Pedantic
Legend
You literally always have that. It's free and doesn't require design work.And many would rather have that instead of a fantasy they don't like being imposed upon them.
You literally always have that. It's free and doesn't require design work.And many would rather have that instead of a fantasy they don't like being imposed upon them.
You seem to be undermining your previous criticism about framing the guidance with a character with a 10 ability score. If you are correct in your assertion that "most players won't have many 10s in 5e and will avoid actions that use an ability score with a 10," which is somewhat reasonable, then it actually will be Easy, relatively speaking, since characters will have higher scores than 10 and/or will tend to focus on those related tasks (as you say). So that 50% chance of failure drops. Also, don't forget advantage, plus other bonuses players can apply to further increase the odds of success. Clearly, the DMG is just trying to get DMs a ballpark idea of what the odds are, given certain assumptions, rather than a primer on probability and statistics.
The DM ask for a check when he consider that the result of the task is uncertain.The point is the stunt would be Hard for the Cleric but Easy for the Fighter.
Which DC do I choose?
DC 10 for Easy?
DC 15 for Medium?
Or DC 20 for Hard?
The game doesn't even tell you the percentage of success is for each PC. It doesn't tell a starting DM how many of the PCs will fail a DC 15 so don't make failure a major consequence unless your desire is to have to a daunting game.
How can you place importance of you don't know the difficulty of the action?
Unless accidentally maiming, killing, or some other major consequence is part of your vibe. Or in contrast your game is very forgiving by design.
I think that the point of +/-2 is that they add up when you have a bunch and that one can be applied to a squeaker of a roll without much fuss. I largely agree that a d20 is terrible.My point is the 50/50 isn't what I consider to be easy. And some others might think so to.
So against is it supposed to be easy for a person with a 10 and no ability score.
Or is DC 10 supposed to be easy for a person with a 15 and proficiency in the roll?
Because here is the main rub.
A +2 does not have a significant change in the outcomes with a d20 roll. A +4 with advantage might, but a raw +2 doesn't. It takes a lot of rolls for a +2 to feel and be effective. But D&D pretends it does and uses language like it does. And this creates the meme of the cleric who doesn't know his own religion or the thief who can't pick locks.
This math and bonuses don't have to change. However at some point D&D has to man up an admit that a +2 doesn't matter as much as the big swings of the d20 or the 5 point gaps between DCs. And just picking stuff can have a DM pick the wrong DM for them.
That to me is missing to, how to choose. D&D tell the DM that they can choose and what they can choose. It doesn't inform them how to make the choice. Because picking a DC 10 vs a DC 20 is a big choice if failure or success is impactful.
The DM is giving the Fighter and Cleric the same DC.The DM ask for a check when he consider that the result of the task is uncertain.
If he consider the task an obvious success or failure he don’t ask a check.
Once he ask a check he accept to play with the result, and manage to narrate, explain, make it coherent with the rest of the story.
In your example the DM can ask a check for the cleric but not for the fighter.
in your example, fighter has +6, if you set the DC to 10, the fighter may fail.The DM is giving the Fighter and Cleric the same DC.
My point is the choice of DC 10, DC 15, and DC 20 is not a trivial choice. But most DD fans treat it as trivial. So trivial you didn't even mention it.
A whole step is skipped.
Yep, this goes back to my point. Drop the DCs by 5 each. Then Moderate (at DC 10 instead of 15) has a 45% chance to not succeed (without any bonus) and Easy (at DC 5) would only have a 20% to not succeed (again, with no bonuses...).And what world is a 75% failure chance Moderate and 50% Easy? Even under stress, I wouldn't call anything I can fail half the time at EASY.
Task Difficulty | DC |
---|---|
Easy | 8 |
Medium | 12 |
Hard | 16 |
Very Hard | 20 |
Herculean | 24 |
Nearly Impossible | 30 |
An advice we can give to beginner DM is that if you ask for a check, then a PC may fail or succeed it. So be ready to handle both success and failure. If you can’t handle both, better don’t ask a check, and decide the outcome of the action.The DM is giving the Fighter and Cleric the same DC.
My point is the choice of DC 10, DC 15, and DC 20 is not a trivial choice. But most DD fans treat it as trivial. So trivial you didn't even mention it.
A whole step is skipped.