[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":296},["ShallowReactive",2],{"page-\u002Fwiki\u002Fdungeon-mastering\u002Fsetting-difficulty":3,"navigation-main":176},{"id":4,"title":5,"body":6,"description":168,"extension":169,"meta":170,"navigation":171,"path":172,"seo":173,"stem":174,"__hash__":175},"wiki\u002Fwiki\u002F6.dungeon-mastering\u002F4.setting-difficulty.md","Setting Difficulty",{"type":7,"value":8,"toc":159},"minimark",[9,13,18,21,29,33,41,109,112,116,129,133,141,145],[10,11,12],"p",{},"Every ruling is really two decisions. Should this be rolled for, and if so,\nagainst what number. New DMs reach straight for the second one and skip the\nfirst, which is the one that actually matters.",[14,15,17],"h2",{"id":16},"first-decide-whether-to-roll-at-all","First, Decide Whether to Roll at All",[10,19,20],{},"Most actions just happen. Call for a roll only when failure is genuinely\npossible and failing would cost something interesting — if either half is\nmissing, say what happens and move on. Rolling for everything makes competent\ncharacters look incompetent, because a d20 says they fail a fifth of the time\neven at what they are trained for. And calling for a roll you will not honour\n— narrating success anyway once the dice land wrong — teaches the table that\nrolls do not matter, which is worse than not calling for one at all.",[10,22,23,28],{},[24,25],"tooltip",{"label":26,"tooltip-key":27},"Ability checks","rules\u002Fability-check"," are the\nthing being decided here. If you would not be surprised by either outcome,\nit is a roll. If you would only ever accept one outcome, it is not.",[14,30,32],{"id":31},"then-pick-a-number","Then Pick a Number",[10,34,35,36,40],{},"Once you have decided a roll matters, the target is a\n",[24,37],{"label":38,"tooltip-key":39},"Difficulty Class","rules\u002Fdifficulty-class",". Pick\nit before you see the roll, not after, and use the table below rather than\ninventing a number in the moment.",[42,43,44,57],"table",{},[45,46,47],"thead",{},[48,49,50,54],"tr",{},[51,52,53],"th",{},"Task",[51,55,56],{},"DC",[58,59,60,69,77,85,93,101],"tbody",{},[48,61,62,66],{},[63,64,65],"td",{},"Very easy",[63,67,68],{},"5",[48,70,71,74],{},[63,72,73],{},"Easy",[63,75,76],{},"10",[48,78,79,82],{},[63,80,81],{},"Medium",[63,83,84],{},"15",[48,86,87,90],{},[63,88,89],{},"Hard",[63,91,92],{},"20",[48,94,95,98],{},[63,96,97],{},"Very hard",[63,99,100],{},"25",[48,102,103,106],{},[63,104,105],{},"Nearly impossible",[63,107,108],{},"30",[10,110,111],{},"Most of what you set lives at 10, 15 or 20. Reaching past those three should\nfeel like a decision, not a habit. A DC 5 is usually a thing that should just\nsucceed without a roll at all; a DC 30 is usually a thing that should just\nfail, reserved for the rare moment where succeeding at it would be the\nstory.",[14,113,115],{"id":114},"move-the-dice-not-the-number","Move the Dice, Not the Number",[10,117,118,119,123,124,128],{},"The lever most new DMs do not reach for. When a player's idea makes the\nattempt genuinely easier or harder, resist the urge to shift the DC by five\nand do the arithmetic mid-scene. Express it as\n",[24,120],{"label":121,"tooltip-key":122},"advantage","rules\u002Fadvantage"," or\n",[24,125],{"label":126,"tooltip-key":127},"disadvantage","rules\u002Fdisadvantage"," instead — a\ngood idea changes the odds, and the dice can carry that on their own.