Skill based - Revision history

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1d4chan>King Starscream at 23:30, 21 May 2012

2012-05-21T23:30:35Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:30, 21 May 2012
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	= Notable Examples =		= Notable Examples =
	*[[GURPS]] - the ur-example, players are described only by four attributes, inherent 'merits' and 'flaw', and a plethora of skills.		*[[GURPS]] - the ur-example, players are described only by four attributes, inherent 'merits' and 'flaw', and a plethora of skills.
	*[[Risus]] - characters are defined entirely by "Clichés", such as "Viking", "Wizard", or "Bumbling Hero", with a numerical indication of their competency (or incompetency) at tasks that would fall under the purview of that cliché. You would use the cliché rank to determine success chance for any task the players can agree would be familiar to stereotypical "Bumbling Viking Wizard."		*[[Risus]] - characters are defined entirely by "Clichés", such as "[[Viking]]", "Wizard", or "Bumbling Hero", with a numerical indication of their competency (or incompetency) at tasks that would fall under the purview of that cliché. You would use the cliché rank to determine success chance for any task the players can agree would be familiar to stereotypical "Bumbling [[Viking]] Wizard."
	*[[Traveller]] - although character generation is class-ish, with the terms served during one's career, the resulting character is only attributes and skills, and character improvement is improving skills or acquring new ones.		*[[Traveller]] - although character generation is class-ish, with the terms served during one's career, the resulting character is only attributes and skills, and character improvement is improving skills or acquring new ones.
	*[[World of Darkness]] - uses a 0-5 "dots" representation of attributes and skills, divided into broad categories of physical/mental/social/supernatural (the latter being vampire disciplines, garou gifts, mage spheres, etc)		*[[World of Darkness]] - uses a 0-5 "dots" representation of attributes and skills, divided into broad categories of physical/mental/social/supernatural (the latter being vampire disciplines, garou gifts, mage spheres, etc)

	[[category:Game Mechanics]]		[[category:Game Mechanics]]

165.82.76.107: /* Drawbacks */

2011-04-11T01:55:22Z

Drawbacks

← Older revision		Revision as of 01:55, 11 April 2011
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	For skills that have a more specific use, it's implied that people who don't spend points to acquire that skill are incompetent. For this reason, many systems give starting characters a 100% rating in "Speak: English" just so they can have 0% in all other languages. A well-known example is how few players put points into the skill "swimming".		For skills that have a more specific use, it's implied that people who don't spend points to acquire that skill are incompetent. For this reason, many systems give starting characters a 100% rating in "Speak: English" just so they can have 0% in all other languages. A well-known example is how few players put points into the skill "swimming".

	''tl;dr TOO BAD [[Fist of the North Star\|YOU ARE ALREADY DEAD]].''		*''tl;dr TOO BAD [[Fist of the North Star\|YOU ARE ALREADY DEAD]].''

	= Notable Examples =		= Notable Examples =

165.82.76.107: /* Drawbacks */

2011-04-11T01:55:07Z

Drawbacks

← Older revision		Revision as of 01:55, 11 April 2011
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	For skills or attributes that have a more general use, game-balance can be difficult to maintain.		For skills or attributes that have a more general use, game-balance can be difficult to maintain.
	For skills that have a more specific use, it's implied that people who don't spend points to acquire that skill are incompetent. For this reason, many systems give starting characters a 100% rating in "Speak: English" just so they can have 0% in all other languages. A well-known example is how few players put points into the skill "swimming".		For skills that have a more specific use, it's implied that people who don't spend points to acquire that skill are incompetent. For this reason, many systems give starting characters a 100% rating in "Speak: English" just so they can have 0% in all other languages. A well-known example is how few players put points into the skill "swimming".

			''tl;dr TOO BAD [[Fist of the North Star\|YOU ARE ALREADY DEAD]].''

	= Notable Examples =		= Notable Examples =

1d4chan>Oinoloth: added link to Skills page

2011-04-10T15:38:43Z

added link to Skills page

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:38, 10 April 2011
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	__NOTOC__		__NOTOC__
	A [[skill based]] system is a method of mechanically representing entities in an [[RPG]] as a collection of abilities ("skills") rather than membership to exclusive categories or classes.		A [[skill based]] system is a method of mechanically representing entities in an [[RPG]] as a collection of abilities ("[[skills]]") rather than membership to exclusive categories or classes.

