I like to engage my players and have them explain to me what they want to do, specifically for example:
Me: The orc is bloodied and fallen upon one knee before you, exhausted and beaten from battle. what would you like to do
PC: I want to attack!
Me: Describe how you attack.
PC: I hit him across the face with my ax
Me: Do better! Paint me a picture!
PC: I level my ax at the orc's throat, and with two hands, I swing to take the beast's head off! RAWR!
Me: (quick calculations) Roll for it. You've killed him either way, but if you roll better than a 12, you've a clean decapitation.
I want the PC's to feel that they are telling their own story.
