Originally Posted by
Theodoxus
While true, Pex's point is that if a DM throws a goblin at you wearing plate and shield, it doesn't matter who the DM is (as the number of DMs approach infinity), the AC is going to be 20.
If a DM throws a wall at you that is dry and has some protruding bricks and/or stones, it's completely arbitrary at the DM level if that's a DC 5, 10, 15, 20, 11, 13, 19 or impossible!
We get 8 types of armor. Pretty sure, at the most basic level, players will encounter 8 different types of wall (regardless if they're an obstacle or just something you're walking past) before they encounter someone in a suit of ringmail. So, to argue that it's based on commonly faced items, that's hogwash.
And as mentioned upthread (or was it Skrum's skill thread) - there's no reason skills couldn't work the same way. I personally don't think they should outside of a skill challenge (and I think that's a pretty decent way to create a skill challenge). But I wouldn't be sad if there was an optional skill method that worked like combat.