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Message: <blockquote data-quote="staticdrifter" data-source="post: 7497492" data-attributes="member: 6667324">Since we are speaking in terms of DMing the situation, the terminology is semantic in nature. The situation calls for more advanced ruling than simple "follow the rules" decisions. The modified method allows for more sensible player interaction. 5th ed rules tend toward cookie-cutter solutions in many situations and far too many modern DMs try to run the game with no thought to what may actually be plausible because "it's in the book".In many cases involving skill checks, allowing your players to interact together, and creating a skill challenge, rather than a simple check, gets your players thinking and working on the same page. In addition to working out the lock picking together, adjusting for skill, and lack thereof, requiring three successful attempts to get the lock to turn, builds suspense, keeps players sharp and characters active, and overall, shortens the time spent working through mundane tasks between combats. There's no reason the door should take any longer to open, in real time, using a well designed challenge, than it does to roll the dice and pass or fail, and if the players are engaged, they won't notice if it does.It still amazes me how often in these discussions, when someone asks, "how would you handle this?", that when someone offers a solution that involves bringing some old-school life back to the party, responses waft back to "that's not in the rules".</blockquote>

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