D&D 5E How Do You Handle Group Skill Challenges?

[CleverNickName]

I'm curious how you (or your DM) handle group skill challenges. You know, situations in the game where success or failure depends on the entire group contributing. Things like:

• Everyone trying to sneak past a sleeping monster (Stealth).
• The group trying to hunt and forage for nearby food and fresh water (Survival).
• The party spending an afternoon at the market, listening for rumors (Investigation).
• Everyone hanging out at the docks, on the lookout for a wanted criminal (Perception).
• And so on and so forth. Basically, any situation where the entire group is using combined effort to overcome a singular challenge.

How does your table handle that?

Do you have everyone in the group make the same Skill check, and then average the results? take the highest/lowest?
Do you only ask characters who are proficient with that skill to make the roll?
Do you ask one player to make the check with Advantage (which assumes someone else in the party is using the Help action)?
Do you combine all of the results, against a higher DC?
Do you do something else entirely?

 

[Marc_C]

Sneak: Only the character with the lowest skill makes the test. If he/she passes then everyone in the group sneaks by the sleeping monster.

 

[CleverNickName]

At my table, I use the "weakest link" rule. Take the Stealth example above, where the entire party is trying to sneak past a monster. They aren't splitting up for whatever reason, maybe they all want to stay within the Paladin's aura or something--otherwise I'd make individual checks and roleplay out the whole scene, and the party might become separated. So I would rule that the entire group is only as stealthy as its loudest member: so I would ask everyone to make a Stealth check, and then take the lowest result.

Sometimes I'd use the inverse. Take the stakeout example, where the whole party is spread out at the docks, looking for the guy on the Wanted poster. I'd rule that the entire group is going to be as successful as the sharpest set of eyes, so I'd ask everyone to make a Perception check and take the highest result.

How 'bout you?

 

[Marc_C]

Perception (or any cumulative skill): Everyone rolls. Character with the highest skill is the focus. Every other success adds +1 to the score of the focus character.

 

[Stormonu]

It can be chaotic sometimes with the "I want to try too", but I tend to follow @CleverNickName - "weakest link" for cases when one party member could blow the whole operation, on the PC side everyone rolling when only one needs to succeed.

Bigger question might be, on the docks case, how do you handle the resulting chase through the crowd?

 

[Plaguescarred]

For group ability check, i make everyone in the group makes the ability check. If at least half the group succeeds, the whole group succeeds. Otherwise, the group fails.

 

[Lyxen]

The rules in the DMG (everyone rolls and the majority gives the overall success) are good enough for us, with the expectation that the best (for example at stealth) help the weakest ones.

There can be exception, but this fosters group play, it's quick and easy and not too harsh or too random.

 

[aco175]

I'm similar to what @Plaguescarred just stated. I have everyone make a check against a lower DC to assume people are trying to work together. I have thought about allowing proficient people have advantage to the group check or count as 2 successes when determining if half the party makes the group check.

 

[Swarmkeeper]

As a DM, I tell the players the DC of the group ability check based on their stated approach and goal. If they want to go through with it, I have them roll. If at least half succeed on the check, the party succeeds. If not, they fail and face the meaningful consequence. PHB p. 175, basically

Success can be explained any way you like in the fiction: the noisy plate mail wearing cleric is somehow being helped by the others to move quietly -or- the guards got distracted at just the right moment so they didn’t hear all the clanging about of said cleric -or- whatever.

 

[iserith]

This definitely falls into the rules for group checks (Chapter 7 PHB).