D&D 5E Designing a skill system that the PLAYER can opt into.

[Rune]

I do like the idea of going to something like a dice pool system for skills.

Roll 1D20 for against attribute if you are untrained.
Each "skill" level above that provides an additional D20. (Novice +1 die, Journeyman +2, Master +3)
Every successful roll beyond the first provides a +5 to the top score.

You could have Daily or Encounter Action points for those that want to represent "effort" that could just add to the pool. There is no need to have this in the core rules or even as a module. Just take your favorite skill list from any game you want to represent, start people with 4 dice that they can apply to skill levels and go to town.

I don't know that this needs to be in the core game, but it could be a fun optional module or homebrew system for tables that want a more detailed skill system.

Well, it worked for West End Games (although that was with d6s, of course). I don't like most dice-pool mechanics all that much, myself (except for the new Marvel game--that's a brilliant mechanic!), but if you don't mind rolling a handful of d20s, adding modifiers to each one, counting successes, and then adding more modifiers, I suppose it'll work for you.

If I were to use such a system, I'd count each success as an order of magnitude improvement to the result, instead of doing more math after the initial rolls. And I'd probably cut any modifiers to the d20s in the first place. But if your doing that, you'd be changing the DCs anyway, so at that point, you might as well drop down to smaller dice (for less swingy results).

 

[Scrivener of Doom]

Just use ability-based saving throws.

 

[Rune]

Every single packet to date has already done so.

Also, I'm not really sure what issue you're addressing, here.

 

[Sword of Spirit]

Lots of good RPG design work on this thread, but the only suggestion with any chance of making it into D&D Next is this one:

One way you could balance it is to say that PCs can opt into skills - they get -2 to the skills they don't have and +5 to the skills they do have. Now someone who doesn't pick skills can keep the straight up roll and the person with skills is better at their chosen few and worse at everything else.

The others either overlap too much with core mechanics (in the case of advantage/disadvantage having a problem with competing race, and likely class features), don't scale well compared to unskilled characters, or are beyond the design parameters of how Next is working.

 

[Sadrik]

I also like Keterys skill idea which is very similar to my own concept from this thread.

The main difference though is I think there can be several skill systems. I dont see a reason why we cannot see more than one. There are players who want 20 skills there are some that want 50 skills. Why limit the game to one or the other. What this means though is that the system has to be modular. It has to be almost invisible to be able to do this. For instance you describe jumping in the movement section not in the Jump skill. Then under jump skill it says you can jump with a bonus. That is one thing that has to happen. The next is the character sheet it has to be neutral to how the skill system is presented. It cannot take sides on if you are using the skill system, or which skill system. To do that I think you move away from skill bonuses and instead lower DCs with skill training. In this way you can allow for variant methods of handling skills without mucking up the player experience and the character sheet with a bunch of bonuses.

So the DM would have the DC and the stat to roll.
The DM says, make an INT check say to recall the heraldry.
The player says I have history skill will that help?
The DM says ok, and lowers the DC from 20 to 15.
Player rolls and adds INT bonus.

Very simple and on the players side the game does not change, it is still just an INT check as if the player were not using a skill system. So definitely an opt in system would be nice.