hi guys im new to this, i know i can give advantage to a teammate if i help him search a room and such but can't i help on every roll since we're always in team? because that sounds a little overpowered

thanks in advance

Hi GmSoulGaze o/

The help action is, imho, more intended to be used in situations were turns matter, mostly combat.
Out of combat it can certainly be used, but I usually allow its benefit (Advantage on the check) only when everyone involved has proficiency in the relevant skill involved. If you have no idea what you are doing, for as much as you want to help you might not actually be a great boost (on the contrary, sometimes it could even be counter productive, but that's all another can of worms).

You can always try to help, but it only grants advantage when the DM decides that it does. In combat, the Help Action generally does what it says it does - grants advantage for most any roll for an ally might make in combat. Outside of combat, though, helping is very much more at the discretion of the DM. It is really a thing that the DM can use to recognise that more than one person in the party has a genuine expertise in some task that the two of them are trying to achieve together. 

But no, no DM in their right mind will grant constant advantage just because you say "I help my party member". If the wizard is researching ancient tomes for clues about the demon's origins, and the illiterate barbarian tries to help - no advantage will be granted...

One of the other things I do is ask "How are you going to help?". Many people think that just because they say they're helping it's a free die roll but, as LeK mentioned, sometimes help is the exact opposite.

Player 1: I'm going to dig through the bookshelf to see if there's a switch or something to open the door."
Player2: I help!
DM: How do you help out?
Player 2: I start digging through the shelf too!
DM: The bookshelf is only 3ft wide, you push player 1 out of the way and start digging for the switch.

Player 1: I am going to look through the tome and see if there's any information I can glean from it.
Player 2: I help!
DM: How?
Player 2: I want to read over his shoulder.
DM: You're not proficient in the language, all you see is shapes and symbols, you're of no help.
--or: You look over his shoulder and realize it's Hill Dwarf, not Mountain Dwarf, you're more fluent in that, roll with advantage.

It's better to understand how you're helping rather than the idea that you can help. Mechanically you're correct, you can attempt to help with just about everything in the game. I, however, advise taking a moment and think about that one guy in school/at work who is always trying to help everyone and how much of an annoyance that was. Do you really think your teammates are that bad at their job that you need to help with every. single. task. ever? There's more than the mechanical benefit, there's also the RP element and gaming the system is generally a way to make things less fun.

Just my opinion.

A lot of the time you will get multiple players wanting to perform the same skill checks as the rest of the party. This comes up a lot with perception and investigation as everyone is keeping an eye out and everyone may want to search for loot. Instead of each person rolling individually some people may opt to help another player instead which means they give up their own roll to give advantage to a player that may have a higher chance of getting a high roll. This can save time in games sometimes too if players get good at working together.

I also agree with proficiency in the skill being a requirement for helping another player with a skill check for advantage. It makes sense and works.

thanks everyone this actually helps a lot! i love the ideas of using proficiency and the option that it can lead to disadvantage if the players aren't proficient in that skill, i'll definitely talk about it to the other players!

Honestly, you could do worse than just defaulting to letting the group have advantage whenever they announce "I'm helping!" 

I love when players get detailed and roleplay their individual contributions to a complicated skill or social check... but more than I love that, I hate when one player is participating in the skill check while everyone else just tunes out and yawns because it isn't relevant to their proficiencies. It's all-too-easy for one character to be invested in something like researching the temple wall carvings while every other party member could give a hoot and just wants to press forward... so any time the players slow down and acknowledge that they are in fact a team interested in each other's actions, and that the Wizard's proficiency in History is something more than a speed bump along the road to the next combat encounter... that's something that should be at least somewhat rewarded. It's quite possible that the Wizard is the only one in the group that has History, but is that to say that they're the only character that should be interested in the plot hooks you've taken the time to lay out about ancient civilizations and musty old writings? If other characters want to read over their shoulder or play with the carvings, encourage that, it is interesting! "Sorry, you have disadvantage because the dumb barbarian is getting in your way by 'helping' " is essentially telling the party "shut up and sit quietly while I talk to this other player, you're not invited."

IMO this mechanic is designed to stop or at least mitigate the common occurrence at tables, "I roll Arcana to do X" and then other players say, "ooh me too, me too!" Instead, the DM can combine everyone saying that into a single instance of, "ok, all of you get together and work together on it - roll once with advantage."  It's a cleaner way of cutting the meta gaming down, so it works as-is for me.