D&D 5E Are there actions not covered under a skill?

[Flamestrike]

Is it a matter of minutes or a matter of hours? A fantasy city is large and sprawling. It probably takes an hour to walk (assuming not in a rush) from the west gate to the east gate. To circle the city could take three hours (3.141...). So "finding a silversmith in town" is not necessary fast.

I always assume the check is made to determine how much time is wasted.

Why?

Man, if your nights of fun gaming involve dice rolls and math to determine how many minutes it takes for your players to locate a silversmith then we have different ideas of fun.

There is no roll. If there is a silversmith, they find one and it's done. Heck it doesnt even need to be roleplayed unless it's important to the story somehow, Otherwise they find one, sell what they want to sell and get back out there being heroes.

 

[3catcircus]

I look at at from a modern-day standpoint. Is it something that you learned by doing? Did someone teach you? Did you read about it and learn it?

1. Laying bricks = skill.
2. Hunting = skill.
3. Identifying medicinal plants = skill.
4. Picking your nose = not a skill (although most children and more than a few adults have this down to an art form)...

 

[Fenris-77]

I don't roll without consequences. So if they need to find a silversmith before sundown, which is a hour away, because, IDK, werewolves, then we're probably doing some rolling. That little race against time could be whole encounter if you wanted, racing the setting sun (Fenris files that little nugget away for future use). Otherwise, great, you walk around for (time X as a factor of city size minus time Y time for area knowledge) and find one. In a city the player are familiar with I'd just say, you know a Smith X distance away, name, rank, serial number, blah blah blah.

 

[prabe]

Like many others in this thread, I'll only call for a roll if the outcome of what a player describes is uncertain.

However, I have asked for an Investigation roll when the party is searching for a particular location or type of shop. Usually in a large city setting. Not so much to determine their success or failure but to give an indication of how long it takes to find the shop (or whatever) they are looking for. If they roll badly, perhaps they did not follow the instructions of the first person they asked and wandered aimlessly, perhaps the person they asked gave poor instructions based on how to get there, etc. My players tend to enjoy this because it adds an air of randomness to urban exploration that feels more real.

I have had PCs roll when they were looking for a specific place in a city--not any smith but Gimarul Hammerhammer (his real name) the dwarven mastersmith. Or sometimes I roll, to see what kind of person they encounter--how helpful and/or how likely to fall for the bard's line of BS (he seems constitutionally incapable of just telling the truth sometimes). I don't bother rolling if they want to find just a type of business, though--that's just ... kinda tiresome, IMO; I don't set out to do extended shopping stuff, but if the PCs want to interact that's fine.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

As @Kurotowa points out, there is no such thing as a skill check in 5e. There are only ability checks, which can be modified by various bonuses and penalties, one of the most common of which is the proficiency bonus. A skill is a type of proficiency, which allows you to apply your proficiency bonus to ability checks made to perform certain tasks. So rather than considering whether an action falls under a skill first and calling for an ability check if it does not, it’s more aligned with the design intent to consider which ability an action falls under first, and if a skill is applicable, mention that proficiency bonus can be added for it.

I mean, skill checks exist, the term just has some additional context that didn’t exist in other editions. An ability check with proficiency from a skill is a skill check. Rolling wisdom+vehicles (water) to pilot through dangerous terrain is a tool check, rolling dexterity+stealth to sneak is a skill check.

 

[jmucchiello]

There is no roll. If there is a silversmith, they find one and it's done. Heck it doesnt even need to be roleplayed unless it's important to the story somehow, Otherwise they find one, sell what they want to sell and get back out there being heroes.

Sometimes the party has deadlines. Time sometimes matters. Sure if they have nothing more pressing to do, don't roll. It doesn't matter. But sometimes it matters.

 

[Charlaquin]

I mean, skill checks exist, the term just has some additional context that didn’t exist in other editions. An ability check with proficiency from a skill is a skill check. Rolling wisdom+vehicles (water) to pilot through dangerous terrain is a tool check, rolling dexterity+stealth to sneak is a skill check.

The rules don’t call it a skill check though, it’s a dexterity check with proficiency bonus for stealth.

 

[Flamestrike]

Sometimes the party has deadlines. Time sometimes matters. Sure if they have nothing more pressing to do, don't roll. It doesn't matter. But sometimes it matters.

Yeah, but just how often does time sensitive shopping come up in a campaign?

Most of the time buying and selling stuff isnt even roleplayed, let alone 'roll' played. The PCs just buy stuff from a list of stuff you tell them they can buy, and sell stuff at a rate you determine is fair.

 

[Flamestrike]

I have had PCs roll when they were looking for a specific place in a city--not any smith but Gimarul Hammerhammer (his real name) the dwarven mastersmith. Or sometimes I roll, to see what kind of person they encounter--how helpful and/or how likely to fall for the bard's line of BS (he seems constitutionally incapable of just telling the truth sometimes). I don't bother rolling if they want to find just a type of business, though--that's just ... kinda tiresome, IMO; I don't set out to do extended shopping stuff, but if the PCs want to interact that's fine.

I dunno man, If I want the PCs to meet Dwarfy HammerhammerMcHammer master of the hammer, they just do. Im not a huge fan of letting the dice determine how people are or who the PCs meet. Ill usually just play it by ear, based off the PC in questions Charisma score. If they dumped Charisma they tend to get a lot of NPCs with starting attitudes of 'leave me alone'.

 

[Fenris-77]

Yeah, but just how often does time sensitive shopping come up in a campaign?

See my post above. You need to find a silversmith before the sun sets and the werewolves come out to play. That may be an edge case, and certainly doesn't apply to shopping for cloaks, which as I'm given to understand can be quite complicated.