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<blockquote data-quote="Zinovia" data-source="post: 4271349" data-attributes="member: 57373">I skipped straight from 1st Edition to Rolemaster, and then to 3E without pausing for more than a single game session of D&amp;D 2E.&nbsp; Is it possible to do a few sentence summary of how the secondary skills rules worked in 2E?&nbsp; I was thinking of grafting on some fairly informal rules for secondary skills in 4E because I am sad that they are gone completely.&nbsp; Given my game experience, I am looking at 3.5 and Rolemaster to see what general categories of skills I may use.&nbsp; I'm not sure how I want to implement this mechanically yet.&nbsp; Rolemaster had too damned many skills though - even secondary skills, which in that system use a separate set of skill points to purchase.&nbsp; I want something fairly simple to tack onto 4E.&nbsp; The reason to not just RP them is the inevitable mid-game revelation, &quot;Oh, of course I can sail a boat.&nbsp; Sure my character is from Inlandia, 500 leagues from the nearest sea, but I learned to sail a boat while I was on my coming of age journey and traveled to Vikingfjord.&nbsp; I did tell you that, didn't I?&quot;&nbsp; Whether they did or not, I don't want potentially useful secondary skills being just written into character backstories.&nbsp; I want everyone to have a roughly comparable number of them.&nbsp; I was thinking of giving everyone a profession or general background skill, and then a couple of hobbies or craft skills.&nbsp; These can't be used to increase &quot;real&quot; game skills, but could still be useful.&nbsp; Were you raised as a farmer?&nbsp; Then if a question comes up about animal husbandry, crops, growing seasons, and the local farming community, you can probably answer it.&nbsp; Likewise you can probably fix a cart if the wheel comes off mid-journey, and you won't cut your own leg off if you grab a scythe as an improvised weapon.&nbsp; Being raised in a temple won't automatically grant Religion skill, but you will have some knowledge of the church hierarchy as well as some potentially useful contacts.&nbsp; You know how to forge a note to visit the restricted area in the grand temple library (that's where all the most interesting books are.)&nbsp; Stuff like that.&nbsp; It's largely a roleplaying thing, but helps the characters think creatively, and adds depth to them and to the game world.&nbsp; I don't want to see secondary skills fall by the wayside, but I'm still not sure of how precisely to implement rules for them in 4E.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Zinovia, post: 4271349, member: 57373"] I skipped straight from 1st Edition to Rolemaster, and then to 3E without pausing for more than a single game session of D&D 2E. Is it possible to do a few sentence summary of how the secondary skills rules worked in 2E? I was thinking of grafting on some fairly informal rules for secondary skills in 4E because I am sad that they are gone completely. Given my game experience, I am looking at 3.5 and Rolemaster to see what general categories of skills I may use. I'm not sure how I want to implement this mechanically yet. Rolemaster had too damned many skills though - even secondary skills, which in that system use a separate set of skill points to purchase. I want something fairly simple to tack onto 4E. The reason to not just RP them is the inevitable mid-game revelation, "Oh, of course I can sail a boat. Sure my character is from Inlandia, 500 leagues from the nearest sea, but I learned to sail a boat while I was on my coming of age journey and traveled to Vikingfjord. I did tell you that, didn't I?" Whether they did or not, I don't want potentially useful secondary skills being just written into character backstories. I want everyone to have a roughly comparable number of them. I was thinking of giving everyone a profession or general background skill, and then a couple of hobbies or craft skills. These can't be used to increase "real" game skills, but could still be useful. Were you raised as a farmer? Then if a question comes up about animal husbandry, crops, growing seasons, and the local farming community, you can probably answer it. Likewise you can probably fix a cart if the wheel comes off mid-journey, and you won't cut your own leg off if you grab a scythe as an improvised weapon. Being raised in a temple won't automatically grant Religion skill, but you will have some knowledge of the church hierarchy as well as some potentially useful contacts. You know how to forge a note to visit the restricted area in the grand temple library (that's where all the most interesting books are.) Stuff like that. It's largely a roleplaying thing, but helps the characters think creatively, and adds depth to them and to the game world. I don't want to see secondary skills fall by the wayside, but I'm still not sure of how precisely to implement rules for them in 4E. [/QUOTE]

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