	In a skill-based system, rather than defining a person by the "level" they are in a class ("5th level wizard"), the character's abilities are governed by their points or ranks in given skills ("5 ranks in thaumaturgy, 3 ranks in elementalism, 0 ranks in necromancy"). Skill-based systems usually have as their improvement mechanic a means to earn and spend points to improve a specific skill, or to acquire new ; contrast this to class-based systems where points are spent to improve one's rank in a class or career, which improves a suite of abilities and only those abilities.		In a skill-based system, rather than defining a person by the "level" they are in a class ("5th level wizard"), the character's abilities are governed by their points or ranks in given skills ("5 ranks in thaumaturgy, 3 ranks in elementalism, 0 ranks in necromancy"). Skill-based systems usually have as their improvement mechanic a means to earn and spend points to improve a specific skill, or to acquire new ; contrast this to class-based systems where points are spent to improve one's rank in a class or career, which improves a suite of abilities and only those abilities.

1d4chan>NotBrandX: A little editing, a little rewriting, hope you don't mind.

2010-10-08T17:53:58Z

A little editing, a little rewriting, hope you don't mind.

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:53, 8 October 2010
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	A ~~'''Skill-~~based~~'''~~ system is a method of mechanically representing entities in an [[RPG]] ~~that is an alternative to the more traditional class-based system. In the skill-based system, concepts such~~ as a ~~character's~~ "~~level~~" ~~are typically non-existent, and the character's abilities are governed by their points or ranks in given skills as opposed to being based on their character level. Rather~~ than a set amount of experience resulting in the gain of a level and all the associated benefits that brings, skill-based systems usually involve an improvement mechanic where characters spend earned experience to ~~improve a skill or attribute,~~ or ~~gain a specific special ability~~.		__NOTOC__
			A [[skill based]] system is a method of mechanically representing entities in an [[RPG]] as a collection of abilities ("skills") rather than membership to exclusive categories or classes.

	~~More complex~~ skill-based ~~systems usually also include more basic physical and mental characteristics of~~ the ~~characters (such as measure of how strong, agile, or intelligent~~ they are), ~~which are used in conjunction with~~ the ~~learned skills to determine a~~ character's ~~overall ability at some task. It is normally possible for these attributes to be improved~~ by ~~the expenditure of experience~~ in ~~the same way as~~ skills (~~although typically at greater expense~~, as ~~the benefits gained from an improved attribute tend~~ to ~~apply~~ to a ~~lot more potential tasks or situations than a more~~ specific skill~~). However~~, this ~~is not always the case, especially in very simple~~ systems ~~designed~~ to ~~pick up an play quickly~~, ~~where the entire mechanical representation of a character may be~~ a ~~small list~~ of ~~skills (or equivalent, such as the Cliches in [[Risus]])~~ and ~~relative proficiency in each~~.		In a skill-based system, rather than defining a person by the "level" they are in a class ("5th level wizard"), the character's abilities are governed by their points or ranks in given skills ("5 ranks in thaumaturgy, 3 ranks in elementalism, 0 ranks in necromancy"). Skill-based systems usually have as their improvement mechanic a means to earn and spend points to improve a specific skill, or to acquire new ; contrast this to class-based systems where points are spent to improve one's rank in a class or career, which improves a suite of abilities and only those abilities.

	~~Skill~~-based systems ~~are generally considered to produce more realistic individuals than level~~-~~based systems, since achieving a high degree of proficiency in a given skill does not also necessitate improvement in many other, potentially unrelated areas. Consider [[Dungeons~~ and ~~Dragons]]~~, ~~where~~ in ~~[[4E]]~~ a character's ~~competency in the application~~ of ~~any given skill is~~ a ~~function of their level~~, ~~their related ability score, and whether or not they~~ are ~~considered "trained" with the skill (a flat +5 bonus~~ to ~~rolls). Assuming they are already "trained",~~ the ~~primary methods~~ of ~~increasing their bonus with~~ a ~~given skill~~ are to ~~improve the associated ability score or to gain a level~~, ~~both of which will also improve a character's skills in a wide variety of other areas. In a skill-based system~~ such as [[~~World of Darkness~~]], ~~however~~, ~~a character who wishes~~ to ~~become better at a specific skill merely spends~~ the ~~experience necessary to improve that skill without affecting any~~ of ~~their other abilities, allowing for true specialisation~~.		More complex skill-based systems will divide abilities into inherent attributes (usually sub-divided into physical and mental attributes), used in conjunction with acquired skills to determine a character's proficiency and chance of success at a specific task. These attributes will be applicable to many tasks, whereas acquired skills are more specific in use. It is normally possible for these attributes to be improved by the expenditure of experience in the same way as skills, although at a higher cost because they are applicable to more uses. Simple systems, such as the clichés in [[Risus]], will only use one type of skill applicable to many situations, to keep the list of skills (and thus character descriptions) shorter.

