New Skill System Suggestion

[Rynn 0]

What I'd like to suggest is a modified form of the skill system implemented in the (Rather obscure) Tabletop RPG Continuum: Roleplaying in the Yet. While the system was designed for a game based on time travel, it has a very unique and well thought out d10 Based Skill system, which I've summarized in brief below.

Skills in this system work of a d10 roll, and are defined by two factors. First is an attribute, and second is a title.

Attributes are basic characteristics of the character (Strength, Intelligence, etc) and which one applies depends on the skill in question. Titles are the actual degree of proficiency in a given skill, (In order from lowest to highest: Novice, Apprentice, Journeyman, Master, Grand master)

Different tasks require different skill titles, depending on their difficulty. Lets use the Hiding skill as an example

Hiding behind cover in the middle of night while wearing dark clothing would be a novice difficulty level. Hiding in the middle of an empty street at noon with no cover or shadows would be a grand master difficulty.

Comparing the difficulty of the task you are trying to do, to your rating in the skill, will determine what bonuses or penalties apply.

If your Skill is 2 or more titles above the difficulty, you automatically succeed.

If its 1 title above, you get a +1 to your roll.

Titles equal to the difficulty are +0

If the difficulty is 1 greater than your title, you roll at -1

If the difficulty is 2 titles greater, roll at -2

If its 3 or more titles higher, than you cannot succeed, your skills are simply not high enough.

Adding your attribute to your modifier gives you the total number you need to roll under to win (In this system, lower numbers are better).

Actions also come in three types

Simple Actions

Uncontested Actions

Contested actions

Simple actions are things you either can do, or you cannot do at all, depending on your skill. This works well for passive abilities that you wouldn't need to roll for, but rather improve at a fixed and predictable rates as your character levels (Battle healing, X-Ray Vision, Sprint, Acrobatics, Extended Weight Limit)

Uncontested actions roll based on the system I explained above. The difficulty is fixed based on your skills, attributes, and what your trying to accomplish (Plus additional modifiers based on circumstances, like having good equipment giving a bonus , while having damaged gear would apply penalties). This would cover the majority of skill use

Contested actions are when two characters (NPC or player) Are directly competing with one another. While not specifically related to combat, this skill matters more when two characters are both preforming actions at the same time, and its important to know who did better and by how much (Musical contests, racing to get to an item). In this case, whoever succeeded on their roll by the widest margin is counted as the winner, and all others lose.

Now, the real reason I like this system is how skills improve. Every time you use a skill successfully, you record that success in the skill. When you have accumulated enough successes, your skill improves to the next title. This, to me fits very well with the SAO skills, which improve through use. In this way, if a character wants to improve their skills, they have to make use of them.

That is a brief description of how the skill system (in brief) would work. Obviously there are a few finer points to work out, but I think it has potential. Skills would be given clearly defined ranges for each title level, so everyone would understand what their character should be able to accomplish at a given skill level. But its still open enough that players will be free to describe exactly How they go about using their abilities and skills. Plus, it rewards players with bonuses for thinking of outside factors on how they uses their environment and the situations they are in to succeed.

Probably the most important part for how this would work for our needs is the combat system.

The way I see things, making attacks would obviously be based on Your relevant skill with whatever weapon you are using. The difficulty would be based on the skill level of your opponents defensive ability.

EXAMPLE

My character is fighting a big nasty rock monster with heavy armor.

I have a strength attribute of 4, and my Sword skill is at apprentice.

The rock monster has a heavy armor skill of journeyman.

Comparing my skill to the monsters defensive skill, I see that journeyman is one title higher than my skill, so my skill modifer is -1.

Adding my attribute and skill modifier, I would need to roll a 3 or lower to successfully damage the monster.

Now, lets assume I level up a lot and return with a master Sword skill, and a magic sword that cuts through stone

My skill is now One step higher than the monsters skill, I get a +1 skill modifier. Additionally, I get another +2 because of my swords magic bonus against stone.

Adding my attribute and modifiers, I now need to roll a 7 or lower to damage the rock monster.

Obviously, this would need some fine tuning and tweeking for our needs here at the SAO-RPG, but I think its a great building block to start with. As a system that naturally allows characters to become more skilled in the areas they develop most, it feels like a great fit for what we already have.

Anyhow, those are my thoughts. I hope you find them understandable, and hope even more that you find them worth further considering. Feel free to PM me back with questions. I can also link you to the Continuum core rule book, which might help further clerify the rules as I've described them.

[Shark 0]

GM Saix has a thread on skill systems. I have him implementing a skill system as we speak. Check out his thread or contact either of us via PM or skype.