Abreviated Skills Lists

[RMS]

There are several threads talking about skills right now and a few of you mention paring down the skills list. Could I get you to share your abbreviated lists? I'm going to start a BRP campaign (in old school Glorantha!) shortly and am debating what I'm going to use as a base skill list. I actually like several of the knew skills, while wanting to actually shorten the skill list. It's leaving me indecisively in two minds about where I'm going and has made a bit of a mess out of my character sheet.

[Chaot]

I'll dig mine out when I have a chance. It's heavily based on Magic World.

[rleduc]

Here is the skill list for Rubble and Ruin -- I don't think it will help much for Glorantha.

[table]Combat|Basic|Page

Artillery *|special|52

Brawl|25%|52

Energy Weapon *|special|56

Firearm *|special|58

Grapple|25%|60

Heavy Weapon *|special|62

Martial Arts |1%|68

Melee Weapon *|special|69

Missile Weapon *|special|70

Parry *|special|70

Shield |special|78

Communication|Basic|Page

Bargain |5%|52

Command |5%|53

Dog Handling|10%|New

Disguise|1%|55

Etiquette *|5%|56

Fast Talk |5%|57

Language *|00%|66

Perform *|5%|71

Persuade|15%|71

Teach |10%|82

Manipulation|Basic|Page

Art *|5%|50

Craft *|5%|54

Demolition |1%|54

Fine Manipulation *|5%|57

Food |15%|New

Heavy Machine *|1%|62

Repair *|15% |73

Sleight of Hand |5%|78

Technology |Age - 20%|New

Mental|Basic|Page

Appraise |15%|50

Communications Technology|1%|New

Dirt Farming|25%|New

EMT |0%|New

First Aid|30%|Redefined

Gaming|Int+POW%|60

Health Care|0%|New

Knowledge *|5%|64

Literacy |Age - 20%|67

Physician |0%|New

Science *|1%|75

Strategy |1%|80

Surgery |0%|New

Technical Skill |1%|82

Trauma Medicine |0%|New

Wilderness Skill *|10% |New

Perception|Basic|Page

Insight |5%|63

Listen |25%|67

Navigate |10%|70

Research |25%|74

Sense |10%|77

Spot |25%|78

Track |10%|83

Physical|Basic|Page

Climb |40%|52

Dodge |Dex+Dex%|55

Drive *|20% |55

Hide |10%|62

Jump |25%|63

Pilot *|1% |72

Ride *|5% |75

SCUBA |5%|New

Stealth|10%|80

Swim |25%|81

Throw |25%|83

[/table]

Edited March 27, 2009 by rleduc

[Thalaba]

There are several threads talking about skills right now and a few of you mention paring down the skills list. Could I get you to share your abbreviated lists? I'm going to start a BRP campaign (in old school Glorantha!) shortly and am debating what I'm going to use as a base skill list. I actually like several of the knew skills, while wanting to actually shorten the skill list. It's leaving me indecisively in two minds about where I'm going and has made a bit of a mess out of my character sheet.

I'll put mine up for you from my Bronze Age/Fantasy game, but it will have to wait until Sunday at least. It's slightly reduced from the RQ3 skill list.

Thalaba

[Al.]

Not quite sure if this is what you want but it may help.

The single slimmest skills list what I 'as ever used is:

Skill - Sample Specialisations

Athletics - Climb, Jump, Row, Run

Combat - Brawl, Shield, Spear, Sword

Devise - First Aid, Pick Lock, Repair, Trap

Influence - Bargain, Beg, Fast Talk, Inspire, Intimidate, Taunt

Knowledge - Animal Lore, Mineral Lore, Plant Lore, Weather Lore

Magic/Psi - Sorcery, Alchemy, Diabolism, Necromancy, Enchantment

Missile - Archery, Crossbow, Handgun, Heavy Weapon, Sling, Throw

Perception - Listen, See, Track

Perform - Dance, Play (Drums), Play (Lute), Poet, Sing

Pilot - Boat, Car, Helicopter, Tardis

Stealth - Conceal, Disguise, Hide, Sneak

Al

Edited March 13, 2009 by Al.

[RMS]

Thanks and keep them coming, please. I'm sure I'm not the only one interested in seeing what others have done.

Not quite sure if this is what you want but it may help.

If I knew what I wanted, I wouldn't be asking for ideas! So, you only have 11 total skills? That's interesting and lower than I'll probably end up going, but I still appreciate it.

[sdavies2720]

As an adjunct to this, does anyone have a good system of resolution/modification for skills & subskills. To use Al's list of skills as an example, how do we adjudicate if a group wants to clamber over a wall.

Able has "Athletics" at 45% but not "Climb"

Betty has "Climb" at 30%

Cain doesn't have "Athletics" at all

Is one level the target level for the check. So if Athletics is the target level, use that skill at full (So Able has a 45% chance of succeeding). Betty has a subskill -- do we double that since it's the exact right one (So Betty has a 60% chance of succeeding). And what about Cain who doesn't have the skill at all, do we give him a Dex times 1% chance of success anyway?

This becomes important when, for instance, everyone's been using Persuade or Fast Talk to seduce NPCs. Then a player wants his character to specialize in Seduction -- you don't want the other characters to suddenly be less effective.

