D&D 5E (2014) Can you retry a failed skill check? How long?

[Azzy]

Trying Again
Sometimes a character fails an ability check and the player wants to try again. In many cases, failing an ability check makes it impossible to attempt the same thing again. For some tasks, however, the only consequence of failure is the time it takes to attempt the task again. For example, failing a Dexterity check to pick a lock on a treasure chest doesn't mean the character can't try again, but each attempt might take a minute.

If failure has no consequences and a character can try and try again, you can skip the ability check and just tell the player how long the task takes. Alternatively, you can call for a single ability check and use the result to determine how long it takes for the character to complete the task.

 

[Tessarael]

Ok, but a part of my point is that the ability to perform a task as a bonus action should imply that it takes a very short amount of time to make the check, even outside of combat, right? So if, as in the original post (so long, long ago), the DM wants to say "ok, the check takes 1 minute, a retry takes 5 minutes" and so on, what does that mean for a Thief?

Because it doesn't really make sense that a Thief can do something in combat along with a normal action and movement inside of 6 seconds, but out of combat, suddenly it takes 10x that amount of time or longer.

I would impose disadvantage or a higher difficulty on the roll for trying to do something in a rushed manner. I think that it is reasonable that disarming a trap or picking a lock would take a minute to attempt as a normal action. Heroic skill level or specific Rogue (or other) features could allow it to be done faster than that.

 

[evilbob]

I wonder if anything has changed over the last 11 years for anyone?

Interestingly, I posted in this thread 11 years ago, and when I went back and read it, I was like: I don't even recognize this person.

11 years later, I just tell people who are good at their jobs that they do the thing - no roll required. It goes back to the whole: unless there's a consequence for failure, don't roll.

 

[Reynard]

We should also remember to say no. Rather than letting the player roll with disadvantage versus a DC 30, just say "No, your character can't do that."