DC 0 Checks

As a matter of adventure design (or when improvising as a DM), you  shouldn’t lock mission-critical information behind a skill check.  Because if the characters fail the check, the plot line is dead.

But, the solution isn’t to get rid of skill checks.

The solution is DC 0 checks.

“Isn’t that basically just telling them the information?”

Yes, but we don’t stop there.

Progressive Skill Checks

The idea is to move away from binary skill checks to a progressive  resolution system. So, you still have a check to discover mission  critical information. But, the DC to learn the stuff you need to know is  set at zero.

As you roll progressively higher, you learn additional information  that isn’t necessary, but helpful. You probably could have found out  that extra information eventually with your DC 0 clue, but rolling  better lets you take shortcuts by applying more intuition or conducting a  better search.

Murder Mystery

While you should seed a murder mystery adventure with multiple clues,  each of them should be set as a DC 0 check, so that no clue turns up  useless. But, depending on the amount you investigate a certain clue,  you may glean more information.

Sherlock Holmes was famous for deducing more information from a crime  scene than the professionals at Scotland Yard. So, make that  opportunity available to your characters! As they walk in on the murder  scene, the investigators have clearly identified that the victim died  from the massive rending wound on their chest. But, further  investigation of the scene provides additional illumination.

When writing an adventure (or preparing for your session), consider  writing your skill checks into tables to avoid binary resolution states.  Here’s a sample:

You don’t need to be this granular. You can set as many or few DCs as  you want. You can set each DC at anything you think is appropriate.  Maybe you have a lot of low-level information that you’re happy for a  skill check to convey, so you set a bunch of low DCs. I also recommend  doing the “dead giveaway” at a DC 30+, since that’s considered a nearly  impossible task. Let your players shine for having invested in skills!

The important thing is to make sure the plot line isn’t dead. Give  your players the mission critical information they need to keep the plot  moving, at least in some direction.

Monster Knowledge DCs

Non-binary skill checks can also be used in other contexts. Check out ThinkDM’s Monster Knowledge DCs to see how we implemented a progressive skill check for players asking  what they know about a monster. That one starts at DC 5 (no monster  knowledge is mission critical), but it illustrates how the concept can  be adapted to different aspects of the game.