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Thrudd
2022-01-16, 02:32 AM
Looking to compile the most concise list of skills necessary for a swords & sorcery fantasy adventure game. I intend this game to consist mainly of D&D-like treasure/monster hunting adventures in mostly early medieval tech-level settings with relatively low magic. The bulk of most game sessions should be spent on exploring, encounters (which sometimes may including the option of negotiating), and likely a chase or two (with their own mechanics). The process of learning about adventure hooks, planning and equipping for adventures, and downtime/recovery phases should take up less game time than the other things, so there should be fewer skills useful only in this part of the game. Alternatively, if we think of many skills that only get used in downtime, or have very limited use outside of downtime, but are still character must-haves, these should probably have their own pool of build points so players don't need to sacrifice adventure utility for downtime perks.


All characters, no matter how you build them, should be able to participate in every phase of the game without serious disadvantage (not be equally skilled in all phases, but not be totally useless). To this end, I'm trying to avoid niche skills with extremely circumstance reliant utility. If you could imagine many adventures in which a player would find no use for a skill unless the GM specifically arranged for it to be useful, then the skill is too niche or too narrowly defined. So a skill either needs to be something obviously useful in combat, exploring/navigating, preparing/researching for adventures, or have some player-directed use that can be applied to many situations.

Presently, I have three general categories of skills. Some skills describe activities that can be attempted normally without any training, some others can be attempted without training but with some extra disadvantage, and some that represent specialized knowledge or training cannot be attempted at all by untrained characters. Should this framework be abandoned due to the increase in complexity for the game, and just have one rule for untrained skill use? I tend to err on the side of verisimilitude, however it is not always clear what is actually "realistic" and what isn't.

The intention is that characters' abilities will mostly be described by these skills and some skill specialization feats. Ability scores (three different abilities, physique, mind and senses) will primarily determine which skills a character is able to train in at the start of the game and add smaller bonuses to the rolls than do the skill training levels.

What I've decided so far, mostly drawn from D&D:

Perception- Since perception will be constantly used by everyone all the time, I don't really want any skill points dedicated to it. It will be an ability roll. However, this might pose a problem for dealing with particularly stealthy opponents.

Investigation- Like perception, it's something characters will be doing all the time. I'm not sure "looking for things" is something we need to dedicate skill points to. I think it's OK to leave this as an ability roll.

Is it really necessary to differentiate acrobatics from athletics? The function of both is basically mobility- being able to overcome obstacles during exploration, and overcoming mobility barriers during combat. Is there a functional reason this shouldn't be one skill? I see acrobatics as just an aesthetic flavor of athleticism that doesn't change the function.

Should this be divided into categories like persuasion/intimidation/deception? In D&D, these all rely on the same ability, and players can usually interchange them to achieve the same ends by describing their character's behavior differently. Rather than have three different skills, maybe a character describes their general approach (honest argument/persuasion, lying/deception, intimidation, generally being friendly to get someone to like you more) and just uses the same social skill for any of them. This way a character doesn't need to dedicate too many skill points to being a "master of socializing". Each of the approaches could be a feat/specialization falling under the skill proper, allowing characters to choose to have advantage at one or more specific approaches, rather than needing a completely separate skill.

Are moving quietly and hiding different enough activities that they ought to be separate skills? I can imagine "stealth training" as far as the physical activity goes would involve both. Should there also be a "looking inconspicuous/blending in" skill? This seems like a different enough activity that it isn't feasible for the same training to apply to this as well as moving silently/hiding. Heists and infiltration missions aren't off the table for this game - so perhaps the different aspects of stealth would be specialized advantages falling under the general skill, as well. Moving quietly will be an activity almost always used by everyone, hiding will be quite common, but "blending in" is much more conditional, so I am undecided about dividing up this skill. At very least, it will be an activity that can be attempted without training.

Maybe just called "hunting"? Both trackers and scouts need to have good perception, right? Does their training improve their perception generally? I'd say so, which is why this skill might be used to improve perception checks as well as for being able to identify and follow tracks/signs. Should this also include orienteering, so that it is the all/purpose survival skill? I don't intend to include extensive survival mechanics, that's not really the focus of the game- we're not going to be starving/freezing in the wilderness. But I do like the idea of requiring rolls to avoid going off-course on wilderness journeys.

I am considering requiring characters have a minimum level in at least one combat skill (either fighting or archery). While throwing weapons is very different from fighting in melee combat and requires training to be proficient, I am leaning towards having the same Fighting skill be used for both melee and thrown weapons, since thrown weapons would have relatively limited utility compared to either melee combat or archery/dedicated ranged weapons with more ammunition. So, there would be no dedicated throwing knives, axes or javelins - but for simplicity's sake say that any dagger/knife, one-handed axe or spear can be thrown, even though it might not be strictly realistic.

