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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Celtavian" data-source="post: 6773840" data-attributes="member: 5834">The 5E skill system is not set in stone. It is not objective. It does not have to have objective meaning or subjective meaning. The 5E skill system provides a loose set of rules for a DM to use to create interesting and impactful challenges that don't necessarily fall under combat or use combat rules involving attacking. You can use the skill system in whatever manner you as a DM feel will add the most to your game.For example, DM determines a particular ancient Netherese artifact requires different levels of knowledge to understand. He might write the skill check as follows: An easy DC 10 knowledge arcana check or medium DC 15 intelligence check if you lack the skill to determine artifact is Netherese. If you have at least a +3 proficiency bonus in Knowledge Arcana, you may make a DC 25 Knowledge Arcana very hard check to determine the Netherese artifact was created for the expressed purpose of defending against evocation magic. There is nothing in the rules that says I as a DM cannot write up the challenge in this fashion to highlight a person that has taken Knowledge Arcane.Just as there is nothing in the rules to say Hussar as the DM cannot say DC 25 Knowledge Arcane check, anyone can roll.That is how open-ended the 5E skill system is. It can accommodate different DM viewpoints on how to handle skills. The 5E skill system is not hard-coded for other than combat. Even then a DM can add some difficulty or ease to a roll if they fill there is a justifiable reason for doing so. For creative types like myself, I much prefer an open-ended skill system that allows me to add some cinematic flair or highlight a player's skill in some area than a hard-coded system that makes it so anyone can roll allowing a high attribute and a lucky roll to do more than a guy that spent some resources to be good at something. At the same time, I'm not going to tell someone like Hussar he can't let everyone roll if he feels like playing in that fashion.This is the DM empowerment edition. A DM can make things as interesting and complex or as simple as he wishes. I choose to do skills in a different fashion. I don't even allow knowledge checks for monsters the vast majority of the time. If the person don't have a skill, I don't allow them to roll when they run into complex challenges. They have to learn to live with their lack of knowledge. I'm glad all those mechanics are gone. It was annoying when a person in Pathfinder/3E had a 24 to 30 intelligence and spent one point in a Knowledge Skill and suddenly they knew something about just about every monster. Nothing ruins verisimilitude more than having everyone be a Mary Sue because of a high attribute.</blockquote>

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