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<blockquote data-quote="GMMichael" data-source="post: 6236992" data-attributes="member: 6685730">This could be a problem of underestimating the significance of an 18 ability score.&nbsp; If you have an 18, you really should be considered borderline super-human.That +5 bonus can be significant in the right context.&nbsp; It can be broken in the wrong context.So what's the context? It's directly determined by the difficulties/target numbers/difficulty classes.&nbsp; If an expert-level effort can be done with a +2 bonus, then +5 can make someone a master.&nbsp; If the expert-level effort occurs at a +10, or target number of 30, then +5 doesn't go quite so far.3.5 has the take-10 mechanic, which means as long as you don't have a penalty to your check, or you're not being harassed by hostile folk, you automatically get a 10 on your roll.&nbsp; That means even with a +0, you have no chance to fail - 0%.&nbsp; Reconsider a &quot;simple task&quot; now that goblins are swinging clubs at you.&nbsp; Is 50% failure reasonable?&nbsp; Is 25% failure reasonable, with a +4 bonus (with 16 Dex and training)?Modos RPG, built on a similar percentile system, makes taking 10 even more fundamental (the take half rule).&nbsp; All difficulty classes are based on what an &quot;average human&quot; could do.&nbsp; The aforementioned DC 25 would be called an &quot;impossible&quot; effort (based on the Modos context), but &quot;impossible&quot; difficulties are determined by the GM, not the rulebook.&nbsp; Whether by inherent ability or training, a character with +5 total to his acrobatics skill could actually do the impossible, although only statistically - 1 out of 20 tries.(If you fail 19 times at an impossible acrobatic task, you're likely to end up with a broken neck!)</blockquote>

[QUOTE="GMMichael, post: 6236992, member: 6685730"] This could be a problem of underestimating the significance of an 18 ability score. If you have an 18, you really should be considered borderline super-human. That +5 bonus can be significant in the right context. It can be broken in the wrong context. So what's the context? It's directly determined by the difficulties/target numbers/difficulty classes. If an expert-level effort can be done with a +2 bonus, then +5 can make someone a master. If the expert-level effort occurs at a +10, or target number of 30, then +5 doesn't go quite so far. 3.5 has the take-10 mechanic, which means as long as you don't have a penalty to your check, or you're not being harassed by hostile folk, you automatically get a 10 on your roll. That means even with a +0, you have no chance to fail - 0%. Reconsider a "simple task" now that goblins are swinging clubs at you. Is 50% failure reasonable? Is 25% failure reasonable, with a +4 bonus (with 16 Dex and training)? Modos RPG, built on a similar percentile system, makes taking 10 even more fundamental (the take half rule). All difficulty classes are based on what an "average human" could do. The aforementioned DC 25 would be called an "impossible" effort (based on the Modos context), but "impossible" difficulties are determined by the GM, not the rulebook. Whether by inherent ability or training, a character with +5 total to his acrobatics skill could actually do the impossible, although only statistically - 1 out of 20 tries. (If you fail 19 times at an impossible acrobatic task, you're likely to end up with a broken neck!) [/QUOTE]

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