In Dungeon Crawl Classics, a character’s
skill set is very much determined by his starting occupation as a 0-level
character. A character is trained in
anything that his occupation would have him know, and makes related skill
checks using 1d20. If the character’s
background doesn’t support a task, he uses 1d10 instead. If the Judge is uncertain, the character uses
1d10 and gains a +2 bonus.
I find it desirable to sometimes reflect
changes in skill level. For example, a
character who was a scribe might tutor his herder friend so that the herder
could read a little better. Or a
barbarian from Cimmeria might spend time in the Thieves’ Quarter of Shadizar
the Wicked and gain some small level of skill thereby. Conversely, a beadle who hasn’t set foot in a
church for many years might be somewhat rusty.
The Dice Chain can be used to simulate
growth of skill, or atrophy of skills that are never used. Basically, if the Judge feels that an
untrained skill is being used repeatedly in important circumstances, with
serious consequences for failure, he can allow the character to make checks
against that skill one step up the dice chain.
For example, a gong-farmer who spends three adventures on a caravan
might learn to handle camels using a d12 instead of a d10.
Conversely, if that same gong farmer avoids
examining dung, even when it is relevant, the Judge may eventually have him
roll checks to do so using a d16 instead of a d20. Atrophy of skills should reverse up the die
chain with any success, as old habits are remembered.
It is important to keep a short leash on
this idea, because, while simulating character growth is desirable, growing to
the unwieldy mass of skills some other games list is not. No
skill should ever surpass rolling on a d20, or fall below rolling on a d10, as
a result of using this method. This should be used to add flavour only – if it
becomes a headache, or a bookkeeping exercise, simply drop it!
Weapon Training
If a character relies on a weapon she is
not trained in over the course of three adventures, the Judge may, but does not
have to, allow that weapon to be included in her list of trained weapons. This rule should be used more so that the
Judge can introduce new, esoteric weapons to the game milieu than to allow
player characters to “get around” current class restrictions. The Judge is strongly advised to determine,
before the weapon is introduced, which classes may benefit from training. The Judge need not communicate this
information to the players.
How would you suggest a character track untrained skills they are practicing? Maybe on the back of the character sheet, the character has an ever-growing list of things he's done, and after he's got three checks next to one of them, he moves up the die chain. For instance, when the warrior builds a makeshift battering ram out of crap lying around, he writes "Building Battering Rams" on the back of his sheet as something he's done once. If he ever does it again, he can add a check next to it.
ReplyDeleteIt would be a cool way to let your characters get good at anything, but not have to worry about a skill list as the DM. Although it would get annoying if players started writing down every little thing they did.
The player says, "Hey, I've been training in X for some time. Has my die gone up?"
DeleteThe judge then makes a determination.
The player need only record the new die.
Using a battering ram at 2nd level, and then again at 4th? That's not enough effort to gain a bonus. If effort is being put in, the participants should be aware of it without writing it down.