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<blockquote data-quote="iserith" data-source="post: 8918893" data-attributes="member: 97077">And I'm saying DMs don't have to know a great deal about the underlying math because DCs are pretty constrained in this version of the game, which actually makes it more approachable. Pick 10, 15, or 20 and move on.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 &quot;most players won't have many 10s in 5e and will avoid actions that use an ability score with a 10,&quot; 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.I'm not sure how you leap to &quot;the DMG becomes Anti-DM&quot; or how that relates at all to many veteran DMs &quot;don't like being told what to do.&quot; I'm a veteran DM, and I do like being told what to do. And what the DMG tells me is that picking 10, 15, and 20 is just fine - so I do that, and it actually works!It is good to see, however, something of an admission that your thinking on this matter appears to be influenced by previous editions. I still run and play D&amp;D 4e. I don't run and play it the same way as D&amp;D 5e. That would not be a good idea in my view, nor is carrying one's expectations about how one game works into another game. They're not the same thing, so thinking about it the same way is not productive in my experience.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="iserith, post: 8918893, member: 97077"] And I'm saying DMs don't have to know a great deal about the underlying math because DCs are pretty constrained in this version of the game, which actually makes it more approachable. Pick 10, 15, or 20 and move on. 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 [I]will [/I]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. I'm not sure how you leap to "the DMG becomes Anti-DM" or how that relates at all to many veteran DMs "don't like being told what to do." [I]I'm[/I] a veteran DM, and I [I]do [/I]like being told what to do. And what the DMG tells me is that picking 10, 15, and 20 is just fine - [I]so I do that[/I], and it actually works! It is good to see, however, something of an admission that your thinking on this matter appears to be influenced by previous editions. I still run and play D&D 4e. I don't run and play it the same way as D&D 5e. That would not be a good idea in my view, nor is carrying one's expectations about how one game works into another game. They're not the same thing, so thinking about it the same way is not productive in my experience. [/QUOTE]

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