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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Oofta" data-source="post: 8648158" data-attributes="member: 6801845">Just wanted to add, I disagree with the basic premise here.  I don't think the DMG says this.  Obviously there's room for automatic successes (the example the DMG gives is the Variant: Automatic Success).  But the above ignores the example of what the DMG considers no consequence as indicated by the bolded.  When a player wants to do something, it’s often appropriate to let the attempt succeed without a roll or a reference to the character’s ability scores. For example, a character doesn’t normally need to make a Dexterity check to walk across an empty room or a Charisma check to order a mug of ale. Only call for a roll if there is a meaningful consequence for failure. When deciding whether to use a roll, ask yourself two questions: <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Is a task so easy and so free of conflict and stress that there should be no chance of failure?</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Is a task so inappropriate or impossible — such as hitting the moon with an arrow — that it can’t work?</li> </ul> If the answer to both of these questions is no, some kind of roll is appropriate. It's not that the safe is empty (or the insight check to determine if someone telling the truth is lying) it's that the DM shouldn't bog down the game with checks for mundane tasks that in virtually all circumstances will be automatic.  But even if you take the interpretation that there should always be consequences, sometimes the consequence is simply not knowing.  Unable to open the safe?  You don't know if it's empty or not. Roll a 1 on an insight check when trying to figure out if the shopkeeper is lying?  Maybe he's just that good at deception.  Roll a 20 on that insight check and you have a high modifier?  You're pretty sure the shopkeeper is not lying unless there's magic involved.I also have no idea where the idea that knowing consequences going in is RAW.  I let players know what the consequences of failure will be based on what if I think the PC can reasonably know.  If I know a lock is trapped and if a disable check fails the entire party is plane shifted to the Abyss, is there any logical reason the players would know the consequence if the PCs don't?  Last, but not least, I think it's generally a bad idea to parse meaning out of the DMG as if it were some legal document.  Do what makes sense, do what keeps the game flowing and is fun for your group.</blockquote>

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