D&D 5E How do you GM 4 of the 6 parts of ability checks

[robus]

I wrote a guide on adjudicating actions a while back.

Thanks reminding us of this iserith, a most enjoyable and informative series of posts.

 

[Celtavian]

2) Consider the player's action declaration and determine if the outcome is uncertain. If not, just say yes and proceed back to 1. If no, proceed to 3.

How do you determine if the outcome is uncertain?

Player Enjoyment/Interest: If an uncertain outcome will lead to an interesting play experience for the players. Does someone in the group have a relevant skill that will allow them to stand in the spotlight on this particular check? Will it spark the players to role-play and take an interest in the non-combat challenge?

System Explanation: I recently created a maze the players must navigate to progress in the adventure. The maze is complex and magically distorts one's sense of direction. It will require many days to navigate and the Survival (Wisdom) navigation check is quite high. I made this maze to challenge the survival skills of the Dark Elf Underdark Ranger.

3) Decide which ability score applies for the task at hand and establish a (target number) difficulty class. The more difficult the task the higher its DC.

How do you determine if the difficulty of the task?

Player Capability: I set the DC at a level where the illusion of effort is created. I don't want to use a standard DC because I feel that is wasting my time if it is so easy that it is trivial or so difficult that it is nearly impossible or will result in a player staring blankly into space while he rolls the D20 a bunch of times waiting for the right number. I want a number that feels within the players capabilities to give them the illusion of both effort and control.

System Explanation: The Underdark ranger has a Survival (Wisdom) bonus of +14 and he'll be assisted by another character with Survival (Wisdom), so he'll have advantage. I made the DC 20 if moving at a slow pace, 25 if moving at an average pace, and 30 if moving at a fast pace. Moving at a slow pace will increase the time in the maze by 1/3rd, so they want to avoid that as the maze is very dangerous with demonic random encounters. So the average pace is the logical choice. So he has to roll roughly an 11 per day with advantage. He has a very good chance of success, but not so high he can't possibly fail. I feel that gives both the illusion of effort and control I'm looking for.

5) Decide if (circumstantial - not PC build-driven) Advantage or Disadvantage applies.

How do you determine if Advantage or Disadvantage applies?

Causal Logic: This one I try to determine if the situation would warrant advantage or disadvantage.

Game Rule: I allow the Help action for non-combat checks where it seems like another player could help.

System Explanation: Another member of the party has Survival (Wisdom). He is able to help the navigation check through the maze on a daily basis. Allowing the help action to grant advantage gives another player the ability to add a substantial bonus to the roll that makes him feel as though he is being useful.

6) Describe how the post-resolution situation changes.

If the result is a failure, how do you determine how the post-resolution situation changes?

Genre/Drama Logic, Causal Logic, and Player Enjoyment/Interest A bit of all them. You want the resolution to feel like they're in a fantasy story. You want the illusion of realism of causal logic. And you want the resolution to result in an enjoyable or interesting play experience.

System Explanation: The maze magically distorts direction. A failure results in a random direction of travel that may well lead them to an additional day or more of travel or they may wander into a very bad encounter or they may not successfully navigate the maze allowing the adventure to progress. So a bit of everything.

 

[Libramarian]

What about Genre Causal Logic? Ie the PCs live in a world where dramatic and interesting things are more likely to happen than the real world, but they're not assumed to be protagonists.

 

[Celtavian]

What about Genre Causal Logic? Ie the PCs live in a world where dramatic and interesting things are more likely to happen than the real world, but they're not assumed to be protagonists.

My main concern is making the situation an interesting play experience. Over the years I've moved away from worrying about logic or genre for the most part and am more interested in the play experience. I've had so many times where I felt something was cool or made for a good story, while my players were bored to tears by the situation. Bored players are far from what I want as a DM, so my focus became ensuring the play experience is fun and interesting.