What CAN'T you take 20 on?

[Rel]

How about disabling a trap?

Aluvial

Nope, you can't. Even though they let you do it in Neverwinter Nights.

 

[dcollins]

Here is something that I use as a guide. Taking 20 is explained as rolling 1, then 2, then 3, etc. all the way to 20. So the first round is the same as rolling a 1. Is that a bad thing?

The "Take 20" rule is certainly not described that way in any of the official rulebooks.

It is described as "trying until you get it right" (PHB p. 61). Therefore, in addition to anything else, you can't Take 20 on skills that disallow "retries". In general, these are any obscuring-type skills like Bluff, Forgery, Disguise, most likely Hide, etc.

 

[MThibault]

Madman's understanding is an erroneous but useful approach. As a rule of thumb, if something bad were to happen (above and beyond the failure) as a result of rolling a "1" you can't take 20. That's a useful way to teach the concept.

That's just a guideline, though. Take 20 isn't a simplification of rolling a 1 to 20 in order. If that were the case, a DC10 skill check would take less time than a DC15 if you were taking 20.

Cheers.

 

[hong]

The "Take 20" rule is certainly not described that way in any of the official rulebooks.

... not that Maddman ever claimed it was.

 

[dcollins]

... not that Maddman ever claimed it was.

He said "Taking 20 is explained as rolling 1, then 2, then 3, etc.". If he's not referring to where this "is explained" in the rulebooks, then it's certainly confusing on his part to not specify that this is a house-ruled explanation.

 

[Shard O'Glase]

He also said in the sentence before, "this is soemthing I use as a guide."
I understood his post to mean he explains take 20 in that fashion(not the rulebook) becuase of that qualifying sentence.