D&D General Do you prefer more or less Skills?

[Campbell]

Depends on the specific game, but my upper limit tends to be around 25. More than that and I have trouble reasoning about which skill to use to cover the situation. For D&D I like to keep them fairly broad. Pathfinder Second Edition and 5e have the best skill lists in my opinion, although I'm not crazy bout tool proficiency in 5e. I like characters to have a fairly low number of skills, but cover a good deal of ground so something in the range of around 15 works pretty well for that.

 

[Tonguez]

I like skill based systems that use a few broadly applicable skills but with the addition that PCs can pick Skill Specialties/Expertise.

I like too the situation where any ability check can be used to make a skill test - eg when trying to control a run away cart rushing down a steep descent I can use Dex to try and balance and steer the cart, I can use Str to power it into a stop, I can use Perception (Wisdom) to get the Cart to manouvere at just the right time, or I could use Con to just endure a bumpy ride until it ends. Afterwards I might also get Drive Expertise as a bonus

put simply I like Fate Accelerateds Approaches that replace Skills

 

[overgeeked]

When To be an action hero I need to pick separate skills for swimming, jumping, climbing, and then realizing when it comes up in an adventure I can't throw well because that yet another skill it just breaks immersion and makes me unhappy to be playing that system. Example from Call of Cthulhu 7th edition, a modern RPG

You’re not playing action heroes in Call of Cthulhu, though. You’re playing survival horror investigators.

 

[Maxperson]

Sure, but the same is true for a skill like History, Religion, or even Nature. Realistically, most historians specialize and being good at American history doesn't mean you know jack squat about Chinese history. But in most games just having a History means you're equally good at all histories.

That's true, but there are a lot more different kinds of histories than there are generally used physical skills like climbing, swimming and jumping. You can reasonably split the physical skills and still run the skill system pretty reasonably. If you have to split all the knowledges skills into their parts as well, the skill system would quickly become unwieldy.

 

[Fenris-77]

That's true, but there are a lot more different kinds of histories than there are generally used physical skills like climbing, swimming and jumping. You can reasonably split the physical skills and still run the skill system pretty reasonably. If you have to split all the knowledges skills into their parts as well, the skill system would quickly become unwieldy.

No one cares about that kind of academic specialization for an RPG. Not unless something about the scenario called for it. It just the same as saying that there is reasonable point past which firearms are fine being approximate and not 100% faithful physics reproductions on the real world equivalent.

 

[Maxperson]

No one cares about that kind of academic specialization for an RPG. Not unless something about the scenario called for it. It just the same as saying that there is reasonable point past which firearms are fine being approximate and not 100% faithful physics reproductions on the real world equivalent.

I think there's a fairly wide middle ground between being 100% faithful to athletic skills and lumping every single athletic skill into one identical level of ability. I'd just like for some of the physical skills to be separate is all.

 

[Fenris-77]

I think there's a fairly wide middle ground between being 100% faithful to athletic skills and lumping every single athletic skill into one identical level of ability. I'd just like for some of the physical skills to be separate is all.

Yup, I'd agree. For both kinds of skills relative to whatever the game and genre are.

 

[Stormonu]

I'd like more than 5E has. I really miss the 3E "profession" skill, for one.

I'd like a setup like WEG Star Wars - broad skills and specializations. F'ex, you'd have a Athletics broad skill, with the subskills Jump, Climb, Swim (Always at least 3 subskills). You could put 1 point in the broad skill (up to Proficiency Bonus), or 2 points in subskills (up to double your PB).

 

[Minigiant]

Another thing is how you split up skills if you go the More route. Like, I would not split Athletics into Jumping; Swimming; Climbing; Running; Lifting. But I might go Athletics (Str), Endurance (Con), and Weightlifting (Str).

Athletics would be for single use Climb, Jump, Swim
Endurance would be for multiple or long distance Climb, Jump, Swim
Weightlifting would be for Bend, Break, Lift, Drag, Pull, and general Bodybuilding

This would give you muscley types more options for customization but not force skills of unequal usage to use the same resource. You can be the barrelchested strongman, the bodybuilder model, or the lean sinewy olympian.

 

[Fenris-77]

Another thing is how you split up skills if you go the More route. Like, I would not split Athletics into Jumping; Swimming; Climbing; Running; Lifting. But I might go Athletics (Str), Endurance (Con), and Weightlifting (Str).

Athletics would be for single use Climb, Jump, Swim
Endurance would be for multiple or long distance Climb, Jump, Swim
Weightlifting would be for Bend, Break, Lift, Drag, Pull, and general Bodybuilding

This would give you muscley types more options for customization but not force skills of unequal usage to use the same resource. You can be the barrelchested strongman, the bodybuilder model, or the lean sinewy olympian.

See, this is the model I like, fewer skills but differentiated by stat attachment.