5e Opposed ability checks

[Tiberius777]

Hello all,

New to this forum and this is my first post:

My question is concerning opposed ability checks.

For example, in the 5e PHB, how does Intimidate work; what is the opposed check? I see it says it (I believe in the description for Hide) that a Dex (stealth) check is opposed to a Wis (Perception) check. I am not seeing where it lists, in particular against monsters or NPCs, what many of these ability checks are opposed to.

Will this be something that is spelled out in the Dungeon Master's Guide? I am used to Pathfinder where it tells you in the skill what any check is opposed to. Am I missing something?



P.S. - I play Pathfinder and have played 3.5 D&D, but my first love of the game was 1e D&D and 5e D&D looks like a really good blend of the two. From my readings in the 5e PHB, it looks like game play will be fast and fluid - I'm excited to get started!

[Gnomes2169]

Many opposed checks are to the same/ a similar skill, such as an athletics or acrobatics checks. You can use acrobatics or athletics to try and shove a monster and it can resist with the better of its acrobatics or athletics.

For other things: Perception opposes stealth. Insight opposes deception, and pretty much everything else opposes either the same check (if it's a competition to do something first, usually) or it opposes a DC set by the DM.

[Tiberius777]

Many opposed checks are to the same/ a similar skill, such as an athletics or acrobatics checks. You can use acrobatics or athletics to try and shove a monster and it can resist with the better of its acrobatics or athletics.

For other things: Perception opposes stealth. Insight opposes deception, and pretty much everything else opposes either the same check (if it's a competition to do something first, usually) or it opposes a DC set by the DM.

Thank you so for the quick response! I thinking that it was "like" checks against each other. I just didn't see it spelled out anywhere ( I could have missed it)

So for example - it would be intimidate vs intimidate

[Gnomes2169]

Thank you so for the quick response! I thinking that it was "like" checks against each other. I just didn't see it spelled out anywhere ( I could have missed it)

So for example - it would be intimidate vs intimidate

It would be intimidate vs intimidate in the case of two people trying to frighten one another, but in most situations it would be a roll against a DC (opposed rolls are only for contests where a two characters are trying to achieve something while struggling against each other, after all). 5e's design, however, encourages the DM to decide if a certain situation would reasonably require a different skill roll. For example, if the creature is trying to intimidate the player (or vice versa) but does not have the resources/ skills/ authority to actually carry through in its threats, than you can have a player or monster oppose their intimidate check with an insight or relevant intelligence check instead.

Basically, think of opposed skill checks as fluid. While the ones the PHB describes are set in stone, they are not the only uses of the skills, and you can easily justify or create opposed checks as they would reasonably come up. (That said, more often than not you will be rolling against a set DC and opposed rolls should be relatively rare aside from the set opposed rolls listed above. Athletics or acrobatics vs athletics or acrobatics, stealth vs perception and deception vs insight should be all you truly need to worry about on a session to session basis.)

[odigity]

So for example - it would be intimidate vs intimidate

That doesn't make sense to me, and neither does Persuasion vs Persuasion.

I'm not sure either Intidimation or Persuasion should be contested. They should probably just be DC based, with DC set by DM based on how hostile the creature is (persuasion), the nature and sensibility of the persuasion attempt, or how cowardly the creature is (intimidation), and how much they fear the PC vs the danger/consequences of the thing they're being intimidated into.

[MaxWilson]

It's also not clear how ties should be resolved. I'd probably just make them re-roll.

[Gnomes2169]

It's also not clear how ties should be resolved. I'd probably just make them re-roll.

The one with the higher modifier technically wins ties. If they have the same modifier, then roll straight d20's until one wins or just declare that nothing happens.

[Person_Man]

In 5E, when a player attempts to use a Skill, the DM sets the Skill DC required based on the situation. A contest only occurs when a character and a monster are trying to do the exact same thing (ie, one person is trying to open a door while the other is trying to keep it closed), in which case they each roll the same exact check.

For example, the player decides he wants to lie to captain of the guard (whom I happen to have statistics for, since he happens to be an important NPC) about not carrying any contraband through the town gate, so as to avoid a search. The captain of the guard has 14 Wisdom and Proficiency in Insight, and he's a 10th level Fighter. I decide that its a DC 17 Deception check, since the captain doubts everyone and has decent Wisdom and Insight Proficiency. Alternatively, I could calculate the passive Insight for the captain (10 + 2 + 4 = 16), but DMs are always allowed latitude based on the situation either way. If the player decided to use Intimidation against the captain, I might up the DC to 22, since he's the captain of the guard with his men on hand. If the player decided to simply give a reasonable bribe the guard and use Persuasion to let the players through, I might decide that its only a DC 10 since I had previously established that the town guard are underpaid and this is only a minor offense. If I didn't have statistics for the captain of the guard, I'd just wing it based on what I thought made sense for the situation and my assumptions about the captain, and would probably come up with similar DC numbers even if I didn't know his exact Wisdom or Proficiencies.

[some guy]

The one with the higher modifier technically wins ties. If they have the same modifier, then roll straight d20's until one wins or just declare that nothing happens.

The Player Basic Rules reads "If the contest results in a tie, the situation remains the same as it was before the contest." on pg. 58.