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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Charlaquin" data-source="post: 8723092" data-attributes="member: 6779196">Yes, so a certain degree of abstraction is necessary for actions that require specialized expertise that the players (and DM, for that matter) lack. Lock picking is a good example: I don’t know how to pick locks, and I don’t expect most of my players do either; even if any did, I’m pretty sure modern locks work rather differently than medievalesque locks would. So, I don’t expect players to describe the exact motions of trying to pick a lock in detail. But I do need to know their goal and approach. And, yes, if there’s a locked door and the rogue’s player says “I try to pick it,” I do have enough content to understand that their goal is to get the door unlocked and their approach is to pick the lock with their thieves’ tools, and so would accept that action declaration. In contrast, a big dungeon room full of stuff? I do not have enough context to understand what “I search the room” means the player’s goal or approach are.  I disagree. A check is used to resolve uncertainty, and if you try to hide under a table, it’s really not uncertain whether or not someone will be able to see you.</blockquote>