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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Charlaquin" data-source="post: 7292268" data-attributes="member: 6779196">Those weren’t “narrative flourishes,” they were essential components to evaluating the action and resolving its outcome. Without a description of exactly how the character is “searching for secret doors,” the only answer I can give is, “not enough information,” so I filled in the missing information with a couple of examples to try and give you a more satisfying answer. I think there is a fundamental disconnect in the way you and I approach the game if you can substitute specific details about the character’s approach and what they learn from it with “narrative, narrative”. For my DMing style, narrative is as important to the core resolution mechanic as the results of dice rolls, if not more so.Almost like the character exists in an internally consistent world and have to interact with it as such. Imagine that.No, because that action has an uncertain outcome and therefore must be resolved with dice. For the action you described, the goal is “I want to kill the orc,” and the approach is “by swinging my axe at him.” This approach has a reasonable chance of achieving the desired outcome (you could hit him in the face and kill him) a reasonable chance of failing to achieve the desired outcome (you could miss or fail to land a hit with enough impact to kill), and consequences for failure (the orc is still alive and probably none too happy about your axe having been swung at him). So, I rely on the standard means of resolving this uncertain outcome, which in 5th edition means an attack roll to see if the attack hits and a damage roll to see if it does enough damage to kill. Whether or not you succeeded in achieving your goal, and how well you did should be plainly obvious, so there’s no reason to conceal the results of the dice rolls. And in fact, I would be hard pressed to come up with a situation where the outcome was uncertain and the results wouldn’t be obvious enough for it to be appropriate for the players to see the roll results.You mean as to whether the lack of seam in the mortar indicates the lack of a secret door? Yes. What they know is that no seam can be found. They must form their own conclusions based on that information.Ok, but this is a world made by me, a person who is invested in the players’ enjoyment. I don’t really care what’s historically accurate, I care what gives the players the opportunity to interact in meaningful ways with the world I’ve created, which means giving them the appropriate cues to form meaningful conclusions and make meaningful decisions. If there is a secret door, I’m going to give them some kind of information to tip them off about it, even if it’s not true to how they “realistically” would have been constructed or whatever. Heck, if there’s a secret door, I’m going to frame the scene in a way that tips the players off that there’s something to be found here before anyone even starts looking.</blockquote>“I’m no expert of masonry either, we’re just playing make-believe here. Try something and if there’s something to be found I’ll do my best to make sure you have enough information to draw your own conclusions. Worst comes to worst, if you’re not sure how to interpret the information available to you, I’ll give you a likely interpretation with a successful Intelligence Investigation check.” That is, by the way, why I run the Perception/Investigation split the way I do. Passive Perception will let you notice there’s something to be found (as you walk into the room, you feel an odd draft.) Active Perception will let you find hidden sensory information you might have missed with the passive check (It seems to be coming from a spot on the wall where the natural stone appears slightly recessed.) Investigation to interpret that information. (The draft is most likely coming from a seam in a hidden door.”[/QUOTE]

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