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<blockquote data-quote="The Crimson Binome" data-source="post: 7292603" data-attributes="member: 6775031"><p>Going with examples from upthread, though, there are other cases where choosing the wrong approach from the many possible would lock you out from success. If you're looking for secret doors, and there are at least two methods by which you could do that, then choosing the wrong one means that you fail; if the DM lets you initiate a roll without specifying the method, then you have a chance to succeed <em>regardless</em> of which method the door is concealed by.</p><p></p><p>Skipping straight to the roll gives you the benefit of your character's expertise within the world, beyond the mere imagination of the player. If the DM allows you to. Which isn't a given.</p><p></p><p>As a player, I have no idea how my character would go about using the Arcana skill to detect a magic item. But if that is a thing which they can do, which we are assuming is the case in this example, then the character <em>does</em> know how they would go about it. When the player says that they want to make an Arcana check to determine if this thing is magical, what they're really saying is that they want their character to perform <em>whatever</em> action corresponds to the mechanic of using their knowledge of the arcane to determine the properties of an item, even though the player doesn't know what that entails. </p><p></p><p>It's essentially giving the <em>character</em> the benefit of the doubt, even though the <em>player</em> doesn't know as much as the DM does about how the world works.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="The Crimson Binome, post: 7292603, member: 6775031"] Going with examples from upthread, though, there are other cases where choosing the wrong approach from the many possible would lock you out from success. If you're looking for secret doors, and there are at least two methods by which you could do that, then choosing the wrong one means that you fail; if the DM lets you initiate a roll without specifying the method, then you have a chance to succeed [I]regardless[/I] of which method the door is concealed by. Skipping straight to the roll gives you the benefit of your character's expertise within the world, beyond the mere imagination of the player. If the DM allows you to. Which isn't a given. As a player, I have no idea how my character would go about using the Arcana skill to detect a magic item. But if that is a thing which they can do, which we are assuming is the case in this example, then the character [I]does[/I] know how they would go about it. When the player says that they want to make an Arcana check to determine if this thing is magical, what they're really saying is that they want their character to perform [I]whatever[/I] action corresponds to the mechanic of using their knowledge of the arcane to determine the properties of an item, even though the player doesn't know what that entails. It's essentially giving the [I]character[/I] the benefit of the doubt, even though the [I]player[/I] doesn't know as much as the DM does about how the world works. [/QUOTE]
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