But both in interactions and combat I feel like I'm playing the game on easy mode. Always hitting and always persuading. Why build at all if the dice are loaded? That's what cheats are for.
If this is indeed "sneaky loaded dice", they're probably just testing the waters to see the reactions.
I'm personally not a fan of loaded dice, it feels like cheating, like you say. I'd rather have lower DC if anything, as far as I understand it's usually quite high for D&D standards. Though for me the best system would be just flat checks. Sometimes "attempt and fail/succeed", sometimes "additional dialogue option for Int>X" (not necessarily a new one, something that was previously check-guarded). Whatever makes sense in the context.
