Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Manacled by Thieves' Tools
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="iserith" data-source="post: 6756399" data-attributes="member: 97077"><p>The issues you raise seem to come from playing the game in a way that has (1) the DM calling for an ability check for just about any fictional action that smells like a check could apply to it or (2) the players asking to make ability checks in lieu of (or in addition to) stating a fictional goal and a fictional approach to achieving that goal.</p><p></p><p>If the DM instead requires players to articulate a goal and approach when dealing with a challenge and decides upon success, failure, or uncertainty after taking everything into consideration <em>and</em> is the only person at the table who calls for a check in the latter case, then these issues do not arise.</p><p></p><p>So how do I handle these two situations? When it comes to picking a lock, I examine what's at stake and decide whether the player's stated goal and approach for the character succeeds, fails, or is uncertain, calling for a roll in the latter case. In most cases, a failed check will result in successfully picking the lock, but taking more time than desired, alerting monsters in the process, or breaking lock picks. In the case of breaking manacles, then a failed check might mean breaking the manacles, but losing some hit points or hit dice in the process, alerting monsters, or taking a lot of time doing it. Of course, a check may never be required, depending on the situation and the player's stated goal and approach.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="iserith, post: 6756399, member: 97077"] The issues you raise seem to come from playing the game in a way that has (1) the DM calling for an ability check for just about any fictional action that smells like a check could apply to it or (2) the players asking to make ability checks in lieu of (or in addition to) stating a fictional goal and a fictional approach to achieving that goal. If the DM instead requires players to articulate a goal and approach when dealing with a challenge and decides upon success, failure, or uncertainty after taking everything into consideration [I]and[/I] is the only person at the table who calls for a check in the latter case, then these issues do not arise. So how do I handle these two situations? When it comes to picking a lock, I examine what's at stake and decide whether the player's stated goal and approach for the character succeeds, fails, or is uncertain, calling for a roll in the latter case. In most cases, a failed check will result in successfully picking the lock, but taking more time than desired, alerting monsters in the process, or breaking lock picks. In the case of breaking manacles, then a failed check might mean breaking the manacles, but losing some hit points or hit dice in the process, alerting monsters, or taking a lot of time doing it. Of course, a check may never be required, depending on the situation and the player's stated goal and approach. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Manacled by Thieves' Tools
Top