Divorced Abilities and Skills (3.5e Variant Rule)
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Divorced Abilities and Skills[edit]
Introduction[edit]
Assigning hard-core blank skill is linked to blank ability is wrong. Not every climb check is nor should be a function of strength. There are a thousand and one different ways to spot a trap. What we need is a divorcing of hard links of abilities and skills.
Rule Mechanics[edit]
This rule is stupidly simple- Skills and abilities now stand alone but combinable. Since skills already have heavily defined purviews, all that is needed is definition of what abilities are used for:
- Strength is used for brute force and physical overpowering of the environment.
- Dexterity is used for fine manipulation of the environment and precision of the self.
- Constitution is used to endure physical trauma and stress.
- Intelligence is used for absorbing and processing collected data.
- Wisdom is used to observe the environment and gather insight.
- Charisma is used to force desires and changes onto others.
In this system, all rolls are resolved with either an Ability, Abiltiy+Ability, or and Ability+Skill roll as determined by the GM and how the player wishes to act. No more than two traits could ever be combined in this way.
Examples[edit]
1- There is a concealed pit trap in the woods as the players are hunting for an orc encampment. Bill declares that he is feeling over the ground for orc tracks, Dave is trying to guess where and how orcs would set traps for trespassers, and Alex wants to watch the forest around him to see if there is anything wrong with the area. The GM rules that Bill must roll Dexterity and Search, Dave must roll Intelligence and Knowledge (local), while Alex must roll Wisdom and Knowledge (nature). Success for Dave and Bill would locate the trap, while success for Alex only would indicate that orcs were here recently.
2- The players are searching a hallway that has a concealed door in one wall. The Bill wants to aid the others by dictating where such structures should be, Dave is hammering on the walls and floors to check for holow spots, and Alex is looking at the architecture. Both Alex and Bill are making Knowledge (architecture and engineering) rolls, but where Alex is using Wisdom, Bill is using Charisma. Dave is instead using Strength and Knowledge (dungeoneering). Success for Bill aids the others, whose success will reveal the concealed door.
3- The players are trying to get laid. Bill's paladin is using the old "do you have faith?" routine, Dave the ranger is watching the crowd for loose women, while Alex the barbarian dwarf is lifting weights. Bill is rolling Charisma and Knowledge (religion), Dave is rolling Wisdom and Sense Motive, while Alex rolls Strength and Constitution.
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