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Skill Utilities and Their Impact on Play
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<blockquote data-quote="Manbearcat" data-source="post: 7037427" data-attributes="member: 6696971"><p>Ha. Quite so! However, I decided to pump fake and go another direction. I already did an Athletics one so I'm going with a Dungeoneering one!</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Good to hear. My games feature lots and lots of Skill Challenges (probably 3 for every 2 combats) so the value of potent/broadly applicable Skill Utilities goes up tremendously. Further still, my game sees quite a bit of stunting and a lot of Hazards (Countermeasures) so their value goes up even more!</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Awesome. It will be a great resource for current and developing players to be sure!</p><p></p><p>[HR][/HR]</p><p></p><p>So then. No <strong><em>Mighty Sprint</em></strong> on this one. Going with another level 6 Skill Power:</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>General: </p><p></p><p>1) The above is an Encounter power. That means it is available every scene for the PC who has it.</p><p></p><p>2) It has no keywords so source is entirely neutral. There is a lot of overlap in the disciplines of mountaineering, general wilderness survival, and dungeoneering. In the fiction, that means you know a lot of stuff as a learned dungeoneer, and you can apply it in a myriad of situations to both yourself and your charges.</p><p></p><p>3) Further, note that this descriptor is basically fully open. It isn't narrowed by locale (you don't need to be in a subterranean complex or the Underdark to deploy) like Secrets of the City. Consequently, this means that the PC's breadth of opportunities to turn a bad situation into a good one is significant. Further still, that is 5 skills you can sub, several of which are extremely common (both solo Primary Checks and Group Checks) from a deployed per scene perspective. You're extremely likely to get an opportunity to deploy this in noncombat resolution (assuming one player move goes poorly).</p><p></p><p>4) Action Economy is at Interrupt speed, and turns a failure into a likely success. That is extremely significant in all three of SCs, stunting, and combat, but significantly so in SCs. In basketball, this would be the equivalent of a player missing a wide open layup on one end and it being transitioned to a 3 pointer on the other end; the classic "5 point swing."</p><p></p><p>5) Finally, the vast majority of DCs at level 6 will be Medium, or DC 15. Our Fighter grabbing this (coupled with a multiclass Ranger or Warden for Dungeoneering +) as level 6 Utility (or with a feat) will likely have +12ish Dungeeoneering. That means, on a lowly roll of 3 or better, they are positively advancing (failure into success) a wide variety of scenes via turning around a failed Acrobatics, Athletics, Dungeoneering, Nature, Perception. An Avenger or Druid would do it by sheer fiat (+15ish skill). </p><p></p><p>All of the above work to provide the Dungeoneer's Guidance player an extremely broadly applicable failure turned into success move. A significant turning of the tide. And here, we actually provide the player with nearly automatic Director Stance capability (affecting the world outside of your own PC habitation), legitimately automatic for a primary Wisdom class (or with further investment from a secondary Wisdom class to pump it up to +14).</p><p></p><p>a) <strong><em>Noncombat scene resolution (the Skill Challenge)</em></strong>. The PCs are deep in highland country, above the treeline. The glare of the sun on the glacial wasteland is blinding. The wind whips wildly as a blizzard flanks them ominously. They have to get to the hobgoblin trading outpost before they are overtaken. Complexity 2 SC @ Level (6 success, 2 secondary skills, 5 moderate, 1 hard DCs). Two scenarios.</p><p></p><p>a1) The Druid is trailblazing ahead of the dogsled that the Ranger and Fighter man. The Fighter handles the dogs while the Ranger serves as lookout. A disturbing cracking? A subtle shifting of the snow that they're about to head straight into? Or just a trick of the light and the moaning wind? I'm going to go ahead and make this my Hard DC (23) of the challenge. The player of the ever-watchful Ranger says he's looking for tell-tale signs of hazards. Maybe his Nature is +12 and he rolls less than an 11. The Fighter, while driving the sled, fortuitously shouts to the Ranger "keep an eye out for snowbridges covering a crevasse!" The Fighter player deploys Dungeoneer's Guidance and we get a reroll at the same +12 to see if we can get that 11 or better. Suddenly the Ranger's eyes are drawn to the hazard and he shouts it out...a hard turn left and they barely avert disaster! Mathematically, this turns the group's prospects for success from 50% to slightly better than 75%. </p><p></p><p>a2) Consider that same situation as above except the Ranger passes the Nature check so Dungeoneer's Guidance is still in the Fighter's pocket. They stop for a moment to marvel at the snow and thin ice giving way into