D&D House Rule: Skill Check Uncertainty

This is part of the D&D House Rules series.

It’s difficult for players to not meta-game dice rolls (ie: Low rolls are assumed failure and high rolls success). To help avoid this belief, during many Skill Checks I secretely roll a d20 as well. If my roll is a Natural 20, then the player’s result is reversed: Success = Failure, Failure = Success.

I don’t always do this and it’s very subjective when I do- mainly when characters are attempting things with a natural element of uncertainly. Also, I frequently pre-roll a list of d20 results ahead of time and reference it instead of rolling real-time (expedited and even more secretive). If the player rolled a Natural 20 or Natural 1, I don’t do this.

Example

Terg wants to check for signs of an ambush ahead. He rolls a Perception check and nails it with a 19 + 7 (26). This is an outstanding number, so generally the player expects correct information. My roll, though, was a Natural 20.

Confident in his awareness, Terg is certain there is no ambush ahead. The party marches forward without much caution and pays for it with a suprise attack of wargs leaping from the woods!

Terg overlooked a subtle paw track on the road, a fresh and clear sign of wargs ahead. Another player could have noticed the tracks, but Terg did not.

The point of this rule isn’t to undo a characters success, it’s to remind the players that they can’t assume their characters are right or wrong based on the dice rolls alone. Had Terg rolled a 3 and me a Natural 20, he may have concluded the same thing- but noticed the track at the last second before they marched on.