Question for DMs: For a book that’s 5E-centric but NOT 5E-specific,* which variation would you rather see?

“Lia keeps her papers in a very hard-to-find hidden compartment in her desk.”

“Lia keeps her papers in a hidden compartment in her desk (DC 25 to locate).” * That is, the scenarios in the book are designed around 5E rules but also meant to be adaptable to other systems.

— Keith Ammann (@KeithAmmann) January 14, 2022

If the system has numbers, I like having a number. I don’t want to look up a number.

— Alphastream (@Alphastream) January 15, 2022

My suggestion would be to use a standardized set of adjectives and give equivalent DCs in a table in the front. That way readers who care about those kinds of numbers know that “very difficult” always = DC 18 and they can flip to the conversion index if they forget. This. 5e already has checks categorized as easy, medium, hard, et al, so those would seemingly make good general qualifiers. “…in a hidden compartment in her desk (a very hard check to locate).” Then a sidebar up front to say, “If you’re running 5e, here’s what this means…”

— Scott Fitzgerald Gray (@scottfgray) January 14, 2022

This. 5e already has checks categorized as easy, medium, hard, et al, so those would seemingly make good general qualifiers. “…in a hidden compartment in her desk (a very hard check to locate).” Then a sidebar up front to say, “If you’re running 5e, here’s what this means…” Yeah, in that case overall I wouldn't worry about pinning DCs down too specifically. Unless it's aimed specifically at new GMs, most readers can be trusted to make that call. They know their table better than you ever can.

— Six Hit Points (@sixhitpoints) January 14, 2022