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Looks like Spelljammer and/or Planescape is back on the menu!

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Well, back to the bounded accuracy discussion, I guess.
I found this table in Xanathar's Guide to Everything where there's options for rolling 31-41+, so DC 30 definitely is not a hard-cap in D&D 5e.

Uh... that table includes a +10 to the check for "High Magic Campaigns". Not really indicative of much.

I think we can all agree that there's not a cap on rolling. You can definitely roll a result of over 30.

I think the point may have been mistaken that there's an actual hard "hard cap", but there really IS an effective dc cap at very close to 30. Above it may exist, but very rarely.

 

[Parmandur]

Uh... that table includes a +10 to the check for "High Magic Campaigns". Not really indicative of much.

I think we can all agree that there's not a cap on rolling. You can definitely roll a result of over 30.

I think the point may have been mistaken that there's an actual hard "hard cap", but there really IS an effective dc cap at very close to 30. Above it may exist, but very rarely.

Well said.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

Uh... that table includes a +10 to the check for "High Magic Campaigns". Not really indicative of much.

As an option, not a rule. It says "you can", not "apply this bonus if in a High Magic Campaign".

I think we can all agree that there's not a cap on rolling. You can definitely roll a result of over 30.

. . . I'm not sure I understand this. Is there a point in saying that there isn't a cap on rolling? Because basically everything in D&D that would have a cap is based on rolling. (With the notable exception of Ability Scores, which have a hard cap at 30.)

I think the point may have been mistaken that there's an actual hard "hard cap", but there really IS an effective dc cap at very close to 30. Above it may exist, but very rarely.

My point was more that although it's uncommon to have DCs up to/above the 30-40 range, it's not impossible.

So, yes, we're in agreement. It's rare, which proves my point. There isn't a hard-cap at 30, because exceptions exist.

 

[overgeeked]

So what's the actual cap in 5E?

What's the most we could possibly pile onto a character to get the highest possible bonus to something? That plus 20 is the cap.

Roll 20. Stat +5. Level 20 expertise prof bonus +12. Gloves of Thievery +5. Guidance +1d4. Bless +1d4 (Yes, I know).

That's 50 total. Not sure anything else comes close and that's with fudging bless working on a pick locks check.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

As an option, not a rule. It says "you can", not "apply this bonus if in a High Magic Campaign".

. . . I'm not sure I understand this. Is there a point in saying that there isn't a cap on rolling? Because basically everything in D&D that would have a cap is based on rolling. (With the notable exception of Ability Scores, which have a hard cap at 30.)

My point was more that although it's uncommon to have DCs up to/above the 30-40 range, it's not impossible.

So, yes, we're in agreement. It's rare, which proves my point. There isn't a hard-cap at 30, because exceptions exist.

We agree at the end there, yes, but I think that you misunderstand me in the earlier bits.

I believe that the table you posted goes to 40 precisely because you may be adding 10 in a high magic campaign. Sure, it's possible to roll that high without, but it'll happen more often when you do. In fact, it'll happen so often, that it makes sense to make the table go that high.

I've noticed during this discussion that some posters have conflated the ability to roll higher than 30 with there being DCs higher than 30. Those are two different things. In order to reliably succeed at a dc of 30 half the time, you have to be able to roll a 40. Doesn't mean you're going to find tasks with DCs harder than 30, just that you'll succeed on them half the time.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

So what's the actual cap in 5E?

What's the most we could possibly pile onto a character to get the highest possible bonus to something? That plus 20 is the cap.

Roll 20. Stat +5. Level 20 expertise prof bonus +12. Gloves of Thievery +5. Guidance +1d4. Bless +1d4 (Yes, I know).

That's 50 total. Not sure anything else comes close and that's with fudging bless working on a pick locks check.

Again, that's a cap on rolling. That just means that you are jacked up enough to almost definitely succeed on a dc30 task. Again, I'm not claiming that there can't be DCs higher than 30... there's just barely any reason to consider them.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

As an aside, I always find it funny when a player says, "I hit AC 27. Does that hit?"

Yes. It hits every monster in the game.

So, yes... it hits this orc, too.

(I'm somewhat kidding - I appreciate that they're not metagaming, but still... it's funny.)

 

[Argyle King]

So what's the actual cap in 5E?

What's the most we could possibly pile onto a character to get the highest possible bonus to something? That plus 20 is the cap.

Roll 20. Stat +5. Level 20 expertise prof bonus +12. Gloves of Thievery +5. Guidance +1d4. Bless +1d4 (Yes, I know).

That's 50 total. Not sure anything else comes close and that's with fudging bless working on a pick locks check.

Depending on the check, some classes/boons/etc allow abilities higher than 20.

What's the highest athletics check possible while wearing one of the Giant Strength Belts?

 

[Charlaquin]

There is nothing in the current psionic subclasses that would be mutually exclusive with a psionic-specialty class. In fact, the current subclasses still leave a void for the psionic specialist who trains to refine his or her powers.

I’m not saying there isn’t room for it, I’m saying I don’t think they’re gonna do it.

 

[Charlaquin]

To be fair, the Psi Warrior and Soulknife don't really count as they were seperate classes in previous edition (where they existed), and wouldn't fit a psion/mystic base class. The Awakened Mind could maybe be a supposed replacement of the psion, but it doesn't obviate a psion base class.

The awakened mind is the awakened mind, it isn’t the replacement for anything. The game doesn’t need a psionic class. That doesn’t mean there isn’t room for one, I just don’t think WotC is going to make one, because they have found that all of their attempts to do so far have not been satisfying to the general audience, but psychic themed subclasses, spells, and feats did. So I expect they’ll stick with that.