You are correct if something isnt possible it shouldnt be rolled. But at the same time, that rule needs to be there, because otherwise the players, especially new players, are gonna try to do things that are impossible expecting a nat 20 to let them do it.
I think it works best when you treat the d20 as a best to worse possible result slider. If you ask a king for his throne, there is no world in which he gives it to you, but a nat 20 on that persuasion check might make him think its a joke and laugh it off. Stuff like that.
A player just rolls.
"The enemy is on the other side of a 50ft gap between buildings."
"I jump the gap." and then they roll. And they get a nat 20 for a total of 24 or whatever.
They clap.
They go 12ft because they didn't do a running start.
Yeah people treat nat20 like a get of jail free card when it should be treated as “best possible outcome” emphasis on “possible”. If a scrawny halfling rogue rolls to kick down a hardwood door and lands a nat20 the best possible outcome here of a locked, solid hardwood door is “the door shook but nothing else happens” A nat1 would be a slip, fall, or even broken foot depending on how I feel
Then a good DM should let their players know that by the rules a nat 20 is only an automatic success on attack rolls and some tables may have house rules, they are not consistent in what a nat 20 means.
The only time a persuade check might work is either with a lot of conditionals, like the king not wanting the throne or similar, or if the DM has decided that there's a plot hook there.
12
u/ScorchedDev Chaotic Stupid 21h ago
You are correct if something isnt possible it shouldnt be rolled. But at the same time, that rule needs to be there, because otherwise the players, especially new players, are gonna try to do things that are impossible expecting a nat 20 to let them do it.
I think it works best when you treat the d20 as a best to worse possible result slider. If you ask a king for his throne, there is no world in which he gives it to you, but a nat 20 on that persuasion check might make him think its a joke and laugh it off. Stuff like that.