Hi there! This is a good question — we are planning to put more detailed information in the FAQ regarding the nuts and bolts of how path actions affect RNG, but it's important to know for the TDM, too. With the caveat that we will have more detailed information up on the FAQ within the next week or so, here is the basic rundown.
Missions in Balance, and even downtime to some extent, are shaped by the actions each character takes. Each character's level of success is determined by beating the DC, which is a number from 1 to 20 based on the difficulty of the action taken. For example, playing hopscotch might have a DC of 2 whereas climbing Mount Everest would have DC 19. In order to determine level of success, the mods do the DWRP equivalent of rolling a 20-sided die, which is using RNG.
Where path actions come in is that they can provide a boost to your success rate. A great example of this is the path action Insight from the Paladin class. ICly, it provides a greater likelihood that a character will be able to tell when another is lying. OOCly, when approaching mods to take an action, you would simply tell us that you plan to use that skill and we'll automatically apply a modifier to your roll.
Example: Paladin Joe is trying to learn where his friend Barbarian Keith is being imprisoned. Joe goes to talk to a guard in an attempt to figure out Keith's location and uses Insight while asking the guard questions. Joe receives a +2 modifier to his roll, which is DC 9. The mods roll an 8 for Joe, which would not beat the DC, but with a +2 he has a 10 and is able to figure out that the guard is lying.
In other words, path actions can mean the difference between success and failure in a roll. They're very simplified D&D mechanics, in essence! Part of the reason we don't yet have our own paths page up yet is because we want to standardize the modifiers for each path action so that they are more consistent and less confusing for players, especially new players. That said, we're actively working to get that page up as soon as possible, too.
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Missions in Balance, and even downtime to some extent, are shaped by the actions each character takes. Each character's level of success is determined by beating the DC, which is a number from 1 to 20 based on the difficulty of the action taken. For example, playing hopscotch might have a DC of 2 whereas climbing Mount Everest would have DC 19. In order to determine level of success, the mods do the DWRP equivalent of rolling a 20-sided die, which is using RNG.
Where path actions come in is that they can provide a boost to your success rate. A great example of this is the path action Insight from the Paladin class. ICly, it provides a greater likelihood that a character will be able to tell when another is lying. OOCly, when approaching mods to take an action, you would simply tell us that you plan to use that skill and we'll automatically apply a modifier to your roll.
Example: Paladin Joe is trying to learn where his friend Barbarian Keith is being imprisoned. Joe goes to talk to a guard in an attempt to figure out Keith's location and uses Insight while asking the guard questions. Joe receives a +2 modifier to his roll, which is DC 9. The mods roll an 8 for Joe, which would not beat the DC, but with a +2 he has a 10 and is able to figure out that the guard is lying.
In other words, path actions can mean the difference between success and failure in a roll. They're very simplified D&D mechanics, in essence! Part of the reason we don't yet have our own paths page up yet is because we want to standardize the modifiers for each path action so that they are more consistent and less confusing for players, especially new players. That said, we're actively working to get that page up as soon as possible, too.