mean_liar wrote:The remaining problem that has no answer (PL - we understand you feel that no problem has been answered) is that magic obviates the non-combat non-social aspects of the game, at least in DnD.
Actually that remarkably enough isn't a massive problem.
It is barely a problem at all.
"non-combat/non-social" is another way of describing "everything else" or rather, everything outside actual formal rules resolution.
These things, like lock picking, often involve a dice roll. But there are a number of defining aspects to them.
1) Dice may be rolled but the difficulties, circumstantial modifiers and often even the basic character bonuses involved are close enough to entirely arbitrary as not to matter.
2) Resolution is very quick, and very simple. One dice roll,
or less, at least as long as you aren't in "skill challenge" wank fantasy land.
3) Usefulness of abilities depends on arbitrary context. Having a +5 to lock picking means very little since the GM basically will throw down DCs pretty much as he likes, and since there are probably five other ways to get past or through that locked door. But it is of
even less value when you consider that it only becomes useful at all if the GM happens to throw locked doors at you, or if you seek them out. Alternately they could be, contextually, of massive value, for little or no real reason. The GM, the story or the players can just happen to arrange things that way. Whatever.
4) These abilities are all pretty easy to just bypass. Failing to track some guy doesn't end the game or even the adventure, no picking a door lock means pretty little when you can kick it in, teleport through the wall, break a window, go around,
or just go find some other way to spend your time.
5) Many of these things would be best resolved without a dice roll at all. A lot of these things are pretty risk free and relatively valueless actions in the long run. Having the ability "pick locks" could about 99% of the time just as easily be resolved by saying "I pick the lock with my lock pick ability" and the GM saying "Yes you do". Indeed most of the time the game would be
better off resolving this largely arbitrary bullshit in this manner.
So anyway the sum total of all this means that basically anything that falls into "quick and arbitrary" cracks between the
real rules is both just short of valueless and also just short of impossible to balance.
And that's OK because what you do is admit that it is just quick and arbitrary, stop WANKING about pretending it's real formal resolution, support it in a quick and arbitrary manner and make sure you never trade out combat (or other genuinely formalized) power for it. Then you just give out the abitrary shit in whatever (separate) scheme you like, because who the fuck cares?
+15 to profession (basket weaving) is NEVER EVER worth +5 BAB, but it may or not be worth more or less than +7 profession (gold prospector) and no one gives a damn.
Having one guy get +20 extra from a spell is mildly annoying but ultimately not really largely more or less arbitrary than the base system itself.
