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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 5895526" data-attributes="member: 42582">Here is the relevant rules text from the 4e PHB:p 178 The DM tells you if a skill check is appropriate in a given situation or directs you to make a check if circumstances call for one. p 179 Whatever the details of a skill challenge, the basic structure of a skill challenge is straightforward. . . It’s up to you to think of ways you can use your skills to meet the challenges you face. p 259 A skill challenge occurs when exploration or social interaction becomes an encounter . . . Your DM sets the stage for a skill challenge by describing the obstacle you face and giving you some idea of the options you have in the encounter. Then you describe your actions and make checks . . . Chapter 5 describes the sorts of things you can attempt with your skills in a skill challenge.I think this is pretty clear: the GM describes the situation, the player describes his/her PC's action in response to that situation, the GM calls for a check, the check is made and its consequences adjudicated.The corresponding text from the DMG says much the same thing.Of course, those 4e rules take for granted that players will be looking for ways to bring their strong skills to bear; but the same thing, presumably, will be true in D&Dnext. If anything of importance turns on it, no one whose PC has STR 8 or 10 is going to call the mug-crushing action, especially if s/he has CHA 16 or 18 instead.(The mug-crushing example is interesting mostly for suggesting, once again, that in some contexts STR rather than CHA is the Intimidate stat. In 4e the canonical way to resolve this would be via a STR check to cruch the mug to grant a +2 to Intimidate.)But presumably the stats will still have descriptions, much like skills do in 4e, indicating what sorts of endeavours would fall under which stats.But this will only change play, won't it, if the GM is not obliged to call the relevant stat until after the player is committed to the action. If takebacks are allowed once the stat to be checked is declared, then players will presumably look for options that trade on their best stats. (And even if takebacks aren't allowed, clever players will quickly learn their GM's predilictions for making calls on stats.)I don't see the big difference between checking my sheet to confirm that my CHA is higher than my STR, and checking my sheet to confirm that my Bluff is higher than my Diplomacy.You still can't do whatever you want - if your STR is low, you won't crush many mugs! And there are still going to be skill notations next to your stats, that will make some uses of a stat more advantageous than others.The character sheet may be easier to read under this approach, but I still don't see a fundamental change in gameplay.</blockquote>

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