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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Scott Christian" data-source="post: 9097913" data-attributes="member: 6901101">I would strongly urge you to consider that +1 is not +1, but more like adding 5%. A rather large difference.Also, skills should not be specific. The second they are, that player that specialized in it has to wait for the specific time and place and circumstance to be in the limelight. And the DM has to custom-tailor some silly circumstance just to meet the need of the player. Here are two things for skills you could do to make them seem less granular:<ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Only allow PCs with proficiency in the skill to roll. A fighter climbing a cliff wall. Great, you need to understand climbing in order to scale it for the first time. That's covered under athletics. If the fighter makes it up, they can throw a rope or show the others what to do, thus allowing them to attempt the skill check. If no one has the proficiency, they can all try but at disadvantage since no one understands the basics of climbing. This same rule can apply to any skill as long as it makes sense. It is a way for the PCs with proficiency to not just feel like they have a +5, but that they actually have knowledge other PCs do not. That goes a long way in solving the granular feel.</li> </ol>Regarding your interesting statement, this is so DM/player reliant that it's difficult to accomplish at all tables. I mean, how much do you know about the nature of oak trees and the shrubbery that symbiotically lives underneath them? Now, translate that to the roots of the weeds that live underneath those plants. What does that gariig smell like? This is the root that your ranger is looking for to help stop the poison from spreading in their companion. They find it by spotting the holt of oaks, then finding the red holly, then spread that apart to find the gariig. They pull the thin grass out at the roots and smell: it smells like wild onion, so it is old enough to work. With that they run back to camp and... Limiting the number system with narration means understanding how things work. And that comes with age, experience, and reading. Which leads to number two:<ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">-</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">The DM should curate scenes specifically for skills that they have studied or that they know the players have knowledge of. This will allow the type of narration and storytelling to happen and reduce the granular feel of making skills just numbers. But they must curate it. I've seen DMs write ten pages just on how to make different potions so they can narrate the scene of alchemy. I've seen DMs take notes while hiking and climbing to accurately describe constitution checks and athletics. And it doesn't have to be realistic, but it does need to be in story form. I've seen a player that was a professional ballet dancer, he used to describe his bard's performances by describing the dance moves. It definitely lured the players and me in. </li> </ol>Hope this helps.</blockquote>

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