D&D 5E (2024) There is sauerkraut in my lederhosen: Snarf's Guide to Using (and adjudicating) Skills in 5e

[TiQuinn]

I tend to think of skills differently than what I’ve seen others say they do at their tables. I see the skill system as somewhat secondary in D&D. Meaning, they have their place but they aren’t magic. They don’t replace combat. There are simply some things your skills just aren’t going to accomplish in my view.

Just as I don’t think you can charisma your way through a secret door, you are not going to persuade the evil emperor to abdicate his throne. You are not going to intimidate the red dragon into giving you the magic artifact that is the prize of its hoard. Sometimes the skill is just not possible or cannot provide the result you want. I also think that skill choice should be a bit fixed as to what that skill does or doesn’t do, and I admit I’m guilty of letting this slide. I think there should definitely be cases where if you dumped a stat or didn’t choose a skill, switching out of that skill for something you’re good at should be kind of rare. I know that’s probably “not fun” for some but I do think some character choices matter.

 

[overgeeked]

One thing that I changed for skills in my game, which came from WW2: Operation Whitebox and Mothership as an inspriation was not rolling for skills unless they were being applied under stress. If a character has time and the right skill, I reward roleplay by just having the skill work.

Fewer pointless rolls is always good.

Another way to got is treat the roll as a save, effectively. You automatically succeed, now roll to see if there are complications or consequences.

 

[Tonguez]

The lore and empathy skills should be downgraded to the level of tools: regulated to optional side games.

That's what I did on my paper games.

1. Arcana-> Arcane Books
2. Survival--> Survival manuals
3. Medicine--> Medicine books
4. Nature-> nature journals
5. Religion-> Religious tomes
6. History->✓History books
7. Animal Handling-> Veterinary books< training manuals
8. Performance- dancing shoes, acting books, music books

Not even that. I think they should broaden Backgrounds and have all Backgrounds grant a Lore Skill and a Professional (Technique) Skill.

So if someone has Horse Breeder Background that automatically get the Lore (Nature) and Profession (Animal Handling)
if they're a Healer they get Healing Lore (Herbs/Medicine) and Healing Techniques
id they want to be a Hunter they get Lore (Tracking) and Hunting Techniques (Survival)
if they want an Archaeologist Background that get Lore (History) and Archaeology Techniques
if they want to be a Lawyer or a Basket Weaver or a Gongfarmer they can do that too and all it takes is 2 ribbon skills and fun background feat.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

Fewer pointless rolls is always good.

Another way to got is treat the roll as a save, effectively. You automatically succeed, now roll to see if there are complications or consequences.

I often employ degrees of success. I will use relative success for narration (how close was the roll to the required number) as well as success with complications or consequences instead of binary failure.

I appreciate you mentioned that, but I didn't want to put that into the OP because that would add a whole 'nother issue that I worried might derail the topic of better enjoyment of 5e's skills.

 

[Parmandur]

I often employ degrees of success. I will use relative success for narration (how close was the roll to the required number) as well as success with complications or consequences instead of binary failure.

I appreciate you mentioned that, but I didn't want to put that into the OP because that would add a whole 'nother issue that I worried might derail the topic of better enjoyment of 5e's skills.

One way to spice that up is to add a second die to create a second dimension of success, so you can have "Yes, But" or "No, And" results fast and easy. Say a D6 along withbthe d20 with 1-2 being a complication, 3-4 a straight role, and 5-6 a good side effect.

 

[Mannahnin]

Just as I don’t think you can charisma your way through a secret door, you are not going to persuade the evil emperor to abdicate his throne. You are not going to intimidate the red dragon into giving you the magic artifact that is the prize of its hoard. Sometimes the skill is just not possible or cannot provide the result you want.

Just a quick note that the oft-ignored social rules in the DMG cover all that.

Sometimes the skill is just not possible or cannot provide the result you want. I also think that skill choice should be a bit fixed as to what that skill does or doesn’t do, and I admit I’m guilty of letting this slide. I think there should definitely be cases where if you dumped a stat or didn’t choose a skill, switching out of that skill for something you’re good at should be kind of rare. I know that’s probably “not fun” for some but I do think some character choices matter.

I tend to concur. I don't want to be too rigid, but I do want substitutions to make sense.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

I often employ degrees of success. I will use relative success for narration (how close was the roll to the required number) as well as success with complications or consequences instead of binary failure.

I appreciate you mentioned that, but I didn't want to put that into the OP because that would add a whole 'nother issue that I worried might derail the topic of better enjoyment of 5e's skills.

As you've probably noticed (playing my games): I like to ask for rolls. I understand (and for the most part, agree with) the notion that "if the outcome is certain, or there are no consequences for failure, then there should be no roll", but I like rolling.

I've also long since decided that the best way (for me at least) to DM/GM is to have little to no opinion on how events will play out in the game. I tend to let the dice decide for me.

I also wrote a Heartbreaker in the 90's that had a mathematically high chance of failure - but made failure fun - and some of our best remembered moments came from fumbles (of all things). From that, probably, I have built the best personal GMing skills I can muster to make failure fun, and also never game derailing.

On top of those things, a lot of the time, when I ask for a roll, it's simply to see how well the PCs does, or how "cool" they look doing it, or if drawbacks occur (while otherwise succeeding).

To me, a Setback isn't The End and you'll only enjoy success if you experience failure (and learn to accept it). All you have to do is to make sure that the highs of success are better than the lows of failure, and that failure is also as fun as it can be, as often as possible.