[Forge-main] Skills

[Ricardo Gladwell]

Dear All,

The design principal for skills is closer to the d20 approach: that is,
rather than have a more open-ended list of skills, where the effective
list of skills is near-infinite, we have a more close-ended list. This
makes deciding which skills to use for a particular action more of a
science and less ambiguous.

What I need are some thoughts, criticisms and ideas for the skill list
and rules I have compiled so far.

Most skills require a specializations. Like Ability focuses, these impart
a +1 bonus to rolls they are relevant for, for example, Culture (East Africa)
would impart a reduction in difficulty of 1 for any rolls involving
East African culture.

The list I have devised so far is as follows:

      * Acrobatics
      * Art
      * Bargain
      * Brawl
      * Craft
      * Culture
      * Diplomacy
      * Dodge
      * Expression
      * Intuition
      * Intrigue
      * Knowledge
      * Leadership
      * Manipulation
      * Navigation
      * Perform
      * Ride
      * Science
      * Sport
      * Strategy
      * Stealth
      * Swim
      * Survival
      * Track
      * Vehicle
      * Weapon

Here follows a detailed description of why I have chosen the above
skills (the design rationale) and what precisely those individual skills
cover:

Acrobatics
--

Acrobatics represents the basic 'amazing feats of dexterity' skill -
amazing jumps, balancing on tight ropes, swinging from chandeliers. I
intended this skill to encompass a wide scope, including climbing. Do we
need a separate Climb skill or is this skill sufficient?

Brawl
--

General unarmed combat skill for punching, kicking, head-butts, biting,
etc.. Is this a good name for this skill and if not is there a better
one?

Diplomacy
--

General negotiations skill, good for dealing with outsiders,
bargaining, basic etiquette and so forth. Is this better represented
with other skills (see Cultures, Intrigue)

Dodge
--

Basic dodging skill, making it harder to hit you in combat. Should this
be under acrobatics or does it really deserve its own skill?

Expression
--

Oratory skill - getting your ideas across. Is this the same as
Manipulation or is it different?

Heal
--

This is a tricky one: how does this work across different genres. In
fantasy this would be your basic, primitive ability to clean wounds etc,
but in a modern setting this would be more akin to first aid. And what
about medical science, chirurgy, surgery etc.?

Intrigue
--

Basic politicking skill - how to handle yourself in sensitive, political
situations, gossip and so on. See Manipulation and Cultures for similar
skills.

Intuition
--

A generic skill for guessing or determining someone else's intentions
(aka Empathy) or detect lies.

Leadership
--

Basic leadership/management skills - motivating and controlling a large
group of people.

Manipulation
--

Usually most games have several skills (intimidation, lying, seduction,
etc) but I think these can all go under one skill. For example,
intimidation is a Strength/Manpulation roll. Thoughts? Am I mad?

Sport
--

Sport in the old sense of the word - running, jumping, and so on. Basic
ability to run fast, jump high or long and so forth. Is this right or
should there be seperate skills for Run, Jump etc?

Stealth
--

Fairly self-explanatory - sneaking around skill for skulking, shadowing
and moving silently.

Strategy
--

Basic tactical/warfare skill for determining a good stategy for combat,
and so forth.

Swim
--

Self-explanatory. Is there any place for this skill under another skill?

Survival
--

Basic ability to survive in the wild. Does this skill include Track or
is that a seperate skill?

Track
--

Ability to follow someone. Is this skill replicated by Stealth, Scent or
Survival. I don't know!

Animals
--

Knowledge of how to handle and care for a particular animal. For example
Animal (Horse) permits you the ability to ride a horse, care for it,
etc.

Arts
--

Knowledge and talent for a variety of art forms, such as painting,
drawing, and so forth.

Crafts
--

Inlcudes ship-building, blacksmithing, guns manufacture and so forth. Is
this a good, genre-neutral heading for this skill group?

Cultures
--

Knowledge of a particular culture or strate of society, including
politics, etiquette and so forth. For example, Culture (New York/Street)
would allow you to get by on the mean streets of New York, whilst
Culture (Nobility) would allow you to pass as a noble in the royal
court.

Knowledges
--

Basic knowledges, such as History, Occultism, and so forth.

Weapons
--

Skill groups for vazrious weapons, from swords, to semi-automatic
weapons.

Sciences
--

Knowledge of various sciences, including Medicine, Chemistry, Psychology
and so forth. More useful than knowledges.

Other Possible Skills
--

The following skills are quite common in many genres but don't quite fit
into the above. I'm not happy with them unless there can be a method of
turning them into more generic skills or finding a place for them with
the group skills.

Administration/Beuraucracy
Computers (Knowledge?)
Disguise
Forgery
Hide
Lock Picking (Craft?)
Martial Arts [Group]
Meditation
Pick Pocket (Craft?)
Research
Ride (same as Animal Handling - perhaps an Animal skill group)
Sleight of Hand
Teaching
Throw
Traps

Ideas?

-- 
Ricardo Gladwell
President, Free Roleplaying Community
http://www.freeroleplay.org/
address@hidden