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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Harzel" data-source="post: 7844829" data-attributes="member: 6857506">Reading literally the section of the PH that you are implicitly referencing (Ability Checks in Ch. 7) is clearly a mistake.  For example, ability check contests, specifically described in the sections on Grappling, etc., in Ch. 9 do not fall under the literal rubric in the Ability Checks section.  The use of ability checks described there is just the most common case.  (And the fact that it is framed in a misleading way is certainly not unique to that topic in the context of the 5e books.)However, if one were to feel strongly that initiative must be shoe-horned into the description in the Ability Checks section, then we'll just say that the DC is 100, but everyone gets to make 'progress with a setback', with the 'setback' (delay to act) being determined by the roll.  See?  You just have to know how to exploit the loopholes.</blockquote>