Free tables Natural 20 — skill checks

Natural 20 Table — Acrobatics Skill Checks, d20

A free d20 table for a natural 20 on a Acrobatics check in 5e. Twenty outcomes, from solid to legendary.

A natural 20 on a skill check is not a critical success in fifth edition — criticals apply to attack rolls only, and a 20 on a check is simply a 20. Which is why a legendary roll so often feels like nothing happened. This table gives it somewhere to land.

Twenty results written for Acrobatics specifically. A legendary Acrobatics roll has nothing in common with a legendary roll at anything else, which is why there are eighteen of these and not one.

Roll d20 when a player rolls a natural 20 on a skill check and succeeding quietly would be a waste.

Severity tiers

Each result names its tier, so you can see at a glance how bad a roll was without decoding a colour.

Solid 1–10 — Cleanly done, with something small to show for it.
Impressive 11–17 — Better than anyone expected. Momentum, or an obstacle gone.
Legendary 18–20 — Scene-shaping. The kind of success people repeat afterwards.

The table

20 results. Roll d20.

d20	Result	Tier	What happens
1	Stuck the Landing	Solid	Clean and controlled. No extra effect — but you didn't so much as scuff a boot.
2	Kept Hold	Solid	Nothing you were carrying is dropped or disturbed.
3	Silent	Solid	You make no noise at all doing it.
4	Still Standing	Solid	You end the movement on your feet no matter what the terrain suggested.
5	Extra Step	Solid	You may move 5 feet further than the manoeuvre required.
6	Out of Reach	Solid	You end your movement without provoking any opportunity attack, even from creatures that would normally get one.
7	Balanced	Solid	You have advantage on the next Dexterity saving throw you make before your next turn.
8	Showed the Way	Solid	One ally who follows your exact route has advantage on the same check.
9	Saw It Coming	Solid	From your new position you spot one detail the DM hadn't yet volunteered.
10	Free Hand	Solid	You complete the movement with one hand still free, and may use an object interaction as part of it.
11	No Cost	Impressive	The manoeuvre costs you no movement this turn.
12	Through the Gap	Impressive	You fit through, under, or between something that should not have accommodated you.
13	Slipped the Grapple	Impressive	You end any grapple or restraint on you immediately, and can't be grappled again before the end of your next turn.
14	Ended Perfectly	Impressive	You finish anywhere you choose within 15 feet, including a space that would normally need a second check.
15	Made Them Look	Impressive	One hostile creature that watched you is so distracted that the next attack against it has advantage.
16	Counterweight	Impressive	You may drag or swing one willing ally within 5 feet along with you, to any space you could reach.
17	Route Established	Impressive	The path you took is usable by the whole party this scene without further checks.
18	Impossible Recovery	Legendary	You turn a fall, a collapse, or a failure into a success. Ignore all falling damage this scene, and you land exactly where you meant to.
19	Untouchable	Legendary	Until the end of the encounter, you never provoke opportunity attacks and difficult terrain costs you nothing.
20	The One They'll Talk About	Legendary	The movement is so absurd that everyone stops to watch. Every hostile creature that saw it has disadvantage on its next attack roll, and one ally may immediately move up to half their speed, inspired.

Questions

Is a natural 20 a critical success on a skill check?

Not by the rules. Criticals apply to attack rolls. A 20 on a check is a 20 — which is why a spectacular roll so often produces a shrug. This table is the house rule that fixes that.

Does a natural 20 automatically succeed?

No. On an ability check there is no automatic success — if the DC is 25 and your total is 22, you failed with a 20.