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Message: <blockquote data-quote="AbdulAlhazred" data-source="post: 8486785" data-attributes="member: 82106">Right, I don't think that we can support the notion that 5e, as designed, didn't intend skills and other proficiencies to somehow represent "things are good at and preferentially try." In this sense I don't see that they are THAT different from 4e skills (there are some differences, granted). A character with Stealth proficiency in EITHER SYSTEM is one who's player presumably envisaged their character sneaking around! The player will almost sure solve problems BY SNEAKING. The mechanics reinforce this, at least in an ideal case, by making this approach 'fruitful', that is it will have a high probability of success. Now, we could also posit other uses for this kind of attribute, as merely a marker of some personality trait of the character, for instance. It could be merely a signal to the GM or system that the player 'likes situations that involve Stealth', but even in those cases it would be illogical to assume that said skill isn't meant to somehow translate into "it will be a good tactical option for you to use this instead of something you don't have proficiency with." In my own game I call what 4e called skills 'knacks' and this is exactly their role, to inform you of what it is that are your preferred problem solving techniques. Each knack corresponds to an aspect of a situation, and thus represents an approach to achieving your goal. Players propose actions, GMs consider what aspect of the situation is being interacted with, and a check can be made, but the players also get a chance first to alter their approach at least somewhat. You could say "I climb the cliff in order to escape the slime." The GM might say, OK, that's an athletic solution to the problem, you can use Athletics, and you might say "Well, wait a minute, as a wizard I'd rather use this Fly power I've got and make an Arcana check instead." Or maybe another PC says "Hey, I'm a great climber, we'll do it together." etc.</blockquote>

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