Oof. That’s definitely not how it should go.

But GMing isn’t something the rulebook is all that good at teaching people how to do, so stuff like this is quite common :(

I dislike FATE for exactly this reason - it breaks my immersion too much

Within the same campaign? Yes, I expect the statblock to be (reasonably) fixed.

But from one campaign to the next? Not necessarily, unless they’re explicitly set in the same setting.

I prefer the BLeeM method: try to kill them and then be amazed at how they, like cockroaches, survive anyways

What the player says determines what the character says - but the dice determine how they say it.

It’s just like everything else, the player chooses what to attack, but the dice say how it goes.

Naturally, the player’s choice of words could give them a boost or hinder them. Also, I wouldn’t let the player just “roll to seduce.” You gotta rp a little if you want a rp reward.

Honestly, that’s on theme for pirates