I'm relatively new to Dm'ing and I'm planning a big campaign for quite some time later. But this scene is bugging me and I want to make sure I'm calling appropriate checks here. I know in the grand scheme of things you should just call them how you feel, but still how does this sound:

SCENE: The party is staying at an inn that's oddly off the beaten path. The Innkeep only has enough room for a few party members to stay in one room. The rest can stay in the stable. Once everyone is asleep, unbeknownst to them, an NPC has set fire to the inn. I want to describe this and say "Each of you wake up to the smell of smoke, you hear screams, you begin choking on the fumes. What do you do?

Then somewhere along the way, I want the ceiling to crash before everyone can make it out safley. Should I call acrobatics for them to dodge it? Could I change it and have them roll immediately as they wake up? What's more appropriate if it's not acrobatics? 

Finally, if anyone attempts to lift up the beams of the building that falls or pul someone out they would need to roll strength correct? sorry if this is blatantly obvious. I'm new 

To avoid a beam crashing down on them it would probably be a DEX saving throw.

To navigate through lots of burning beams lying around, it would probably be a Dexterity (Acrobatics) check.

To lift a beam it would probably be an Strength (Athletics) check.

All uses of the word "probably" are because the PC might describe a different way of doing that action.

Thanks for your advice. I understand what you mean by "probably" lol, you never know what a player will do.

So just as a future reference: A dex saving throw is when a PC needs to dodge an attack or incoming object that they aren't prepared for, however using acrobatics would be when the PC needs to navigate something (such as the beams) or anything similar.

Also, I’d consider having the arsonist make stealth rolls opposed by the characters’ passive perception. Probably roll with advantage because the characters are sleeping, but there should be a chance they’ll mess something up and get caught in the act. And if someone is awake keeping watch, then no advantage against that character.

Probably also some passive perception For those in the building to notice the ceiling is about to collapse, to give them a chance to hurry up, or maybe earn advantage on that dex save.

If you want to up the tension, give them a d4 or d6 fire damage at the start of their turn while they are in the burning building, maybe a con save for half.

And yes, I’d agree with your description of the difference between a dex save and an acrobatics check.

It is a widely accepted practice to use Saving Throws when you are forced by outside circumstances and are trying to avoid something and use Ability checks for activities you are actively declaring.

For instance, if you have a slippery iced surface and wanted to slide down, that would call for a Dexterity check, possibly with Acrobatics skill. If you are pushed on the same surface and try to avoid being knocked prone, that could be a Dex Saving Throw. Once you make that one, you can continue making checks to slide further.

Very helpful stuff, thanks a lot everyone!

This can have varying success depending on the table, but I like to say, "With a groan and a snap the ceiling gives way over your heads! You are moments away from being crushed by the flaming beams! What do you do?"

Those who try to leap out of the way would make a DEX saving throw, but this allows players to try other things. Maybe the burly fighter wants to try to catch the beam with Athletics, preventing damage to others but maybe taking a bit of fire damage himself. Maybe the wizard wants to use Telekinesis to hold the beams in the air Yoda-style. Maybe the Warlock wants to Misty Step outta there. These are cool, cinematic things that make the players feel badass.

In short, they tell you want they want to do and then you tell them what to roll, if rolling is needed at all. If they ask to do something crazy (Persuasion isn't going to work here, Bard), you can always say no. But it can be a lot of fun to leave it open and get your players to think about how their characters respond to a given challenge.

This kind of situation is ideal for a skill challenge.

You describe the scene just as you did, then go around to each character.   The first character may say "I dodge the falling beam" and then they roll an acrobatics check. The next character may say something like, "I look for a way out" then you roll a perception check etc.   You let the characters describe their actions then you call for whichever check is appropriate and you let them advance the scene cinematically.

Quote from scatterbraind >>

This can have varying success depending on the table, but I like to say, "With a groan and a snap the ceiling gives way over your heads! You are moments away from being crushed by the flaming beams! What do you do?"

Those who try to leap out of the way would make a DEX saving throw, but this allows players to try other things. Maybe the burly fighter wants to try to catch the beam with Athletics, preventing damage to others but maybe taking a bit of fire damage himself. Maybe the wizard wants to use Telekinesis to hold the beams in the air Yoda-style. Maybe the Warlock wants to Misty Step outta there. These are cool, cinematic things that make the players feel badass.

In short, they tell you want they want to do and then you tell them what to roll, if rolling is needed at all. If they ask to do something crazy (Persuasion isn't going to work here, Bard), you can always say no. But it can be a lot of fun to leave it open and get your players to think about how their characters respond to a given challenge.

 

Beautiful, I will definitely incorporate this.

Quote from Royal_Oops >>

Thanks for your advice. I understand what you mean by "probably" lol, you never know what a player will do.

So just as a future reference: A dex saving throw is when a PC needs to dodge an attack or incoming object that they aren't prepared for, however using acrobatics would be when the PC needs to navigate something (such as the beams) or anything similar.

 I will say in some situations I will apply athletics and acrobatics and let the player decide how they will do a thing, for instance navigating beams could be a technique thing, but equally someone might just use strength to keep a tight hold and power through. 

Likewise climbing I will let players decide if they are nimble climbers who use technique, or simply use upper body strength and grip strength to pull themselves up. 

The checks you suggest sound fine. Perception to notice the smell of smoke, acrobatics to avoid a falling beam, athletics to try to lift/move a fallen beam or other obstacle.

