Hi everybody,
I'm going to be starting a campaign in the next month and need some input on how to utilize social skills in game.
First, a little about the rule-set. The game is set in a generic medieval setting with no/low magic. PC's are human and can choose fighter or rogue for their class and can advance to level two. After that, they no longer gain levels but gain feats every X number of xp (like in e6). These feats can be used normally or can be used to buy class features (like in unearthed arcana generic classes) or skill points/higher skill point ceilings. This campaign is a test bed for the rule-set as much as it is a campaign.
Now the unknown part. One of my players is making a social skill based rogue. My GMing experience has primarily dealt with hack and slash, horror/storytelling, and mystery based games using several different systems. It has at no point dealt with social skills in 3.5 let alone in this setting. I had originally envisioned the campaign as a gritty, descriptive, combat heavy, low fantasy setting (like game of thrones without the good writing and flavor) where knights in plate armor duke it out with dagger wielding rogues and grappling or other combat styles are viable.
Can anyone give me tips on running a game where such a character can contribute without necessarily making the game about them to the detriment of the other players or vice-versa? More specifically, can anyone give me advice on using the ruleset to do so? This particular player is an experienced optimizer who could very well be reading this. Part of his fun is seeing the mechanics work themselves out without blatant GM fiat and I'd like to reward his interest in the game if possible, but not at the expense of others.
Edited to add content and correct punctuation.
