Making Skills in TTRPGs Better - Oraspire RPG
The Problem
Let's be honest, Skills in tabletop RPGs often feel more like an afterthought than something that is carefully crafted and curated like Talents/Feat and Technique progression. This is partially because Skills are intentionally and functionally more open-ended. You are not necessarily, say, casting a spell, or launching an attack with Skills, though this is not always the case.
Skills are more of a roleplaying device, or a check system not entirely tied to the character's stats. This is great, since techniques and feats are typically more focused toward combat than the social or utility aspect of an RPG. Skills allow players to be creative, or provide a service to the team. This is great, and really fills a hole that other systems in an RPG just do not quite get at.
The Impact
However, because they are open-ended, many players may never bother with using skills, aside from, say, Insight, Perception, or Stealth, without a lot of prompting and nudging from the GM. This is either because the player is new, or unsure of how to use the skills. Perhaps they are more straightforward, and are not naturally inclined to think outside of the box the way Skills do. Sometimes, all they think about is getting the biggest stick they can find and smash bad guys till they win.
But even for Skill enjoyers, like myself, Skills can be pretty bland. Yes, the limit of what you can do with a Skill is your creativity, the roll, your score, and ability to justify it to the GM (never underestimate that!), However, there is little to build towards in Skills themselves other than the score. Depending on the system you are using, there may be Feats of Talents that have skill prerequisites, even Prestige Classes and so on. But on their own, Skills, at the end of the day, are just a number. There is no native incentive structure to build, or progress with Skills. There has to be a better way, right?
Something Different
In ORPG, the 18 Skills will each have their own progression tree. This will open up enhancements and capabilities for each skill, which will give players something to work towards in a given skill. In these trees are powerful Skill Actions. These function much like Techniques, but are more open-ended. Here's an example of Skill Actions for Enchanting!
As you can see, it gives a specific ability that the player can use, while still being open-ended enough to give the player freedom in their roleplay. This also makes the player's ability to use a skill quantified by what they have learned, or unlocked rather than some unhelpful, uninteresting number.
This answers the question of "What can I do?" and leads to the natural next step of "How can I use it?" It also opens skills to a wider range of players who might have just ignored skills entirely, and gives people something to work towards in Skills.
Conclusion
My hope is that this system will open up Skills in a meaningful way for a wide variety of players. I've had the pleasure of running games for a lot of different kinds of players, many of them first timers, or those who feel like they are not creative enough to make an impact in the social and utility aspects of the roleplaying experience. But more than that, this system will make a more satisfying progression and power building experience.
This also makes skills more direct and understandable from a casual perspective, while still being deep and meaningful for those who know how to use them. This, of course, falls right in line with the design concept for Oraspire RPG. From the ground up, I've tried to make a roleplaying experience that is easy to approach, simple to understand, but with significant depth to open up a roleplaying sandbox for players to enjoy, abuse, and dominate. Coming soon to a table near you!
Thank You!
Let me know what you thought about this article in the comments, or on social media! I hope it brought a smile to your face and helped you learn a little more about the vast world of Oraspire! Please share it in any way you can, and spread the love!