When is a Strength check Necessary?

[Nilhgualcm Leahcim]

Here is a question for you all. I ran the party through the beginning adventure in the back of the Eberron book last Saturday and I came across a situation that I thought was kind of wacky.
In the adventure, the party needs to move a large bit of ceiling from somewhere in order to get at an item they need to continue. The text calls for a Strength check, DC 20, to accomplish this feat. Now, my question is: Wouldn't it have been better to have assigned a specific weight to said debris and allow up to three characters (a provision already added for the strength check) to assist. I have a stat that says that I and my friend can lift over a metric ton. Why do I have to make a check for this? :\
I thought that there was an example in the book (PHB) that said a character with a 17 strength is always going to win at armwrestling against a character with a strength of 16 and that no strength check is required for this. am I wrong in asking this. What are y'alls' thoughts on this?

 

[Thanee]

Well, that Str check is certainly pretty pointless, as it just takes time to remove the debris.

A Str check would be good to see, if it actually was accomplishable, like breaking a fortified or stuck door.

Breaking free of constraints (see Web spell), etc.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Li Shenron]

Strength check are used mostly for burst or concentrated efforts, for example if they had to break something or move a stuck object, but to simply lift or carry a heavy object the carrying rules should be enough. Maybe if it was extrememly heavy (over your normal lift limit) you could rule a Strength check to go over your own limit, in a fashion similar to weight lifters.

Perhaps that debris block was bulky enough that you couldn't just easily grab it and lift up, but you needed a sudden burst of strength to unstuck it. More or less similar to when you cannot open a locked or stuck door by pushing continuously, but you need to repeatedly try crushing it with your shoulder.

 

[Herpes Cineplex]

And if you don't care how long it takes to get the job done, as long as the job actually gets done, you may as well assume everyone's taking 20 on it.

I think it's only worth the time it takes to roll a Strength check if you're looking at something that has to be done in a single try or (of course) anything that specifically calls for a Strength check, like trip attempts. Otherwise, just look to see if the character is strong enough to accomplish the task in the first place, and then tell them how long it takes to finish.

--
and i wouldn't put a lot of effort into working out how much time it took, either
ryan