From: [z z thall] at [mailbox.uq.edu.au] (Travis Hall)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.dnd
Subject: A New AD&D Skill System: Basics (1 of 3)
Date: 27 Aug 1997 06:35:57 GMT

        A New AD&D Skill System: Basic Mechanics
        
        In this proficiency system, dice pools are used. All dice used are
d20's. The dice are not (normally) totalled, as they usually are in AD&D.
Rather, each is read separately and compared to a target number. Since this is
different from how dice are normally used in AD&D, my written material will
use an altered notation. A capital "D" will be used to indicate 20-sided dice
which are read separately, rather than totalled. The number after the "D" will
be the target number for the roll, or, in the case of skill codes, the base
target number. Thus, 3D10 means to roll 3 d20's and count the number of dice
which are less than or equal to 10.

        Each die which is less than or equal to the target number is a
success. To perform an action, a certain number of successes are required.
3 successes is a typical requirement for an average skill, for the types of
tasks that PCs are likely to attempt. Note that adventurers are often
attempting difficult tasks, and that 3 successes is often not required in
everyday life. 1 success will generally be enough for using Weaponsmithing for
general routine maintenance of weapons, for example. (And weapons can do
without routine maintenance for a while, so even failing such a check is not
immediate disaster, as long as the character is successful every now and
then.) The DM should decide for specific tasks just how many successes are
required. Just because three is standard, doesn't mean every task requires
three successes. Characters who roll more successes than required have
performed better than required, and their results might be improved. Very few
successes might indicate a screw-up, in some cases possibly even injury to the
character. (Eg. falling off a horse.)

The base target number is precisely that - a base. Situational modifiers are
easily applied. An easy task under good conditions should recieve a positive
modifier, a particularly difficult task recieves a negative modifier, all
applied to the target number. (A DM could even add dice to or remove dice from
a character's pool, if he thought that the situation warranted it, but this
would more often be covered by a change in the number of successes required.)

In some cases, the DM may want a resolution system a little less coarse than
the simple number of successes. This calls for a detailed proficiency check
(or just "detailed check"). When rolling a detailed check, total the rolls of
all dice which are less than or equal to the target number. Any die showing
higher than the target number counts as 0. The resulting number gives an
indication of how well the character did. As an example or the application of
this, suppose a character was running, and wanted to use his Sprinting
proficiency to push himself a little harder. The running rules normally
applied in the campaign should be applied first. (The PHB gives one such
system, but I think it sucks. I use my own, which requires no checks of the
type given in the standard system.) Then make a detailed sprinting check. The
total gives the number of extra feet the character ran in that round. Detailed
checks are also good for things like long-term running of a business. Note
that higher totals are better, not lower (else less dice would be better) and
that a greater number of successes will generally give a higher detailed
result, but not always.

Characters working in opposition are quite easy to handle under this system.        
Whoever rolls the most successes, succeeds. Sometimes, a character might need
a certain number of extra successes to win, due to a situational advantage to
the opponent.

In some situations, successes might be cumulative. The character might need to
build a certain number of successes over time to succeed, and the longer he
takes to do it, the more time he's stuck there making the attempt. When using
cumulative successes, it is often a good idea to set a required number of
successes for a given roll, and any successes in excess of that accumulate.
This stops characters having certain success as long as they keep at it.
Cumulative successes work well with opposed rolls. Each success cancels an
opponent's success, with the leftovers accumulating (and possibly being
cancelled later). I once made up a special Arm-Wrestling proficiency for a
game in which a PC had to arm-wrestle an ogre. To win, the character had to
accumulate 3 successes using opposed rolls. 0 successes indicated that their
arms were vertical, 1 a little in his favour, and 3 was his hand touching the
table. The same applied when the ogre accumulated successes. (He lost, but
winning the arm-wrestling wasn't the point, and he knew it.)
        
There are a number of other ways the mechanics can be applied. This system
gives considerable versatility in resolution methods, an advantage to the DM
who wishes to use proficiencies in a wide range of situations.

        Both the number of dice and the base target numbers are important in
determining the level of skill of the character. The number of dice represents
the upper limits of what the character can achieve. This is mostly a function
of training - no matter how much natural talent and practice a person has, he
cannot expound magical theory without having previously learnt those theories,
or win a game of chess without knowing the rules. However, some individuals
(especially amongst humans) have a special talent in an area, giving them an
extra die or two regardless of training. An especially talented person could
have 7 dice in a skill, allowing that person to attempt the near-impossible
(assuming the skill is of average difficulty). However, if that person has
only learnt the theories, and never actually used the skill, his target number
will be very low, and he will almost certainly fail such extremely difficult
tasks.

