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Message: <blockquote data-quote="dmnqwk" data-source="post: 6789175" data-attributes="member: 6804204">My best advice is related to the toughest part of early DMing in 5th edition - the skill check. Stories can be made up, adventures can be improvised but unfortunately DnD needs skill checks to maintain the semblance of game over pure fiction.There are precisely 18 skills in 5th edition, and some of them come up in rolls more often than others.Key Skills:Perception - Avoid surprise, spot a secret door or generally noticing things. Passive Perception (which is your perception + 10) can be used when your PCs are not actively trying to look for things, think of it like spidey sense!Insight - Like Perception, but for people not things. If an NPC is lying, Insight can let a PC determine this.Stealth - Sneaking about is always a good thing! Often applied against a character's Passive Perception.Athletics - Break down a door, shove a person over, move a heavy boulder. This comes up an awful lot in checks.Diplomacy Skills: When the PC interacts with someone, these skills are used to see how well you interactDeception: Lying and other non-truthful responses.Intimidation: Threatening and Subtly insinuating if the person does not hand over the information their hand may accidently get chopped off.Persuasion: Honestly appealing to their good nature, or convincing them it's a good idea to give you a huge discount on supplies!Knowledge Skills: When PCs want to know things about a situation, such as what a crazy symbol means or know a little about a creature in the region - these 4 skills applyArcana - Magical Stuff, such as Runes and SigilsReligion - Deities, Rituals, Holy Symbols etc.Nature - Plants, Flora and Natural creatures fall under this skillHistory - If your PC wants to know something in the past, History is the best place to go.Other Skills:Acrobatics - This really could've been labelled Balance, because half the things you think belong under here, are actually Athletics checks (vaulting over bannisters, for example!). This skill is mostly to avoid slipping on hazardous surfaces.Animal Handling - Soothe the savage beast, or ride a horse safely. This skill has a lot of usesMedicine - Treat basic wounds, identify a poison or maybe perform surgery to remove an arrow from someone. It's also used to try and stabilize someone who is dying.Sleight of Hand - often opposed by a Perception check, it includes Pick Pocketing and other forms of subterfuge with your limbs.Survival - Tracking. Also finding food in the wild or managing to set a trap for someone in the wilderness.On top of skills you can also be proficient in Tools, such as Thieves' Tools for picking locks or a Herbalism Kit for crafting potions and poisons. If you need a guide for how to quickly set a check, the best process is:1) Decide what kind of success rate you want and set a DC2) Ask them to make a roll3) Decide which skill to apply while they are rolling4) Determine if they succeedDC 5: Gives you a 75-100% success rate for 1st level charactersDC 10: Offers a 50-75% success rate for 1st level chars. DC 13: Offers a 33-66% success rate for 1st level charsDC 15: Offers a 25-50% chance to succeedDC 20: 5-75% chance for them to succeed.In 5th edition, bonuses don't become quite as silly as some editions (2nd edition going from a 20 save to as low as an 8 for certain race/classes within 5 levels was always a bit rich)Excluding Expertise, which is a benefit of being a Rogue or Bard, most characters will go from a +5 at 1st level in their good skills to +11 at level 17-20. So setting DCs doesn't need to scale quite so much as in previous editions.</blockquote>

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