Skill checks confusion

[AbdulAlhazred]

By RAW skill checks succeed even on a 1 and fail even on a 20. That's the default rule. So there's no particular reason why you would NEED to make the check. There's no rule that says "don't roll if there's no chance of failing" however. So if one were to be pedantic any time a check is called for you roll a d20. I guess you could insist on a check. Of course the DM is in charge, if he says "rule 0, don't roll the check" then that's kinda the end of the discussion.

 

[On Puget Sound]

If a 1 always fails, and you roll any time you are doing anything covered by a skill, no character should survive a week of travel in the wilderness. Do you chop more than 20 pieces of firewood per extended rest? You should, on average, injure yourself with the woodaxe every night. Do you roll Nature to avoid becoming lost? You ain't getting there.

In real life, do you have a 1/20 chance of failing a Drive Car check? On average you should crash about 3 times per month, if you drive only to and from work.

 

[the Jester]

It also mentions the a houserule called fumble, which seems to describe the idea of a natural 1 on an attack being an automatic failure. Could you please tell me where it describes this outside of the Rules 101 section of the DM Guide as I'm having trouble distinguishing between the two.

The most current cite would be Rules Compendium pg 216, under "automatic misses":

Natural 1: When a creature makes an attack roll against a target and a 1 comes up on the d20 (this is called getting a natural 1), the power automatically misses the target. Bonuses and penalties don't matter; the target is simply missed.

Note that the rule is just that a natural 1 misses, in contrast with the traditional fumble rule, where a 1 on an attack roll causes some sort of active mishap, such as dropping your weapon, granting combat advantage, falling prone, attacking an ally or suffering a bout of spontaneous human (or elven, dwarven, gnomish, etc) combustion.

 

[Dice4Hire]

I too like a natural one missing or a failed skill challenge check, but in most cases I would not treat a 1 ass an auto miss in RP situations as per the Failed a Breathe check thread.

 

[Viking Bastard]

I too like a natural one missing or a failed skill challenge check, but in most cases I would not treat a 1 ass an auto miss in RP situations as per the Failed a Breathe check thread.

I like Fumble rules, but I have traditionally only used them in high pressure situations (which effectively translates to only during encounters). In the Drive Car example above there wouldn't be any risk of fumbling unless the roll was for a car chase or another stunt.