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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Iosue" data-source="post: 9194351" data-attributes="member: 6680772">I don't agree that bounded accuracy, per se, has anything to do with skill rolls, or an expected success rate thereof. The idea, in as much as it was discussed during 5e's design and playtest, was that AC and attack bonuses would not progress beyond a certain level. The intention being to avoid higher-level monsters from being mathematically out of reach of lower level PCs, and likewise, that lower level monsters would not be mathematically out of reach of high level PCs. The Tarrrasque has the highest AC in the game: 25. Mathematically, a 1st level character (+2 prof, +4 attack stat) can hit that without relying on a nat 20 (or external forces). Not often, mind, but still 10% of the time. Those are the outer bounds of bounded accuracy.Skill DCs and skill bonuses are not bound in the same way. Partly because this comes down play style, which 5e studiously avoids dictating when it can. Practically, DC is soft-bound at 30, putting it out of range of anybody without a +10 in their Skill. Low level characters can't hit that, even with Expertise. Monsters can have Passive Perception well in excess of 30. At the same time, the Rogue gets expertise at first level, meaning they can conceivably get a +9 (+4 prof, +5 skill stat). They auto-succeed Easy (DC 5) and Medium (DC 10) difficulty tasks. Meanwhile, a Level 17 character with Expertise and a maxed stat has a bonus of +17, far above the best natural attack bonus. A Level 17 character with Perception Expertise auto-notices even DC 27 hidden items or stealthy NPCs. One with Stealth Expertise is auto-exceeding the Passive Perception of 90% of the Monster Manual. The bounds are much looser, to the extent that they exist at all. Characters can get mathematically locked out of some skill attempts, and auto-succeed others.Take rolling stats out of the equation. Even if everyone gets the standard set of scores, it's expected that characters can have +5, +7, +9, or at the high levels even +17 difference in their chances to succeed in certain skills. Even following the DM advice to keep DCs between 5 and 20, that's not bounded all. But in that context, the probable difference between a rolled character and a standard set of scores character doesn't really matter.</blockquote>

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