Going crazy with skills...

[ravenheart]

So, I had this MAD idea that I wanted to mess with the skill system of 4E.

It occured to me that skills easily got pigeon-holed due to the mechanics "forcing" players to heavily favor only certain ability scores (i.e. no way for Johnny the Fighter to be an articulate diplomat due to his low, dump-stat Charisma), and that skills really got second place to combat mechanics in general.

So I pondered back and forth until I eventually birthed the following monstrosity (all working names):

REVISED SKILL SYSTEM – APTITUDE SCORES

After a character has generated ability scores it uses the same method to generate six aptitude scores – Fitness, Cognition, Expression, Discipline, Sensation and Adaptivity. Each aptitude score governs a number of skills, which uses the associated aptitude modifiers instead of ability scores modifiers for skills. Humans gain a +2 bonus to any one aptitude score; all other races gain a +2 bonus to two separate aptitude scores (one of which must correlate with one of the racial skill bonuses). At 4th, 8th, 14th, 18th, 24th, and 28th levels, you increase two aptitude scores by 1 (you can’t take both increases in the same score). At 11th and 21st level, you increase each of your aptitude scores by 1.

Fitness (FIT) – how fit and well-trained you are.

• Athletics
• Endurance
• Stealth

Cognition (COG) – how good you are at remembering and learning.

• Arcana
• History
• Religion

Expression (EXP) – how creative and articulate you are.

• Bluff
• Diplomacy
• Intimidate

Discipline (DIS) – how well-practiced and how advanced your techniques are.

• Acrobatics
• Heal
• Thievery

Sensation (SEN) – how well you interpret and are aware of the world.

• Insight
• Perception

Adaptivity (ADA) – how well you adjust and connect with your surroundings.

• Dungeoneering
• Nature
• Streetwise

Example character:

A human warrior might have Fit 18 (+4), Cog 10 (+0), Exp 12 (+1), Dis 14 (+2), Sen 13 (+1), Ada 11 (+0).
This would translate into skill modifiers; such as Athletics +4, Heal +2, and Perception +1 etc.
An eladrin noble on the other hand might have Fit 12 (+1), Cog 16 (+3), Exp 16 (+3), Dis 13 (+1), Sen 14 (+2) Ada 12 (+1). This translates into skill modifiers; such as History +3, Diplomacy, +3, and Nature +2 etc.

Now, I will immediately begin to critizise my own creation.

My original idea was to have certain "skill groups" that gained static bonuses depending on preference. This turned out to be both a aestethic aswell as a balancing disaster. I had tremendous difficulty assigning groups to certain skills (Heal was a nightmare).

Eventually, I dropped it for this parallell to the ability scores. The problem with this approach is simple - it's essentially a sub-system. And we know where that'll lead, don't we? All it essentially does is increase complexity.

And it might even cause some damage. How is the internal balance between the ability scores now? Suddenly Str is strong again, while Cha has lost it's flair. Come to think of it, maybe this isn't so bad after all?

But Int is still useless compared to Dex (unless you are a Wizard), maybe allow it to be used with Initiative? Or give additional languages? Maybe it could become a sort of Skill Challenge initative... Wis and Cha are even more ambiguous now. Interacting with NPC's? Mental carrying capacity? Mental hit points?

Now I'm just rambling anyway. Just thought I'd share my Frankenstein. Dare I ask... comments?

 

[ravenheart]

A simpler solution (less nightmare, more coffee):
EDIT: Clarifications...

Bonus Languages: The higher of your Intelligence and Charisma score grants you additional languages known, as seen below:

14-17: 1 bonus language
18-21: 2 bonus languages
22-25: 3 bonus languages
26-29: 4 bonus languages
30+: 5 bonus languages

Whenever your Intelligence or Charisma score is increased to a value granting additional bonus languages, you have mastered a new language.

Skill Aptitude: Each skill is assigned a different level of aptitude. The level of aptitude determines the skills base value. Each skill is also associated with an ability score, and certain items and feats can improve skill depending on the ability score.

Superb Aptitude: Choose 3 skills. These skills have a base value of +5.
Moderate Aptitude: Choose 9 skills. These skills have a base value of +3.
Weak Aptitude: Choose 3 skills. These skills have a base value of +1.

At level 6, 16 and 26 you can increase 5 different skills by one point. At level 11 and 21 alla skills increase by one point.

Senses: Insight and Perception are not skills, but Senses. They can be trained like a skill and recieve benefits as if they were skills, but use your Wisdom modifier instead of Skill Aptitudes.

Thoughts?