However, I have concerns about your fundamental scenario. It is very typical for a new DM. You have planned out what WILL happen without considering what the players will decide to do.

1) Many players will have a watch even when staying in an inn, especially one far off the beaten track where the players may wonder how the innkeeper makes any money? One possibility is that the innkeeper is a bandit so the party may be wary about staying there and set a watch.

2) The party may not want to split up. There isn't room in the inn but there is likely space for all of them in the stables. A smart or paranoid party might decide to stay together and set a watch in the stables.

3) Fires take a while to get going without accelerants. The smell of smoke is likely to be quite noticeable since the construction of medieval inns likely leaves a bit to be desired in terms of tightly built floors/walls.

4) Their room is likely to have a window. It is unlikely that the roof and rafters above the party will be burning enough to be an issue before the party can escape out the window unless someone decided to climb onto the roof to spread accelerant and start the fire. However, walking on a wooden roof is likely to be noisy enough that any one awake will hear and folks who are asleep could be wakened.

5) You have already decided how you want the encounter to go ... "they wake up, smell smoke, begin choking" - this is most likely if the fire is below them since the smoke will rise through the floor boards (heat rises). Having the roof collapse is most likely if the fire is above them. A fire below is not likely to spread above them without getting them first ... so you would need multiple fires and multiple NPCs setting them.

6) There is also screaming - so other folks have also noticed the fire - if these folks are closer to the fire then the PCs should have enough warning to do something and if they aren't then there are questions as to why the players didn't notice sooner.

Anyway, the main issue I see is that you've planned an encounter without taking into account the likely player actions and the internal logic your world should have so that things makes sense for the players. You can still MAKE it happen this way, since you are the DM, but you may have to bypass or override some player choices to make it happen that way and it might be better to create the situation with certain possibilities that can be modified to respond to what the players actually do.

Quote from David42 >>

The checks you suggest sound fine. Perception to notice the smell of smoke, acrobatics to avoid a falling beam, athletics to try to lift/move a fallen beam or other obstacle.

However, I have concerns about your fundamental scenario. It is very typical for a new DM. You have planned out what WILL happen without considering what the players will decide to do.

1) Many players will have a watch even when staying in an inn, especially one far off the beaten track where the players may wonder how the innkeeper makes any money? One possibility is that the innkeeper is a bandit so the party may be wary about staying there and set a watch.

2) The party may not want to split up. There isn't room in the inn but there is likely space for all of them in the stables. A smart or paranoid party might decide to stay together and set a watch in the stables.

3) Fires take a while to get going without accelerants. The smell of smoke is likely to be quite noticeable since the construction of medieval inns likely leaves a bit to be desired in terms of tightly built floors/walls.

4) Their room is likely to have a window. It is unlikely that the roof and rafters above the party will be burning enough to be an issue before the party can escape out the window unless someone decided to climb onto the roof to spread accelerant and start the fire. However, walking on a wooden roof is likely to be noisy enough that any one awake will hear and folks who are asleep could be wakened.

5) You have already decided how you want the encounter to go ... "they wake up, smell smoke, begin choking" - this is most likely if the fire is below them since the smoke will rise through the floor boards (heat rises). Having the roof collapse is most likely if the fire is above them. A fire below is not likely to spread above them without getting them first ... so you would need multiple fires and multiple NPCs setting them.

6) There is also screaming - so other folks have also noticed the fire - if these folks are closer to the fire then the PCs should have enough warning to do something and if they aren't then there are questions as to why the players didn't notice sooner.

Anyway, the main issue I see is that you've planned an encounter without taking into account the likely player actions and the internal logic your world should have so that things makes sense for the players. You can still MAKE it happen this way, since you are the DM, but you may have to bypass or override some player choices to make it happen that way and it might be better to create the situation with certain possibilities that can be modified to respond to what the players actually do.

 

 
A slightly better approach to take here is carry this out as what I coin a timed set of skill checks, so describe the scene  then grab a 30 sec egg timer and tell the players in real time every 30 Secs minutes of real time something will happen. The table has 30 sec for players to react and tell you what they do, then you roll dice without time pressure, but only for the decisions they made during the 30 sec, then you describe the next “scene” based on actions, flip the timer again. 

This means the players don’t have endless time to debate and discuss, you can have a list of possible events that happen, and get creative mid way through based on what they do, they get the tension of having to react to things suddenly. If a player doesn’t tell you what they do then their player doesn’t react and they miss a round. If you have ever played the X-com board game it is very similar to this approach, the pressure of time is used to make players make decisions but dice rolling and working out results etc can be done with a bit less pressure meaning mistakes are less likely especially if you and your players are new. 

The other approach is simply to set a longer time limit and do everything, rolls included under the pressure of a timer, but I find the above approach works a bit better. Also remember that in Xanathars guide there are rules to waking up, and another thing to think of, if they are sleeping in an inn then they should not have their armour on or their equipment to hand, if you don't consider that then the players could well lose everything. 

Possibly a better approach to take for this is have all the party asleep in the barn, have the inn catch alight and then give them a set of encounters related to that, maybe they have to rescue a women trapped upstairs, or help fight the fire, or maybe they get caught up inside fighting a smaller fire. 

Actually I am going to borrow this idea, only I will have the fire started by 3 fire elementals that have been summoned to burn down the Inn, the players will need to try and save people while also fighting the elementals.