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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Swarmkeeper" data-source="post: 8423321" data-attributes="member: 6921763">True enough.  For published adventures, I guess I'd rather see the DC be left up to the DM and, when an actual challenge is presented, some suggested meaningful consequences be spelled out to help DMs get their creative juices flowing. Since that's realistically not going to happen, we are left with DCs as shorthand for difficulty where, at least part of the time, context gives no real clue as to meaningful consequences.Here is an example (honestly, just randomly picked out of Rime):Characters who inspect the windows of Elva's cottage can make a DC 10 Intelligence (Investigation) check. On a success, they find wee tracks leading away from a snowy windowsill of the cottage toward a nearby thicket. A character who succeeds on a DC 14 Wisdom (Survival) check can discern three individual sets of tiny footprints. Some of the footprints have a thin furrow in the snow alongside them, as if something was being dragged behind the creatures.Playing HouseBy following the tracks, a character with a passive Wisdom (Perception) score of 13 or higher can pick up the sound of movement from behind the conifers, where three chwingas (see appendix C) are playing atop the snow in a clearing. A dinner plate with branches and pinecones arrayed on it is placed between them, and one chwinga is sitting at the edge of the plate while the two others are moving a fork and a knife as if to cut and eat the "food."Maybe I'm just lacking some creativity here but here's what I see:Failing the initial INT(Investigation) check creates a roadblock that effectively ends the sidequest.  UNLESS, a DM is experienced enough and/or given some guidance with adjudication using success at a cost.  The WIS(Survival) check success gives us the number of creatures while failure... just doesn't give us the number?  The final WIS(Perception) passive check allows the PC to hear the non-hostile creatures behind the trees - but they've already been following the tracks so what is gained or lost either way?TL;DR:  More guidance, less shorthand.</blockquote>

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