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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Monayuris" data-source="post: 7796483" data-attributes="member: 6859536">Just so I understand - Goal and Approach: Does this mean you ask the player what their goal is and how they approach a situation before you ask for a check? Then you frame the check within those parameters?I do something similar in my games. I consider it a tool to use. I don't use it universally, but I use it when I feel it is needed.To me, running a game is as much as possible about player choice and consequence. I'm also no expert, but I'm learning, but I make a point to ensure that anytime there is a choice to be made and/or a check to be made there is a consequence. Sometimes it involves a discrete goal and approach, but sometimes it is handled by some other procedure.For example: The sneaking past a dragon in the lair... To me this is pretty clear. The choice is to attempt to sneak or not. Success in sneaking means you get past the dragon without waking it and even maybe grab a trinket or some coin on the way. Failure means the dragon wakes up and must be dealt with. The choice is to attempt to sneak and be exposed to the risk/reward element or do not attempt to sneak and pass up on the risk reward. I may explicitly explain this to the group, but it may also be taken as obvious.The situation where stealth is used in my games is as a substitute for the old school surprise mechanics. The group may choose to be stealthy at any point. The consequences is that stealth requires moving at a slower pace which takes more time than moving normally. The stealth roll is merely a gauge by which whether monsters notice the adventurers. Players who have invested in stealth can choose to leverage that ability at the expense of moving more slowly through the dungeon. Usually, my dungeons have some manner of time pressure (most common being wandering monsters… but sometimes other - one dungeon I have remains open for only 5 hours a month). As a result, the choice to move slowly with stealth has meaning. If you handwave movement rates and time tracking, you remove those consequences. In this case, I would recommend eliminating stealth as a meaningful choice and taking a more goal and approach method.This is in contrast to the dragon example, which is goal and approach. Also, I handle room investigation this way.I ask what they want to accomplish and how they attempt it. Based on that response I tell them what happens and if a roll is needed, what the DC is and what the results of success and failure are.</blockquote>

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