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BIGMamaSloth
2011-03-21, 03:34 PM
I'm in a bit of a dispute with a friend. If I get a natural 20 on a skill check or ability check, that doesn't mean I succeed no matter the DC right? Because it seems a little ridiculous for somebody to always have a 5% chance of doing a skill check no matter what.
Bobikus
2011-03-21, 03:35 PM
By RAW Nat 20/Nat 1 only matters on Attack Rolls and Saves.
BIGMamaSloth
2011-03-21, 03:36 PM
Thank you very much.
Sacrieur
2011-03-21, 03:36 PM
I'm in a bit of a dispute with a friend. If I get a natural 20 on a skill check or ability check, that doesn't mean I succeed no matter the DC right? Because it seems a little ridiculous for somebody to always have a 5% chance of doing a skill check no matter what.

No, the natural 20 is only for attack rolls and saves.
Blackjackg
2011-03-21, 03:50 PM
I've played in campaigns with exploding 20s-- if you roll a natural 20, you roll another d20 and add the result -1... aaaand you keep doing it. My Jack of All Trades cleric picked a DC40 lock that way. Good times...

But yeah, 20 ain't an autosuccess.
Vladislav
2011-03-21, 04:17 PM
There is also a variant rule in which a natural 20* counts as 25, while a natural 1 counts as -5. Haven't had a chance to play it, but sounds interesting, allowing for greater variation.

* actually rolled, not a result of taking 20.
strawberryman
2011-03-21, 04:19 PM
There is also a variant rule in which a natural 20* counts as 25, while a natural 1 counts as -5. Haven't had a chance to play it, but sounds interesting, allowing for greater variation.

* actually rolled, not a result of taking 20.

In my games I generally treat natural 20 as 30 and natural 1 as -10. But yeah.
fryplink
2011-03-21, 07:06 PM
Yea, I use a "rolling twenty" rule in my games where if you roll a twenty on a skill check you keep rolling and add the result. Had a friend roll a 140 on a spot check once that way. His character knew the number of atoms in the object he was spotting.

Natural ones are not auto failures, but they are never optimal. if you succeed on a natural one in my game its a horrible way to succeed. If he were to have succeeded on a spot check with a natural one, he would have found the monster because it would have shot a ray or beam into his eye or something, potentially blinding him.