Please cure my 4e illiteracy

[Charwoman Gene]

You're both putting the cart before the horse.

I thought the were putting the chart before the horse, but that's just me.

 

[Maltese Changeling]

I thought the were putting the chart before the horse, but that's just me.

Ba-DUMP-dump.

Thank you, thank you very much . . . I'll be here all week . . .

 

[The Shaman]

Dude, its a chart. It tells you whether an ability score DC will be easy, medium, or hard for a character of a particular level. Ditto for skill DCs and attacks. It also tells you a damage expression that will be low, medium, or high for a given level. And it gives an example of a DM assigning a DC and damage to something made up.

The "rules" are, "decide if something is easy, medium, or hard, then look it up on the chart." And the chart is just a chart.

The section of the book that page 42 falls under is entitled, "Actions Not Covered By The Rules." I'm not aware of any game system, ever, capable of creating rules that consistently govern improvisational actions not covered by the rules. In fact, I'm fairly certain that there's a freshman philosophy class at my alma mater where they mathematically prove that this is impossible. Something to do with rules not being capable of including all the rules necessary to create the rules.

The ad hoc DCs don't map to anything except easy, medium, or hard. Its up to the DM to decide what is or is not easy, medium, or hard. I concede that a DM might decide poorly. At least for this edition he has a handy chart! Maybe that will help him a little bit.

I agree, but that has nothing to do with the chart. Its just a chart. Its a handy reference for when you don't have a pre determined DC or damage roll or whatever. The chart can't be consistent or inconsistent. Its just a chart.

Translation: "Ignore that man behind the curtain!"

Cadfan, it doesn't take a freshman philosophy class, or your earnest but convoluted defense, to explain what this is: "For those situations not otherwise covered in the rules, here are recommended DCs for resolving tasks, organized by character level and relative difficulty."

See how easy that was?

 

[The Shaman]

I thought the were putting the chart before the horse, but that's just me.

A cookie for you, my friend, for the best post in the thread.