Social Interaction
Exploring dungeons, overcoming obstacles, and slaying monsters are key parts of fantasy adventures. No less important, though, are the social interactions that adventurers have with other inhabitants of the world.
Interaction takes on many forms. You might need to convince an unscrupulous thief to confess to some malfeasance, or you might try to flatter a dragon so that it will spare your life. The GM assumes the roles of any characters who are participating in the interaction that don’t belong to another player at the table. Any such character is called a nonplayer character (NPC).
In general terms, an NPC’s attitude toward you is described as friendly, indifferent, or hostile. Friendly NPCs are predisposed to help you, and hostile ones are inclined to get in your way. It’s easier to get what you want from a friendly NPC, of course.
Social interactions have two primary aspects: roleplaying and ability checks.