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Message: <blockquote data-quote="FireLance" data-source="post: 3855071" data-attributes="member: 3424">Well, on the basis of that definition, I don't think that D&D needs a skill system, and my decision whether or not to play D&D would not be influenced on whether there is a skill system or not. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />Based on what I've read so far in this thread, a number of people have equated a skill system with a non-combat task resolution system. While a skill system is certainly one way to resolve non-combat tasks, it is not the only way. There is the old standby, DM adjudication, although a skill system is arguably more transparent, consistent, and requires less effort on the part of the DM. Another possibility is to have the ability to resolve certain non-combat tasks as racial or class abilities, such as detecting secret doors, opening locks, hiding in shadows, or tracking. However, a skill system is arguably more flexible and open-ended. Other non-combat tasks, such as puzzles and "roleplaying" challenges, could also be resolved by direct player input. Again, the advantage of a skill system is that it allows a player to play a character with an ability that he is not himself very good in (a socially inept player with a high-Diplomacy character, for example), but this advantage is not unique to this skill system.That said, as some other posters have pointed out, the skill system in its current incarnation has been used to model characteristics that is is perhaps not best suited to model. For example, "background" skills and abilities which are defined mostly for flavor and which seldom (if ever) provide a mechanical advantage to a PC ought not be obtained through the expenditure of skill points or some other character resource. Other "skills" which are commonly used by PCs in the course of general adventuring (such as Spot and Listen) should arguably be improved automatically as the PC gains levels without requiring the player to choose to improve them.Following this line of thought through its logical conclusion, it means that there may only be a small number of actual abilities that the skill system in its current incarnation models very well. Ideally, the skill system should retain its transparency, consistency, flexibility and open-ended nature, while focusing more on abilities that are more important to the PCs, and possibly relying on another mechanic to give PCs an advantage for their backgrounds, should it become relevant in-game.</blockquote>

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