Ability Scores

Ability Checks

Sometimes the game (DM) will require the players to perform a skill. This can be breaking down a door, walking across a tightrope, remembering a fact in history, or using a pickup line. In these circumstances, the DM shall make the player(s) roll an ability check. Each ability has its corresponding ability score. For example, breaking down a door would require a strength ability check (or in some cases just brute damage, but that won’t work for a pickup line! (Unless she’s into that sort of thing, but don’t try this without consent) (Also, sorry, or he*, or they*)).

To perform an ability check, roll a 20-sided die (d20). Add the corresponding ability score. Apply any modifier. If your total roll is equal to 21 or greater, it’s a success! However, the modifier aspect becomes the tricky part, because it can change from case to case. Let’s say your character is trying to remember the lineage of kings/queens in their king/queendom. This would be something that’s not particularly hard to remember (depending how far back it goes). Perhaps the DM says that remembering the grandfather of the queen is something that many people should’ve heard at least once in their life. In this case, the character trying to remember can get a big positive modifier to their roll, perhaps a +6? Determining these rolls on the fly is no exact science, but it’s a skill that the DM and players should develop overtime and argue about.

Contested ability checks are used when a character is trying to perform an ability *against* another character. For example, when using a pickup line against someone. If the victim of the ability check has a higher ability score, then they shall take their corresponding ability score and add +10 to the total roll (even though they don’t roll in this instance). For example, Sam, who is being hit on, has a natural charisma of 12, therefore to successfully use a pickup line would require rolling a 22 or greater. However, there still may be a modifier! Let’s say Sam is desperate and has had a dry spell cast on them, they may have a -4 to their modifier, so really, you just need to have a total roll of 18. Perhaps you’re wearing an expensive cologne which gives you +1 to charisma check.

If a non-player character (NPC) is contesting a player character, use the same contested ability checks rules. However, if the NPC passes their check, now allow the player to roll and choose their preferred total roll. For example, Dave the Drunk wants to wrestle one of your characters. This isn’t quite combat and it surprised your players, you want to make a light-hearted wrestle moment without being bogged down by combat. Dave the Drunk has 9 strength and your player character Richard has 13 strength. Dave the Drunk would need to roll a 14 or greater to wrestle you (total roll of 23). Richard may choose to roll again, and Richard happens to roll a 12, which brings Richard’s total roll up to a 25. Therefore, Dave isn’t able to get the check off.

Proficiencies. If the proficiency system is used (it should be!), then any ability check should consider if there’s a related proficiency. For example, if a player is trying to remember a fact about ancient history, and there’s an ancient history proficiency, then they should make an ability check using their ancient history proficiency. Since ancient history would be tied to the intelligence ability score, they would add their intelligence ability score to their d20 roll. If the ancient history had a modifier (shown in proficiency table), then you would include their modifier along with any additional modifier. There are activities that are naturally more inherent than others, and so if a DM agrees, then a character would make the proficiency ability check with half of their ability score (rounded down, minimum 1).

Failing ability checks. When a character fails an ability check, there could be many explanations (this is also part of the fun of roleplaying!) When a character fails a check, they cannot re-perform the check unless circumstances have meaningfully changed. Let’s say a character is trying to scale the walls of a castle, which already is a hard task. If the character fails their climb walls check, they shall not be able to make another check. If the player asks to do it again, you should tell the player about this rule before they make the attempt again. They shall always fail, regardless of the roll (even a natural 20). You should not let players brute force their way through problems using a 5% chance odds, which is not representative of the probability of the difficult tasks that will occur across their adventures. However, let’s say that they failed their check and came back to the castle walls with a long and sturdy rope that they got to hook up onto the castle wall. This would be a meaningful change in circumstances, and you shall allow them to make a new ability check (and the rope would give bonuses to the check!) Failure on this second check would still lead them back to square one.

Impossible or trivial ability checks. There are times where an endeavour is so difficult or so easy that no roll should be necessary. This is of course up to the discretion of the DM and how they want to run their game. But making a strength check to climb the stairs is both not realistic, but it’s also not very fun. You may have a character that can’t walk up the stairs easily, and perhaps you *could* make them roll the first time, but it’s usually better to just describe the scene or comment on it. If you make someone roll for something trivial, then it means that they *can’t* perform that action, for one reason or another. If you let them proceed anyways even after failing an ability check, you break the above rule about failing ability checks, which undermines the rules and yourself as the DM. And what’s the payoff? Humiliating the character? You should only make trivial ability checks if your player wants to make a trivial ability check. Similarly, for the impossible ability checks, there are some tasks that are too difficult for even your player characters to pull off. For example, you can charisma check your way into the queen giving up her queendom to you. If you wish, you may still ask for a charisma check to see how upset she gets from even the suggestion by the player characters, but the actual ability check for the suggestion should be impossible. There are sometimes where you just don’t want your players to do or know something. In these cases, be certain that their characters can’t do this. With this knowledge, they could still choose to roll if you both would like, but the result should not change the outcome. However, let’s say that a player character is looking at an ancient scroll and is trying to decipher text. If the character isn’t proficient in ancient history or something similar, you should not let them roll to decipher the text. However, the player still asks to roll. You as the DM says “sure”, and the player rolls a natural 18 and along with a 16 intelligence, it ends up being a pretty good total roll. Do not let them decipher the text, but perhaps give them information that they weren’t expecting. Perhaps they recognize the name of the author.