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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Crazy Jerome" data-source="post: 5838535" data-attributes="member: 54877">I also wouldn't mind a hybrid of what they have discussed along with a limited version of different breadths of skills. So you have skills like "Skullduggery" or "Handy" or "Artistic" or "Mysticism". These are very broad, and thus apply in a lot of situations. There is even deliberately some overlap. I'd prefer that these give situational "advantage" more readily than the character making up a reason, but they could also give a straight bonus, where relevant, in a pinch. So a character goes to manipulate a trap. This is a Dex check (against some Hard DCs, because traps are hard untrained. A character that has general training in Skullduggery or Handy has, or can quite easily get, a bonus to that roll, whereas "Artistic" can't.  On an orthogonal dimension, you also have maybe around nine broad terrain skills (city, sea, woods, jungle/swamp, desert, arctic, mountain, caves, plains). Having one of these helps out when in that terrain, for hunting, foraging, stealth, movement, etc. Then for a third broad dimension, divide up cultural/social bits somehow, either broad racial/cultural dimensions by campaign (e.g. particularly broad elven culture in a given continent, all the races of a certain empire, etc.) or perhaps on a flat noble, merchants, yeoman, peasant, clergy, etc. type of mix.  The three categories of broad skills are important, because they are allowed to stack effects across dimensions, but not within. Having "Skullduggery" or "Handy" means something with traps, but that doesn't stack, because its basically the same thing. However, having "Handy" and "Caves" as a dwarf does make it easier for you to deal with a stone trap, than having either by itself. Broad skills are explicitly discussed in the rules, with some notes on what they cover and where they fall short (i.e. boundaries). These are relatively hard to get, and represent a large amount of time spent doing a wide range of practical things, recently. If your character spent his early years as a forestor apprenctice, then you might have "Woods" and "Yeoman"--with all the bonuses those entail. A wizard apprentice that grew up 70 years ago in civilization but has been a hermit for the last 20 years in the desert would have replaced his earlier "Civilization" with "Desert". Note that not everyone has a terrain skill. A character that traveled all over might have more of the cultural/social skills instead.   Broad skills are the first modular layer that sits on top of nothing but ability checks. From here you can go one of two ways (mostly compatible with each other due to balancing concerns):<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">These broad skills are the skill system, because you want to paint with a broad brush all the time. This is more "impressionistic", narrative play--or sometimes mild simulation on top of an otherwise gamist campaign. Characters definitely get a flat bonus from their broad skills, and this can increase gradually with some still limited skill picks. (The tiered competence mentioned in the poll would be good here, albeit with smaller numbers than +3, +5, +8).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Or, the broad skills stay flat, and preferably represent chances to get situational advantage. Then you have more specific skills, which give the straight bonuses. That is, you can layer "Lockpicking" on top of "Skullduggery" or "Handy" to be really good with locks. In this case, one (broad or specific) provides the tiered bonus, and the other provides circumstantial advantage easily, multiple dice, faster resolution, etc. This is for more simulationist play. Accordingly, there are examples listed of specific skills, but you are encouraged to make the list more coarse or fine as it suits you.</li> </ul>Most of the time, characters will have no more than one or two operative skills for any given check, and these will be apparent. I'm trying to bargain with the town mayor, and I've either got "Merchant" or "Noble" or I don't. I've either got some specific trading skills, or I don't. Occasionally, everything lines up perfectly, and your "Mountain", "Sneak", "Beastmaster" combo makes sneaking up on a mountain ape particularly easy for you.</blockquote>

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