D&D (2024) Should skills for a campaign based on the 1800s be different from standard D&D

[humble minion]

I've had problems with History as a skill since it seems in many cases to cover a wide variety of things beyond just "history". I think a lot of things about politics, law, culture and society are just thrown under the umbrella of History.

Yeah, in my current largely-PHB standard Dragonlance game I mostly use History for this sort of thing, occasionally asking for Investigation checks instead when asking about hidden stuff or specific individuals (a bit like the old 3e Gather Information skill). Plus I usually allow background as a quasi-skill proficiency. If you have a Noble background, you probably know basic stuff about being a noble, and if you have a sailor background, you probably know a bit about infamous pirates even if you don’t have proficiency in History. It’s perfectly adequate for a more medieval-inspired society and tech level, but the d&d skill list gets to be a pretty poor fit as social structures etc get more complex.

 

[Tonguez]

This is a gap I’ve noticed in my embryonic setting project set in roughly this time period/tech level. Commerce, law, politics, that sort of thing. Probably one skill can safely cover them all, we don’t want to bloat the skill list too much. You could do it with a background, of course, that’s a bit too restrictive for me. You want to be able to create a feckless and incompetent member of the landowning gentry, or a lawyer of humble background who is highly competent, or a trusted servant who handles their master’s business matters. Making it a skill gives more design space.

I find that Persuasion, Insight, Investigation, History and Language Proficiency are all pretty sufficient for Mercantile pursuits in game, the only thing that might be needed is a Logistics skill for the actual handling and shipping of cargoes between markets (unless you actually play that out)

Of course 3e had Profession, Appraise and Gather Information skills which were really useful for trade pursuits so adding those back is an option.

The other one I’ve been considering is Society. It doesn’t only cover etiquette, but also stuff like understanding who is who, and your ability to do stuff like perform the latest fashionable dances without embarrassing yourself, or know the rumour that’s been going around about the Marquis of Featherington’s younger son. But whether this is required is going to be a matter of emphasis - my project is heavily influenced by Austen, so obviously this sort of thing is front and centre for me.

I beleive in 5e these things are covered under Investigation as they take some degree of looking in to things, listening to rumours and reading the broadsheets. Brining back 3es Gather Information and splitting in between High Society and Low Society (Street Smarts) is an option

As for tech, what I’d probably do is reflect that science/engineering are becoming more advanced/expansive fields by proliferating tools, and requiring proficiency in multiple tools for large and complex projects. So you’d need both smithing/metalworking proficiency AND physics to make a steam engine. A village blacksmith who specialises in horseshoes couldn’t make one alone, nor could an academic mathematical scientist. You’d need both skills, or people with both skills. And then you’d probably need someone with civil engineering/construction proficiency to design and route a railway track for it to run on..

Thomas Newcomen who is credited with the first practical steam engine (water pump) was indeed a blacksmith and ironmonger, though he did use designs created by Thomas Savery who was a military engineer - so yes lots of collaboration. It might actually make for an interesting scenario

 

[UngeheuerLich]

I think D&D should generally have different skills. And an expanded system for tools like in xanathar's guide.

Primary Skills: only cover adventuring skills:

Athletics
Stealth
Endurance/Concentration
Investigation
Perception
Influence

Secondary Skills and tools
Will cover everything else.

Primary skills are treated like saving throws. The rest are things, everyone can learn from other people.

 

[Horwath]

I think D&D should generally have different skills. And an expanded system for tools like in xanathar's guide.

Primary Skills: only cover adventuring skills:

Athletics
Stealth
Endurance/Concentration
Investigation
Perception
Influence

Secondary Skills and tools
Will cover everything else.

Primary skills are treated like saving throws. The rest are things, everyone can learn from other people.

hmm, this could be condensed even further.

Athletics(str/dex/con), ability depending on activity
Stealth(dex/int)
Perception(int/wis)
Influence(str/cha/int)
Lore(int)

Background gives 1 skill,
classes give 0,1(bard, ranger) or 2(rogue)

skilled feat: +1 skill
skill expert: +1 expertise
classes that get 2 expertise, get only 1 per instance.