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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 5761019" data-attributes="member: 42582">I'll leave the elaborations to D'karr, but will make a general comment. By setting a range of default DCs and expected damage, page 42 creates a "safety net" for players to try new and/or wacky things. It puts an outer limit on how badly a player can hose his/her PC by stepping outside the more tightly defined action resolution mechanics. (The flipside of this is that it also puts a limit on how successful any wacky stunt can be - for example, there is no "autokill" result on the default damage charts. How big a change this is to the effectiveness of old-fashioned "creative spell casting" will probably vary from group to group.)It is true, as [MENTION=48965]Imaro[/MENTION] has pointed out upthread, that the actual numerical values for the default DCs have been errata-ed multiple times. The damage has also been errata-ed once (the MM3 changes). This doesn't particularly bother me, and I work around it when running published encounters or scenarios. I see it as fine-tuning the defaults in light of play experience and the evolution of the character build options.More importantly, for me, has been the concept of default DCs and damage, and the limits on risk of failure and consequences of success, to which they give rise. For me, at least, it's quite liberating compared to more simulationist rulesets, which can lead to wacky stunts getting bogged down in attempts to draw on real-world likelihoods of success and consequence.</blockquote>

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