D&D General How would you handle this encounter?

[5ekyu]

Now for the odd duck to quack...

What if the roll to sniff the tea had been very high (21+total) and while the tea was fine, but there was something else in the scene where scent was a clue?
Like say a decomposing body improperly stowed below or lingering perfume or tobacco aroma from a recent guess?

Or might you add-in dome other thing unplanned thst adds a bit extra to the scene on the fly?

 

[Guest 6801328]

Now for the odd duck to quack...

What if the roll to sniff the tea had been very high (21+total) and while the tea was fine, but there was something else in the scene where scent was a clue?
Like say a decomposing body improperly stowed below or lingering perfume or tobacco aroma from a recent guess?

Or might you add-in dome other thing unplanned thst adds a bit extra to the scene on the fly?

I might grant an accidental success in cases meeting this general pattern, but mostly wanted to point out that 21+ for a 1st level character with proficiency and 16 in the relevant stat is 25% likely.

 

[5ekyu]

I might grant an accidental success in cases meeting this general pattern, but mostly wanted to point out that 21+ for a 1st level character with proficiency and 16 in the relevant stat is 25% likely.

And a 25% chance of finding something "hard" to find in a skill you are trained in and have high aptitude seems ok by me.

You?

It's literally at a difficulty that a flat out unskilled in this commoner could not get at all without some advantageous situation.

I mean, it's your point after all - the odds bit.

 

[Oofta]

Now for the odd duck to quack...

What if the roll to sniff the tea had been very high (21+total) and while the tea was fine, but there was something else in the scene where scent was a clue?
Like say a decomposing body improperly stowed below or lingering perfume or tobacco aroma from a recent guess?

Or might you add-in dome other thing unplanned thst adds a bit extra to the scene on the fly?

I might have improvised something, or just added some detail about the mint and other herbs that went into the tea. Maybe thrown in something about the tea being normal but smelling eye of newt and toe of frog in the cottage because Granny was a witch. Or just tell her that she couldn't detect anything other than mint tea and still allowed the medicine check if she wanted. After all, she may not have been able to detect poison just by smelling it.

I debate rolling for the PCs sometimes so they don't know the result, but people enjoy rolling.

 

[Guest 6801328]

And a 25% chance of finding something "hard" to find in a skill you are trained in and have high aptitude seems ok by me.

You?

It's literally at a difficulty that a flat out unskilled in this commoner could not get at all without some advantageous situation.

I mean, it's your point after all - the odds bit.

Huh. I guess I don't think of level 1 with proficiency and a 16 stat as all that expert, so something such a person could do 25% of the time probably isn't all that extraordinary. It was the "very high" that caught my attention.

I'm not saying that's inappropriate in the case you described (sniffing for one thing but detecting another) it just got me thinking about the odds.

 

[Campbell]

At the point of the initial Perception check I would have asked if the player wanted a secret check or an open check. If the check was made out in the open I would have expected the player to play their character as if they believed it was only mint tea. In general when I roll behind the screen I do not hold players to the result, but if we roll in the open so you know that it was a low roll I expect you to play your character with integrity.