Every week I listen to 3 or 4 new podcasts. I'm still hunting for those shows that put game first and comedy second. They are extremely tough to find - and the ones I do find are often plagued with other problems (bad sound, bad or no editing, etc) and so the hunt continues. But I enjoy the search... and in doing it, I find I am finally 'getting' 5e D&D (nope - still haven't played it, though I would like to).
A couple of things have stuck out to me about 5e that I continually fail to understand, though: Insight & Perception Checks
Perception checks are often used in post combat loot collection in a way I don't 'get'.
"I search the brigands' bodies"
"OK. Make a perception check."
"Um. Sure. Um... I got a 13."
"OK. With a 13, you find 30 gp in his belt pouch)
This kind of exchange makes no sense to me unless the brigand has a hidden cavity in his boot heel. Otherwise, why roll to go through someone's pockets. I hear this kind of thing all the time and it drives me nuts that I can't figure out what's going on.
Insight (or Sense Motive) is equally, though differently problematic. Consider this:
"I question all the half orc guards to see if they know who stole the jewel."
"They all deny any knowledge of it."
"Can I do an insight check?"
"OK. Roll Insight."
"Bam! Natty 20, my dude!"
"You are pretty sure they are telling the truth."
In the above exchange, the PC now has the same info normally only attainable through high level spells. That's a lot of power for anyone to have and to use at will. A nat 20 isn't usually necessary for success, either - typically the PC would have about a 20% chance of success with this action.
A better solution is for the DM to roll the insight check and not share the number. But an even better solution is to eliminate this skill check altogether, unless it's a trained and special ability.
Am I missing something? Somebody please explain these aspects of 5e to me ... I just don't get it.
