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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 6852484" data-attributes="member: 42582">I've read the rules. I'm asking what is expected to guide the GM in making this call.In AD&D, the GM makes the call by combing the rules with the dungeon notes. If the notes describe an outcome (eg an audible noise behind the door; moving the sconce will open the secret door), the GM applies that. Otherwise the rules specify dice rolls to be made for hearing noise behind a door, finding the opening mechanism etc.In Burning Wheel, the GM makes the call by reviewing the stakes of the situation in light of player flags. If nothing salient is at stake, the GM says yes. Otherwise the GM sets a DC based on "objective" in game likelihoods, and the player makes a roll (and there are mechanics functionally comparable to Inspiration that enable the player to manipulate those likelihoods at the metagame level).In Moldvay Basic, under the heading "Dungeon Mastering as a Fine Art", there is a discussion of always giving the players a chance. In this discussion, the assumption seems to be that failure should almost always be uncertain, but that - in deciding this, and therefore in setting chances of success - the GM should have regard to "objective" in game likelihoods. (The example given involves the GM calculating the odds of their being water of sufficient depth at the bottom of a drop over a dungeon precipice that the character might survive it.)What, in 5e, is meant to guide the GM in deciding if their is uncertainty? It seems to me that the game doesn't, in general, presuppose dungeon notes of the sort typical for AD&D. The characterisation mechanics don't go quite as far as a game like BW in establishing flags by which salient stakes can be identified to generate an indie-style approach to saying yes, though it probably woudn't be hard to drift the game in that direction via informal flags. (Plenty of 4e players seem to do something like this.) Is the GM meant to be adjudicating by reference to ingame likelihoods and "objective" ingame physics?If the answer is, the game establishes no such principles, and expects the GM to work them out for him-/herself, that's fine. I'm just asking.</blockquote>

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