So, I've been DM'ing for about a year and I am still struggling with how to handle opposed checks.
I'm talking about the typical listen/move silently, spot/hide sort of stuff that needs to be checked regularly as a precursor to an encounter (esp. in a dungeon environment).
I've found the management of these checks really time intensive and I always feel as if I am bumbling through them to some degree. If I am doing these checks in secret (which is what I always do unless the player's are actively trying to avoid somethign they are aware of), I have to roll for all of the players plus all of the enemies. What's more, the odds always seemed tipped in the favor of whatever group is being passive (i.e. listening, spotting) since sure as heck someone in the group that stands a chance of being detected will roll low, and someone in the detecting group will roll high. Perhaps I am not doing them correctly?
One thought I had was turning these checks into a standard DC roll rather than an opposed roll. Perhaps the DC can be set at 13 + whatever bonus the monster has for the pertinent skill (i.e. listen or spot). I'd just need to make note of these DC's ahead of time to save myself some time looking through the stats, but it seems like it would make things easier to manage. Does anyone else do this? What base DC would be appropriate in this case?
As I said though, I might not be doing something correctly as is.
I'm talking about the typical listen/move silently, spot/hide sort of stuff that needs to be checked regularly as a precursor to an encounter (esp. in a dungeon environment).
I've found the management of these checks really time intensive and I always feel as if I am bumbling through them to some degree. If I am doing these checks in secret (which is what I always do unless the player's are actively trying to avoid somethign they are aware of), I have to roll for all of the players plus all of the enemies. What's more, the odds always seemed tipped in the favor of whatever group is being passive (i.e. listening, spotting) since sure as heck someone in the group that stands a chance of being detected will roll low, and someone in the detecting group will roll high. Perhaps I am not doing them correctly?
One thought I had was turning these checks into a standard DC roll rather than an opposed roll. Perhaps the DC can be set at 13 + whatever bonus the monster has for the pertinent skill (i.e. listen or spot). I'd just need to make note of these DC's ahead of time to save myself some time looking through the stats, but it seems like it would make things easier to manage. Does anyone else do this? What base DC would be appropriate in this case?
As I said though, I might not be doing something correctly as is.
