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<blockquote data-quote="Hussar" data-source="post: 8652320" data-attributes="member: 22779">Adnd worked in a similar way. You had a flat percentage chance of success regardless of situation. If you had a 60% climb skill, then you succeeded 60% of the time. Yes the dm could add in modifiers but that was very rarely used. Success becomes based on the character and the player controls (at least by 2e DnD ) the chances. Granted the Adnd system has some problems- it’s class limited for example- but similar systems can and have been used more broadly. There are advantages and disadvantages to all systems. My beef with the 5e skill system is that it tries to have it both ways. Specific and vague and winds up being difficult to use. An example. In my current Candlekeep game the pcs meet a monster that has regeneration. Not a troll. It’s a one off critter for the adventure so the players literally know nothing about it. So player asks if his character knows something that might help. Perfectly reasonable request - the characters are all sort of sages that have now spent several years in Candlekeep researching between adventures. So how do I adjudicate this? Because of the monster type Religion or Arcana would be the applicable skill. Now is that check an action? Bonus action? Non action? What’s the DC?In other words the system basically entirely fails here. The only thing the system gives me is the pc’s bonus to the d20 roll. That’s not much of a system. I shouldn’t have to determine pretty much everything from front to back in order to use the system for a check that is hardly some bizarre corner case. Knowing something is a pretty bog standard check.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Hussar, post: 8652320, member: 22779"] Adnd worked in a similar way. You had a flat percentage chance of success regardless of situation. If you had a 60% climb skill, then you succeeded 60% of the time. Yes the dm could add in modifiers but that was very rarely used. Success becomes based on the character and the player controls (at least by 2e DnD ) the chances. Granted the Adnd system has some problems- it’s class limited for example- but similar systems can and have been used more broadly. There are advantages and disadvantages to all systems. My beef with the 5e skill system is that it tries to have it both ways. Specific and vague and winds up being difficult to use. An example. In my current Candlekeep game the pcs meet a monster that has regeneration. Not a troll. It’s a one off critter for the adventure so the players literally know nothing about it. So player asks if his character knows something that might help. Perfectly reasonable request - the characters are all sort of sages that have now spent several years in Candlekeep researching between adventures. So how do I adjudicate this? Because of the monster type Religion or Arcana would be the applicable skill. Now is that check an action? Bonus action? Non action? What’s the DC? In other words the system basically entirely fails here. The only thing the system gives me is the pc’s bonus to the d20 roll. That’s not much of a system. I shouldn’t have to determine pretty much everything from front to back in order to use the system for a check that is hardly some bizarre corner case. Knowing something is a pretty bog standard check. [/QUOTE]

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