Rune
Once A Fool
So, here's something I'd like to see: a very simple, streamlined skill system that lets the player define the skill and puts adjudication back into the DM's hands.
Why? Frankly, I'm a little tired of how, in both 3.x and 4e, what you can do is determined before you begin play, instead of by the situation you find yourself in. And, yet, I'd like to keep some skill system.
Something like this:
The Three Skill System.
At low levels, the background skill would be better than either of the other two, but, as the character gains levels, the specialist skill (somewhat) quickly surpasses it, while the class skill does so more slowly.
But, what about a Jack of All Trades character?
It should be no minor problem to allow such a character to include "pretty much everything" as a comprehensive category for that PC's Class Skill at the expense of not taking a Specialist Skill at all.
EDIT=This system does break down when you factor in multiclassing (however that would work).
Essentially, you would either have to widen the scope of the class skill to cover both/all classes, or add in an extra class skill per class. Neither would be too difficult, though, obviously, the second would be more balanced with non-multiclassed characters, if the different classes involved each have levels attached to them--as the do in 1e, 2e, and 3e.
For feat-based multiclassing (such as 4e uses), you could treat each feat taken as 1 or more levels in the appropriate class (depending on just what they do) for purposes of determining the bonus to that class skill.
EDIT=This system would need to address overlap between the Background Skill and the Class Skill. In such cases, the Background modifier could be added into the Class Skill check, but ought not be too large. +2 would be a good number, because, effectively, this makes the background a conditional modifier, which seems appropriate (and in line with racial bonuses (essentially background bonuses) to skills in both 3e and 4e).
So, what do you think? Would something like this fit in with the next iteration of D&D?
Why? Frankly, I'm a little tired of how, in both 3.x and 4e, what you can do is determined before you begin play, instead of by the situation you find yourself in. And, yet, I'd like to keep some skill system.
Something like this:
The Three Skill System.
- Each character, at generation, would have one very general skill based on everything the PC did before level one. This would be the Background Skill. This skill covers anything the PC wants to do that s/he might have learned before becoming an adventurer. It should be very general (usually a vocation) and will almost always be used only to determine what mundane tasks the PC could accomplish without making a check.
If a check is required (someone grew up in a family of hunters and wants to use those skills to track someone, for instance) the DM would assign the relevant ability modifier based on what the PC is trying to accomplish and a static bonus (that is, one that does not increase with level) would be added in to a d20 roll to check for success against a DC (or possibly an opposed roll).
- Each character would also have a skill based on what s/he has learned after becoming an adventurer. This would be the Class Skill. Anything that someone of the PCs class would reasonably need to be trained in to be effective would fall in this category.
Again, the DM would decide what ability modifier applied to the situation and this would be added to 1/2 character level and a d20 roll to check for success against a DC or opposed check.
- Most characters would also have a very specific focus. This would be the Specialist Skill. This would be one thing that the player chooses at generation to be especially good at. This, too, would be user defined, but would need to be precisely focused.
As with the other two, the DM would decide what ability modifier applies in the circumstances and the player would add that to the PC's level + d20 against a DC or opposed check. The PC should be able to accomplish things with this skill that no one else of comparable level would be capable of.
At low levels, the background skill would be better than either of the other two, but, as the character gains levels, the specialist skill (somewhat) quickly surpasses it, while the class skill does so more slowly.
But, what about a Jack of All Trades character?
It should be no minor problem to allow such a character to include "pretty much everything" as a comprehensive category for that PC's Class Skill at the expense of not taking a Specialist Skill at all.
EDIT=This system does break down when you factor in multiclassing (however that would work).
Essentially, you would either have to widen the scope of the class skill to cover both/all classes, or add in an extra class skill per class. Neither would be too difficult, though, obviously, the second would be more balanced with non-multiclassed characters, if the different classes involved each have levels attached to them--as the do in 1e, 2e, and 3e.
For feat-based multiclassing (such as 4e uses), you could treat each feat taken as 1 or more levels in the appropriate class (depending on just what they do) for purposes of determining the bonus to that class skill.
EDIT=This system would need to address overlap between the Background Skill and the Class Skill. In such cases, the Background modifier could be added into the Class Skill check, but ought not be too large. +2 would be a good number, because, effectively, this makes the background a conditional modifier, which seems appropriate (and in line with racial bonuses (essentially background bonuses) to skills in both 3e and 4e).
So, what do you think? Would something like this fit in with the next iteration of D&D?
Last edited:
