs have their own motives, but only as instilled by the DM. Compared to the PCs, they haven't got nearly as much to lose. Then factor in the advance preparation most DMs put into their encounters; the NPCs already 'know' almost every angle, because the DM thought it through. Even well-prepared PCs won't have all the information.

While the OP's example is funny and the player may well have gotten exactly what she deserved, I've seen enough DMs insist on their NPCs winning every encounter because the party was "stupid" to agree that this is a valid point. Just because a DM may be an evil genius doesn't mean that every one of their NPCs should be as well.

[tannerwolf]

I disagree, I mean sure it sucks that they got that upset: but on some gut -common sense- level they had to know there was a chance that someone could get hurt? I mean a true blue evil villain is unlikely to leave someone in their wake who might reveal even trivial information about them that could lead to a larger chink in their armor. So a worthless hostage becomes a BIG liability, therefore: you off them.

The Dice can't fill in for player mistakes. Sucks that she got mad, but she really kinda overreacted.