I considered having separate skills for different categories of weapons, but am not convinced. Each weapon type will have specializations/feats specific to it, so that may be enough for character differentiation and build strategy. I do want to make weapon choice relevant, so that sometimes the weapon you're best at using isn't the best tool for the job. Maybe weapons have more pronounced circumstance-based advantages and disadvantages that will make having a variety of weapon types on hand helpful or even necessary, I'll be thinking about how to do that without bogging the game down in minutiae.

Archery - should bows be usable by untrained characters? It is likely a more ubiquitous practice in the fantasy/ancient world than it is in the modern world, so there's an argument that most people have seen bows being used up close and would have an idea how to do it, even if they aren't practiced. Definitely, training makes a big difference, so maybe untrained attempts should be disadvantaged.


I intend non-magical healing to aid in recovery from fatigue("hit points"), as well as stabilizing wounds and lessening the severity of injuries. Also speeds up downtime healing. What else should a healing skill do? Should there even be a healing skill, or simply have tinctures and ointments that can be purchased to restore extra fatigue, and let first aid for stabilizing wounds be an ability roll? I know first aid and wound treatment require training, but perhaps it is something all adventurers learn a bit of, just like clothing repair, camping, and fighting.

Although I don't intend the game to make regular use of Indiana Jones style booby traps, there could certainly be some of that, so characters skilled in figuring out how mechanisms work and disabling alarms/traps might have a role. Picking locks and swiping things without being noticed could come up sometimes, too. Will these things occur often enough that I should have a thievery skill for them rather than just using generic ability rolls? I haven't decided. These are certainly activities that people don't just know how to do, would require training, which is why I'd lean towards having a skill. Too niche? If I made it a skill, the game would need to remind/encourage GMs to include plenty of uses for this skill in their adventures. Or come up with a player-directed use for the skill. Maybe it also lets them construct traps and alarms. Even allowing creation of traps, it is fairly circumstance reliant, so might not be a super popular character choice. But a player that chooses it will be looking for every opportunity to use it - I don't know if that will be great, or annoying for me or most GMs.

If there is any knowledge/lore skill, it should only apply to topics that will be useful for an adventurer. There needs to be a definite advantage to having this skill, which means, like Thievery, GM's might need to be reminded to include potential uses for it in their adventures. I was thinking about integrating this skill into the magic item/artifact aspect of the game, requiring a roll to figure out what functions an item might have and/or how to operate it. Of course, this would mean magic items that need to be decoded in some way would need to be a significant part of the setting and most adventures. It might also be the "monster identification" skill, letting players get information about a creature's abilities - however, this is only going to matter the first time the characters encounter a given monster. Is it necessary to have a skill that helps the GM decide what the players should know about a given creature, place or thing? Will it even matter most of the time? Or is it better to allow all new creature and item interactions to be trial and error? There should be some advantage to being a book-smart character, the question is how to implement it. Maybe have a general "knowledge/book learning" skill, and have specialty feats under it for categories like "nature", "culture/politics", "arcana", etc.

I intend spell casting to require a skill roll that will determine the efficacy of the spell. There is only one type of magic/spell casting, it will be dependent on the mind ability. The magic system is not completely decided on yet. At the moment, I plan for a relatively small number of spells that can each have a range of effects depending on degree of success. Spell points will limit casting, recovered by sleeping and then meditating. Spells not known at character creation will need to be purchased or found. More powerful spells will require greater spell skill to learn/use. In any case, the ability to use magic should definitely be a skill.

Not sure if there's a role for this. I am not opposed to the idea of bard adventurers, but what should their music do other than entertain people in downtime? I am not including a separate music-based magic on top of the psychic magic, no musical "charm" effect. Do they inspire allies with poetry and passages from epic stories, or intimidate intelligent enemies with the same, during combat? I'm not sure that's really plausible without some magic at work. Is this also an "acting" skill, that could cover the activity of "blending in" to a group? Being good at playing a musical instrument or singing is a much different skill than improv acting, however, so probably not. Maybe it can have effects during downtime, like generating extra income from public performances, or increasing a "fame/notoriety" metric that will affect how many allies the party might be able to recruit, or how people treat them in town (none of these things are established mechanics yet).

Please recommend any other possible mechanical uses for these skills, or any skills that I didn't mention.

Jervis
2022-01-16, 03:50 AM
I advise against making magic a skill. In a system with magic players just dump all their points into magic because magic. It's like how 5E warlocks get 1 cantrip at 1, and 1 invocation at 2. Yeah it says you get 2, but you're gonna pick Eldritch Blast and Agonizing Blast. Yeah you can just not take it just like you can play a 13 int wizard that maxes strength and hit people with a stick as a improvised weapon attack instead of casting spells, buts that a stupid idea. A 3.5 Sha'ir caps diplomacy, and a truenamer will always optimize truenaming. If a skill is so blatantly important to your playstyle that it's just a given that you max it and it becomes a tax then you shouldn't make it a skill that you can select alongside underwater basket weaving. It should be dependent on something else with other ways to boost rolls, that or make multiple kinds of magic so you can specialize, diversify, or just forgo it. Combat skills are fine, there's some variety.