Taking 20, Take 10

[Supplement Four]

How often do you guys use the Take 20 and Take 10 rules in your game?

I haven't quite gotten comfortable with those two rules yet. I like them. They make sense. On the one hand, they're time savers that keep the game moving and block many non-important dice throws. On the other hand, they seem to be automatic success machines in many situations, and I'm not sure I'm comfortable with that (I mean, why have a check at all if the Take 20 rule will make it an auto success?).

A good example is Spot. Take 10 is a great way, I think, to consider a player who says his character going to keep his eye out for anything unusual. All the GM needs to do is roll Hide checks against a DC equal to the PC's Take 10 total.

Then again, this makes the character automatically see quite a bit of stuff.

And...there's always that question: If a character can Take 10, then why isn't he Taking 20?



So, how do you guys use these rules in your game, for what purposes, generally, and how often?

 

[Supplement Four]

Can you Take 10 on a Saving Throw? Or is that rule reserved for just skill and ability checks?

 

[Cimmerian Bard]

Don't forget that Taking 20 also requires twenty times longer in regards to action time. That is, an action that typically requires, say, a full round costs two minutes (twenty rounds) for someone Taking 20; a normal one minute action requires twenty minutes, and so on.

Also, a character cannot Take 20 on a skill, or ability check, in which there is an actual effect (damage, etc.) due to failure. Examples are Climb (if you fail by more than 5 you fall), Swim (fail by more than five and begin drowning), etc.

Hope that helps a bit! =)

 

[DooMJake]

Remember taking 10 can only be done when "non threatened".
How the GM interprets that is another question.

 

[Ichabod]

Can you Take 10 on a Saving Throw? Or is that rule reserved for just skill and ability checks?

No. Taking 10 is covered in the skills section and specifically says "skill check" on page 88 of 2e.

 

[strategos14]

isn't a characters defense value technically him taking ten? why can't he then take ten for attacking? i'm going to run combat in my game with no rolling at all from now on. just kidding. anyway, i hate swimming and climbing. MY players all seem to be get totally maimed when attempting to swim in anything bigger than a bathtub, or climb anything more perilous than a flight of stairs. maybe the GM is a jerk. i don't know. all i know is, i myself can swim better than every character i play yet they are supposed to be the hero's.