for example,l have a character who has been cooking for most of their life. if l wanted them to make a meal they have made many times,would l still need them to roll? l think them trying a new dish should make them roll something the first few times,but what should the roll be? int? wis? (plus cooks tool proficncy if they have it)
EDIT:thanks for the feedback! l thought so,l just wanted to be sure!
As a DM, you only call for a roll when there is a chance of success, and a chance of failure. If there is no chance to do something (like trying to jump over the actual moon) you don't have the player roll for it. And if there's no realistic chance of failure, like cooking a grilled cheese for the 100th time, you don't make the player roll.
It's like having them make perception checks. When they are standing outdoors in broad daylight, you do not make them roll perception to see the broad side of a barn. Likewise you don't make them roll "to hit" to see if they can successfully grab the hilt of their own sword in their scabbard to draw it out.
Now, if you are RPing that the character is in a cooking contest and has to impress a picky judge, and out-cook 3 competitors, then yes, they roll for it. Because in that case success could be questionable and it is a contest. But if they're just cooking baked beans around a campfire for the evening meal, you don't make them roll for it .
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
I've learned that too much rolling can really slow down the game. Perception checks are particularly problematic. Eventually I realized what was said above that the dice are there to determine the outcome when there are multiple possibilities. So now, I only have them roll if the number they roll is going to actually determine what happens.
Sometimes the players will say "Can I roll a perception check?" I'll then ask them what they are trying to perceive. If they want to listen to a door and I know there's nothing behind it, I just tell them they don't hear anything. But if they say they're trying to find another way into the place they are going and I know that there's a secret door, I just tell them there might be another way and we'll let the dice decide. But if they fail, they fail. None of this nonsense where they just keep rolling over and over. The dice decided that they didn't know what the mysterious symbols meant on the magic sword. So that's not part of our story any more. They either need to find someone else who might be able to figure it out or they need to come up with another way to learn that information.
I agree with everything stated above but wanna add this: sometimes you *do* roll for something because there's a (however remote) chance of failure, but you *can* set the DC really low.
If a character is making a dish they've made 100 times before, they could still fail. In that case I'd have them make a roll but set the DC as low as 5 or something, so any failure is more of a catastrophic accident rather than a failure in skill. If they'd made that dish 1000 times, I wouldn't ask for a roll at all.
Same would go for the History skill, to use a different example. If the player asks you if their character remembers the in-game equivalent of when the founding of the US was, no roll, easy, everyone knows that. If they ask who the in-game equivalent of the 5th president was, maybe a low-DC roll if they're already proficient in history, and if they want to see if they remember some obscure fact about the Kennedy assassination, go ahead and have them do a real roll.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
for example,l have a character who has been cooking for most of their life. if l wanted them to make a meal they have made many times,would l still need them to roll? l think them trying a new dish should make them roll something the first few times,but what should the roll be? int? wis? (plus cooks tool proficncy if they have it)
EDIT:thanks for the feedback! l thought so,l just wanted to be sure!
As a DM, you only call for a roll when there is a chance of success, and a chance of failure. If there is no chance to do something (like trying to jump over the actual moon) you don't have the player roll for it. And if there's no realistic chance of failure, like cooking a grilled cheese for the 100th time, you don't make the player roll.
It's like having them make perception checks. When they are standing outdoors in broad daylight, you do not make them roll perception to see the broad side of a barn. Likewise you don't make them roll "to hit" to see if they can successfully grab the hilt of their own sword in their scabbard to draw it out.
Now, if you are RPing that the character is in a cooking contest and has to impress a picky judge, and out-cook 3 competitors, then yes, they roll for it. Because in that case success could be questionable and it is a contest. But if they're just cooking baked beans around a campfire for the evening meal, you don't make them roll for it .
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
I've learned that too much rolling can really slow down the game. Perception checks are particularly problematic. Eventually I realized what was said above that the dice are there to determine the outcome when there are multiple possibilities. So now, I only have them roll if the number they roll is going to actually determine what happens.
Sometimes the players will say "Can I roll a perception check?" I'll then ask them what they are trying to perceive. If they want to listen to a door and I know there's nothing behind it, I just tell them they don't hear anything. But if they say they're trying to find another way into the place they are going and I know that there's a secret door, I just tell them there might be another way and we'll let the dice decide. But if they fail, they fail. None of this nonsense where they just keep rolling over and over. The dice decided that they didn't know what the mysterious symbols meant on the magic sword. So that's not part of our story any more. They either need to find someone else who might be able to figure it out or they need to come up with another way to learn that information.
Another point to bear in mind: don't roll if it doesn't matter. Use passive score, or just declare a result, or let the player declare a result.
I agree with everything stated above but wanna add this: sometimes you *do* roll for something because there's a (however remote) chance of failure, but you *can* set the DC really low.
If a character is making a dish they've made 100 times before, they could still fail. In that case I'd have them make a roll but set the DC as low as 5 or something, so any failure is more of a catastrophic accident rather than a failure in skill. If they'd made that dish 1000 times, I wouldn't ask for a roll at all.
Same would go for the History skill, to use a different example. If the player asks you if their character remembers the in-game equivalent of when the founding of the US was, no roll, easy, everyone knows that. If they ask who the in-game equivalent of the 5th president was, maybe a low-DC roll if they're already proficient in history, and if they want to see if they remember some obscure fact about the Kennedy assassination, go ahead and have them do a real roll.