Are 5e monsters boring bags of HPs? PROVE IT!

[War_lord]

5e's problem is that it doesn't have skill rules.
"DM gut checks difficulty" and a skill list is just a poor showing.

5e has ability check DC rules, a very easy task is DC 5, a moderate task is DC 15, a nearly impossible task is DC 30. Could a DM screw you over by making a check arbitrary difficult just because? Yes, of course they could, but a jerk DM can screw you over in any edition of D&D. The system doesn't have to account for malice on the part of either the DM or the player. If you don't trust your DM why are you playing with that person?

I'm sorry I had to be the one to burst your bubble. Not everyone thinks this system in fine.

There's no bubble. Plenty of people don't like 5th edition for a number of reasons that might be valid to them, that's fine and dandy, they're entitled to play what they like. Then there's people like you who wander over here to trash the game based on deliberate distortions of the rules, that I do have a problem with.

The skill system might as well be "roll nothing. Ask the DM if you can do it" and that would be better than this system. This system is just weird, non-functional, and clunky. Easily worse system of any rpg I've glanced at for skills.

The point of rolling dice in D&D is to adjudicate situations where the outcome of an action is uncertain, you can't even roll the dice until the DM has ruled that your action has a chance of success, but is not certain to succeed. Clunky to me is having written rules for every possible action a character could make, because you can't trust the rules adjudicator to adjudicate. That's an interpersonal conflict at your table, not a problem with 5th edition.

If you can't trust your DM, find a new DM. No amount of rules is going to fix a bad DM.