Seems like it would be more prudent on a Nat 1 on a handshake would be like, “you forgot you just wiped your brow so your hand is sweaty and you grasp too early and too lightly, a look of discomfort and disgust crosses the guards face, you now have a disadvantage on all verbal checks with this guard from now on.” That still really sucks but nobody is rolling for initiative there
Yeah - I like the idea that if a character’s fundamental stat is (too) low, doing basic everyday tasks would get an increased difficulty to do it right/with success.
Being it talking to someone, opening a door or getting out of bed.
I’ll admit that I’ve had my players do those kind of rolls from time to time. It’s usually either when they’re doing something with no consequences that can have a comedic moment or they choose to do something so far in left field that I almost feel the need to ask them to roll.
All in all though those dumb rolls have led to a lot of comedic moments that my players enjoy so I think a big part is how it’s used
I know I’m a downer sometimes, but those
“Roll to shake hands with the captain of the guard. [Nat 1] You slap him in the face. You’re all arrested”
annoy me to no end. The point of rolling is to simulate the possibility of failure for difficult tasks, not for everything you ever do
Seems like it would be more prudent on a Nat 1 on a handshake would be like, “you forgot you just wiped your brow so your hand is sweaty and you grasp too early and too lightly, a look of discomfort and disgust crosses the guards face, you now have a disadvantage on all verbal checks with this guard from now on.” That still really sucks but nobody is rolling for initiative there
Yeah - I like the idea that if a character’s fundamental stat is (too) low, doing basic everyday tasks would get an increased difficulty to do it right/with success. Being it talking to someone, opening a door or getting out of bed.
I’ll admit that I’ve had my players do those kind of rolls from time to time. It’s usually either when they’re doing something with no consequences that can have a comedic moment or they choose to do something so far in left field that I almost feel the need to ask them to roll.
All in all though those dumb rolls have led to a lot of comedic moments that my players enjoy so I think a big part is how it’s used
I love XPtolevel3’s newish video about this problem