The Acting Without Skill option doesn't give a lot of guidance for this.

[Thalaba]

My skill list is as follows:

Agility Skills:

Boat

Climb

Dodge

Jump

Ride (horse, camel, other)

Stealth (combines Sneak and Hide)

Swim

Throw

All weapon parries

Communication Skills:

Orate (essentially used for all public speaking in game such as boasting and speaking to massed troops or courtiers)

Languages (*see below, combines all separate languages skills into one common skill)

Persuade (used for fast talking, bargaining, etc. Anywhere one on one communication is needed. Usually used against insight)

Sing

Perception Skills:

Insight (used to counter Persuade or for psychology type rolls)

Listen

Scan/Search (two skills combined into one)

Sense (covers all senses that arent listen or scan/search)

Track

Manipulation:

Conceal/Sleight (two skills rolled into one)

Devise/Repair

Drive (Chariot, Wagon)

Play

All weapon attacks

Knowledge:

Area Lores (various)

Astronomy (used for navigation and calendar purposes)

Crafts (various)

Evaluate

First Aid

Lore (animal)

Lore (herb)

Lore (nature) - (covers mineralogy, climatology, meteorology, etc.)

Read/Write

Shiphandling

Magic:

Ceremony, Enchant, Summon (used sparingly in my game)

Sahharia, Bakshiism, Extispicy, etc. (game specific magic skills depending on which magic system is being used by the given player)

Compared to RQ3, which is where our group started, I've combined a number of similar skills (hide and sneak into stealth; sleight and conceal; search and scan; world lore and mineral lore into nature lore). RQ3 Also had a stealth category which we've eliminated - Stealth is now an Agility Skill as in BRP.

*Languages is a made up skill that combines all the separate languages rolls. Every player starts with their first language. Each additional 10% in the skill grants them the ability to learn another language beyong the first. Communincation in these new languages will be automatic. When a player and an NPC do not have a common language, they roll on their Languages skill to determine how well they communicate with each other. If the languages they know are related, they may add the skills of the communicators together before they roll. I'm trying this out and so far it works quite well in our game.

Hope it helps!

Thalaba

[RMS]

Compared to RQ3, which is where our group started, I've combined a number of similar skills (hide and sneak into stealth; sleight and conceal; search and scan; world lore and mineral lore into nature lore). RQ3 Also had a stealth category which we've eliminated - Stealth is now an Agility Skill as in BRP.

We're moving down a very similar path, but you're a little ahead of me. I moved the stealth skills into the Agility group. I got sick of everyone having a negative stealth modifiers...just made them pointless skills. Outside of languages and lores, I'll probably just steal your ideas wholesale. I was already leaning towards a couple of these, but hadn't decided yet.

I like the languages as is, so will probably keep it. I just use the extensive default system in RQ, but keep different skills and maintain those separations for both spoken and written. (Though your idea has merit, since I never roll against them.)

I've been seriously considering dumping all standard Lore skills, and just using INT rolls instead. The idea is just to use multiples of INT based on familiarity for things, so recognizing a location for someone fairly local is INTx5%, while someone from another country may be at INTx1%, and someone else at INTx3%. Then I'd just keep Lore's for specialties like Craft and Art skills work.

I paired down the magic skills to just Ceremony, though tie it to a specific god or pantheon. I figured that if you have the appropriate spell, then the rest is just using an appropriate ceremony for enchanting and summoning.

Hope it helps!

Thalaba

Yes, it did. Thanks.

[Al.]

So, you only have 11 total skills? That's interesting and lower than I'll probably end up going, but I still appreciate it.

I've used this list in two different ways (for two quite different games)

Version 1

11 Skills

You can boost a specialisation separately from the main skill.

Usually only one specialisation per skill (you can have more but its a bit pointless as you will see in a mo)

Doing so is twice as effective (i.e. in creation putting 10 points into Athletics raises it by +10%iles, putting the same 10 into Climb does not raise Athletics but raises Climb by +20%)

Raising a Specialisation has NO effect on the core skill

Raising the core skill does also raise any specialisation (i.e. it stays X%iles better than the core)

Version 2

Specialisations work as per BRP book (and outlined, badly, by me elsewhere on this thread)

Al

[AikiGhost]

My generic shortened list

Athletics

Awareness

Bargain

Computer

Conversation / Whit

Cryptography

Disguise

Dodge

Drive

Electronic Design / Repair / Security

Film & Television

General Knowledge

Gunnery

History

Intimidation

Knowledge (Specific)

Languages

Law

Leadership

Lip Reading

Lock Picking

Magic (Specific Sphere)*

Medicine / First Aid

Melee

Natural World

Navigation

Perform

Persuade / Lie

Pilot

Play Instrument

Potions / Poisons

Ranged Weapons

Read

Ride

Sense Mood

Slight of Hand

Social Skills

Stealth

Streetwise

Swim

Unarmed Combat

[Al.]

We're moving down a very similar path, but you're a little ahead of me. I moved the stealth skills into the Agility group.

You're in good company there coz so did the authors of Ringworld, Elric! (sort of) and BRP

Al

[Trifletraxor]

Athletics, Climb, Dodge, Device, First Aid, Influence, Listen, Ride, Spot, Streetwise, Survival, Swim + open slots for more specialised skills.

SGL.