Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
White Dwarf Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Nest
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
EN Publishing
Twitter
BlueSky
Facebook
Instagram
EN World
BlueSky
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Twitch
Podcast
Features
Million Dollar TTRPG Crowdfunders
Most Anticipated Tabletop RPGs Of The Year
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
ShortQuests -- Pocket Sized Adventures! An all-new collection of digest-sized D&D adventures designed for 1-2 game sessions.
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Why I Hate Skills
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="GrimCo" data-source="post: 9876605" data-attributes="member: 7044462"><p>Lol <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin :D" data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" /></p><p></p><p>It makes for more interesting game, no question about it. Or at least more imersive and narative driven. </p><p></p><p>Secret door example. One player might describe how he looks at bookshelf, searching for book that looks more used or one that has no dust/less dust than others indicating it was recently moved. Or taps wall, maybe sprinkles some dust on the floor looking if there is slight breeze due to imperfect seal between door. </p><p></p><p>Other one might just say "I roll Perception/Search/Awareness to see if there are hidden doors". </p><p></p><p>Both approaches are valid. But i sense you are more interested in the first one. Where skill isn't used as short hand or as substitute for player engagement with problem solving. </p><p></p><p></p><p>Personally, if there are zero consequences for failed roll, i go with no roll. I look how high their skill is, how hard DC is, and go from their. Their either succeed or they are told task is too hard and after several attempts they figure out it above their skill level. Rolls are for when there is consequences for failure ( fe failing to pick lock might jam lock, failing to jump over hole means you drop into it etc) or there is time constraint that means you can't take your sweet time succeed trough trial and error method. Think of it as internalized 3.5 taking 10/20 rules that are applied situationaly. </p><p></p><p>Some people like that approach where they just declare what they wanna do and with what skill. I have group like that that plays PF1, they just declare " I use Diplomacy to convince guard to let us pass". Just declaration of what they try to achieve, without bothering to give a bit of explanation how they are trying to achieve it. No matter how many times i tried to explain to them that if they bother to give a bit of description of the method i might give them either bonus or sometimes even auto success. It's just how they roll (pun intended). </p><p></p><p></p><p>I have a feeling you don't hate skills per se, more like you hate how some people use skills as substitute for using their own creativity and engagement with problem solving, just relying on skills to do all the work.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="GrimCo, post: 9876605, member: 7044462"] Lol :D It makes for more interesting game, no question about it. Or at least more imersive and narative driven. Secret door example. One player might describe how he looks at bookshelf, searching for book that looks more used or one that has no dust/less dust than others indicating it was recently moved. Or taps wall, maybe sprinkles some dust on the floor looking if there is slight breeze due to imperfect seal between door. Other one might just say "I roll Perception/Search/Awareness to see if there are hidden doors". Both approaches are valid. But i sense you are more interested in the first one. Where skill isn't used as short hand or as substitute for player engagement with problem solving. Personally, if there are zero consequences for failed roll, i go with no roll. I look how high their skill is, how hard DC is, and go from their. Their either succeed or they are told task is too hard and after several attempts they figure out it above their skill level. Rolls are for when there is consequences for failure ( fe failing to pick lock might jam lock, failing to jump over hole means you drop into it etc) or there is time constraint that means you can't take your sweet time succeed trough trial and error method. Think of it as internalized 3.5 taking 10/20 rules that are applied situationaly. Some people like that approach where they just declare what they wanna do and with what skill. I have group like that that plays PF1, they just declare " I use Diplomacy to convince guard to let us pass". Just declaration of what they try to achieve, without bothering to give a bit of explanation how they are trying to achieve it. No matter how many times i tried to explain to them that if they bother to give a bit of description of the method i might give them either bonus or sometimes even auto success. It's just how they roll (pun intended). I have a feeling you don't hate skills per se, more like you hate how some people use skills as substitute for using their own creativity and engagement with problem solving, just relying on skills to do all the work. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Why I Hate Skills
Top