\nCircumstance moves the dice; the task itself is what sets the DC.",[14,130,132],{"id":131},"what-nobody-announced","What Nobody Announced",[10,134,135,136,140],{},"Not everything worth noticing gets a roll, because not everyone thinks to\nask for one. A character's\n",[24,137],{"label":138,"tooltip-key":139},"passive perception","rules\u002Fpassive-perception",",\nand the passive scores generally, tell you what they notice without anyone\nsaying they are looking. Compare the passive score against the DC the same\nway you would a rolled check, no dice involved. This is what stops the table\nhaving to announce a search of every corridor to find anything in it.",[14,142,144],{"id":143},"checks-and-saves-are-not-the-same-call","Checks and Saves Are Not the Same Call",[10,146,147,148,152,153,158],{},"Worth its own heading, because DMs conflate the two. A check is someone\ntrying to do something; a\n",[24,149],{"label":150,"tooltip-key":151},"saving throw","rules\u002Fsaving-throw"," is someone\nresisting something that has already happened to them. The difference\ndecides who rolls and whether the number you are comparing against is the\nDC you just set or a fixed save DC. For the mechanics of both, see\n",[154,155,157],"a",{"href":156},"\u002Fwiki\u002Fplaying-the-game\u002Fd20-tests","D20 Tests",".",{"title":160,"searchDepth":161,"depth":161,"links":162},"",2,[163,164,165,166,167],{"id":16,"depth":161,"text":17},{"id":31,"depth":161,"text":32},{"id":114,"depth":161,"text":115},{"id":131,"depth":161,"text":132},{"id":143,"depth":161,"text":144},"When to call for a roll at all, and what number to put on it when you do.","md",{},true,"\u002Fwiki\u002Fdungeon-mastering\u002Fsetting-difficulty",{"title":5,"description":168},"wiki\u002F6.dungeon-mastering\u002F4.setting-difficulty","nY0yG4Qj3jokPXp-X9pF9gXbjJUgtaz-mMBsJ4--934",[177],{"title":178,"path":179,"stem":180,"children":181},"Wiki","\u002Fwiki","wiki\u002F1.index",[182,183,187,231,261,265],{"title":178,"path":179,"stem":180},{"title":184,"path":185,"stem":186},"Introduction","\u002Fwiki\u002Fintroduction","wiki\u002F2.introduction",{"title":188,"path":189,"stem":190,"children":191},"Playing the Game","\u002Fwiki\u002Fplaying-the-game","wiki\u002F3.playing-the-game\u002F1.index",[192,193,197,201,205,209,211,215,219,223,227],{"title":188,"path":189,"stem":190},{"title":194,"path":195,"stem":196},"Damage and Healing","\u002Fwiki\u002Fplaying-the-game\u002Fdamage-and-healing","wiki\u002F3.playing-the-game\u002F10.damage-and-healing",{"title":198,"path":199,"stem":200},"Conditions","\u002Fwiki\u002Fplaying-the-game\u002Fconditions","wiki\u002F3.playing-the-game\u002F11.conditions",{"title":202,"path":203,"stem":204},"Rhythm of Play","\u002Fwiki\u002Fplaying-the-game\u002Frhythm-of-play","wiki\u002F3.playing-the-game\u002F2.rhythm-of-play",{"title":206,"path":207,"stem":208},"The Six Abilities","\u002Fwiki\u002Fplaying-the-game\u002Fthe-six-abilities","wiki\u002F3.playing-the-game\u002F3.the-six-abilities",{"title":157,"path":156,"stem":210},"wiki\u002F3.playing-the-game\u002F4.d20-tests",{"title":212,"path":213,"stem":214},"Proficiency","\u002Fwiki\u002Fplaying-the-game\u002Fproficiency","wiki\u002F3.playing-the-game\u002F5.proficiency",{"title":216,"path":217,"stem":218},"Actions","\u002Fwiki\u002Fplaying-the-game\u002Factions","wiki\u002F3.playing-the-game\u002F6.actions",{"title":220,"path":221,"stem":222},"Social