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<blockquote data-quote="Swarmkeeper" data-source="post: 8724792" data-attributes="member: 6921763">I think the handling of Difficultly Class is a key difference in DMing around these parts and may be getting in the way of understanding.&nbsp; Some feel the DC is set ahead of time - which makes sense based on how some rules and how the published adventures are written.&nbsp; Others feel that it is better to judge the DC of a task in the moment - which makes sense based on how Xanathar's publishes suggested DCs for tool applications, the fact that not every situation can be covered by a rule, and that not every possible character action can be encapsulated in a set DC for a given scene in a published adventure.&nbsp; Some likely sit on the fence between these two positions.The table from the DMG (p 238):It's your job to establish the Difficulty Class for an ability check or a saving throw when a rule or an adventure doesn't give you one. Sometimes you'll even want to change such established DCs. When you do so, think of how difficult a task is and then pick the associated DC from the Typical DCs table.Typical DCs<table style='width: 100%'><tr><th>Task</th><th>DC</th></tr><tr><td>Very easy</td><td>5</td></tr><tr><td>Easy</td><td>10</td></tr><tr><td>Moderate</td><td>15</td></tr><tr><td>Hard</td><td>20</td></tr><tr><td>Very hard</td><td>25</td></tr><tr><td>Nearly impossible</td><td>30</td></tr></table>I'm in the second camp and feel the adventures far too often are gating important information or pathways behind seemingly set-in-stone DCs.&nbsp; I much prefer to set DCs in the moment based on the situation and the goal/approach of the PC.&nbsp; This also prevents any subconscious bias about a &quot;set&quot; DC needing to be overcome and allows clever play to bypass obstacles more often with auto-successes than mostly needing lucky rolls.This topic probably deserves a thread of its own...</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Swarmkeeper, post: 8724792, member: 6921763"] I think the handling of Difficultly Class is a key difference in DMing around these parts and may be getting in the way of understanding. Some feel the DC is set ahead of time - which makes sense based on how some rules and how the published adventures are written. Others feel that it is better to judge the DC of a task in the moment - which makes sense based on how Xanathar's publishes [I]suggested[/I] DCs for tool applications, the fact that not every situation can be covered by a rule, and that not every possible character action can be encapsulated in a set DC for a given scene in a published adventure. Some likely sit on the fence between these two positions. The table from the DMG (p 238): [I]It's your job to establish the Difficulty Class for an ability check or a saving throw when a rule or an adventure doesn't give you one. Sometimes you'll even want to change such established DCs. When you do so, think of how difficult a task is and then pick the associated DC from the Typical DCs table. Typical DCs[/I] [TABLE] [TR] [TH][I]Task[/I][/TH] [TH][I]DC[/I][/TH] [/TR] [TR] [TD][I]Very easy[/I][/TD] [TD][I]5[/I][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD][I]Easy[/I][/TD] [TD][I]10[/I][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD][I]Moderate[/I][/TD] [TD][I]15[/I][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD][I]Hard[/I][/TD] [TD][I]20[/I][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD][I]Very hard[/I][/TD] [TD][I]25[/I][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD][I]Nearly impossible[/I][/TD] [TD][I]30[/I][/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] I'm in the second camp and feel the adventures far too often are gating important information or pathways behind seemingly set-in-stone DCs. I much prefer to set DCs in the moment based on the situation and the goal/approach of the PC. This also prevents any subconscious bias about a "set" DC needing to be overcome and allows clever play to bypass obstacles more often with auto-successes than mostly needing lucky rolls. This topic probably deserves a thread of its own... [/QUOTE]

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