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<blockquote data-quote="mpwylie" data-source="post: 6727715" data-attributes="member: 6802655">I use investigation much like Minigiant.&nbsp; Let's say the players perceive a small desk in the room then they say they want to search the desk. Let's say in the situation above there is a key stuck to the bottom of a drawer.&nbsp; I don't want to take 15 minutes on every desk or dresser in the game for the players to say &quot;I search the dresser&quot;, then &quot;I pull out each drawer and check the bottoms&quot;, then &quot;I search in the opening where the drawer was&quot;, etc.&nbsp; I generally set up a staged DC.&nbsp; So the player says &quot;I search the desk&quot;.&nbsp; If finding the key is required to proceed and then they will find the key no matter what but the roll determines whether there are repercussions.&nbsp; maybe &lt;10 they find it but it makes noise and they draws nearby monsters.&nbsp; a 10-20 they find it but it takes time which affects the timeline, maybe the monsters they are chasing get further away or catch up some, have more time to prepare for them, etc.&nbsp; a &gt;20 they find it right away with no negative repercussions.&nbsp; I also use investigation if they are looking for info and are asking around town or reading a tome for clues.&nbsp; They roll low they find just enough info to proceed,&nbsp; they roll medium they get more info,&nbsp; if they roll high they get all the info in great detail.&nbsp; An example of this just happened in my last session.&nbsp; The PCs were looking for a hidden fortress of a long dead mage.&nbsp; They had heard there there may be some info in the library of a nearby city so they went there to try to get more info.&nbsp; I had them make an investigation roll at the library and they found a tome with the info they needed.&nbsp; The result of the check determined the info they received.&nbsp; A low roll they would have gotten a general clue to a large area it could have been in and it would have taken a lot of time for them to actually find it, that time would have given the bad guys time to progress their agenda.&nbsp; A medium roll they would have gotten more specific info so they could find it quickly with no time repercussions,&nbsp; and a high roll(which they got) not only gave them a detailed location but also gave them details of what they would find when they got there.&nbsp; Every situation is different but I prefer to set up varying degrees of success as to me it makes the rolls more meaningful then pass or fail and makes the PCs skill selections more meaningful.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="mpwylie, post: 6727715, member: 6802655"] I use investigation much like Minigiant. Let's say the players perceive a small desk in the room then they say they want to search the desk. Let's say in the situation above there is a key stuck to the bottom of a drawer. I don't want to take 15 minutes on every desk or dresser in the game for the players to say "I search the dresser", then "I pull out each drawer and check the bottoms", then "I search in the opening where the drawer was", etc. I generally set up a staged DC. So the player says "I search the desk". If finding the key is required to proceed and then they will find the key no matter what but the roll determines whether there are repercussions. maybe <10 they find it but it makes noise and they draws nearby monsters. a 10-20 they find it but it takes time which affects the timeline, maybe the monsters they are chasing get further away or catch up some, have more time to prepare for them, etc. a >20 they find it right away with no negative repercussions. I also use investigation if they are looking for info and are asking around town or reading a tome for clues. They roll low they find just enough info to proceed, they roll medium they get more info, if they roll high they get all the info in great detail. An example of this just happened in my last session. The PCs were looking for a hidden fortress of a long dead mage. They had heard there there may be some info in the library of a nearby city so they went there to try to get more info. I had them make an investigation roll at the library and they found a tome with the info they needed. The result of the check determined the info they received. A low roll they would have gotten a general clue to a large area it could have been in and it would have taken a lot of time for them to actually find it, that time would have given the bad guys time to progress their agenda. A medium roll they would have gotten more specific info so they could find it quickly with no time repercussions, and a high roll(which they got) not only gave them a detailed location but also gave them details of what they would find when they got there. Every situation is different but I prefer to set up varying degrees of success as to me it makes the rolls more meaningful then pass or fail and makes the PCs skill selections more meaningful. [/QUOTE]

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