	~~Notable~~ skill-based systems ~~include:~~		Games that have "skills" with ratings as part of character descriptions are not necessarily skill-based RPGs. The Warhammer system (WH Fantasy, Dark Heresy) has careers, but each limit the skills you can acquire, and you must acquire these skills before you can advance to another career. The systems used by Dungeons & Dragons have their non-weapon proficiencies, or skills in later editions, but improvement of the character is inexorably tied to advancing in the characters "class" which determines how you can improve skills and restricts allowed skills.
	*[[~~World of Darkness~~]] ~~- uses~~ a 0-5 "~~dots~~" ~~representation~~ of ~~skills~~ and ~~attributes~~, ~~where 0~~ is ~~completely unskilled~~ or ~~inept and 5 represents extreme expertise or capability~~
	*[[~~Dark Heresy~~]] ~~- although characters do~~ have ~~an assigned Career (basically~~ a ~~class) and ranks (sort~~-~~of levels)~~, ~~their only important mechanical purpose is~~ to ~~define which~~ skills ~~and talents are available~~ to a ~~character~~ to ~~spend their experience on~~, ~~although this~~ is ~~much more restrictive than most~~ skill-~~based systems~~		Consider [[Dungeons and Dragons]], where in [[4E]] a character's competency in the application of any given skill is not only based on their attribute and whether they possess training in that skill (a one-time flat +5 bonus), but also their class level. Furthermore, their class determines what they are allowed to be "trained" in, and improving class level is the only means for improving skill success (which improves all skills simultaneously). In contrast, in a skill-based system such as [[World of Darkness]], a character who wishes to become better at a specific skill can at any time spend the experience necessary to improve a skill and only that skill, usually at less cost, allowing for true specialisation.
	*[[Risus]] - characters are defined entirely by "~~Cliches~~", such as "Viking", "Wizard", or "Bumbling Hero", with a numerical indication of their competency (or incompetency) at tasks that would fall under the purview of that ~~cliche~~
			All the cool kids are playing skill-based RPGs.

			== Benefits ==
			Skill-based systems are generally considered to produce more realistic individuals than level-based systems, since achieving a high degree of proficiency in a given skill does not also necessitate improvement in many other, potentially unrelated areas.

			Advancement in skill-based systems is faster, because the points spent don't have to be wasted on class or career features that the player will never use.

			*''tl;dr: You can become a surgeon without accidentally being a champion race-car driver at the same time. You don't have to wait until you're 70 years old to become a surgeon.''

			== Drawbacks ==
			Skill-based systems can get bogged-down in bookkeeping, as designers add more and more specific skills to increase the accuracy of simulating scenarios (q.f.: [[GURPS]]). This gets compounded when some skills have "prerequisites" of a high enough rank in another skill. This can inflate the number of sourcebooks needed for a well-rounded character -- which book publishers enjoy, but gamers don't wish to carry a library to each gaming session.

			For skills or attributes that have a more general use, game-balance can be difficult to maintain.
			For skills that have a more specific use, it's implied that people who don't spend points to acquire that skill are incompetent. For this reason, many systems give starting characters a 100% rating in "Speak: English" just so they can have 0% in all other languages. A well-known example is how few players put points into the skill "swimming".

