#dnd thought: One way to avoid information getting locked out behind a skill check DC that no one hits is to not think about the DC. Instead, ask for the appropriate checks, then have the character with the highest check discover the hidden note, the secret inscription, et al.
— Scott Fitzgerald Gray (@scottfgray) December 6, 2021
To me this is an encounter design issue. Key information shouldn’t be locked behind a single skill check, or a single way of doing something, ever. Sure. And this approach can make it easy to work with any of the many ways you can reveal key information, at the point when you decide, “This would be a great place to reveal that information.”
— Scott Fitzgerald Gray (@scottfgray) December 6, 2021
IDK, if the information has to be delivered, you may as well freely deliver it to the players without using a skill check in the first place. If that works for you, great. Lots of folks like passive checks in the same sort of vein. Me, as a player? I like making checks, and I like the feel of having a check trigger what my character learns. So that’s what I do as DM as well.
— Scott Fitzgerald Gray (@scottfgray) December 6, 2021
Yeah though if everyone rolls *really* low you can still make it realistic by having some bumbling accidentally still reveal the note after the dust settles. XD Indeed. Or find some way to slightly lessen the effectiveness of the info. Searching the fallen bandit captain, you take so long that by the time you find the note in his pocket, a couple of key words are obscured by blood.
— Scott Fitzgerald Gray (@scottfgray) December 7, 2021