Setting DC's is NOT COMPLICATED in Pathfinder 2nd Edition!

howdy my name is nonat and tell me gms has this ever happened to you the door to the left is locked but you're pretty sure you don't need to go that way anyway i want to pick the lock uh oh okay go for it i get an 18 does that work [Music] so yeah this has happened to pretty much every dm to ever run a tabletop rpg game in the history of time and if you say it has never happened to you you're lying now in a game like d and d5e this problem is pretty easy to fix most dc's will land in the range of 10 to 20 maybe over 20 if it's a little bit more difficult in a system like pathfinder 2e this problem is a lot harder due to the game's proficiency system your dc's could land anywhere from 15 to 35 or maybe even higher so how do you know what to set for a random dc when your player attempts something my first piece of advice is not to let the internet get you flustered this is actually what happened to me all over the internet people complain about setting dc's due to the overcomplicated proficiency system i can promise that once you finish watching this video you'll agree that's not really the case and is a gross over exaggeration all you have to do to make a dc in pathfinder 2e is some simple second grade math so how do you know what to set the locked door's thievery dc to pick the lock well if you want the incredibly easy answer you can use the simple dc table from the core rulebook this is really easy and super simple to use but will almost always wind up with the dc either being incredibly difficult or incredibly easy for your players a dc 20 expert skill check for level 5 and up characters will usually be pretty easy but if they're only level 2 rolling at 20 or higher is incredibly difficult i'd say only use these dc's if it's for a role that doesn't really matter and you just want to get out of the way now a really helpful table is the dc by level table on page 504 of the core rulebook if you ever are just fishing for a random dc for a task you can check out this table and just give it a level and get a dc for it but obviously you don't want to go digging through a book to find a table to give a random dc to something you want to keep the game moving so here's what i do determine the level of the task add 15 and then add an extra plus two per five levels a level three locked door dc 18 a level 15 locked door dc36 this formula will always give you a decently challenging dc if we look at our level 15 locked door example with a dc of 36 let's say we are a level 15 rogue with a plus five to dexterity and legendary in thievery that would make our total bonus to our thievery check plus 28 giving this about a 60 success chance to pick this lock which in my opinion is perfect if someone is so totally focused on lock picking like they've gotten legendary in it then about 60 success to accomplish something of equal level is great to me i think that's perfect you have the advantage now if you think that dc is too hard or too easy don't be afraid to alter it a little bit consider adding or subtracting 2. just be careful not to change it too much plus or minus 2 goes a really long way in pathfinder 2e so to reiterate the formula is level of the task plus 15 plus two per five levels of the task and remember not every task has to be horribly challenging try not to base every dc solely on your player's levels if your level 12 rogue tries to pick a level 1 tavern door the dc should still only be 16. this really allows players to feel powerful and feel like they've truly progressed if they pick a tavern door lock at level 2 and then fail to pick a similar tavern door lock at level 12 they won't feel like they've improved at all so that's sort of my final tip is base your dc's on the target not the player attempting them oh and would you look at that i passed my diplomacy check against your will dc that means you have to like the video oh and if i'm not mistaken oh that's a critical success that means you have to subscribe too man i'm glad i took the sellout archetype it's really paying off thanks for watching y'all i hope i managed to make setting dc's at least a little simpler for you if you just can't handle the math of the formula live on the fly i'd consider writing down a decent margin of levels from the dc per level table these will get you close enough to the formula and you can still alter them up or down as you see fit i've personally always had success with the formula but i'm also able to do simple math really fast in my head and i know not everybody can do that if your gm's been struggling with coming up with dc's on the fly consider sending them this video i really want to help simplify the system and help people understand how it works pathfinder 2e well definitely not simple is not nearly as complex as people think it is i want to give a huge shout out to all of my patrons thank you guys so much for your support every time i say this i just can't say it enough you help me do what i do thank you also i'm excited to say that we're about to start our second patreon campaign for those of you who aren't aware the tier 4 patrons over on patreon get to play in a twice a month campaign with me it's a ton of fun we already had the first session of the first one and we had so many people sign on last time that the second one is gonna be starting in the next week or two i think there's only two or three more slots open in the tier four pledge so if you want to get it on these campaigns now's the time also i hope you enjoyed the new camera uh maybe i'll do this more maybe i won't i'm messing around with using my phone as a camera versus my webcam because i think this is way higher quality so we'll see we'll have to let me know how i did you'll have to let me know outro suck man let me know in the comments what you think of this camera setup versus the other one thank you again so much for watching i hope you have a wonderful rest of your day and until next time no nat ones

Channel: Nonat1s

Views: 27,692

Keywords: Pathfinder, Pathfinder 2e, Pathfinder Second Edition, Advanced Player's Guide, Pathfinder 2e APG, Nonat1s, Pathfinder 2e Nonat1s, Pathfinder 2e DM guide, Pathfinder 2e GM guide, Pathfinder 2e DC, Pathfinder 2e setting DC, Setting DC's is EASY in Pathfinder 2nd edition, Easy DC Pathfinder 2e, Pathfinder 2e Set DC, Random DC Pathfinder 2e, Pathfinder 2e Skill DC, Pathfinder 2e Skill Check, Pathfinder 2e character creation, Pathfinder 2e vs dnd 5e, Pathfinder 2e vs dnd 5e 2020

Id: qrAlCxaupK4

Length: 6min 33sec (393 seconds)

Published: Wed Oct 07 2020