Chart for taking 10 and 20?

[CullAfulMoshuN]

PHB P.61

Checks without Rolls
A skill check represents an attempt to accomplish some goal, usually with some sort of time pressure or distraction. Sometimes, though, you can use a skill under more favorable conditions and eliminate the luck factor.

Taking 10: When you are not in a rush and not being threatened or distracted, you may choose to take 10. Instead of rolling 1d20 for the skill check, calculate your result as if you had rolled a 10. For many routine tasks, taking 10 makes them automatically successful. Distractions or threats make it impossible for a character to take 10.
-- Example Removed --

Taking 20: When you have plenty of time (generally 2 minutes for a skill that can normally be checked in 1 round, one full-round action, or one standard action), and when the skill being attempted carries no penalties for failure, you can take 20. In other words, eventually you will get a 20 if you roll long enough. Instead of rolling 1d20 for the skill check, calculate your result as if you had rolled a 20. Taking 20 means you are trying until you get it right. Taking 20 takes about twenty times as long as making a single check would take.
-- Example Removed --

While the take 10 does not explicitly say 10 times as long, it does specify not being in a rush or distracted, which implies that it must take longer than normal to accomplish the task because you are not rushing it and just doing an average job of it. Our group has always just taken this to mean that taking 10 means taking close to a minute to accomplish want could be done in 6 seconds if rushed.

This also takes the pressure off the DM about whether or not the PC can take 10 in any particular situation. Instead of saying no you can't your distracted, I will often say sure, if your willing to spend about the next 10 rounds picking that lock in combat rather than rolling for it each round, then be my guess. Chances are if they can succeed with a take 10 they would have succeeded in a few rolls anyway. That way the players decide whether they are too distracted, and only try and take 10 if there is almost no possibility that they may need to be doing something else soon...

The basic mechanics as I understand it are, Taking 10 means you are taking your time and doing an average job of something (hence taking longer than you could have) and Taking 20 means you are essentially repeating the same take over and over again until you get it right (basically, rolling a 1 on the first try, 2 on the 2nd, etc, through to 20 on the final try). Also gives more value to the special abilities of high level rogues and some prestige classes that let you take 10 under pressure, meaning they can take 10 in one round instead of needing 10 to accomplish a practiced task.

 

[Hypersmurf]

DMG p91 Taking 10

Encourage players to use the Take 10 rule. When a character is swimming or climbing a long distance, for example, this rule can really speed up play. Normally, you make a check each round with these movement-related skills, but if there's no pressure, taking 10 allows them to avoid making a lot of rolls just to get from point A to point B.

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You want to "encourage" players to swim at one tenth normal speed over a long distance?

Let's say I want to Take 10 on a Jump check. Do I take ten rounds to cover 15 feet in mid-air?

PHB Glossary:

Take 10 : "... by assuming an average die roll".
Take 20 : "... by assuming that a character makes sufficient retries..."


Taking 20 takes longer than normal, taking 10 doesn't.

-Hyp.

 

[CCamfield]

Sean K. Reynolds has an article at his website which lists each skill and tells you whether or not you can take 20 with it, and why. Here's the link:

Take 20

That was probably it! (On Sean K. Reynolds' site.) Thanks Hypersmurf and Dr Zoom.

 

[AuraSeer]

Our group has always just taken this to mean that taking 10 means taking close to a minute to accomplish want could be done in 6 seconds if rushed.

You are of course free to use any house rule you want, but you should be aware that the core rules do not say this.

By the book, taking 10 is exactly as fast as a normal rolled check.

 

[Dr. Zoom]

Also remember that taking 10 or taking 20 takes 10 or 20 times as long.

Correct on the taking 20 part, but taking 10 does not take 10 times as long. It takes no more time than it would ordinarily take if you rolled your skill check.

 

[IceBear]

As a DM you shouldn't be upset with a player who is just using his skills appropriately. If you want him rolling the dice over and over and slowing down the game (eg, oh, I rolled a 6, that's probably too low to find anything so I'll try again), that's fine, but I'd rather have him Take 10 and just tell him if he finds anything. Now and then I'll throw in something that can't be found on a Take 10 just to keep the party on it's toes.

IceBear