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The Thrills of Skills
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<blockquote data-quote="Ahnehnois" data-source="post: 6132954" data-attributes="member: 17106"><p>Not knowing what kinds of games you like to play, I don't know why this would be.</p><p></p><p>Instead of a d20 + ability bonus + skill bonus, it's just one die for ability and one die for skill. For skills, the first three steps (d2, d4, and d6) are in a very general skill, like "Science" or "Guns" or "Influence", and the next three (d8, d10, and d12) are in a specialty (like biology, rifles, or diplomacy). So you might have Influence d6/Diplomacy d10/Bluff d12, meaning that you roll a d12 for bluffs, a d10 for diplomacy, and a d6 for anything else social. They suggest specialties, but if you want to be a special snowflake, you can make up your own easily without unbalancing anything, Skills and ability scores are not inherently tied together; some naturally fit but you pick the most appropriate combination for each task you attempt.</p><p></p><p>Rolling a 1 on both dice is essentially a critical failure, meaning that advances in skill drastically reduce the chance of that happening (unlike in D&D where you have a 5% chance of rolling a 1 no matter how good you are), while critical success is determined by beating the DC by 4. Obviously the probability curves are different than d20, but conceptually, the nature/nurture distinction is still there, the ability scores and skills are delineated like most D&D-like rpgs, and combat and noncombat skills use the same mechanics.</p><p></p><p>In play, it's very nice. It takes some getting used to, but I find that it's simpler than any of D&D's skill systems but also does more.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Ahnehnois, post: 6132954, member: 17106"] Not knowing what kinds of games you like to play, I don't know why this would be. Instead of a d20 + ability bonus + skill bonus, it's just one die for ability and one die for skill. For skills, the first three steps (d2, d4, and d6) are in a very general skill, like "Science" or "Guns" or "Influence", and the next three (d8, d10, and d12) are in a specialty (like biology, rifles, or diplomacy). So you might have Influence d6/Diplomacy d10/Bluff d12, meaning that you roll a d12 for bluffs, a d10 for diplomacy, and a d6 for anything else social. They suggest specialties, but if you want to be a special snowflake, you can make up your own easily without unbalancing anything, Skills and ability scores are not inherently tied together; some naturally fit but you pick the most appropriate combination for each task you attempt. Rolling a 1 on both dice is essentially a critical failure, meaning that advances in skill drastically reduce the chance of that happening (unlike in D&D where you have a 5% chance of rolling a 1 no matter how good you are), while critical success is determined by beating the DC by 4. Obviously the probability curves are different than d20, but conceptually, the nature/nurture distinction is still there, the ability scores and skills are delineated like most D&D-like rpgs, and combat and noncombat skills use the same mechanics. In play, it's very nice. It takes some getting used to, but I find that it's simpler than any of D&D's skill systems but also does more. [/QUOTE]
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