D&D 5E Question about skills

Midnight Dawns · Oct 9, 2012

Ok I feel like I am missing something here. What are the skills and how do you train in them? I see plenty of references to skills but nothing concrete about them. Where is the infro on them?

1of3 · Oct 9, 2012

You get skills from your Background and maybe your class. This offers a +3 bonus, which can be increased at certain levels according to the level up table.

Midnight Dawns · Oct 9, 2012

So then are skills set in stone after the beginning or do you gain the ability to train in more skills as you level up?

tlantl · Oct 9, 2012

the packet mentions training new skills but at the moment you only get those that come from backgrounds race and class.

I'm not too sure about any racial skills just now but there are class associated skills for the mage, cleric, and rogue.

Midnight Dawns · Oct 9, 2012

Thanks. This clears it up for me. Skills are one of the most important features to me so I have been really worried about how they will be done.

AeroDm · Oct 9, 2012

I think one more key difference between earlier editions and 5e is that your skills improve much slower. The main way skills improve is by your ability scores increasing (via stat raises) instead of adding additional skill points or 1/2 level. As a result, if you're trained in a skill at lvl 1, you will be about as good at that skill as you will be at level 10.

Personally, I like this change, but it is a substantial variance from earlier editions.

edhel · Oct 10, 2012

Midnight Dawns said:
Thanks. This clears it up for me. Skills are one of the most important features to me so I have been really worried about how they will be done.

Unlike AeroDM says, you can raise your skill(s) every second level or so up to +7. Mechanically they're just as uninteresting as before - plain task resolution - mostly working as a niche protection mechanic instead of serving the drama.

IMHO this is one of the things D&D could just revise completely, or maybe offer as a simple addition to ability checks. There are so many new/indie rpgs with great innovations that make skills - and conflict in general - much more interesting.

These games should be shamelessly plundered for ideas and mechanics.

GX.Sigma · Oct 10, 2012

edhel said:
IMHO this is one of the things D&D could just revise completely, or maybe offer as a simple addition to ability checks.

How is that not what skills are in D&DN?

edhel · Oct 10, 2012

GX.Sigma said:
How is that not what skills are in D&DN?

I was unclear. What I meant was you should offer the current system as a basic alternative to the plain ability checks, and have a "real" skill system that's more interesting.

cmbarona · Oct 11, 2012

Midnight Dawns said:
Ok I feel like I am missing something here. What are the skills and how do you train in them? I see plenty of references to skills but nothing concrete about them. Where is the infro on them?

To answer your last question, look at the latest "Backgrounds" document. That contains the most information on skills.

I, too, think these documents could have either been labelled or organized a bit more clearly.