D&D 5E Modeling Uncertainty

[Hjorimir]

Oh, that's awesome! What you want (for ease of use) are three differently colored dice, and the DM has a special D6 with two sides of each color.

Wow.

I think I like this much better than my own idea.

There are some options (I'll have to ponder on this) to use the other two dice to mean something, so that you can differentiate between correct answers, wrong answers, and no answers. For example (this is really off the top of my head so the math is probably bad) if two of the three dice are successful but you get the unsuccessful die, the DM will tell you that you failed. But if two of the three are unsuccessful and you get one of them then the DM will give you the wrong answer. Maybe combined with hidden DCs?

Glad to be of service!

 

[Shayuri]

Seems like, for rolls where uncertainty is an issue, the GM can roll the dice instead of the player and then narrate the results?

No need to go making up extra dice mechanics for it, really.

 

[Hjorimir]

Certainly true, Shayuri, but what I like about Questing Beast's version is that there is some inkling to the player. Is such a system necessary? Not remotely. But that doesn't mean that it can't be interesting.

 

[Guest 6801328]

Seems like, for rolls where uncertainty is an issue, the GM can roll the dice instead of the player and then narrate the results?

No need to go making up extra dice mechanics for it, really.

Upthread a couple of times I explained why I don't believe this actually accomplishes the goal.

 

[ClearlyTough69]

That makes sense, but it's an un-intuitive presentation. Wouldn't leaving the DC to the DM (based on the situation and whatever factors might apply), but adding together the Diplomacy bonus of the truth-teller and the Insight bonus of the listener to hit that DC, be mathematically similar?

You're right. Your presentation is much more elegant.

Squishing your idea and mine together, my assumed DC was 0. If a DM wants there to be a small but real chance of characters mistaking the truth for lies, I'd up that to 5.

To summarise:
When it is in the interests of both parties for a skill check to succeed, combine their modifiers and apply them to the check of the more active party; the DM sets the DC.

Hmm. Reminds me of Working Together on page 175 of PHB!

 

[ClearlyTough69]

At first glance I thought this too, but then realized that just like all the other fiddly systems the game has had over the years it'll only seem that way until you've done it a few dozen times, after which it'll become second nature.

I agree that you can get used to it pretty quickly (especially if you don't have to make the assessment roll). Having done it a few times myself, I find the trickiest part is remembering the thresholds for the different confidence levels. This could be simplified to:

<10 not at all confident, no idea either way
10 have a hunch
15 pretty sure
20 absolutely certain

Before it was this:

<10 No confidence
10 Have a hunch
13 Fairly sure
16 Very sure
19 Absolutely certain

 

[ClearlyTough69]

Oh, that's awesome! What you want (for ease of use) are three differently colored dice, and the DM has a special D6 with two sides of each color.

Wow.

I think I like this much better than my own idea.

There are some options (I'll have to ponder on this) to use the other two dice to mean something, so that you can differentiate between correct answers, wrong answers, and no answers. For example (this is really off the top of my head so the math is probably bad) if two of the three dice are successful but you get the unsuccessful die, the DM will tell you that you failed. But if two of the three are unsuccessful and you get one of them then the DM will give you the wrong answer. Maybe combined with hidden DCs?

What you're proposing here could be a great mechanic. Part of me wants to get on and thrash it out right now, but I don't have time. Will you be developing this further? I hope so!

Comparing to the elements of my proposal:
Success/ failure - standard skill check process using one of three dice, determined secretly by the DM
Confidence - this is represented by the range of results on the three dice. If they are closely clustered, the players can be more confident; if they're widely spread their confidence will plummet
Assessment - I'm not sure how the mechanic handles this, so if you could help me understand I would be grateful!