What character skills would you say are missing in TTRPGs?
For example, for me, I don't quite know what skill to call for messing with controlling an unknown device that may use magic, but doesn't use magic for its controls.
Yet, Vampire has Drive as a skill. 5e has Land-Vehicles, but that's like horse and buggy stuff, not ... a car?
@pangoriaF Archana, insight, or investigate seem reasonable for the example you used. Maybe history if a character has a familiarity with the peoples who made it. Each of thise rolls could provide different information on how it operates or what it is.
I find it best to throw out some possibilities. Players will use skills that they feel are appropriate or that they're better at. Odd choicescan be vetoed or you can let players explain their reasoning.
You could add another skill for mechanized vehicles or just give them a chance with theskill, giving disadvantage if it's really different.
Give it a little thought but don't get bogged down with overthinking it.
@cynical13 yeah, so I would add a Drive skill if I was playing in a more modern world. Are there any skills you would say are missing in 5e?
@pangoriaF not really. Characters get precious few skills in 5e. You can usually find something that works for a given situation. If nothing else, you can add tools to let players roll their attribute checks with their bonus.
Dimension 20 series are often in more modern settings. You can watch some episodes and see how Brennan Lee Mulligan runs things.
animancy, or the ability to give life to objects.
a block of stone might not necessarily move, but it could store information or act as a guard-post that notifies you when enemies pass by.
a branch in the road might not cause you to stumble if you chance upon it in the daytime, but as all objects are in control of their own fate the branch might direct fortune to chance itself upon you at night. Essentially, itemized wish-magic with marginal effects that occur to marginal degrees that is caused by the wishful intentions of the object in question.
"this sword more often strikes true because it wants to be useful to you"
You don't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes you get what you need. And whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're right! so don't give your socks any goals aside from keeping your feet dry and unsweaty, but give them the option to wish.
tada!
plus, golems are neat. animancy plus animation-ancy - hmmmm really need a new name for that. kineticism?
@gabrilend part of this feels a bit like Auspex abilities from Vampire the Masquerade.
It feels a bit like object enchanting. Like, just having the skill to put magic into an object, and get a reading from it.
Why tie any of that to a spell, when you could just have the skill to do it?
I really like this one!