Interaction","\u002Fwiki\u002Fplaying-the-game\u002Fsocial-interaction","wiki\u002F3.playing-the-game\u002F7.social-interaction",{"title":224,"path":225,"stem":226},"Exploration","\u002Fwiki\u002Fplaying-the-game\u002Fexploration","wiki\u002F3.playing-the-game\u002F8.exploration",{"title":228,"path":229,"stem":230},"Combat","\u002Fwiki\u002Fplaying-the-game\u002Fcombat","wiki\u002F3.playing-the-game\u002F9.combat",{"title":232,"path":233,"stem":234,"children":235},"Creating a Character","\u002Fwiki\u002Fcreating-a-character","wiki\u002F4.creating-a-character\u002F1.index",[236,237,241,245,249,253,257],{"title":232,"path":233,"stem":234},{"title":238,"path":239,"stem":240},"Choosing a Class","\u002Fwiki\u002Fcreating-a-character\u002Fchoosing-a-class","wiki\u002F4.creating-a-character\u002F2.choosing-a-class",{"title":242,"path":243,"stem":244},"Origin","\u002Fwiki\u002Fcreating-a-character\u002Forigin","wiki\u002F4.creating-a-character\u002F3.origin",{"title":246,"path":247,"stem":248},"Ability Scores","\u002Fwiki\u002Fcreating-a-character\u002Fability-scores","wiki\u002F4.creating-a-character\u002F4.ability-scores",{"title":250,"path":251,"stem":252},"Alignment and Details","\u002Fwiki\u002Fcreating-a-character\u002Falignment","wiki\u002F4.creating-a-character\u002F5.alignment",{"title":254,"path":255,"stem":256},"Equipment","\u002Fwiki\u002Fcreating-a-character\u002Fequipment","wiki\u002F4.creating-a-character\u002F6.equipment",{"title":258,"path":259,"stem":260},"Beyond Level 1","\u002Fwiki\u002Fcreating-a-character\u002Fbeyond-level-1","wiki\u002F4.creating-a-character\u002F7.beyond-level-1",{"title":262,"path":263,"stem":264},"Rules Glossary","\u002Fwiki\u002Frules-glossary","wiki\u002F5.rules-glossary",{"title":266,"path":267,"stem":268,"children":269},"Dungeon Mastering","\u002Fwiki\u002Fdungeon-mastering","wiki\u002F6.dungeon-mastering\u002F1.index",[270,271,275,279,280,284,288,292],{"title":266,"path":267,"stem":268},{"title":272,"path":273,"stem":274},"Running the Game","\u002Fwiki\u002Fdungeon-mastering\u002Frunning-the-game","wiki\u002F6.dungeon-mastering\u002F2.running-the-game",{"title":276,"path":277,"stem":278},"Preparing a Session","\u002Fwiki\u002Fdungeon-mastering\u002Fpreparing-a-session","wiki\u002F6.dungeon-mastering\u002F3.preparing-a-session",{"title":5,"path":172,"stem":174},{"title":281,"path":282,"stem":283},"Building an Encounter","\u002Fwiki\u002Fdungeon-mastering\u002Fbuilding-an-encounter","wiki\u002F6.dungeon-mastering\u002F5.building-an-encounter",{"title":285,"path":286,"stem":287},"Running a Combat","\u002Fwiki\u002Fdungeon-mastering\u002Frunning-a-combat","wiki\u002F6.dungeon-mastering\u002F6.running-a-combat",{"title":289,"path":290,"stem":291},"Between Scenes","\u002Fwiki\u002Fdungeon-mastering\u002Fbetween-scenes","wiki\u002F6.dungeon-mastering\u002F7.between-scenes",{"title":293,"path":294,"stem":295},"Rewards","\u002Fwiki\u002Fdungeon-mastering\u002Frewards","wiki\u002F6.dungeon-mastering\u002F8.rewards",1767225600000]