Opposed Skill Checks


Rules Questions


From the rules: Some skill checks are opposed by the target's skill check. When making an opposed skill check, the attempt is successful if your check result exceeds the result of the target.

I find this strange. I always played opposed skill checks as requiring "equal" or better than the target. This was following the logic that all the D20 system works the same way across the board and that to succeed at a skill check you need to equal a DC. So for example: someone using sneak and rolling 23. This would become the DC of the perception check.

Now whit the way its written, the DC would be 24.....

Comments anyone???


Locksathy wrote:

From the rules: Some skill checks are opposed by the target's skill check. When making an opposed skill check, the attempt is successful if your check result exceeds the result of the target.

I find this strange. I always played opposed skill checks as requiring "equal" or better than the target. This was following the logic that all the D20 system works the same way across the board and that to succeed at a skill check you need to equal a DC. So for example: someone using sneak and rolling 23. This would become the DC of the perception check.

Now whit the way its written, the DC would be 24.....

Comments anyone???

you played right. it was always meet or beat.

the same happened with critical confirmation rolls in the weapon's description overview equipment chapter). to confirm, you should exceed the target's ac, although this is corrected later in the combat chapter under critical hit (equal or greater).

i would say, exceed is wrong. equal to or greater than is correct. for attack rolls, skill checks (opposed or not), saving throws, critical confirmation rolls, ability checks...etc.

The Exchange

Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber
Locksathy wrote:
From the rules: Some skill checks are opposed by the target's skill check. When making an opposed skill check, the attempt is successful if your check result exceeds the result of the target.

Huh. The old rule (SRD) was that in a tie, the character with the higher skill bonus won. That rule has been dropped in Pathfinder, and the new wording (above) suggests that the aggressor (the one who initiated the opposed check) always loses a tie.

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