Skill Checks

One thing I've noticed:


The storyteller's guides have all sorts of stuff on the 'large scale' - specific scenes. But you have none of the microscopic details that are, if nothing else, more important. For example, you should have a list of exactly what skills can be used for what sort of checks.

Like, merchant. Can haggle be used to get the idea of how much a good should cost? Can it be used to negotiate? Can it be used to figure out how much it costs to make a good - or should engineering (or explosives) be used? Does it overlap with financial knowledge?

Academics. Is that used for just knowledge, or can it be used for long-term research. How much does extra time effect skill checks? If you have all day to figure something out, chances are /anyone/ who uses a computer can figure it out, given enough time (and assuming it doesn't require phd level skill), even in real life. How much of Academics skills (and its checks) can overlap with Engineering (for knowledge of physics) merchant (for financial knowledge) or navigation (for knowledge of astrophysics/the various hazards in space)?

What skill check would Han Solo need to make to put on a stormtroopers outfit to sneak through the Death Star? Disguise? Hide?

Gambling. Does it represent /just/ sabbac, or can it represent a flip of the coin? Is it actually skill, increased luck, or is it the ability to count cards/fix the game? Can you use it to 'rig' a gambling game?

Under what conditions can multiple skills be used to roll something? Should you use the highest applicable skill or the lowest?

These are important questions. I don't actually need the answers to them, but someone will (for every skill) eventually. Moreover, if you want to run d&d like adventures - which is what the Storyteller's templates outline -you'll probably want people to have a better idea of what skills they really have then just vague descriptions that could mean anything. For example, I just realized I had the merchant skill. I must have looked at my skill list 20-30 times over the past two days that DH2 has been open. If the staffers really want to make constant mini-adventures, the players need an idea of what sort of skills they know, and what they can do with them. The current +stat setup is designed to allow players to judge their progress without //actually// telling them anything (presumably to avoid min-maxing)...but that won't really enable the sort of adventures you have in the Storyteller's templates, because it means the player's don't really know what they can do.

You also may (or may not) want an easy command for players to compare their skills at something.

I'm not making this comment/asking these questions to be annoying or to complain, but because my first opportunity to make a skill check came up, and these sorts of questions popped through my mind. As a player, I know very little about skill checks, and thus what my character should or should not be able to do. Working out in advance how the above logistics work and making it clear to everyone will save a lot of long-term headaches.

The Wizards might overrule me, but I'm going to say this:

Use whatever you like. If it makes sense. And if you agree.

If you want to use your blaster skill to open a door, go for it. It'll probably be Insane or impossible. Really high skill. Vs a "difficult" with a more appropriate skill.

But if you're going with each other, that's up to you guys.

I'm not going to tell you the specifics because there are no hard and fast specifics. It is an organic game that grows differently. If I say the way Han got to the Detention Level is using "disguise" then people want to max their disguise. That is not the goal here. We don't want people "figuring out what they need" I want people to be creative.

There will be some times when you CAN'T use a skill check. There will be times you CAN. The GM of the scene might say "No matter how good you are with blasters, you can't blast open the lock" while another scene might have a door that is blast-able.

If you try to negotiate using blaster skills... fine. But you're going to have to pose something that makes sense... "Tell me what I want to know or I'll shoot you through your leg... don't worry I won't hit anything vital" "Never!" "+check blasters=very difficult" "AAARGH! Okay! Okay!"

But maybe you want to beat him up? Or just coerce him. Or maybe you are debating him to try to trick him into revealing his secret to new-bacta. So you use academics for that!

But the +check code backs up your poses. If you pose it... it may not even need a +check. Sometimes you'll want to +check to modify a pose. Like you want to backflip off the bar onto a stool and sip a drink. You check your athletics first, rather than just posing doing it. Because while the pose is impressive, if you ace the check, too, you write it MORE impressive.

Stuff like that.

However, if there is overwhelming desire to have every action defined... I'll take it into consideration and see what we can do about it.