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Message: <blockquote data-quote="DEFCON 1" data-source="post: 7792375" data-attributes="member: 7006">Of course.  But known auto-success isn't really what I was talking about.  To use your example, if the party is travelling underground, I might not have any idea what is actually there except for maybe a set encounter or two that were the point of them travelling underground in the first place.  Everything else I'm just improvising-- no map, nothing set, just whatever comes to my mind.So I improvise that the tunnel they were in opens up to a chamber and that there's a crevasse to get across.  Now at this point I have not thought of any way for them to get across it.  Maybe they have ways already ready to go that allow them auto-success (like your Ring of Flying example).  If so, then great, they use it.  But if not... they will probably start asking about different things that could get them across-- things I've not even thought of yet.  They might start with obvious things that don't require a roll-- "Do we see a bridge?"  I'll then either say yes or no based on what I think would be most entertaining or interesting for the group (if I can already tell if this "encounter" has intrigued them or not.)  If the answer was "no, there is no bridge".. someone might then ask "Can make an Investigation check to see if there was perhaps a bridge here at one point?"And then it is at this point that the result of the check will determine the truth.  If they roll high, I might very well say "Yes, there are stone pitons hammered into the ground, which makes you think there had been a bridge here at one point."  Or if they roll low... "Nope, there is no indication whatsoever that there has ever been a bridge here."  And both of these results will probably change how the players react to this "encounter", and what they invariable decide to do with it.  If there had been pitons, then that tells them something truthful about the chamber, as does the lack of them.  And then they'll choose what do to and I'll improvise what happens next then as well.So them rolling was going to happen regardless, because that was the method I was going to use to decide what to improvise as the truth.  Could I improvise something on my own without them rolling a die?  Sure.  But I have found we usually end up with much more interesting encounters when all of us are offering up the truths of the situation, rather than just me alone, because my players are oftentimes much more clever than I am.  LOL.</blockquote>

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