Difficulty Class
From ALFA
- A DM has a group of adventurers cross a rickety bridge. He has each roll a Balance check with
#bal, and views this as an easy task. Everyone passes the DC 5 challenge, except for the party's Cleric, who crashes through a plank in his heavy armor. Now in the rapid-moving water below, the DM determines the challenge to be tough, and sets a DC 15 Swim check. The cleric fails several tries before managing to wash up ashore, far from the rest of the party, who now must rescue or abandon him.
Some checks are made against a Difficulty Class (DC). The DC is a number (set using the skill rules as a guideline) that you must score as a result on your skill check in order to succeed.
| Difficulty (DC) | Example (Skill Used) |
|---|---|
| Very easy (0) | Notice something large in plain sight (Spot) |
| Easy (5) | Climb a knotted rope (Climb) |
| Average (10) | Hear an approaching guard (Listen) |
| Tough (15) | Rig a wagon wheel to fall off (Disable Device) |
| Challenging (20) | Swim in stormy water (Swim) |
| Formidable (25) | Open an average lock (Open Lock) |
| Heroic (30) | Leap across a 30-foot chasm (Jump) |
| Nearly impossible (40) | Track a squad of orcs across hard ground after 24 hours of rainfall (Survival) |
Auto-success and Auto-failure
A natural roll of a 1 or 20 has a special result on attack rolls and saving throws. A 1 is an automatic failure, and a 20 is an automatic success.
It is important to note that skill checks do not auto-fail or auto-succeed on a roll of 1 or 20. Additionally, the roll itself is irrelevant, only the result matters.
