S&W skill system
So guys, I have decided to adapt the DnD 3.5 skill system into my S&W game because of it’s superiority to-
I had you there for a second. No, I jest of course, I’ve been made to hate 3.5 with the passion of a million suns, (possibly unjustly so,) but even if I were to reconsider, I wouldn’t want to smear just anything on the beauty that is S&W. But today I had a thought concerning something a player did once;
The group was fighting two Giant Ants, one was a simple 1HD monster, the other had some mad poison and 2HD, both rolled pretty high HP. At some point, one of the players went on into detail about Ant anatomy to support his battle plan, flipping the ant on the back. On the spot, I gave him an XP reward, and told him to write “entomologist” on his sheet, because, apparently he knew his insects.
I’ve thought about this today. How could he use this to his advantage? I’ve come up with this; when the character is stuck at anything, say, because of bad rolls, (CoC “search check failed” dead-end scenario) he could make shit up about how he uses this to his advantage, and roll the d6, (the one die I use for skill checks,) and hope for a better result.
Say the PCs are trying to establish the time of creation of some tracks. Thief fails. Suggests, he finds some insect remains, wants to determine their degree of decomposition. Reroll: Acceptable.
Now in retrospect, I would’ve allowed him to reroll even without the “skill” on his sheet, providing he gave me a good story about him checking out the insect remains. The sheet would merely be useful as leverage in trying to make me agree to a reroll. I would probably give him the skill at that point.
So in summary, things are staying utterly freeform and rule-less for me, with skill being badges of honor and proofs of expertise, rather than numbers. I’m okay with that.
And honestly, I’d fudge the dice in the party’s favour anyway. I’d be backpedaling like a motherfucker once I realized I screwed up and got into a dead end.
Fat RPG Dongs 
Yo, chomuffin.
I forget who found your blog, Moela, but thanks for the nice words about TSC.
Sorry for the meltdown it had but… yeah, sometimes it just happens, my enthusiasm tends to drop through the floor pretty fast once people start missing sessions.
You were good at blowing up Vancouver, man, if we’re ever making more holes in that crappy town, you’re welcome to come back and rejoin us. :D
Oh shit, it’s the motherfucking PurpleXVI!
You have to tell me who found the blog though, I must know who googles for RPG’s and fat dongs at the same time.
Looks like the discoverer was Viral.
At least, he was the first one to stick his head into #TSC and ask if we knew who ran the blog, he was curious seeing as how his games were mentioned.
These days I’m running a “superhero” game that combines the X-Men, cyberpunk, futuristic dystopias, claustrophobic urban environments and shoggoths.
You lost me at “superhero”.
Give Viral a pat on the back from me, it’s 2:30 and I’m starting to see things crawling up the walls. I should drop by tomorrow.
Well, it’s less “SUPER” heroes and really not that much “HEROES” either. It’s more that some people in this vast(planet-covering, really) urban sprawl have started displaying mutations. Some simple deformities, others crippling, and a few with weird benefits(regeneration, bio-electricity, etc.).
And now shit is getting fucked up in the Urban.
Hum. Sounds like Prototype or what that one vidya was called. Sounds fun, I hope you enjoy it.
OK, serious fatigue now, I’m out.