Skill Math: A look behind the new Skill DC tables

Skills. It’s not an issue I cover much on this blog, mostly because I like to focus on combat-related rules topics, and because I tend to consider the skill system a poorly implemented mess: not broken beyond hope, but in need of a good overhaul. That said, It’s fair to point out that the skill framework did receive a significant improvement last year with the release of the new skill DC tables with revised math that actually matches skill bonus progression. Unfortunately, this update somehow didn’t make it to the errata compilations, and players who didn’t buy the Essentials books haven’t had the chance to use it.

Rather than reproducing the whole tables (which have entries for each level, and three degrees of difficulty), I have worked out some relatively simple formulas that give a good approximation of the DCs per level. Though not trivial, they are relatively easy to memorize so as not to need to consult any reference book while you play - I know I’m tired of looking for my copies of Heroes of the Fallen Lands or Forgotten Kingdoms in the middle of a game.

They are the following:

Easy DC:                7 + 0.55*Level
Moderate DC:   11 + 0.7*Level
Hard DC:              18 + 0.8*Level

Unlike most calculations in 4E, you should round these values to the nearest integer - so, as an example, the level 1 DCs will be 8, 12, and 19, respectively. These DCs have been chosen so that an incompetent PC using an untrained skill based on a tertiary ability will succeed on Easy checks roughly 60% of the time, whereas an expert PC with training on a skill and a primary ability score on it should pass 60% of Hard DC checks. Moderate DC is adjusted for PCs with either skill training or primary abilities on a skill, and they should succeed 60% of the time. The drawback of this approach is that the difference between Easy, Moderate and Hard is not constant across levels, and gets to be quite high at level 30 - DCs of 25, 33, and 42, respectively - meaning that, eventually, a character capable of succeeding on a Hard DC will never fail an easy DC, and vice versa.

It’s still possible to break these DC values by stacking skill bonuses, which can get pretty ridiculous when combining feats, backgrounds, and magic items. However, as long as you don’t put much effort into breaking it, the system will work fine. This is not the solution I would have chosen for skill progression (I may talk about that at some point in the future), but it is the only one that makes skills playable without having to adjust dozens of game elements.

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A visual guide to jumping rules

The rules for jumping in D&D aren't overly complex, but I've always been slightly annoyed at their confusing layout. With an unnecessary mix of squares and feet as distance units, sections that depend on a character's height, and examples that aren't clear enough, jumps could eventually be figured out, but always seemed to take me more time than they should.

I understand that space is at a premium in a rule book like Player's Handbook, but I think a few tables with the DCs for the most common jump scenarios, coupled with graphic examples where you could clearly view distances jumped, moved, and cleared vertically, would go a long way towards solving this problem. So that's what I have done. In this post, you'll find (hopefully intuitive) examples for all kind of long jumps and high jumps with all distances converted to squares.

1- Long Jump

Most of the time, when a character makes a jump, it will be a long one - they are useful for clearing pits and avoiding certain types of difficult terrain, among other useful applications. The DCs are usually very manageable (even without running starts!) unless you're crossing great distances, though it gets significantly trickier when you add vertical obstacles to the mix. Note that, when you clear N squares with a jump, you're actually moving N+1, since you also need to enter the square you land on.

Fig. 1 : Long jump without running start.





















Fig. 2: Easy (DC 25 or less) long jump after a running start:




















Fig. 3: Hard (DC 30 or more) long jump with running start.




















2- High Jump

High jumps are relatively rare, but come up whenever you want to grab a ledge or a rope, among other things. They are slightly less efficient for clearing vertical distances than long jumps, in terms of required DC, though they also require far fewer squares of movement.

PHB provides rules for jumping a distance in feet, which have been translated here to full squares. In case you need more granularity, I'd recommend using fractions of square - since DC is directly proportional to the distance cleared, if you needed to jump across 1/2 square you'd need a check of 50/2=25 without a running start, or 25/2=13, with one. Also, remember that unlike long jumps, vertical distance cleared this way adds to your total distance moved.

Fig. 4: High Jump

When trying to reach something above you by jumping, you can take into account your character's height. According to PHB, your vertical reach this way is equal to your height plus 1/3 - converting this to squares, and playing around with the numbers, we find that a character's reach will increase by 1 full (5 feet) square for each 3.75 feet of height.

In practice, most PCs will have a reach between 1 and 2 squares. Halflings sometimes fall below the 3.75 mark, and gnomes do so most of the time. On the other end of the scale, Goliath are the only playable race that routinely goes beyond 7.5 feet. For simplicity's sake, I'd recommend finding your PC's reach in squares, rounded down (i.e, 1 square 99% of the time) and sticking to that, though if you want a more rigorous approach, it may be a good idea to write down vertical reach translated to squares (height/3.75) in your character sheet. For example, a 6 feet-tall human would have a reach of 1.6 squares.

Fig. 5: Vertical jumping reach.


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