Hey everyone...

Just want some feedback to what this looks like in your groups...

The challenge level for a basic test? Say a general observation test.

example...A hero enters the room where something is heidden from view. I give them a basic chance to see it....

roll is observation...do I just assign a difficulty level? Say its a toughness test to be able to consume alcohol? Just assign a difficulty? only misfortune dice or the just the purple ones...or both

I'm thinking of making a house rule that says..."any check that is not an opposed check recieves a minimum of 1 challenge die"

thoughts??? I just want to be consistent for my players

The default challenge for a test is 0 misfortune or challenge dice. That's the base level. You would then add in those dice depending on the situation. For example if the room wasn't well lit or they were searching for something in a moving coach that would add missfortune because it's a situational modifier. If the ale was really strong that could add challenge dice or if the object was well hidden that would add challenge dice. Alternatively in some cases an opposed roll could be called for. In the search option if someone actively hid the object you could make it an opposed roll between the hider and the searcher. You could do the same with lock picks in rolling the skill of the lock maker vs the lock picker instead of just given the lock a static number of challenge dice. I agree with being consistent but there are still different ways to do things based on the situation at hand. I just use different techniques to keep the game varied and to represent different types of challenges even in similar tasks. Also in the case of opposed rolls I find they are more interesting ways to signify tension in a game then just a static challenge dice assignment.

fwiw, whenever I'm asked for a difficulty, unless I can think of a reason why not, I say Average (2d).

The short answer is yes, you just assign it. There is no "default" difficulty for anything except combat (1d) and spellcasting/invocation (0d). For all other checks, you have to determine the difficulty. Remember that Challenge (purple) dice are used for base difficulty and Misfortune (black) dice are for circumstantial modifiers. If it's worth asking for a die roll, purple dice will always be used. Whether or not you use black dice depends on whether or not you feel there are extraneous circumstances not related to the base difficulty that are in play in this particular instance.

So, if the characters enter a room where something is hidden from view and they search for it, the Observation test may be average (2d). If finding it would involve opening cabinets or drawers rather than just scanning the room, or they're looking for a small item in a room full of junk it might be 3d or even 4d. OTOH, if the object is in plain view, it may be only 1d representing that it still might be overlooked either because it is small or blends in to its surroundings. You could add 1 or 2 Misfortune dice if the room was dimly lit or if they were pressed for time and searching in a hurry (increasing the odds that they might overlook it). Note that the item in question should not be a clue or other item the PCs need to be able to move forward with the adventure.