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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Korgoth" data-source="post: 4532287" data-attributes="member: 49613">Very true.My preferred approach to the matter of skills is just to go with what is reasonable to the character. If a character is known to be keen-eyed, or is an Elf, then he spots whatever is to be spotted first. We don't have to roll to spot something unless it's an ambush... and that's already covered in the Surprise roll. A clever ambush might offer a 1 point advantage in surprising or being surprised, or even both if it is particularly good.Likewise, a surprise roll can handle stealth if it needs to be rolled for. A Fighting Man wants to sneak through the main room of a temple while the cultists are all chanting and looking in the other direction. The Fighting Man cannot be surprised; if he "surprises" the cultists then he moves through successfully. He might gain one or more points on the die as a circumstantial bonus (bonus if he's unarmored/unencumbered, bonus if the cultists are really absorbed in what they're doing, bonus if it's shadowy, etc.). If he just tries to waltz through in armor, though, he's taking his life into his own hands (but it may work).I prefer "descriptive searching" to the alternate method of skill rolling that was introduced in Supplement I: Greyhawk. Here's how it worked the other night in my Empire of the Petal Throne (1975) game:Scene: The PCs have entered a tomb chamber with a sarcophagus. They pried it open and surprised a Vorodla (winged undead warrior) inside. After a short fight they slew it. The sarcophagus appears empty.Player: "I search the sarcophagus."DM: "How closely?"Player: "I want to feel the bottom, make sure it's the right height and so on."DM: "Do you want to actually climb into the sarcophagus? It's pretty big."Player: [pauses] "I climb inside it and search."DM: "You find a small stone knob or button in the bottom."My adjudication was that in the flickering torchlight, the button could not be seen from standing outside the sarcophagus (it was too well hidden and the lighting too flickery). However, someone up close on the inside would find it.So this was a decision point in the game: does Player risk his character by entering a possibly deadly sarcophagus? He saw no evidence that it would be deadly (no eldritch apparatus or pool of slime or anything like that... just dry stone) so he decided it was worth the risk. In some cases there would have been nothing to find. But they knew they had not found a treasure cache in this entire tomb sub-complex and so Player figured on a payoff. And he was correct... although treasure room behind the secret door was very dangerous itself!Further, characters can be understood to have reasonable areas of knowledge and mundane expertise. A character in my EPT game was a boat builder. When trying to sell a boat the party had, I just let him know what a good price was. He didn't have to roll or guess... he is trained in that, so he knows it. Another character is an alchemist and dye-maker who knows rocks and plants. In a partially-collapsed room he tried to evaluate whether the ceiling was dangerous. "You're not an engineer" I told him.It can all be handled with common sense and a minimum of die rolling. I game to reveal hidden places in the gameworld and to let my players display their ingenuity and cleverness. I could care less if someone is able to roll high.I think rolls should be used sparingly, and only at moments of high drama.</blockquote>

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