Mechanics Monday: Skill Checks

This week we’ll be looking at one of the fundamental aspects of any RPG – the skill system and skill checks. We’ve been holding off a bit on discussing this system since it is on the slate for some fairly major changes in the upcoming Playtest 2, but we’ll go through the existing design, what we’re looking to change, and why.

Playtest One Skill System

The existing system (as of Playtest One) has much in common with other modern RPGs: a character’s ability to perform certain actions (such as balance on a rope, sneak past a guard, or tell when someone is lying) all are represented in their skills. Skills come in many flavors – from Balance, to Stealth, to Intuition (to name some corresponding to the above examples), and we’ll go into each of them in a later post.

What is the skill system used for? Any time a character attempts to perform an action that does not automatically succeed (or fail), the GM calls for a skill check. Certain situations call for other kinds of checks (such as Combat or Spellcasting, as we’ve discussed previously), but for all other scenarios the GM will map the action in question to one or more skills. The success of this action depends on a Difficult Class (DC), determined by the GM – the more difficult the task, the higher the DC. A character then rolls a Skill Check, and compares the value to the DC: if it is equal to or above the DC, it succeeds; otherwise, it fails.

The current skill system utilizes the concept of Proficiency. Proficiency is a measure of how good you are in a specific skill – you can be Inept, Untrained, Proficient or an Expert in each skill type. The way you calculate your skill check depends on your proficiency in that skill.

For Untrained skills, you simply roll a d20 and the value you roll is your skill check. Simple and straightforward.

For Proficient skills, you roll a number of Proficiency Dice (d10’s) equal to your character’s Proficiency Score. This Proficiency Score starts at 1, and increases as you gain certain levels (to a maximum of 4). For a skill check in which you have Proficiency, you first roll a d20. Then you roll a number of d10’s equal to your Proficiency Score and then take the top value of these d10 rolls and add it to your d20 roll.

For Expertise, you perform the same actions as if you had Proficiency, but you add double the value of your highest d10 roll.

For Ineptitude, you perform the same actions, but you instead subtract the lowest value of all the d10’s from the d20 roll.

Let’s look at an example: Pat is rolling a Finesse skill check. They have Proficiency in Finesse, and are Level 5 so their Proficiency Score is 2. They first roll a d20 (they get a 9), and then they roll two (their Proficiency Score) d10’s (they get a 4 and a 6). They take the highest of these d10 rolls (the 6) and add it to the d20 roll (the 9) to get a total of 9 + 6 = 15 for their Finesse Skill Check.

Strengths and Weaknesses of the Current System

The goal of the current system was to address two design goals. The first was to have character skills scale as they gain levels. This system accomplishes this very well by adding more d10’s to Proficient and Expert skills, thereby making the average value added higher. This makes skills more reliable as a character gains levels.

The second was to keep skill checks and ability scores (Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom and Willpower) separate from each other. Due to the nature of certain classes requiring high scores in certain abilities, if there is a direct correlation between skills and ability scores this can lead to awkward character limitations. For example, an Elementalist will want a high Willpower score in order to use their class features. If the Influence skill was tied to Willpower, however, then an Elementalist would have a hard time playing a socially awkward character. Their character would always either be weak (if they had low Willpower), or would necessarily be good at social skills such as Influence. This limitation on choice was a situation we wanted to avoid if at all possible.

While the existing skill system did in fact satisfy both of these design goals, it had some fairly major drawbacks that were highlighted in our early Playtest One feedback. The first was that it made skill checks follow completely different rules than those for attack or spellcasting rolls. The second was that it required a lot of dice rolling at higher levels (a d20, four d10’s, and then any Bonus or Malus die that might apply to the roll from skills or other features).

Playtest Two Preview: Skill System Revamp

To help address these concerns, we’ve made some pretty major changes to skill checks in preparation for Playtest Two. We’ll give a preview below, but keep in mind Playtest Two is still in development and so these rules are of course subject to change.

To consolidate and streamline the rules for d20 rolls across the board (Attribute Checks, Skill Checks, Attack Rolls and Spellcasting Rolls), we’re implementing a new “d20-Plus” rule that applies to all:

d20 + Bonus Die – Malus Die + Modifier + Aptitude Die

All checks (Attribute, Skill, Attack, Spellcasting) now follow this same rule. The only aspect that differs is which pieces of the above formula apply to the roll, which depends on your level of aptitude in a skill, attribute, weapon or spell. Aptitude replaces the old idea of Proficiency, and has several tiers: Incompetent, Average, Competent and Adept. Unless otherwise stated, a character is Average. At character creation, certain skills are chosen to be Incompetent, while others become Competent or Adept. Class and lineage features of the player can also add other Competencies or Adeptness. Regardless of which type of check you are making, the roll now only depends on your aptitude in that check.

