Skill XP [Archive] - Wizards Community - Pages Merged by Solauren

Skill XP [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Wolghan
02-15-07, 02:20 PM I assume there are people out there who have been bothered, like me, by the fact that when you level up in D&D, you can gain skill points in things that in the course of that level, you have never done. For instance, you could use some skill points in ride, even if your character has never even seen a horse, or spent that whole level in a dungeon where riding was impossible.

I believe Cyberpunk has a system in which you gain some sort of experience every time you use a skill, so you can 'level up' in that skill after a number of uses. Has anyone ever tried something similar to this?
EffigyOfFaith
02-15-07, 02:50 PM I have always used a house rule that states that when PCs level up they may only raise the rank of skills they have used during that level. If they want to put ranks in a new skill (one they don't already have ranks in) than they must have used it untrained; Or they especiallly in the case of trained only skills the must have a good reason to have knowledge of that skill, watched it used been trained by someone proficent etc.

This has worked well for me and satified the players. They seemed to understand that this is a reasonable. This however brings back the old Dnd idea of requiring training, so your towns must include places that offer this kind of training.

cheers
gorckat
02-15-07, 02:54 PM One 'remedy' would be to require a certain number of uses, pass or fail, of a skill to be able to dump points into it. You just need a way to track it.

I think its perfectly reasonable to assume a character gets fancy and shows off or rides hard between the dungeon and town and got better there. Or the wizard spends some time reading to boost his Knowledge: Naked Mole Rats.
Arcade
02-16-07, 12:53 PM In my experience, players will use a system to use their skills as much as possible.

Unless you are stuck in an environment to make it impossible, most characters will spend time ensuring they have practiced. (Hey, my character is going to spend half an hour in the local pond practicing treading water. Then I'm going to the libraryto read a book on sword making. After supper, I'm going to practice sommersaulting around.) Inside the dungeon, characters will use skills non-stop (I listen at this door. I stop and listen down the hall. I listen at the chest). If you give a bonus for using a skill, characters will stop and use every skill they have as much as they can, especially in non-combat situations where there are no risks for doing so.

I remember Pendragon had a system where if you used a skill over the course of an adventure, you got a check. At the end (i.e. levelling time), you rolled against your skill. If you rolled higher than your skill, you got an extra rank, otherwise, you got +1 on your roll next time. This made it so the better your skills got, the harder it was to raise them up.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Wolghan 02-15-07, 02:20 PM	I assume there are people out there who have been bothered, like me, by the fact that when you level up in D&D, you can gain skill points in things that in the course of that level, you have never done. For instance, you could use some skill points in ride, even if your character has never even seen a horse, or spent that whole level in a dungeon where riding was impossible. I believe Cyberpunk has a system in which you gain some sort of experience every time you use a skill, so you can 'level up' in that skill after a number of uses. Has anyone ever tried something similar to this?
EffigyOfFaith 02-15-07, 02:50 PM	I have always used a house rule that states that when PCs level up they may only raise the rank of skills they have used during that level. If they want to put ranks in a new skill (one they don't already have ranks in) than they must have used it untrained; Or they especiallly in the case of trained only skills the must have a good reason to have knowledge of that skill, watched it used been trained by someone proficent etc. This has worked well for me and satified the players. They seemed to understand that this is a reasonable. This however brings back the old Dnd idea of requiring training, so your towns must include places that offer this kind of training. cheers
gorckat 02-15-07, 02:54 PM	One 'remedy' would be to require a certain number of uses, pass or fail, of a skill to be able to dump points into it. You just need a way to track it. I think its perfectly reasonable to assume a character gets fancy and shows off or rides hard between the dungeon and town and got better there. Or the wizard spends some time reading to boost his Knowledge: Naked Mole Rats.
Arcade 02-16-07, 12:53 PM	In my experience, players will use a system to use their skills as much as possible. Unless you are stuck in an environment to make it impossible, most characters will spend time ensuring they have practiced. (Hey, my character is going to spend half an hour in the local pond practicing treading water. Then I'm going to the libraryto read a book on sword making. After supper, I'm going to practice sommersaulting around.) Inside the dungeon, characters will use skills non-stop (I listen at this door. I stop and listen down the hall. I listen at the chest). If you give a bonus for using a skill, characters will stop and use every skill they have as much as they can, especially in non-combat situations where there are no risks for doing so. I remember Pendragon had a system where if you used a skill over the course of an adventure, you got a check. At the end (i.e. levelling time), you rolled against your skill. If you rolled higher than your skill, you got an extra rank, otherwise, you got +1 on your roll next time. This made it so the better your skills got, the harder it was to raise them up.