TBH I never liked Dex helping to climb so yeah...
Notably, climbing is just speed (effectively half your normal speed to climb). There is no check required by default. Only if there is some kind of situation that makes the climbing uncertain and have a meaningful consequence for failure - such as the wall being slippery or there being no handholds or being attacked while climbing - does the DM call for an ability check. Typically that will be a Strength (Athletics) check.
I use it sometimes. I am like 75/25. If someone asks to use a different stat they need to justify it (no your str mod is not helping you on arcana checks) I would say 1/4 (maybe less) of the time we end up useing other stats...
this is the #1 thing I deny. "I want to climb the wall with acrobatics" says the str 10 untrianed in athletics rogue with a 20 dex... no Your dex gives you enough bonuses. However I have on limited occasions (especially if it is not a repeted ask) allowed such things.
5e does pigeonhole you quite a bit. - It really pushes Rogue into investing in Dex for example. However if you decide to play a bit of a couch-potato and actively dump Str, you aren't going to be good at things requiring athleticism like jumping and climbing.
I use that variant rule a lot.
You can rule a different ability modifier as per the PHB variant. IMO it is better to rule based on the situation, not on what is convenient for the character. Also, you don't always have to call for a roll if you think a PC should be able to succeed certainly (rule zero).
Why? I don't think a cleric is automatically proficient to know about other religions. And about their own, I don't see why it should normally require to roll.
Agree. We've been doing the same since the beginning so Rogues with Expertise aren't necessarily better than Fighters at Athletics or Wizards at Arcana. No issues at all.
