The way people treat nat 20 skill checks these days bugs me

I've been rolling dice since 2nd edition AD&D and I swear the whole "nat 20 on a persuasion check means the king gives you his crown" thing has gotten out of hand. Last session I ran at my local shop in Portland a new player argued their character could convince a dragon to just leave because they rolled a 20. That's not how it works folks. A nat 20 on a skill check is just the best possible outcome for that situation not a magical win button. I remember back when a crit only applied to attacks and even then it just meant max damage. Now I keep seeing DMs let players get away with wild stuff and it breaks the game's tension for me. Has anyone else noticed this shift or am I just yelling at clouds?

2 comments

2 Comments

wren65227d ago

You mentioned the king giving away his crown, and honestly that's the part that gets me. What about the king's guards? If someone rolls a 20 to convince the king to abdicate, shouldn't the guards just drag them to the dungeon for treason? A nat 20 doesn't rewrite everyone else's motivations or make the world stupid. In my game last year a player rolled a 20 to seduce a guard, but that guard was happily married. Best outcome was the guard laughed it off instead of arresting them. That's the kind of thing people forget.

jason11227d ago

My last campaign had a scene where a bard rolled a nat 20 on a persuasion check to get the town guards to look the other way while he stole from the mayor's house. The DM was about to let it work but I pointed out those guards had families and a duty to protect that mayor. So instead of just letting it slide, the guards took the bribe but then reported the bard to the mayor anyway. The bard ended up in jail for a week and had to do quests to earn his freedom. That's the real power of a nat 20 not making the world stupid. It shouldn't break character motivations or turn people into puppets. Good DMs use it to create more interesting consequences, not just give the player everything they want.