The ship has most definitely not sailed (at least, not in the sense that ceremony is a done deal). It's a playtest article, so we decide whether or not any spell in here becomes a part of the game by our responses to the survey.
I meant in terms of the cleric and paladin base classes getting this as a class ability.
Though I will admit, I had not considered optional, supplement rules for holy rituals as an alternative.
Frankly though, one of the things I love most about some of these spells are the ideas I had never considered before that these spells are inspiring in me. Best possible thing to get from any set of rules is new inspirations.
For example, just a few hours ago I started wondering what kind of effects would happen if a cleric used Ceremony for a marriage, but invoked a god other than the one they worshipped. What if a cult snuck in a priest of Cyric to marry the King and Queen in the name of Sune, could perhaps horrible things begin to happen. Could we have a potential plot as the party tries to figure out ways to under the marriage ceremony and set things right.
And that’s in addition to all of the “what happens if I upcast this” rituals I’ve been thinking of.
But for the Str 16 vs. Str 15 guy, you're likely to feel kind of awkward if you rule that there is no check
This seems rather obvious to me but…
In that case have them roll.
Personally, I would call arm wrestling an Athletics check. If the PC has a strength of 18 and is level 11, they have a +7. The drunk farmer with strength of 10 has a +0. I’d just have the PC automatically win.
PC goes bragging about town, and the drunkard grabs his Goliath buddy who works in the mines. This guy has a strength of 16 (and I think Goliath’s racial get athletics) making it a +6 vs +7. This is a roll off, maybe one with multiple success and challenges if the party is into it.
The original point is that when the disaparity gets big enough, the guy whose jacking up strength doesn’t want to lose to the skinny guy just because he rolled poorly. He just shouldn’t lose with that big of an advantage, but invariably the dice gods will laugh and the burly fighter rolls a 2 vs the farmer’s 20 and gets embarrassed in front of everyone when narratively it makes no sense.
As for Guiding Hand. I think I will only allow it to find Cities, major natural landmarks (rivers, Mountains, Swamps) major historical sites like battlefields. Something big.
The Lost City of El Dorado? Sure, why not.
The Tower of the Lich King? No, its too small.
Essentially, it provides less information than going to a sage and getting an old map, but allows you to switch directions in the middle of a long adventure if you find out that the McGuffin isn’t in the Lost Mountains of Celdora, but instead was taken to the Legendary City of Bae. As long as a map to the place still exists that is.