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<blockquote data-quote="imaria" data-source="post: 5879108" data-attributes="member: 75805">I was having an issue with this in the game I DM, so I came up with a &quot;mental exhaustion&quot; houserule that the PCs liked.Every time they took 20 on a Search check, I rolled a secret Will save. The first one was only against DC 2... with a +2 modifier cumulative for every &quot;take 20&quot; after that.Every time they failed the will save, I applied a -2 modifier to their &quot;taking 20&quot;... not to the skill overall, just the &quot;take 20&quot;, to a maximum of -10. Meaning eventually, they would actually only be &quot;taking 10&quot; when they spent the time to &quot;take 20&quot;. The penalties and saves reset after rest periods.They didn't know how many penalties they had racked up at any point, so they had to spend their &quot;take 20&quot; actions wisely. They were a lot more willing to roll or &quot;take 10&quot; on things, unless they had a REASON to search carefully (like a dead end that seemed like it should have a secret door, etc).I described it as the hazy exhaustion you get after looking at the same thing again and again and again... Taking 20 on a search check is looking at a 5ft x 5ft square for 2 whole minutes. Do that for an entire room, and tell me you won't start glossing over things.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="imaria, post: 5879108, member: 75805"] I was having an issue with this in the game I DM, so I came up with a "mental exhaustion" houserule that the PCs liked. Every time they took 20 on a Search check, I rolled a secret Will save. The first one was only against DC 2... with a +2 modifier cumulative for every "take 20" after that. Every time they failed the will save, I applied a -2 modifier to their "taking 20"... not to the skill overall, just the "take 20", to a maximum of -10. Meaning eventually, they would actually only be "taking 10" when they spent the time to "take 20". The penalties and saves reset after rest periods. They didn't know how many penalties they had racked up at any point, so they had to spend their "take 20" actions wisely. They were a lot more willing to roll or "take 10" on things, unless they had a REASON to search carefully (like a dead end that seemed like it should have a secret door, etc). I described it as the hazy exhaustion you get after looking at the same thing again and again and again... Taking 20 on a search check is looking at a 5ft x 5ft square for [I]2 whole minutes[/I]. Do that for an [I]entire room[/I], and tell me you won't start glossing over things. [/QUOTE]

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