D&D 5E (Un)-Reliable Talent? How do you do it?

[TwoSix]

I'd note that Reliable Talent also makes advantage irrelevant, as well. I think not interacting with advantage/disadvantage is part of the point of the ability.

 

[Umbran]

I'd note that Reliable Talent also makes advantage irrelevant, as well.

Advantage will still help if you need to hit a higher DC.

 

[DND_Reborn]

I'd note that Reliable Talent also makes advantage irrelevant, as well

Not really. It makes it irrelevant if both rolls are under 10 (less than 1 in 4). Since your roll with advantage will be better than the 10 (typically), advantage is still good to have. With reliable talent, disadvantage is not that big a deal since your worst case scenario is still a 10.

 

[Mort]

This is a rogue's tier 3 ability, it's supposed to be good! Compare to a 3rd attack or 6th level spells.

Getting around disadvantage is part of the point.

 

[Benjamin Olson]

The roll is still a minimum of 10 because the talent is reliable. It's not called "usually reliable but don't rely on it if you have disadvantage talent".

 

[Sword of Spirit]

Take the lower of the two rolls. If that roll is a 9 or lower, treat it as a 10. That seems fine to me.

I'm not sure how @iserith meant this suggestion to be interpreted, but there is a way of doing it that might accomplish what the OP wants. That is, the minimum 10 applies to the lower of the 2 rolls, but then you take the lowest remaining roll as your result. This means that if both of your rolls are below 10, your actual roll with disadvantage will be the second lowest. This means Disadvantage still will matter some of the times, and those are the times it sounds like the OP was wanting it to matter.

 

[Ristamar]

So, I was thinking of making the minimum 5 when there is disadvantage. I think that is a decent compromise.

I'd only do that if also giving a minimum of 15 on a roll with advantage.

Interesting quirk of the system: Reliable Talent does not affect passive scores.

 

[auburn2]

I don't think you should nerf it. I think the whole point is it is reliable and automatic. Disadvantage is still a disadvantage though and it will be harder to get a high roll.

Using reliable talent with disadvantage there is a 75% chance of a 10 and only a 1 in 400 (.25%) chance of a 20, without disadvantage there is a 50% chance of a 10 and a 5% chance of a 20, so disadvantage still matters.

Keep in mind there is no such thing as an automatic failure on a skill check. Someone who rolls a 1 still succeeds if his bonus is high enough, so when you say it is reliable, that is what it should do.

 

[DND_Reborn]

I'd only do that if also giving a minimum of 15 on a roll with advantage.

Interesting quirk of the system: Reliable Talent does not affect passive scores.

I would be fine with that as well. Advantage averages about 13 or so IIRC on the d20, this would make reliable talent help still with advantage since otherwise it is not likely to be a factor.

I didn't think about the advantage side of it, and I think that would be a great compromise:

Reliable Talent
By 11th level, you have refined your chosen skills until they approach perfection. Whenever you make an ability check that lets you add your proficiency bonus, you can treat a d20 roll of 9 or lower as a 10. If you have disadvantage on the check, treat a result of 4 or lower as 5. If you have advantage on the check, treat a result of 14 or lower as 15.

 

[Mort]

I would be fine with that as well. Advantage averages about 13 or so IIRC on the d20, this would make reliable talent help still with advantage since otherwise it is not likely to be a factor.

I didn't think about the advantage side of it, and I think that would be a great compromise:

Reliable Talent
By 11th level, you have refined your chosen skills until they approach perfection. Whenever you make an ability check that lets you add your proficiency bonus, you can treat a d20 roll of 9 or lower as a 10. If you have disadvantage on the check, treat a result of 4 or lower as 5. If you have advantage on the check, treat a result of 14 or lower as 15.

The rogue is the only class that can bypass the really swingy D20 roll because skills are their thing - taking that away from them is just mean! The whole point of reliable talent is to account for situations like disadvantage (to avoid swinginess). It formulated so that the D20 skill roll means less than it does for other classes by eliminating the floor. What you are proposing is not a compromise, it's still a big nerf to the ability.