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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Slobber Monster" data-source="post: 2998252" data-attributes="member: 27687">The problem I see with a lot of the discussion about skill modifiers and DC's is that people are only taking into account very narrowly defined situations.The common example given so far is Open Lock, where the highest DC lock in the PH is 40. So if your lock opening specialist has a +30 total modifier at high level, in a site based adventure he doesn't need to bother rolling to bypass a locked door in a quiet situation. A player who hasn't specialized in Open Locks has _no_ chance of bypassing the door (let's forget about magic for a moment, just for the sake of discussion), and the obstacle has become either trivial or impossible depending on party composition. The only way to force uncertainty for the skill specialist is to push the task further away from the dabbler, until the dabbling becomes irrelevant.But I think this is the wrong way to approach it. Rather than scaling the base DC's indefinitely as levels go up, the better approach is to create _messier_ situations which bring multiple skills and abilities into play. Keep some opportunities around for the dabblers to better their position or solve a problem via the use of skill checks which fall into normal DC ranges. Pump the DC's of the really hard stuff for the specialists not by increasing the base DC, but by adding difficult circumstances.A high level rogue shouldn't be sweating over spending a few minutes bypassing a well crafted lock in a static site. She should be racing against the clock to open a compartment holding a magical time bomb on a swaying ship in a raging storm while her allies fight off a horde of demons. The lock itsself would be the same DC 40 lock she picked 5 levels ago, but now she has to make DC 15 Concentration checks before trying and the Open Lock DC has been bumped with a +2 circumstance bonus due to conditions. If she's a truly uber unlocker then she could even add +20 to the DC to do it as a Move action so she can take a stab at a harrassing demon.But that's just how the rogue would solve the problem. The situation can still be constructed so that other abilities will also do the trick. I guess it does require a lot of work constructing situations, especially compared to designing site-based adventures. So maybe it doesn't extend what some people are looking for as a sweet spot. But I still think skills work fine, and the bigger problem is their frequent obsolescence by magic.</blockquote>

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