BioWare Blog: Respect the Character
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In between the huge and the small, there are many standard ways to give respect to the characters. If the big strong character wants to smash open a door, does it really matter to the story if they do or do not? As a GM you can acknowledge that they are very strong and only because of that, do they break the door down. The Halfling player in turn won't likely expect that such a courtesy will be given to her. She'll understand that to kick the door down, she'll need a roll.
You can also, as a GM, look at what the player put into his character and develop that as an important part of the story. A good author of a book or a show does not even mention that a character is an excellent painter unless there is a reason for it. The character's artistic skill will become useful at some point and, if acknowledged prior to that point, shows that it wasn't just '˜random'. A GM can use that. If a character dumps points into a Swim skill, you as a GM should put an encounter where that Swim skill becomes important. And maybe not just once but a few times. It lets that character be the hero of the moment. It gives the player something that they can do that nobody else is better at. And since you put that in just for them, if they roll the '˜1' on their Swim check, hinder them a little but don't make them have an gpic fail'.
