TNE: Skills?

[angelfromanotherpin]

While the occasional "Soul Edge" style reward should certainly happen; there should be other rewards that don't simply meld into and enhance your original character concept. It's a cooperative storytelling game. The fact that your character ends up looking like Old Jack from episode XXXII of Samurai Jack is kind of the entire point.

In a game where most of the players only have one piece, they should have a lot of authority over that one piece.

If you do an adventure where everyone has to ice skate, or whatever, your character can fucking ice skate now.

Right now, I'm thinking... what if the GM got a specified amount of say about what went on each PCs sheet? That way he could mandate pickpocketing or ice-skating as a plot demanded and the player wouldn't be giving up any choice, because that space was going to be filled by the GM anyway.

In exchange for this, the players could get a specified amount of authority over the game-world, which is usually GM-only territory. A spelled-out mechanic to insert the Seven Secret Snowflakes, and/or to make sure they encounter traps/evil/favored enemy to make use of their specialized talents.

[Murtak]

Regarding skills:
How about handling skills just like feats? You grab the Pickpocket skill, now you can roll some check or other (probably attribute x vs attribute y) to steal stuff off people. And these "skill feats" can be picked up independent from leveling. And expert level skills can be represented by skill chains (like Smith -> Master Smith -> Legendary Smith).

Looking at Frank's list:

A level bonus rapidly outpaces differences in attributes.

Does not apply (for good or bad).

An optional level bonus is inherently divergent. That is, if you can either add your level or not to a skill you will rapidly depart the RNG.

Does not apply.

Having powerful adventurers pick pocketed by gutter rats is not necessarily bad.

This is quite possible.

Powerful characters should be able to do stupid shit like plowing fields before lunch, manning a ship by themselves, and forging siege engines of awesome power.

Only possible if they actually get the advanced skills, meaning not every hero can do this.

If you can only learn languages after gaining a level, you might as well not be able to do it at all, because you won't gain a level until you conquer Mount Chaining, and then you won't be dealing with the Leopard Tribe anyway.

Solved.


Of course it is not much different from Frank's basic/advanced/expert system, except you gain the ability to make skill chains as short or long as desirable. Languages should probably not be a chain at all, while I can easily see skills like enchanting have not only a skill chain but maybe even branches.

[virgil]

I'm all for keeping skills as level independent, as far as bonuses are concerned. As long as the bonuses are large between ranks of difficulty, we can get away with using a d20 for resolution. If you make the difference between trained and untrained be small, then you would need to have a more bell curve resolution method.

Because I like the idea of keeping the d20 around, I'm all for the +0/+5/+10 arrangement.

I still want the option for skill upgrades as you level, just not in a numeric fashion; so we can still have the hero plow several acres in a single day, but with 'trained' results.