I could imagine there being an option for minimal narration (as you said, the tadpole narration and other internal things are pretty crucial). Personally I like the narration – it makes it feel more like a real DnD campaign, with a DM weaving a tale for you as you play – but I can understand not wanting that yourself.
Worth noting that I do *not* think the narration should tell you anything your character doesn't have good reason to already know. I mention this only in relation to your example – if the narration explained that it's easier to get inside the head of someone who's afraid, and harder if they're calm, that would be telling you something you don't necessarily have any reason to know. Obviously you could succeed on an Insight check or some such to figure it out, but in general I think it's important to make the distinction between narration telling you things your character knows/perceives that you might not (good) vs. explaining things neither you nor your character has good reason to yet understand (bad).
