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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Janx" data-source="post: 5726282" data-attributes="member: 8835">thanks for considering another way of looking at it.  And it looks like you may have found a possible explanation.contested events can use skill checks to be resolved.I could certainly see the NPC who planned ahead getting a bonus or even being considered taking 20 (which could be pretty advantageous if he's just as skilled as the PCs).Is the idea that the NPC/PCs are rolling to determine how they performed in getting to Point B and that the die results describe the random conditions they face an OK premise for most GMs?  Rather than changing a concrete, set in stone path that was predetermined?For a big city with a complex route, I never considered the Route to be an immutable fact.  Merely a fuzzy explanation of "the NPC knows the backways of the city like the back of his hand..."So if he blows the roll and the PCs roll well, I'd finish with "...but you know it better than he, so you manage to get there first."As an additional note, having a shortcut doesn't mean victory either.  Assuming both parties are running, I'd think Run checks are in order.  And the complication to the shortcut might include a climb or Jump check if it involved hopping a wall or jumping across a building.I'd doubt there are any shortcuts where the NPC who is "trying" to take the best route has to run, but the PCs can walk along the shortcut and easily beat him.  I suspect a shortcut merely gives the CHANCE to beat the NPC, assuming other things along the shortcut go OK.  Given that shortcuts are typicall non-obvious paths.</blockquote>

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