When can't you take 10?

[frogglesmash]

By RAW, when can't you take 10 on skill checks?

[Crake]

By RAW, when can't you take 10 on skill checks?

As far as I'm aware, you can take 10 as long as
a) you aren't distracted or threatened (this comes down to DM adjudication, but note that a penalty for failure is not the same as being threatened)
or b) The skill check specifically calls out that you cannot take 10 or 20 on this particular check, UMD is the easiest example of this, but there are other times when you must make a skill check, but your ability calls out that you cannot take 10 on the check. I can't actually think of any off the top of my head, but they definitely exist.

Note that having skill mastery only helps if you're limited by a) and not by b).

[ksbsnowowl]

Yeah, it's annoying that 3.5 doesn't clearly define which skills can use Take 10 and Take 20, and when. That's one nice thing that d20 Modern did. In the skills chapter, each individual skill denotes if you can take 10 or 20 with that skill. Since most of the skills are the same, it's a good way to double-check which skills you'd rule to allow to Take 20 on, etc.

[frogglesmash]

Yeah, it's annoying that 3.5 doesn't clearly define which skills can use Take 10 and Take 20, and when. That's one nice thing that d20 Modern did. In the skills chapter, each individual skill denotes if you can take 10 or 20 with that skill. Since most of the skills are the same, it's a good way to double-check which skills you'd rule to allow to Take 20 on, etc.

I always thought "take 20" was easy to adjudicate. You just have to ask yourself "would failing this skill check have consequences that would prevent you from trying again?" Take 10 on the other hand, has much more poorly defined conditions to allow its use.

[Afgncaap5]

I always thought "take 20" was easy to adjudicate. You just have to ask yourself "would failing this skill check have consequences that would prevent you from trying again?" Take 10 on the other hand, has much more poorly defined conditions to allow its use.

Yeah, it's harder to figure out the "fiction" behind why taking 10 won't work. I sort of see taking 10 as requiring a moment to clear one's thoughts, steady one's hands, and then act without being rushed. Like, if there was a Perform (Billiards) skill, I could probably take 10 on making a single shot in a billiards game. On the other hand, if there was a fight going on and a nearby orc was trying to hit me with an axe, taking 10 in that billiards game would be... tricky. I'd need a Fonzie-like level of confidence and certainty to still take 10 under those circumstances.

[Necroticplague]

As a general rule of them, I go with "if I was casting a spell under these conditions, would I need a Concentration check, or provoke an AoO?". If yes, can't take 10.