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Message: <blockquote data-quote="I'm A Banana" data-source="post: 9545131" data-attributes="member: 2067">It is tragic to me that this argument conflates "mechanics" with "rolling dice to resolve uncertainty."Like, the radius of light that a torch gives is an exploration mechanic.Alignment (for all its faults) is a roleplaying mechanic.Mechanics come is so many flavors that are not rolling a d20. I'm amenable to the argument that rolling a d20 might not be the best way to resolve something outside of combat, though even that might be a bit too dramatic for my tastes...This is just the core loop in D&D, no?OK, on board in principle. But, these are questions that come up in play. So we do need mechanics to resolve them (even if those mechanics are not d20 rolls). My gameplay needs for a secret door are that (a) not everyone notices it, but (b) there's a chance for anyone to notice it, and (c) I want players to have "observant" characters who are better at noticing it. I want to be able to say, "Llyrd the Elven Ranger notices the secret door with their keen eyes." The solution you've got here is essentially to "telegraph" (with some descriptive element) and then reward a player who pulls at that thread. That works OK, but I think that the dodge of the die roll here happens at what you decide to telegraph and to who. In a straight standard scenario, the descriptive elements (footprints, a map or journal, etc.) would be revealed based on d20 rolls for Perception or Investigation. What are you replacing that with? Just announcing it to everyone? Because that has some negative effects on those who want to play "observant" characters - they don't actually play as any more observant than anyone else.That's something that the d20 roll, with its modifiers for proficiency and Wisdom or Intelligence, provides for very well. If we want to eliminate the d20 roll, and still provide players the ability to make their character "more observant than others," what mechanic creates that feeling? Genuinely curious, because I think a d20 roll to find information is actually pretty kludgy and unsatisfying, but I don't have a great replacement for it, either. I wonder what games based on this kind of mechanic do (detective games, etc.).</blockquote>

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