			= Notable Examples =
			*[[GURPS]] - the ur-example, players are described only by four attributes, inherent 'merits' and 'flaw', and a plethora of skills.
			*[[Risus]] - characters are defined entirely by "Clichés", such as "Viking", "Wizard", or "Bumbling Hero", with a numerical indication of their competency (or incompetency) at tasks that would fall under the purview of that cliché. You would use the cliché rank to determine success chance for any task the players can agree would be familiar to stereotypical "Bumbling Viking Wizard."
			*[[Traveller]] - although character generation is class-ish, with the terms served during one's career, the resulting character is only attributes and skills, and character improvement is improving skills or acquring new ones.
			*[[World of Darkness]] - uses a 0-5 "dots" representation of attributes and skills, divided into broad categories of physical/mental/social/supernatural (the latter being vampire disciplines, garou gifts, mage spheres, etc)

	[[category:Game Mechanics]]		[[category:Game Mechanics]]

147.188.192.41 at 12:06, 8 October 2010

2010-10-08T12:06:15Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 12:06, 8 October 2010
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	~~{I find~~ the ~~content~~ of ~~this article questionable~~ and ~~ask~~ that ~~we discuss it}~~		A '''Skill-based''' system is a method of mechanically representing entities in an [[RPG]] that is an alternative to the more traditional class-based system. In the skill-based system, concepts such as a character's "level" are typically non-existent, and the character's abilities are governed by their points or ranks in given skills as opposed to being based on their character level. Rather than a set amount of experience resulting in the gain of a level and all the associated benefits that brings, skill-based systems usually involve an improvement mechanic where characters spend earned experience to improve a skill or attribute, or gain a specific special ability.

	~~A [[Skills\|Skill]]~~ based ~~system tries takes a different approach then~~ a ~~[[Stats\|Stat Based]] system by only having [[ranks]] decide what your~~ character ~~can do~~. ~~This~~ is an ~~attempt~~ to ~~show training and knowledge~~ of a ~~subject is better then having one overwhelming talent~~, ~~for instance dexterity governs open lock~~ in [[~~D&D~~]]. If a ~~person with poor dexterity~~ and ~~max~~ [[~~ranks~~]] in ~~open lock try to preform~~ the skill ~~they will probably fail it due to~~ their ~~low dexterity even though~~ they are ~~devoted~~ to ~~opening locks~~. ~~Another reason~~ to ~~this approach is~~ to ~~give more variety between characters with~~ a ~~large list~~ of skills~~. While this seems to work on paper it almost always replicates the problems with stat based systems~~ in ~~some skills becoming the equivalent~~ of a [[~~God Stat~~]] ~~while others are next~~ to ~~useless under~~ [[~~RAW~~]] and ~~become a~~ [[~~Dump Stat~~]]~~. Skill based systems often require having full knowledge~~ of ~~the system when designing~~ a character as ~~choosing too may~~ of the ~~wrong skills will seriously hurt the wrong party.~~		More complex skill-based systems usually also include more basic physical and mental characteristics of the characters (such as measure of how strong, agile, or intelligent they are), which are used in conjunction with the learned skills to determine a character's overall ability at some task. It is normally possible for these attributes to be improved by the expenditure of experience in the same way as skills (although typically at greater expense, as the benefits gained from an improved attribute tend to apply to a lot more potential tasks or situations than a more specific skill). However, this is not always the case, especially in very simple systems designed to pick up an play quickly, where the entire mechanical representation of a character may be a small list of skills (or equivalent, such as the Cliches in [[Risus]]) and relative proficiency in each.

			Skill-based systems are generally considered to produce more realistic individuals than level-based systems, since achieving a high degree of proficiency in a given skill does not also necessitate improvement in many other, potentially unrelated areas. Consider [[Dungeons and Dragons]], where in [[4E]] a character's competency in the application of any given skill is a function of their level, their related ability score, and whether or not they are considered "trained" with the skill (a flat +5 bonus to rolls). Assuming they are already "trained", the primary methods of increasing their bonus with a given skill are to improve the associated ability score or to gain a level, both of which will also improve a character's skills in a wide variety of other areas. In a skill-based system such as [[World of Darkness]], however, a character who wishes to become better at a specific skill merely spends the experience necessary to improve that skill without affecting any of their other abilities, allowing for true specialisation.

