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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jeremy Ackerman-Yost" data-source="post: 3692361" data-attributes="member: 4720">Mechanically, doesn't this comes down to the same thing as the other post.... the high level character is getting a circumstance bonus to his check?  Or perhaps a more accurate model of what you're talking about is essentially passively taking 10 on an intimidate check all the time, because he's obviously a bad-arse?  In other words, other characters automatically perceive him as more dangerous because of his obvious competence and air of menace (read: level).So, in order to reach the verisimilitude afforded by a Saga-like automatic attribution of skill, you have to apply a circumstance bonus to his intimidate or just automatically adjust all NPC reactions by DM fiat.I would argue this would work the same way for most social skills.  If I'm using Gather Information, it logically makes sense for people to be more cooperative if I'm a level 15 character in an obvious state of wealth than they would be if I'm a level 1 rogue with nothing more than a rusty dagger on my belt.  The potential reward for helping me is higher, as is the potential consequence of ignoring me or lying to me.  The inherent prestige of being a high level character SHOULD bleed through, even if I'm not an expert in dealing with people.  Being wealthy and powerful is enough to get people to cooperate with you.  In a Saga-type skill system, it does, with no bookkeeping or need for DM fiat.Still not sure why that's a bad thing.  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />  Characters become automatically more competent when dealing with low level NPCs and mooks, but simply maintain parity with their peers.  This is good for maintaining drama when it matters but moving things along swiftly when it doesn't (the combat works the exact same way, by my reading).  They all get to contribute to mundane tasks while leaving specialized tasks to the specialists.  This keeps everyone involved while still providing times for certain people to shine.It might not be ideal for dungeoneering in a low magic setting, since it's hard to cockblock the party with simple climbing or swimming tasks if everyone is reasonably competent at them.  But even standard D&D levels of magic make that trick hard to pull off after the first few levels.  Magic makes all those mundane tasks go away anyway.  In that respect, I think the Saga system is perfect for a setting where not every party is going to have a few magic users to buff up their skill checks.</blockquote>

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