        The base target number for a skill can be improved through good
ability scores, but even more through practice and time. A character with a
high base target number is much more consistent in his work, able to get the
most out of the knowledge and training he has available.

        Many PCs are not true professionals in the skills covered by their
non-weapon proficiencies. Their non-weapon proficiencies are practised as
sidelines to their more heroic qualities. However, there is a certain amount
of variation in this, especially since most levelled characters simply do not
earn enough money to support themselves solely through adventuring. (After
all, one adventure is more than most people could handle, let alone a
lifetime of nothing but.) As a result, PCs start with a base target number of
7. This is modified for relevant attributes, as per the table below. The
attributes that modify the various proficiency base target numbers are listed
with the proficiencies. Some proficiencies also have a modifier listed. This
is added to the base target number, and represents the fact that some skills
are a little harder than others.
        Once PCs have chosen their starting proficiencies, they then may add
20 points to non-weapon proficiencies. These points add directly to the
character's base target number, improving it for all game purposes. Advanced
(or Expandable skills which have been bought Advanced) skills cost double to
improve. If the player desires to increase any skill by more than 3 points,
some justification must be made for the high level of expertise. (If the PC
practised a relevant profession before the start of play, or his background
indicates a high level of skill in the proficiency, that may be considered
justification enough. However, it might not suffice for +5, +6, etc.)
        
        Over time, skills tend to improve. As characters apply their skills,
the practice will make them better. However, this assumes that the characters
are able to apply their skills effectively in the first place, and that the
task is not so easy that the practice hardly counts. A toddler must be taught
to tie his shoes, he can't just pick it up over time (although the
"instruction" could be from observing others), and an average adult won't
greatly improve his knot-tying skills by tying his shoes each morning. Also,
this skill system is still fairly coarse, so an increase in a base target
number is still a decent increase in skill. Thus, it takes a lot of time to
improve this way. Precisely what is required will depend on the proficiency
and the circumstances, but I recommend that improvement require at least six
months of frequent use of the skill, and that he application of the skill be
one that the character could hope to succeed in fairly often. "Frequent use"
would generally include those skills which the character uses to make a living
or his major hobbies - all those things you would expect to use in everyday
life. Once these conditions are satisfied, the player must then roll a check,
as if performing the typical task for that period. If the character fails the
check (note that - very important - fails, not succeeds) the base target
number is improved by 1. (Thus, an experienced blacksmith will find making
horseshoes won't improve his skill, because he'll nearly always make the
check. He should extend himself more.)
        Note that this should only be used in cases where the character would
genuinely be using the skill for a good reason. Characters shouldn't be
working two jobs in addition to adventuring just to improve skills. If players
aren't reasonable about this, don't give them the rolls. (A good justification
is to say that they are so tired and strung out by all the practice that they
aren't learning anything from any of what they are doing.) Also, this should
not apply to directly class-related skills: Spellcraft for priests or wizards,
rejuvenation or meditative focus for psionicists, etc. These types of skills
are more adventuring skills than anything else, and thus their major use is
during an adventure. If characters want to improve these skills, it should be
through adventure learning - that is, experience points. For that method of
improvement, see below. This rule stops people min-maxing too much through
down-time practice.

If a character uses a skill for adventuring purposes (say, blind-fighting,
spellcraft, rejuvenation, meditative focus, harness subconscious, anything
else which directly modifies class abilities) far more than day-to-day uses,
it should be modified through the mechanics intended to simulate adventure
learning - that is, experience points and proficiency slots. Characters
recieve proficiency slots as they advance, as noted elsewhere. These can be
used to buy dice up to 5 dice in total (7 for advanced skills). Once this
maximum has been reached, each slot spent on a proficiency will increase the
base target number by one. (The DM may disallow spending slots this way, if
the skill code is already as high as can be reasonably justified.)
        This can quickly lead to characters running out of slots, if they
want to use this method to improve skills often. Thus

        Base target numbers can be increased these way even if the proficiency
has not been bought in full. If the base target number is improved in any way
and the number of dice is improved later, each die added should also cause the
base target number to drop by one. (This is not so much to counter the effects
of buying up the proficiencies to start with, but to prevent characters from
abusing the "improvement through practice" rules.)

-- 
Why is it that when I do finally get around to creating a .sig file, I
can't think of a single witty thing to say in it?

The Wraith