Consider Lampshading Skill Consolidation

[aarondirebear]

Have the characters meet a mountain climber with thick arms and legs.

Have him make it a point that his dad wanted him to join the circus but he never wanted to because he never learned how to somersault.

Make it a point that his climbing skill is legendary.

Then have him fall off a cliff and tumble safely to the ground, taking no damage.

Then have the characters stare dumbfounded. Before Belkar beheads him for not making sense.

Someone has to point out the ridiculousness of lumping climb with jump and tumble and it might as well be order of the stick.

[Echowinds]

...I don't get it.

[Wender]

Someone's getting their hate on over 4e's consolidated skills, in this case "Athletics" instead of Jump/Climb/Swim/etc.

Personally, I don't see the problem. In point-based systems with highly discrete skills, you wind up either being barely competent at a lot of skills with overlapping criteria or extremely competent in a few. If you hand out enough points to make someone moderately good at most athletic feats then you wind up with someone else who's disproportionately capable at one or two.

4e's choice isn't bad. In some ways it harks back to 1st Edition, when there were no skills and the DM would just have you roll and add Dex when you tried something... well, athletic. Keeps things moving.

I fully expect the Giant to find absurd edge cases in the new rules and wring every last laugh out of them, though.

[tenguro]

Why even bother making fun of 4e on these boards? The Giant already said he isn't upgrading OoTS to 4e.

[TigerHunter]

Why even bother making fun of 4e on these boards? The Giant already said he isn't upgrading OoTS to 4e.
He will, however, periodically make 4e jokes (http://www.giantitp.com/index.html#v99jlZZ8IxKfDCwHZwU)

[Chronos]

Is it really any worse than lumping all of a person's innate capabilities into six ability scores? I mean, I'm pretty good at fine things like threading needles, but pathetically lousy at shooting hoops. Is my existence a joke on D&D (in any version) lumping both of those into Dex?

[Firestar27]

Is it really any worse than lumping all of a person's innate capabilities into six ability scores? I mean, I'm pretty good at fine things like threading needles, but pathetically lousy at shooting hoops. Is my existence a joke on D&D (in any version) lumping both of those into Dex?

Hey, having your existence as a joke isn't that bad...:smalltongue:

[Lupy]

Well, a fit person might well be able to climb jump and swim well, they did that in SAGA Star Wars and it works out well. :smallsmile: