1 = -10, 20 = 30 with everything

[Drawmack]

Acctually with typing. I'm a computer programmer and if I could touch type 100 words and only misspell 5 of them I'd be extatic.

Additionally I don't see a problem with 5% autohit, 5% autofail.

Here we have mr kobold, there we have mr uber fighter who has killed thousands of kobolds. Mr uber fighter probably isn't taking the threat all the seriously until the kobold lands a blow. Then when the kobold does land that blow he does do much damage but the fighter probably starts paying attention.

IMC we use the optional rule from the PHB (I think but it might be the DMG). One a roll of a 20 or a 1 reroll. On a 20 if the reroll would hit you get a critical, if the reroll would miss you just get a normal hit. On a 1 if the reroll would hit you suffer no negatives and simply miss the target, if the reroll would miss you drop you fumble.

This workds nicely as it leave the 5% hit/5% miss alone but reduces the % of criticals and adds fumbling in.

 

[Mark Chance]

Practice, practice...

Acctually with typing. I'm a computer programmer and if I could touch type 100 words and only misspell 5 of them I'd be extatic.

Gotta practice more. I type exceptionally well, both in terms of speed and accuracy. Then again, maybe I have Skill Focus (typing).

Additionally I don't see a problem with 5% autohit, 5% autofail.

To be honest, I don't either, at least at the current stage of my campaign.

Here we have mr kobold, there we have mr uber fighter who has killed thousands of kobolds. Mr uber fighter probably isn't taking the threat all the seriously until the kobold lands a blow. Then when the kobold does land that blow he does do much damage but the fighter probably starts paying attention.

I can get my players to pay attention without relying on randomness. I'm wicked that way.

 

[Magius del Cotto]

Skills aren't always 1:1...

Remember, just because you're making a single skill check, you're not always making a single use of the skill. For example, a Typing check could be for a sentence, a paragraph, or an entire page, and not just a single word. The craft skill is for a day's or a week's worth of work, not a singal blow. Personally, I don't see anything wrong with the system as it stands now. 5% really isn't that big of a threat, as long as the threat for the opposite is also possible.
Another factor to throw in: in adventuring, things are rarely routine. You're constantly fighting on unfamiliar ground, sneaking around unfamiliar settings, and so on and so forth. The 5%, methinks, also takes into account these minor changes, as well as the fact that they're supposed to be bent, more than any others, by the whim of luck. Now, toying with the system may be fun for a session or two, but methinks I'll be leaving it the way it is, my friends.

 

[Corlon]

The group which I GM, and Corlon's (which I play in) have used this rule for about a year and a half, and have never had a problem with it.

Except for that one time...
That I saw roling a natural twenty a more lucky thing than "taking 20" I've made taking 20 just a...20, whereas roling a 20 gives you a thirty, and as jeph says, this was never a problem until one of my players thought of "that's not a 30, FINE THEN! I'll just role until I get a twenty"

So here comes my other house rule
No more than 5 consecutive roles on one skill roll, just take a twenty, only exceptions are when enemies are on your tail, and instead of taking the few minutes, you make 6 rolls or something.

 

[tburdett]

But the point of the rule was excactly opposite to your posts point; we're not talking about ordinary workers and workplace safety. We're talking about adventurers. This rule prohibits them from drowning in their own swimming pool or cracking their skull by slipping in bathroom.

I can easily believe that routine leads to accidents. Most of car accidents happen near your home - the place you're most familiar with. IMHO this just shouldn't apply to experienced adventurers.

Ah, but your making an assumption here.

The 'workplace' that I am talking about is the military. Active duty soldiers, who are probably as close as we get in the real world to adventurers, are not 'ordinary workers'.

 

[-Eä-]

Personally I use a system a bit different from the presented ones:

If the character rolls a 1, he subtracts his character level from the result, if he rolls a 20 he adds his level to the result. This usually works quite nice.

 

[Guilt Puppy]

We've been using the 20=30, 1=-10 rule for a while in our games, and it's worked fine. On the rare occasion you find something you can't hit with a natural 20, you suddenly get a much greater sense for the scale of things in-game.

Plus, for DC 5 ride checks and things, it's nice to just not have to roll.

Thinking of adopting the whole "reroll and add on a 20" thing to my next game... Although to balance it out, I'd make a 1 a -20 and have you reroll to add (continuing to reroll on 1's and 20s). Otherwise, three 1's in a row is only -1, whereas three twenties in a row is then 60. Big difference. (Although, this brings up some "aww, crap" moments where your natural 20 gets cancelled out by a natural 1, and you're left with just a plain old normal roll. But aside from those, it seems to be okay.)

This means that chance always factors in (no matter what your bonus), and your bonus always factors in (no matter what your luck.) Which seems good to me.

 

[Ravellion]

Technically, part of this discussion is compeltely moot, since skill checks do not automatically fail on a natural 1, or succeed on a natural 20...

Rav

 

[Mark Chance]

They do now...

Technically, part of this discussion is compeltely moot, since skill checks do not automatically fail on a natural 1, or succeed on a natural 20...

Rav

Not any more. The release of the Deities & Demigods changed all that. Whether the change will be backtracked into future printings of the PH remains to be seen.

That point aside, sword-fighting is also a skill, even if it isn't a skill. The same considerations apply. It seems to stretch credibility to say a 20th level fighter and a 1st fighter both have the same chance to automatically miss a target.

 

[DonAdam]

I think the -10/30 rule is decent, but only favorable if you have your characters roll for every action they take.

the 5%/5% mechanic, however, is much, much more realistic for combat situations. In the heat of a hectic battle, of course you have a 5% chance of failure. Your 5% chance of success (which doesn't apply to skill or ability checks, mind you) could be due to your opponent having a 5% chance of failure (you still have to position yourself properly in armor).

In day to day situations, where the rule might become absurd (I walk to the refrigerator to grab a soda- balance check!) we have the rule of taking a 10.

In other words, I think the variant is
a) unnecessary
b) unrealistic (since the 5/5 only comes into play in combat and without it you're saying that kobold has 0% chance of hitting, or that the high level fighter must always hit- that's nuts)

The same considerations apply. It seems to stretch credibility to say a 20th level fighter and a 1st fighter both have the same chance to automatically miss a target.

Of course they don't. To automatically miss an opponent you would have to assume there is no roll. There's nothing automatic about rolling a 1. Your question is nonsensical to begin with. What stretches credibility is to say that the high level fighter has 0 chance of missing the average kobold.