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Message: <blockquote data-quote="iserith" data-source="post: 7162086" data-attributes="member: 97077">I think "whim" is a little insulting. The implication is that the DM is just making stuff up and changing his or her mind arbitrarily with no explanation when that is most certainly not the case. Perhaps you don't mean it that way, but that is what "whim" means in this context.A fair and consistent DM that balances out deciding on success or failure and going to the dice is making decisions and rulings based on carefully considered criteria, preparation, internal logic, and established fiction. They are consciously telegraphing information via describing the environment to avoid gotchas. They are taking every action declared by the players into consideration to award success to players who have been paying attention, immersing themselves in the world, and coming up with appropriate ideas to overcome challenges while not overdoing it such that the mechanics are irrelevant and the DM can be "gamed." All while pursuing the goals of play, that is, everyone having a good time and creating an exciting, memorable story.It is a careful and methodical balancing act which takes into account the player's natural desire to avoid randomness wherever possible by having control over outcomes. That is not whim and it's no small feat either.If a player asked me "Are there any goats in this town?" my response would be "What do you do to find out?" and "Stop asking me questions - do stuff by describing what you want to do." If a reasonable statement of goal and approach is offered, I will narrate the result of the adventurer's action based on the certainty of success. Because this is such a mundane action with likely no complicating factors, no dice will be used unless perhaps there is any negotiation on the goat's price. If it's my current campaign, buying a goat would be part of the town task of Supply and he or she would be able to choose a given location that sells Trade Goods (which may come with interesting trade-offs) as part of the three locations he or she will have time for in that given Supply task. Attempts at negotiation (which would again just be a statement of goal and approach, not a drawn out scene) would likely call for a Charisma check though it's a rare player in my games that will haggle over a 1-gp goat.While it's a silly example, you can substitute basically anything in for the goal and approach of finding a goat and the same adjudication process applies. Again, not whim, not random. Consistent, balanced, fair. Bringing this all the way back around to the thread topic, the same goes for players describing actions to keep watch for danger or find the trap or search for secret doors. They state a goal and approach, I decide on success, failure, or uncertainty based on consistent factors and apply mechanics in the latter case. Balancing out granting success and going to the dice, in combination with other approaches, contributes to my players taking the Perception skill a lot less than some folks are reporting in this thread.</blockquote>

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