D&D 5E Thoughts on 5e skills.
FrogReaver
As long as i get to be the frog
One other idea I'm toying with is campaign skills instead of a skill system that is the same in every campaign. As such the DM or campaign creator is advised to pick about 10 or 15 skills very related and most important to the campaign and only have them as choices for characters in his campaign. Anything not covered by those skills would be handled by a check against the most relevant stat.
CapnZapp
Legend
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FrogReaver
As long as i get to be the frog
Not sure why perception is intelligence? Or did you forget the heading?
Li Shenron
Legend
I think the 5e core skills are too few, I would prefer to have a few more.
For example in Rokugan I like using an Int/Wis-based skill called "Battle", which can be used for example to:
- gain hints on how to get advantage (note how this is different from actually getting advantage)
- reveal the CR/level of an opponent, or a more specific stat of choice
- read into the opponents' tactics or motivations
- gain knowledge of an opponent's special features or vulnerabilities
You have to put some limits on skill usage e.g. 1/round to avoid way too many checks, or make it cost e.g. a bonus action or reaction.
I am already doing this... I think that while it's not explicitly presented as such in the PHB, it's mostly embedded into the idea that the DM decides when a PC gets to roll at all.
For example in Rokugan I like using an Int/Wis-based skill called "Battle", which can be used for example to:
- gain hints on how to get advantage (note how this is different from actually getting advantage)
- reveal the CR/level of an opponent, or a more specific stat of choice
- read into the opponents' tactics or motivations
- gain knowledge of an opponent's special features or vulnerabilities
You have to put some limits on skill usage e.g. 1/round to avoid way too many checks, or make it cost e.g. a bonus action or reaction.
I am already doing this... I think that while it's not explicitly presented as such in the PHB, it's mostly embedded into the idea that the DM decides when a PC gets to roll at all.
LordNightwinter
Explorer
Personally I think performance is rather useful. If my players want to do something crazy like impersonate someone or work a crowd I usually make them roll performance. There are other instances too I just can't brain this early in the morning. As far as Acrobatics, it's been stated but I think it's a good idea to have acrobatics stand in place of athletics (if it makes aesthetic sense) during a physical test. That way they don't have to rely on Athletics exclusively.
Absolutely agree with an earlier poster that the DM is fully equipped with the tools to determine autosuccess/fail based upon proficiency (which to my mind implies training whether through apprenticeship or the school of hard knocks) so that seems to be already covered.
And we should definitely feel free to remix the skills with the abilities. Need to run a marathon? CON + Athletics... Enter a dance-athon (
) CON + Performance...
The preset skill groupings was a bad idea - they should be offered as frequent/typical pairings rather than as permanently connected.
And we should definitely feel free to remix the skills with the abilities. Need to run a marathon? CON + Athletics... Enter a dance-athon (
) CON + Performance...The preset skill groupings was a bad idea - they should be offered as frequent/typical pairings rather than as permanently connected.
iserith
Magic Wordsmith
I'm stating that obvious by saying that the utility of skills is highly campaign-dependent.
Animal Handling comes up a fair bit when the players start traveling around on horses and doing mounted combat. It's also useful in games that heavily focus on natural exploration and related themes. If you're taking this skill in a standard dungeon-crawling game, you've probably made a bad choice. Or at least invested in something that won't see much return. There's was a fair bit of mounted combat in my current campaign so doing risky maneuvers called for such checks. I also called for a Wisdom (Animal Handling) check when the PCs, as part of a social interaction challenge, were trying to win over the angry boar of a ranger NPC who they needed as a wilderness guide. Same for when they tried to make an alliance with some wood elves and one NPC in particular deferred to her sugar glider (Mr. Sugar) who was nasty to pretty much everyone.
Performance comes up in every game I have with a bard in it or an entertainer. I've had to ask for Performance checks several times in my current campaign in the context of social interaction challenges.
Acrobatics comes up a lot due to grapples and escape attempts. I have a mostly Dex-based party so this comes up quite a bit because I like grappling monsters. Because tentacles are fun and there are lots of puerile jokes to be had in that sort of content.
So, I'm fine with the skill list as it is. There should not be an expectation in my view that every skill will be useful in every campaign. Players should in my opinion be making characters that are appropriate to the campaign's theme. And though a player cannot choose to make an ability check, he or she should be, more often than not, be performing tasks for which the character has some skill training in case the DM calls for a check. That's just smart play.
Animal Handling comes up a fair bit when the players start traveling around on horses and doing mounted combat. It's also useful in games that heavily focus on natural exploration and related themes. If you're taking this skill in a standard dungeon-crawling game, you've probably made a bad choice. Or at least invested in something that won't see much return. There's was a fair bit of mounted combat in my current campaign so doing risky maneuvers called for such checks. I also called for a Wisdom (Animal Handling) check when the PCs, as part of a social interaction challenge, were trying to win over the angry boar of a ranger NPC who they needed as a wilderness guide. Same for when they tried to make an alliance with some wood elves and one NPC in particular deferred to her sugar glider (Mr. Sugar) who was nasty to pretty much everyone.
Performance comes up in every game I have with a bard in it or an entertainer. I've had to ask for Performance checks several times in my current campaign in the context of social interaction challenges.
Acrobatics comes up a lot due to grapples and escape attempts. I have a mostly Dex-based party so this comes up quite a bit because I like grappling monsters. Because tentacles are fun and there are lots of puerile jokes to be had in that sort of content.
So, I'm fine with the skill list as it is. There should not be an expectation in my view that every skill will be useful in every campaign. Players should in my opinion be making characters that are appropriate to the campaign's theme. And though a player cannot choose to make an ability check, he or she should be, more often than not, be performing tasks for which the character has some skill training in case the DM calls for a check. That's just smart play.
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