D&D 4E Dungeoneering OR Engineering

[Garthanos]

Anyway Dungeoneering always seemed very odd as a skill, I rather liked the thought of Engineering in D&D although pretty directly it seems Dungeoneering by borrowing a "underground" and having what should probably be nature sectioned off created skill uses. So I think we need Skill uses for instance perhaps adjusting an environmental feature so its better for leveraging by the hero team.... or create a brand new Terrain Power or Perhaps even a Trap. Finding or Quick Creating hidden features like escape routes some might be via Skill Powers and Martial Practices.

 

[Garthanos]

Engineering is the Skill Herakles used to clean the Augean Stables.

 

[Garthanos]

And mayhaps Odysseus to plan/construct the Trojan Horse

 

[Lanefan]

'Engineer' was on the short list of 'secondary skills' (a.k.a. past professions) in the 1e DMG; so it's been around awhile.

One of the first characters I ever played was one of these - a Fighter with secondary skill of engineer (he's the guy you find and [maybe] rescue in the basement of the A2 Slavers' Stockade module).

 

[Li Shenron]

Dungeoneering as a skill sucks... that's because it's way too generic in a game that is quite a lot about dungeons. In a similar fashion, I also think that a Knowlege (Monsters) is an inappropriate skill. If a skill is too generic it's counterintuitive with the concept of skills itself, which is about specialization.

That said, the campaign setting also matters. An Engineering skill would be appropriate in a middle-ages world even if it's quite generic, if there actually isn't a lot of technology utilized at large in such world, so it would make sense that a medieval engineer was capable of knowing about roads and buildings constructions, hydraulics, mechanics, metallurgy... each of which was still basic enough that someone could know most of each area. OTOH in a modern-world setting a single Engineering skill would be ridiculous.

 

[Garthanos]

'Engineer' was on the short list of 'secondary skills' (a.k.a. past professions) in the 1e DMG; so it's been around awhile.

I absolutely did not remember that

 

[Garthanos]

Dungeoneering as a skill sucks... that's because it's way too generic in a game that is quite a lot about dungeons. In a similar fashion, I also think that a Knowlege (Monsters) is an inappropriate skill. If a skill is too generic it's counterintuitive with the concept of skills itself, which is about specialization.

That said, the campaign setting also matters. An Engineering skill would be appropriate in a middle-ages world even if it's quite generic, if there actually isn't a lot of technology utilized at large in such world, so it would make sense that a medieval engineer was capable of knowing about roads and buildings constructions, hydraulics, mechanics, metallurgy... each of which was still basic enough that someone could know most of each area. OTOH in a modern-world setting a single Engineering skill would be ridiculous.

In some ways I do think of the skills as all having "adventurer" tagged on the front. So Acrobat is not the entertainer skill with flourishes that make them look more difficult than they are (for instance) its a highly pragmatic one.

 

[Garthanos]

So if I have a built in skill use that enhances a Terrain Power adding Int/2 to the damage induced by using this does not in someway say that this reflects the abilities of say the local shipwright.

 

[Garthanos]

It could appropriately steal the find secret doors function off the top.