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Bounded accuracy and more mundane heroes
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<blockquote data-quote="Tony Vargas" data-source="post: 7875021" data-attributes="member: 996"><p>Perhaps part of the reason was an expectation that the DM would narrate success in situations where a skilled character should be able perform some task that requires his level of skill, but is otherwise routine? </p><p></p><p>DM Empowerment was a big part of 5e's design philosophy, and that kind of thing popped up very early in playtesting (even before the open playtest) and seemed to stick around. </p><p></p><p>Yes, 3.5 let an expert become reliably good - unable to fail even on a 1 - at various tasks (in addition to take 10 and take 20 rules, btw) - but, it also...</p><p></p><p> ...at high levels, the gulf between maxxed in-class ranks and no ranks, or even maxxed cross-class ranks, overwhelmed the d20, as well. Heck, you could have DCs that an in-class expert couldn't fail, that, the cross-class or untrained didn't have a chance at - overwhelming the d20, twice, in effect. </p><p>For that matter, the gulf between optimized and merely maxxed in-class ranks could overwhelm the d20. </p><p></p><p>So, it's easy to see the problem that 5e substituted it's own problems for.</p><p></p><p>The thing is that while 5e my have overreacted to 3x/4e 'numbers porn' with ('numbers prude') BA, it hasn't taken the same machete to <em>what</em> you can actually do, especially with spells. Indeed, relative to 4e, 5e returned to presenting very powerful/spectacular/game-changing spell effects at higher levels. So, while it may not seem like your wild-and-wahoo acrobat can run on water or fight on a tightrope or whatever, with expertise 'virtually impossible' DCs (a mere 30) are in reach (for the running on liquid), and the DM can always narrate success and just let you fight on that narrow ledge or what-have-you, no check required, 'cause you're just that good, in the fiction, and bonuses (or the cosmetic lack thereof) make no difference to checks you don't have to make.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Tony Vargas, post: 7875021, member: 996"] Perhaps part of the reason was an expectation that the DM would narrate success in situations where a skilled character should be able perform some task that requires his level of skill, but is otherwise routine? DM Empowerment was a big part of 5e's design philosophy, and that kind of thing popped up very early in playtesting (even before the open playtest) and seemed to stick around. Yes, 3.5 let an expert become reliably good - unable to fail even on a 1 - at various tasks (in addition to take 10 and take 20 rules, btw) - but, it also... ...at high levels, the gulf between maxxed in-class ranks and no ranks, or even maxxed cross-class ranks, overwhelmed the d20, as well. Heck, you could have DCs that an in-class expert couldn't fail, that, the cross-class or untrained didn't have a chance at - overwhelming the d20, twice, in effect. For that matter, the gulf between optimized and merely maxxed in-class ranks could overwhelm the d20. So, it's easy to see the problem that 5e substituted it's own problems for. The thing is that while 5e my have overreacted to 3x/4e 'numbers porn' with ('numbers prude') BA, it hasn't taken the same machete to [I]what[/I] you can actually do, especially with spells. Indeed, relative to 4e, 5e returned to presenting very powerful/spectacular/game-changing spell effects at higher levels. So, while it may not seem like your wild-and-wahoo acrobat can run on water or fight on a tightrope or whatever, with expertise 'virtually impossible' DCs (a mere 30) are in reach (for the running on liquid), and the DM can always narrate success and just let you fight on that narrow ledge or what-have-you, no check required, 'cause you're just that good, in the fiction, and bonuses (or the cosmetic lack thereof) make no difference to checks you don't have to make. [/QUOTE]
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