Aethel

Another thought - I quite like the roleplaying consequences of both sides failing - thinking of IRL this is not unknown and would make for memorable moments. "one day we'll look back on this, cough nervously and change the subject" The roleplaying is the heart the dice art structure, as others have said good roleplaying and planning should reduce or remove dice.

I think this is a bit of a storm in a teacup, from the 7th ed. rules: So opposed rolls are quite voluntary and if not liked ignore on the whole? How I run the "sneaking" past a guard scenario. Is the guard a "mook" then a successful investigator roll always succeeds, but this may be very hard due to lighting, skill or position. Is the guard a "named character" then I roll for the NPC and look for the level of success. Each level of success will be a penalty dice for the investigator. Good roleplaying will always trump mechanics in my opinion, and even in combat this applies.