But in life, how often do we fail at the mundane, or ordinary tasks - I mean, if I am not in a hurry, I could climb a rope with very little risk of falling... well, hopefully!
An Elf with no external stresses should be able to walk across the thinnest of ropes over a raging river.
It is only when danger, injury, or urgency, are added that we may become less competent. That is the duty of the GM to add the situational and environmental modifiers that may cause us to easily fail at the mundane.
Examples include:
- Is the character wounded or scared? I have made PC's roll Fear tests for ALL things that may have never faced before, even if the enemy or creature may not be exuding terror, or trying to intimidate. I mean, come on, if you have never faced down a band of 30 orcs, it could be stressful and at least may cause a little fear.
- Is there a challenge with lighting, weather-conditions, or other environmental challenge?
- Is the PC under stress to hurry, are a horde of orcs racing up on the company, or an even stronger fell-creature?
Adjusting TN's up, or adding penalty mods for these kind of things reflects the reality of the situation really well in CODA.
YMMV, of course!