Thread by @DropTheDie

When planning a #dnd5e adventure ask: If every player failed every single skill check in this adventure, could they still complete it and could they still have fun?

If either answer is 'no' - I urge you to rework your adventure with that in mind.

"A character must succeed on a DC 17 Wisdom (Perception) check to notice the trap door in the floor."

Okay, everyone fails. Now what?

"Uh... UHHHH... i guess roll again?"

Hard pass.

And dont try the "make the DC 5!" i said assume they FAIL, not roll low.

"Characters who succeed on a DC 17 Wisdom (Perception) check notices the trap door in the floor. Otherwise, the doctor's mad shrieks leads them to the cellar, where a helmed horror with a +1 halberd guards a descending staircase."

Trap door = safe, easy
Cellar = dangerous enemy

Me:

Tweet: "notices"

Me:

Tweet: "notices"

Me:

some of y'all would happily drown arguing with a river over which way it's running.

Never said "remove failure"
Never said "make it easy"
Never said "railroad"
Never said "homebrew"
Never said "the RIGHT way"
Never said "force them to roll checks"
Never said "you should"

Enough people are posting questions or good comments that I don't want to mute this, but I am going to start just blocking you if you come into this thread willfully misinterpreting this thread.

Just gunna be up front about it.

Let's address this:

I chose "complete the adventure" not succeed for a specific reason. If the party never GETS to the climax of the adventure, it's not a failure, it's a STALL.

Frodo and Sam got lost and had to trust/rely on Gollum. They didn't just walk in circles forever.

That doesn't mean there's no risk or potential FOR failure. There's usually MORE risk after failed checks, by design.

Frodo nearly died in the marshes, nearly starved on the road, was nearly eaten by Shelob, finger bitten off, went mad. But didn't REMAIN STUCK IN SOME ROCKS.