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Message: <blockquote data-quote="imurphy943" data-source="post: 5743288" data-attributes="member: 6672709">All of OD&D/BECMI is vague. Rules Cyclopedia has an incredibly vestigial skill system which is, of course, optional. Arguments don't happen at my gaming table because the players are playing against the environment, not me. If someone wants to pick a lock, then I'll give them a probability, they might try to sway be by pointing out little bits of their character's backstory, it might work. If they can't pick the lock, it doesn't ruin their plans completely, because they can go around the door, break it down, smash the lock, make a noise and try to lure the people in the room out into an ambush. And if my interpretation does ruin some grand, coordinated infiltration plan, then there are many ways to rationalize the failure within the context of the game world (stiff lock, unexpectedly high-quality lock, wrong size of thieves' tools), in which case it just makes the game more interesting. Can you imagine a Bond movie if nothing ever went wrong with the plan? Can you lose an open-ended game anyway? Many characters actually write up a last will and testament willing their posessions to a favorite hireling, nephew, or drinking buddy, which they can then start playing as. Vagueness means that any scenario that common sense says should be covered WILL be (hopefully your DM has common sense), without long lists of scenarios and base DCs for each.</blockquote>