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Message: <blockquote data-quote="StGabriel" data-source="post: 443135" data-attributes="member: 8225">unrealism in D&DThis all has to do with a fundamental rift between D&D and real life:  D&D is random and gaining skill does not do what it should, i.e. give one very low variance (make them very consistent).Before I express what I mean, let me say that I'm not really advocating big changes in D&D, simply explicating something about it that I think is fundamentally skewed with reality and that you have to face in your games.Take as an example, a knife thrower at a circus.  He gets to the point where it is no long really an issue of whether he will miss or not.  At first, he missed all the time, with practice he came to develop skills such that his throws only by inches until he came to such a level of competence that he wasn't all worried about spitting that apple on top of the gal's head across the way.This doesn't mean that in combat he should hit all the time.  Combat is different.  People are moving, they wear armor, they attack back, etc.It does mean that he shouldn't miss by much, especially when he aims.  He should not accidentally hit his friend in the back (unless there is grappling going on).  This leads to the fact that critical misses really shouldn't happen or if they do should be VERY rare and he just shouldn't miss very often at all against targets that are stationary.  If a person stands still in real life, who cares about his dex or even the fact that he has a bullet proof vest on, he will get hit by the expert marksman sitting 10 feet away with a gun/knife/whatever.  There's really no if's and's or buts to it.  It's just as easy as flossing for the guy to hit a head at that range.A person with a jump of 10 should always be able to make a running jump of 15 feet.  A person with a tumbling of 10 should always be able to do a good handstand, somersault or backflip (when not overly encumbered or stressed anyhow).   Given this it makes sense that a person with a save of +15 should always be beyond succumbing to lesser magics.  18 strength is either enough to bench press 300lbs or it isn't, there isn't any 45% to it.  Real life gates would have min strength reqs.  If you have a 15 strength you can lift it, if not, more tries isn't going to do squat.  At the boundaries of someone's limits there will be some chance, but up until the very boundary, the performance will be nearly identical each time.  The person with a strength of 18 will never fail to lift a 200lb box.  The person with a dexterity of of 18 will always be able to juggle 3 balls.  A person with a climb of 10 can always climb a wall with decent handholds.  Etc.Instead of getting this behavior we have all kinds of buffoonery as supposed experts manage to flub things because they roll low numbers.  An unencumbered big bad ass barbarian actually has a chance of failing to jump a 5ft chasm, even though he could step over it.  A ranger fails to notice dinosaur tracks because he rolls low.  People with military quality training miss the sides of barns on low rolls as well. A half orc fighter with a 22str fails to lift the DC 20 gate, and then the halfling rogue with a strength of 10 succeeds.  The rogue then rolls a 1 and his +10 climb isn't enough to get him up a steep incline.  The wizard later rolls a 20 and and that's enough to get him up a vertical wall with sparse handholds.I accept this state of affairs, but I don't wish to exacerbate it.  Because of this, I try to keep natural 1/20 rolls out of my games.---StGabriel, the Taoist saint.</blockquote>

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