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<blockquote data-quote="GMMichael" data-source="post: 6092673" data-attributes="member: 6685730">I&nbsp; think you're right.&nbsp; The problem I ran into earlier though, with a tiny&nbsp; skills list, is that when a skill is too broad, it basically acts like a&nbsp; beefed-up ability score.&nbsp; Not much point in having skills when they&nbsp; cover anything a character might be interested in, and actually fail to&nbsp; make characters more interesting.&nbsp; (Important point: P&amp;P characters&nbsp; have only three rules-related features: abilities, skills, and perks.&nbsp;&nbsp; Any other differences are superficial.)So if I have, say, two&nbsp; skills per ability score (of three), and a character can specialize in&nbsp; one skill per ability score, then with skills alone, I can have eight&nbsp; different types of characters (2x2x2).&nbsp; But they're each three-trick&nbsp; ponies.&nbsp; With about seven skills per ability score, and perks thrown in&nbsp; (which are pretty much limitless in variety), that number&nbsp; becomes...2,487.&nbsp; Okay I made that up, but it's a much bigger number.Let's&nbsp; go simpler...the three Fight skills become one, Sneak and Larceny get&nbsp; combined, Knowledge is just one skill with a vague focus on whatever the&nbsp; character's occupation is, throw profession in with knowledge, persuade&nbsp; and deceive become Interact, and Detect gets tossed in favor of just a&nbsp; simple Mental check, or a perk.Short list:Fight, Parry, Sneak, Move, Knowledge, Concentrate, Cast Spell, Spirit, Repel Undead, Handle Animal, Interact.11 skills.&nbsp; Almost 4 per ability. 3 defenses, and 8 proactive skills.&nbsp; It's a decent list, but I feel like it doesn't provide enough tailoring options (for a system that doesn't force classes on the characters).&nbsp; For example, if a front-line fighter takes the (generalized) Sneak skill, then he's suddenly an expert in everything rogue-ish, from hiding, being quiet, lockpicking, black-marketeering, pocket picking, forgery, filching, and so forth.By the way, the Spirit (metaphysical defense) skill becomes more useful, and identifiable, if renamed Will, or Willpower.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="GMMichael, post: 6092673, member: 6685730"] I think you're right. The problem I ran into earlier though, with a tiny skills list, is that when a skill is too broad, it basically acts like a beefed-up ability score. Not much point in having skills when they cover anything a character might be interested in, and actually fail to make characters more interesting. (Important point: P&P characters have only three rules-related features: abilities, skills, and perks. Any other differences are superficial.) So if I have, say, two skills per ability score (of three), and a character can specialize in one skill per ability score, then with skills alone, I can have eight different types of characters (2x2x2). But they're each three-trick ponies. With about seven skills per ability score, and perks thrown in (which are pretty much limitless in variety), that number becomes...2,487. Okay I made that up, but it's a much bigger number. Let's go simpler...the three Fight skills become one, Sneak and Larceny get combined, Knowledge is just one skill with a vague focus on whatever the character's occupation is, throw profession in with knowledge, persuade and deceive become Interact, and Detect gets tossed in favor of just a simple Mental check, or a perk. Short list: Fight, Parry, Sneak, Move, Knowledge, Concentrate, Cast Spell, Spirit, Repel Undead, Handle Animal, Interact. 11 skills. Almost 4 per ability. 3 defenses, and 8 proactive skills. It's a decent list, but I feel like it doesn't provide enough tailoring options (for a system that doesn't force classes on the characters). For example, if a front-line fighter takes the (generalized) Sneak skill, then he's suddenly an expert in [I]everything[/I] rogue-ish, from hiding, being quiet, lockpicking, black-marketeering, pocket picking, forgery, filching, and so forth. By the way, the Spirit (metaphysical defense) skill becomes more useful, and identifiable, if renamed Will, or Willpower. [/QUOTE]

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