Goodman Games

Hello everyone! I've been looking into a new rp to run for my gaming group and I really like DCC. I just was wondering how do skills work? By that I mean is there a skills mechanic like in pathfinder or dnd 3.5? It would be great if someone could clarify this for me

Well, keep in mind that the skills "chapter" is only four pages long, and two of those four pages are black or artwork. Not much to work with here.

There really isn't a true "skill list" but instead the DM is encouraged to interpret the situation and choose an appropriate stat that seems to fit the task that a character is trying to accomplish.

Basically you roll a d20 to beat a difficulty number (regular checks) or the roll of the other guy (opposed check).

That's about it, really.

finarvyn wrote:That's about it, really.

...well.... it's also supposed to be influenced by your pre-adventuring occupation.

Thanks

GnomeBoy wrote:

finarvyn wrote:That's about it, really.

...well.... it's also supposed to be influenced by your pre-adventuring occupation.

Okay, so my "about it" was lacking a little.

Either way, skills are quick and easy to run!

OKay, as a newbie, I'll add a bit to this experienced player's reply.

Each PC starts with a basic occupation. This will influence your PC's training.

Skill rolls are either untrained (1d10 + stat bonus) or trained (1d20 + stat bonus). The training depends on whether the DM and player feel that the PC's occupation could be related to the task at hand. (Presumably, the character's class could also be used for this same purpose. A warrior might be good to evaluate the quality of a weapon, for example, but I don't recall the rules saying so). The stat bonus is whatever among the six basic stats, that the judge feels should be used. If what the PC is doing is based on, say, intelligence, then that particular skill roll gets the INT Bonus.

My impression: this skill system is brilliant by its simplicity.

The only question that came up in my short gaming experience, is when to do an ability check (1d20) where the 1d10 vs 1d20 question doesn't come up; and when to have a skill roll where the 1d10 vs 1d20 question comes up. For example, if the fighter wishes to sprint to the other side of a clearing, do you do a STR check (1d20 + STR) or an untrained skill roll (1d10 + STR)? Likewise, if he wants to break a locked door down?

Thanks for your addition, Skyscraper. When I re-read my post I realized I was kind of vague and you filled in the details of how the mechanic works, which my post was sadly lacking.

Skyscraper wrote:The only question that came up in my short gaming experience, is when to do an ability check (1d20) where the 1d10 vs 1d20 question doesn't come up; and when to have a skill roll where the 1d10 vs 1d20 question comes up. For example, if the fighter wishes to sprint to the other side of a clearing, do you do a STR check (1d20 + STR) or an untrained skill roll (1d10 + STR)? Likewise, if he wants to break a locked door down?

I like to think that specific trumps general. If a person has a specific sprinting ability that would become the default, but without such we would default to a STR check. In other words, abilities gained through background profession can actually be useful if the situation merits.

In general I don't do much with skills and typically default to stat checks. One thing I tinkered with was the notion that a player could pick 3 advantages or things he does well and it would be a lot like having 3 skills per character. They could pick anything from a 3E rules set or whatever, but then I would allow them to have a bonus to their roll if those skills were useful in the adventure. One warning, however, is to be sure that players can't pick combat bonuses or other abilites which might prove to be too advantageous. (We all know that players are clever, however, and sometimes they out-think how they can use a skill which seems pretty tame at first. Darned clever players! )

Thanks for your addition, Skyscraper. When I re-read my post I realized I was kind of vague and you filled in the details of how the mechanic works, which my post was sadly lacking.

Skyscraper wrote:The only question that came up in my short gaming experience, is when to do an ability check (1d20) where the 1d10 vs 1d20 question doesn't come up; and when to have a skill roll where the 1d10 vs 1d20 question comes up. For example, if the fighter wishes to sprint to the other side of a clearing, do you do a STR check (1d20 + STR) or an untrained skill roll (1d10 + STR)? Likewise, if he wants to break a locked door down?

I like to think that specific trumps general. If a person has a specific sprinting ability that would become the default, but without such we would default to a STR check. In other words, abilities gained through background profession can actually be useful if the situation merits.

In general I don't do much with skills and typically default to stat checks. One thing I tinkered with was the notion that a player could pick 3 advantages or things he does well and it would be a lot like having 3 skills per character. They could pick anything from a 3E rules set or whatever, but then I would allow them to have a bonus to their roll if those skills were useful in the adventure. One warning, however, is to be sure that players can't pick combat bonuses or other abilites which might prove to be too advantageous. (We all know that players are clever, however, and sometimes they out-think how they can use a skill which seems pretty tame at first. Darned clever players! )