A Quick Look At Skills

One of the big survey results was related to more granularity with skills. With that in mind, we are currently developing the O5E (original 5E) skill system into something a little more detailed. Here’s where we are right now, with the caveat that this is very much a peek at work in development and is very subject to change.

Skill List

The skill list is largely the same. We’ve added two new skills: Engineering, which allows a character to know a fact or advance a project involving building, invention, or mathematics; and Cultural Knowledge, which encompasses things like streetwise, customs, traditions, and knowing who or where things are.

Skill Checks

In O5E, you make ability checks. In Level Up, you can also make skill checks.

You can use any ability with any skill as long as it’s appropriate to the task at hand. For example, let’s look at the new skill of Engineering. You might use Intelligence (Engineering) to figure out how a strange machine works; you might use Dexterity (Engineering) to build a tiny device; or you might use Strength (Engineering) to build a wall. As usual, if you are proficient in a skill you get to add your proficiency bonus to the ability check.

Of course, if you aren’t proficient in a relevant skill, you can still try with a flat ability check.

Specialties

In each skill you might also have a specialty. Just because you are proficient in Athletics doesn’t mean you’re equally good at swimming, climbing, and jumping.

The number of specialties you have is equal to your proficiency modifier — you start with two, and you gain more as you increase in level. You note the specialty next to the skill. Whenever your speciality applies, you gain an expertise die in that check.

You also gain some extra specialties based on your Intelligence modifier.

Each skill has its own list of possible specialties, although these may vary sightly in different game worlds. For example, Acrobatics offers balancing, escape artistry, and tumbling, while Athletics includes climbing, jumping, lifting, running, swimming, and throwing.

Expertise Dice

You have already seen expertise dice in the Rogue playtest document and elsewhere. An expertise die is an extra d4 you add to an ability check, attack roll, skill check, or saving throw. If you gain more than one expertise die for a particular roll, they don’t stack directly; instead they increase the size of the expertise die from d4 to d6, and then capping at d8. You can get expertise dice from a variety of sources.

Your Character Sheet

On your character sheet, skills won’t be listed along with relevant ability scores. They’ll be separated from the ability scores, to make it clear that any skill can be used with any ability. It’ll look something like this:

Athletics [✓ ] ________

You’d check the box if you are proficient, and you’d write your speciality (if you have one) on the line.