Now let’s break down each portion of the “d20-Plus” rule. The d20 is just the standard d20 rolled with any of these checks. Bonus and Malus Die can be given based on a class or other feature, on a spell, or on another effect on a player. For example, a player under the Confidence spell has a d4 Bonus Die on their next skill check. If a player does not have an effect that gives a Bonus or Malus Die, then none apply to the roll. Note that only one of each type (one Bonus and one Malus) can apply to a roll (you cannot stack multiple Bonus Dice on each other).

The other portions (Modifier and Aptitude Die) only apply if you have sufficient aptitude in a check. For each case below, we will break down the d20-Plus rule and show which portions apply (those listed in orange do not apply).

Average

d20 + Bonus Die – Malus Die + Modifier + Aptitude Die

For Average checks, it is a straight d20 roll, plus any Bonus Die or minus any Malus Die. Neither a Modifier nor an Aptitude Die applies.

Competent

d20 + Bonus Die – Malus Die + Modifier + Aptitude Die

For checks with Competency, you get to add a Modifier. The specific check or skill will tell you what modifier to add (this is primarily one of your Attribute Scores).

Adept

d20 + Bonus Die – Malus Die + Modifier + Aptitude Die

For checks in which you are Adept, you add both the Modifier and a new type of die: Aptitude Die. The Aptitude Die replaces the old Proficiency Die, and scales up as you gain character levels (from a d4 to a d10).

Incompetent

d20 (with Disadvantage) + Bonus Die – Malus Die + Modifier + Aptitude Die

For checks with Incompetence, you make the d20 with disadvantage, and then treat the roll as if it was a standard Average roll (adding only any Bonus or Malus Die, if applicable).

Skill Modifiers

How does one determine the Modifier for skills in which you are Competent or Adept? As we noted above, tying each skill to a single attribute score (as is done in some other RPG systems) has the distinct drawback of not satisfying our design goal. We’ve come up with a middle ground – each skill now corresponds to multiple attribute scores, and the highest of those applies. This allows for more flexibility in character creation. Additionally the fact that Incompetent and Average skills do not add this score as a modifier means that we still satisfy our second design goal.

New Skill System Examples

Let’s look at a few examples.

Example 1 (Average): Pat is a Level 5 character. They are making a Stealth skill check, and they have Average aptitude in this skill. Since no other effects are adding a Bonus or Malus Die, they simply roll a d20. Pat rolls an 11. Pat’s skill check is therefore 11.

Example 2 (Competent): Pat then makes a Lore skill check. Pat is Competent in Lore. Lore is mapped to either Intelligence or Wisdom. Pat has a 4 Intelligence and 1 Wisdom, so they get a Modifier of +4 (from Intelligence) on the check. Pat rolls a d20 and gets an 11. They then add the Modifier (from Intelligence) since they have Competency. So Pat’s final skill check is 11 + 4 = 15.

Example 3 (Adept): Pat makes a Balance check next. Pat is Adept in Balance. Balance is mapped to either Strength or Dexterity. Pat has a 1 Strength and 3 Dexterity, so their Modifier is +3 (from Dexterity). Since Pat is Level 5, their Aptitude Die is a d6. Pat rolls a d20 and gets an 11. They then add the Modifier (from Dexterity). Pat then rolls a d6 and gets a 2. Pat’s final skill check is 11 + 4 + 2 = 17.

Example 4 (Incompetent): Pat has a high Willpower, but has chosen to make their character extremely awkward in social situations. Pat therefore has Incompetence in Coercion. When making a Coercion check, Pat simply rolls a d20 with disadvantage. Pat rolls an 11 and a 7. Pat takes the lower of the two (from disadvantage), and so their skill check is a 7.

We think the consistency of this new skill system along with the flexibility it still allows will make the game rules more coherent and intuitive at the table. We look forward to introducing these changes, along with a host of others, in Playtest Two! For now, feel free to check out the existing first (free) Playtest One here and leave your feedback.

Mechanics Monday will be going on a short hiatus as we work hard to bring you Playtest Two in the coming months. Feel free to peruse the other entries for more information on spellcasting, combat and status effects. Stay tuned to our website and social media for updates on the release of Playtest Two!