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Message: <blockquote data-quote="delericho" data-source="post: 5714954" data-attributes="member: 22424">Of course, there's a question that hasn't been asked: if we're at a level when most PCs can fly, should climbing remain a valid challenge at all? Or should it instead be assumed that a skilled PC can just succeed at anything but the toughest climbs?If it really is the same wall, then that is indeed stupid. And probably bad DMing/bad adventure design.However, if the wall that the PCs have to contend with is, indeed tougher, that's a rather different matter. Which brings us to...Indeed. The key here is that most walls shouldn't be like that, and the PCs should be able to succeed even without a roll. By and large, climbing should just cease to be a problem at those higher levels. It's only when faced with a climb that is somehow tough (no equipment, a strange construction, extreme time pressures...) that they should have to roll.But that's a feature, not a bug.You don't. You recognise that PCs, once they reach Paragon levels, are superhuman. They're the guys who can climb anything but the toughest walls, who can swim a moat in full armour, who can arm-wrestle an ogre and win.So, if the challenge is "climb this mountain", the PCs do it. Don't even bother to roll. They just do it.But when the challenge is "climb this mountain in the next three hours, while being buffeted by heavy winds, while carrying the unconscious princess on your shoulders, and while the mountain actively tries to throw you off..." Yeah, you have to roll for that!The more I think on it, the more concerned I am that the concept behind the escalating math just doesn't work. Mathematically, it's fine - the PCs roll d20 + mods versus a DC. And the mods go up with level (of course - the PCs are better), and the DC goes up with level (because they're facing what is genuinely a tougher challenge).But it too easily boils down to this: "At 1st level, I roll d20+5 vs DC 15. I need a 10+. At 11th level, I roll d20+15 vs DC 25. I need 10+. At 21st level, I roll d20+25 vs DC 35. I need 10+." That has the potential to become tiresome very quickly.I find myself wondering if maybe it's not enough for the math to simply escalate. Perhaps, as the game moves into a new tier, we actually need an entirely different set of resolution mechanics, to freshen things up? (Of course, I have no idea how that would be done, or what it would look like!)</blockquote>

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