			Notable skill-based systems include:
			*[[World of Darkness]] - uses a 0-5 "dots" representation of skills and attributes, where 0 is completely unskilled or inept and 5 represents extreme expertise or capability
			*[[Dark Heresy]] - although characters do have an assigned Career (basically a class) and ranks (sort-of levels), their only important mechanical purpose is to define which skills and talents are available to a character to spend their experience on, although this is much more restrictive than most skill-based systems
			*[[Risus]] - characters are defined entirely by "Cliches", such as "Viking", "Wizard", or "Bumbling Hero", with a numerical indication of their competency (or incompetency) at tasks that would fall under the purview of that cliche

	[[category:Game Mechanics]]		[[category:Game Mechanics]]

66.61.112.145: Consolidating the 'Game Mechanics' and 'Game mechanics' catagories.

2009-03-10T19:44:29Z

Consolidating the 'Game Mechanics' and 'Game mechanics' catagories.

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:44, 10 March 2009
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	A [[Skills\|Skill]] based system tries takes a different approach then a [[Stats\|Stat Based]] system by only having [[ranks]] decide what your character can do. This is an attempt to show training and knowledge of a subject is better then having one overwhelming talent, for instance dexterity governs open lock in [[D&D]]. If a person with poor dexterity and max [[ranks]] in open lock try to preform the skill they will probably fail it due to their low dexterity even though they are devoted to opening locks. Another reason to this approach is to give more variety between characters with a large list of skills. While this seems to work on paper it almost always replicates the problems with stat based systems in some skills becoming the equivalent of a [[God Stat]] while others are next to useless under [[RAW]] and become a [[Dump Stat]]. Skill based systems often require having full knowledge of the system when designing a character as choosing too may of the wrong skills will seriously hurt the wrong party.		A [[Skills\|Skill]] based system tries takes a different approach then a [[Stats\|Stat Based]] system by only having [[ranks]] decide what your character can do. This is an attempt to show training and knowledge of a subject is better then having one overwhelming talent, for instance dexterity governs open lock in [[D&D]]. If a person with poor dexterity and max [[ranks]] in open lock try to preform the skill they will probably fail it due to their low dexterity even though they are devoted to opening locks. Another reason to this approach is to give more variety between characters with a large list of skills. While this seems to work on paper it almost always replicates the problems with stat based systems in some skills becoming the equivalent of a [[God Stat]] while others are next to useless under [[RAW]] and become a [[Dump Stat]]. Skill based systems often require having full knowledge of the system when designing a character as choosing too may of the wrong skills will seriously hurt the wrong party.

	[[category:Game ~~mechanics~~]]		[[category:Game Mechanics]]

1d4chan>Teataine at 08:48, 25 September 2008

2008-09-25T08:48:14Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 08:48, 25 September 2008
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			{I find the content of this article questionable and ask that we discuss it}

	A [[Skills\|Skill]] based system tries takes a different approach then a [[Stats\|Stat Based]] system by only having [[ranks]] decide what your character can do. This is an attempt to show training and knowledge of a subject is better then having one overwhelming talent, for instance dexterity governs open lock in [[D&D]]. If a person with poor dexterity and max [[ranks]] in open lock try to preform the skill they will probably fail it due to their low dexterity even though they are devoted to opening locks. Another reason to this approach is to give more variety between characters with a large list of skills. While this seems to work on paper it almost always replicates the problems with stat based systems in some skills becoming the equivalent of a [[God Stat]] while others are next to useless under [[RAW]] and become a [[Dump Stat]]. Skill based systems often require having full knowledge of the system when designing a character as choosing too may of the wrong skills will seriously hurt the wrong party.		A [[Skills\|Skill]] based system tries takes a different approach then a [[Stats\|Stat Based]] system by only having [[ranks]] decide what your character can do. This is an attempt to show training and knowledge of a subject is better then having one overwhelming talent, for instance dexterity governs open lock in [[D&D]]. If a person with poor dexterity and max [[ranks]] in open lock try to preform the skill they will probably fail it due to their low dexterity even though they are devoted to opening locks. Another reason to this approach is to give more variety between characters with a large list of skills. While this seems to work on paper it almost always replicates the problems with stat based systems in some skills becoming the equivalent of a [[God Stat]] while others are next to useless under [[RAW]] and become a [[Dump Stat]]. Skill based systems often require having full knowledge of the system when designing a character as choosing too may of the wrong skills will seriously hurt the wrong party.

	[[category:Game mechanics]]		[[category:Game mechanics]]