D&D 5E Why Don't Barbarians or Fighters Get Bonus Skills?

[Ratskinner]

@steeldragons , @Kraydak - I like both of those ideas.

More and more though, I kind of long for a skill-free system, where you get +X to anything kind of related to class or background. The downside, of course, is huge table variation, where some DMs evidently don't think there's anything Fighters and Barbarians learn other than smashing stuff...

I think the answer is a partially free-form system. The authors would make sure that the descriptive paragraphs for each background, race, or class, includes very specific language on what sorts of things are deserving of a bonus (and perhaps even what sorts of things are deserving of a penalty, as well.)

The tough part about such things is advancement.

 

[steeldragons]

I will say, my prior post aside [that kinda stuff is just fun for me], I am all for skill-less/free-form "just say what you're doing and get a bonus for class-relevant stunts"...heck, I'm good if you don't get a bonus at all and it's simply the ability bonus! So Fighters will, on the whole, do better at Strength stuff, Rogues are automatically/on the whole better at Dex stuff, etc... That works perfectly fine for me.

However, as Obryn [and others] points out, that produces disparity from table to table...human created differences...in a table-top role-playing game...with humans...so, that only works for those who don't need the game to put every gods blessed thing in numbers and cents or think the table-top socially interactive game should be structured to play like a computer with everything working out exactly as planned every time. <invoke best Sheldon imitation> Otherwise, how can one possibly play make believe elf knights grave-robbing dragons with any veracity?! </invocation>

Is the possibility of a skill-less game so foreign a concept to D&D? I mean, in page count alone, you'd save soooo much space (and thus, money OR make room to fill those pages with other stuff).

 

[Ratskinner]

Is the possibility of a skill-less game so foreign a concept to D&D? I mean, in page count alone, you'd save soooo much space (and thus, money OR make room to fill those pages with other stuff).

I shouldn't think so. That's kinda where the game started. Making room for other cooler stuff is a big advantage, IMO.

 

[glenrm]

Wait, since when are were fighters or barbarians trained in climbing, swimming, driving, survival or, for the most part, riding? Intimidation and Knowledge (Warfare) is a -possibility- at best.

Fighters are trained in combat. Barbarians are not trained in anything, except possibly picking up heavy objects and setting them back down.
You could tie them into a background, but they shouldn't get these skills just for the sake of being these classes.

In my day we had Open Doors / Gates and Bend Bars and we liked it