the hidden glacial crevasse. The sound is deafening as it echoes across the expansive wilderness. From nowhere the winds pick-up violently threatening to throw them from their perch on the sled and into the dark below. Strange. The steady movement of the air has been unbroken for several hours. The storm has not overcome them. Something moves in the open wound of the frozen earth. An angry draconic roar. Blizzard Dragon! </p><p></p><p>The PCs need to make a Group Athletics Check to avoid being swept into the den of the beast. I give them the opportunity to make this at the hard DC for 2 success (they're at 4 out of 6) to cement a win for the scene. Inexplicably, they both fail. The Fighter PC is about to go over the edge with the Ranger fast behind (but still sliding on the ice toward the rift). He says he quickly pulls a pick from his belt, tosses it to the Ranger while grabbing a hold of the Ranger's leg. Hopefully, the Ranger can slam it into the ice before they both are swept down into the dragon's lair. 11 or better on his roll and the scene is won (we'll transition to the Hobgoblin outpost (unless the PCs want to confront the dragon). </p><p></p><p>b) <strong><em>Combat Stunting</em></strong>. Athletics is the head honcho skill when it comes to stunting. However, both Dungeoneering and Nature (for terrain stunts) have been widely, widely used in my games. Let us just say we're down in that crevasse. A Young Blizzard Dragon and its Yeti servitors engage the PCs on an icy floor strewn with rough edged, frozen boulders (Hindering Terrain @ 3 damage per tier and a -2 penalty to attack rolls (save ends)). The glacial ceiling is littered with huge meltwater icicles that would fall and put a hurt on those underneath. Dungeoneering stunting opportunity for the Ranger! Maybe he isn't trained, but he has a +8 (level, Wis, background, theme, or racial). Gets less than 7. As the Ranger is tenaciously firing a volley of arrows into the ceiling in attempt to collapse it, the Fighter catches on subtly pulls at the bottom of his bow to slightly change the trajectory so the weak spot is actually hit! For an Interrupt and a roll of 3 or better, we've got a few proned Yeti's (and maybe a dragon) who are in DT and have taken 12ish damage. The Ranger gives a sheepish look while the Fighter winks at him.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>c) The general <strong><em>Combat Application</em></strong> is fairly straight-forward. You're talking about spending an Interrupt for allies to escape grapples on failed checks (sub Fighter's Dungeoneering for Acro/Ath) and for when an ally fails an applicable Countermeasure (Skill Checks) to avoid Hazard or Trap effects. Lots and lots of opportunity here with those 5 skills governing an extremely large array of Countermeasures to natural Hazards and mechanized Traps.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Manbearcat, post: 7037427, member: 6696971"] Ha. Quite so! However, I decided to pump fake and go another direction. I already did an Athletics one so I'm going with a Dungeoneering one! Good to hear. My games feature lots and lots of Skill Challenges (probably 3 for every 2 combats) so the value of potent/broadly applicable Skill Utilities goes up tremendously. Further still, my game sees quite a bit of stunting and a lot of Hazards (Countermeasures) so their value goes up even more! Awesome. It will be a great resource for current and developing players to be sure! [HR][/HR] So then. No [B][I]Mighty Sprint[/I][/B] on this one. Going with another level 6 Skill Power: General: 1) The above is an Encounter power. That means it is available every scene for the PC who has it. 2) It has no keywords so source is entirely neutral. There is a lot of overlap in the disciplines of mountaineering, general wilderness survival, and dungeoneering. In the fiction, that means you know a lot of stuff as a learned dungeoneer, and you can apply it in a myriad of situations to both yourself and your charges. 3) Further, note that this descriptor is basically fully open. It isn't narrowed by locale (you don't need to be in a subterranean complex or the Underdark to deploy) like Secrets of the City. Consequently, this means that the PC's breadth of opportunities to turn a bad situation into a good one is significant. Further still, that is 5 skills you can sub, several of which are extremely common (both solo Primary Checks and Group Checks) from a deployed per scene perspective. You're extremely likely to get an opportunity to deploy this in noncombat resolution (assuming one player move goes poorly). 4) Action Economy is at Interrupt speed, and turns a failure into a likely success. That is extremely significant in all three of SCs, stunting, and combat, but significantly so in SCs. In basketball, this would be the equivalent of a player missing a wide open layup on one end and it being transitioned to a 3 pointer on the other end; the classic "5 point swing." 