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<blockquote data-quote="The Crimson Binome" data-source="post: 6457680" data-attributes="member: 6775031">This can be rather unsatisfying to the player, especially after rolling a 20 for a modified result of 25 or more. If the outcome of the test is not in question, then players are likely to respond more poorly in that situation than if you just say that no check is allowed.Dice are used to resolve uncertainty, but a check is only called for when the outcome is uncertain. The DM is the one who judges whether the outcome of any action is certain or uncertain.It is often the case that player characters find themselves in situation where there is no possible chance that they could know about something. If an ancient civilization has been lost for thousands of years, then there's a less than 5% chance that someone halfway-across-the-world would know about their customs, so no roll should be allowed. Even scholars.If the descriptive part of your background had it that you grew up in a city adjacent to the jungle where that civilization was lost, then maybe you would get to try that DC 25 check, based on unsubstantiated rumors that never made their way out to the world at large. The descriptive part of your background is vital toward determining what your character might actually know.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="The Crimson Binome, post: 6457680, member: 6775031"] This can be rather unsatisfying to the player, especially after rolling a 20 for a modified result of 25 or more. If the outcome of the test is not in question, then players are likely to respond more poorly in that situation than if you just say that no check is allowed. Dice are used to resolve uncertainty, but a check is [I]only[/I] called for when the outcome [I]is[/I] uncertain. The DM is the one who judges whether the outcome of any action is certain or uncertain. It is often the case that player characters find themselves in situation where there [I]is no possible chance[/I] that they could know about something. If an ancient civilization has been lost for thousands of years, then there's a less than 5% chance that someone halfway-across-the-world would know about their customs, so no roll should be allowed. Even scholars. If the descriptive part of your background had it that you grew up in a city adjacent to the jungle where that civilization was lost, then maybe you [I]would[/I] get to try that DC 25 check, based on unsubstantiated rumors that never made their way out to the world at large. The descriptive part of your background is [I]vital[/I] toward determining what your character might actually know. [/QUOTE]

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