Player Skill - what is it?

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

In the past days, I have seen a few posts that used the term player skill. It didn't seem to be any particular poster that liked to use the word, but whenever it was mentioned, I wasn't sure what it really meant.

So, explain to me, what is player skill? How does it relate to role-playing games (or playing a role)?

Is creating a character according to the character generation rules to the best effect player skill? (creating a Paladin/Fighter/Cleric/Hospitaler to get Cleric spells, nearly full BAB, and a good Paladin mount?)

Is using a character abilities during a situation to best effect player skill? (Tactical Playing? A Wizard using a web to immobilize two Ogres so that the Ranger can pepper him with arrows, and the Fighter grappling the enemy Cleric before he can cast any spells and giving the Rogue the opportunty to backstab the Cleric to hell?)

Is it coming up with a solution to a puzzle (mystery, trap, or riddle)? (Like: I look below the tapestry - is there anything mechanical to see? I first pull the left lever, then move my foot on the pressure plate, and the push the right button - does the door open?)

Or is all player skill, just in different areas? How would you distinguish them - and what is the kind of player skill you refer to if you are using the word, and what kind of player skill you prefer when talking about role-playing. What should or can a game system emphasize?

 

[TerraDave]

I think you may already know...but I will give a "classic" example.

Say Dave is playing the rogue Redvar. Redvar is trying to talk his way past some guards. In the "charecter skill" approach, he makes his bluff check, and gets by, or fails, and doesn't. In the "player skill" approach, you role-play the whole thing, there is no roll, and the DM just decides what guards do.

Puzzles that really only on things players say, and not on knowledge checks or other charecter attributes, are another example. Exploration and role-playing oriented play in general--without many checks--are often said to rely more on player skill, especially in older editions of D&D that didn't have much in the way of (charecter) skills.

But, as you imply in the first post, this is all a little to simple. The tactical wargame that has always been inside the game is often the big test of player skill, DM skill, and of course is the most rules-bound, as it always has been. Charecter creation and other forms of preperation are other good examples where rules and player skill meet. On some level, saying rules or systems mitigate player skill would be like saying chess doesn't require skill, since the rules are so well defined!

I think where this really is an issue is doing somewhat unexpected things in of combat, and pretty much any rules interaction (or lack there of) outside of combat. Maybe player skill is not the right term. Maybe player imagination...player creativity...something like that.

 

[Stoat]

I understand the term to refer to a player's ability to improvise and work outside of a mechanical framework.

The classic example seems to be searching for hidden treasure. Making a Search check does not rely on player skill. Requiring the player to carefully describe what the character is doing relies on player skill.

The term seems to come up most often with reference to problem-solving, puzzles, searching, etc. Players who "find creative uses" for spells and common items are often cited as examples.

It's not a term that I use myself, so my answer is based on observation rather than direct experience.

 

[Scribble]

Player skill is knowing how best to use your abilities and powers to overcome the current challange.

 

[Arnwyn]

So, explain to me, what is player skill? /snip/

All of the things you mention. And what TerraDave said.

Good use of strategy and tactics. Asking appropriate questions. Making use of critical thinking skills and implementing the results during the game. Problem-solving. Anticipating possible outcomes and crafting strategies to deal with said outcomes.

 

[Henry]

All of the things you mention. And what TerraDave said.

Good use of strategy and tactics. Asking appropriate questions. Making use of critical thinking skills and implementing the results during the game. Problem-solving. Anticipating possible outcomes and crafting strategies to deal with said outcomes.

There was an article that came out decades ago in Dragon Magazine (#74, I think?) Called "Be Aware, take care" by Lew Pulsipher for AD&D 1st ed. It was all the sorts of in-character things a party of mercenary adventurers might do to survive any given adventure in which a DM actively threw challenges in the game at them that were designed to take advantage of a player's lack of caution that a "real" adventurer wouldn't get caught in. For example:

1. Lever in the middle of the room, with nothing else but a sign that says, "pull me." Do you walk up and pull it, or do you use a rope or a pole to do it for you?

2. Goblin in the room has no apparent treasure. Do you give up in frustration, or spend time checking furniture for hidden compartments and the walls and floors and ceiling for secret doors?

3. You run into a cave full of statues of people in poses suggesting stark fear. Do you walk ahead boldly, or pull out the mirrors and have one guy lead the way while you avert your eyes to the periphery and follow him?

That sort of thing. These days, we'd call it "metagaming", but originally metagaming as a term was rarely used 15 or twenty years ago.

 

[Umbran]

So, explain to me, what is player skill? How does it relate to role-playing games (or playing a role)?

There are several different skills that players can use during the course of a session. As a generalization, "player skill" is often used to refer to "player skill with the rules of the game" - just like someone can be skilled at poker, backgammon, or Monopoly, someone can be skilled at playing the game of D&D. This includes, but is not limited to the skills of character building, or use of tactics in D&D combat.

There are also skills involved in interacting between players - someone can be skilled in knowing when to take or step back from spotlight time in a session.

Sometimes, we refer to player skill to differentiate it from the character's skills. RPGs often have in-game social skills, so social interaction in the game is not necessarily dominated by the player skill with social interaction - a player who isn't good at public speaking can play a character who is.

 

[Irda Ranger]

I understand the term to refer to a player's ability to improvise and work outside of a mechanical framework.

This a very good explanation, but I would add a tweak: "player skill" (in the context of D&D discussions on EN World) usually refers to the player's ability to interact with the world presented by the DM in an organic manner outside of the d20 framework. Success or failure is determined by the player's ability to interpret the DM's description of the world and infer the correct course of action.

PC Skill interacts with the campaign world using a d20; Player Skill interacts with the world with carefully crafted Q&A and action description.

As an example, imagine Regdar is faced with three doors. Which one does he go through? A "PC skill" solution would be to roll Int checks to look for clues or remember what the town wiseman said, roll a Track check to see which doors the orcs use, maybe roll Search checks to avoid traps, etc., until the correct solution is obvious to a toddler. The "player skill" solution would be to remember what the wise man said himself (maybe consulting his notes), to ask the DM to describe the doors carefully (and then figure out which is trapped himself), and then confidentialy pick door #2.

By the way, this is why many OD&D/1E fans think that "skills" are not necessary. You don't need a character skill to open a trapped door; you just have to tell the DM "I hold a wooden plank in front of the needle trap." Holding a wooden plank is so simple a 0th level retarded goblin manservant could do it, and it either works or it doesn't work based on the DM's judgment.

 

[Irda Ranger]

Player skill is knowing how best to use your abilities and powers to overcome the current challange.

I think what you describe here is usually called "system mastery."

 

[Arnwyn]

These days, we'd call it "metagaming", but originally metagaming as a term was rarely used 15 or twenty years ago.

Some might call it metagaming.