5) Finally, the vast majority of DCs at level 6 will be Medium, or DC 15. Our Fighter grabbing this (coupled with a multiclass Ranger or Warden for Dungeoneering +) as level 6 Utility (or with a feat) will likely have +12ish Dungeeoneering. That means, on a lowly roll of 3 or better, they are positively advancing (failure into success) a wide variety of scenes via turning around a failed Acrobatics, Athletics, Dungeoneering, Nature, Perception. An Avenger or Druid would do it by sheer fiat (+15ish skill). All of the above work to provide the Dungeoneer's Guidance player an extremely broadly applicable failure turned into success move. A significant turning of the tide. And here, we actually provide the player with nearly automatic Director Stance capability (affecting the world outside of your own PC habitation), legitimately automatic for a primary Wisdom class (or with further investment from a secondary Wisdom class to pump it up to +14). a) [B][I]Noncombat scene resolution (the Skill Challenge)[/I][/B]. The PCs are deep in highland country, above the treeline. The glare of the sun on the glacial wasteland is blinding. The wind whips wildly as a blizzard flanks them ominously. They have to get to the hobgoblin trading outpost before they are overtaken. Complexity 2 SC @ Level (6 success, 2 secondary skills, 5 moderate, 1 hard DCs). Two scenarios. a1) The Druid is trailblazing ahead of the dogsled that the Ranger and Fighter man. The Fighter handles the dogs while the Ranger serves as lookout. A disturbing cracking? A subtle shifting of the snow that they're about to head straight into? Or just a trick of the light and the moaning wind? I'm going to go ahead and make this my Hard DC (23) of the challenge. The player of the ever-watchful Ranger says he's looking for tell-tale signs of hazards. Maybe his Nature is +12 and he rolls less than an 11. The Fighter, while driving the sled, fortuitously shouts to the Ranger "keep an eye out for snowbridges covering a crevasse!" The Fighter player deploys Dungeoneer's Guidance and we get a reroll at the same +12 to see if we can get that 11 or better. Suddenly the Ranger's eyes are drawn to the hazard and he shouts it out...a hard turn left and they barely avert disaster! Mathematically, this turns the group's prospects for success from 50% to slightly better than 75%. a2) Consider that same situation as above except the Ranger passes the Nature check so Dungeoneer's Guidance is still in the Fighter's pocket. They stop for a moment to marvel at the snow and thin ice giving way into the hidden glacial crevasse. The sound is deafening as it echoes across the expansive wilderness. From nowhere the winds pick-up violently threatening to throw them from their perch on the sled and into the dark below. Strange. The steady movement of the air has been unbroken for several hours. The storm has not overcome them. Something moves in the open wound of the frozen earth. An angry draconic roar. Blizzard Dragon! The PCs need to make a Group Athletics Check to avoid being swept into the den of the beast. I give them the opportunity to make this at the hard DC for 2 success (they're at 4 out of 6) to cement a win for the scene. Inexplicably, they both fail. The Fighter PC is about to go over the edge with the Ranger fast behind (but still sliding on the ice toward the rift). He says he quickly pulls a pick from his belt, tosses it to the Ranger while grabbing a hold of the Ranger's leg. Hopefully, the Ranger can slam it into the ice before they both are swept down into the dragon's lair. 11 or better on his roll and the scene is won (we'll transition to the Hobgoblin outpost (unless the PCs want to confront the dragon). b) [B][I]Combat Stunting[/I][/B]. Athletics is the head honcho skill when it comes to stunting. However, both Dungeoneering and Nature (for terrain stunts) have been widely, widely used in my games. Let us just say we're down in that crevasse. A Young Blizzard Dragon and its Yeti servitors engage the PCs on an icy floor strewn with rough edged, frozen boulders (Hindering Terrain @ 3 damage per tier and a -2 penalty to attack rolls (save ends)). The glacial ceiling is littered with huge meltwater icicles that would fall and put a hurt on those underneath. Dungeoneering stunting opportunity for the Ranger! Maybe he isn't trained, but he has a +8 (level, Wis, background, theme, or racial). Gets less than 7. As the Ranger is tenaciously firing a volley of arrows into the ceiling in attempt to collapse it, the Fighter catches on subtly pulls at the bottom of his bow to slightly change the trajectory so the weak spot is actually hit! For an Interrupt and a roll of 3 or better, we've got a few proned Yeti's (and maybe a dragon) who are in DT and have taken 12ish damage. The Ranger gives a sheepish look while the Fighter winks at him. c) The general [B][I]Combat Application[/I][/B] is fairly straight-forward. You're talking about spending an Interrupt for allies to escape grapples on failed checks (sub Fighter's Dungeoneering for Acro/Ath) and for when an ally fails an applicable Countermeasure (Skill Checks) to avoid Hazard or Trap effects. Lots and lots of opportunity here with those 5 skills governing an extremely large array of Countermeasures to natural Hazards and mechanized Traps. [/QUOTE]
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