Some Alternate Skill Systems (Part 1)

In my search for finding a Skill system I like, I've been perusing some of the RPG books on my shelf. This is a shorter entry today, mostly for my own reference, but some readers might find it interesting to see how other games handle Skills.

First up are what I'm calling "Vampire" Skills. For reasons that should become pretty apparent!

Vampire Skills

In Vampire: The Masquerade, the basic game mechanic has the player assemble a dice pool of ten-sided dice (d10s). You take two Traits (usually one Attribute and one Skill, but sometimes two Attributes are used).

  • Each Trait can have 0-5 ranks, called "dots".
  • The number of dots you have in total from your chosen Attribute and Skill determines how many d10s you have at your disposal (a maximum of 10d10)
  • Difficulty is determined by the number of successes you need; anywhere from 1 to 7.
  • A "success" is a result on any die that's a 6 or higher.

In this quick-and-dirty example, my vampire has 3 Strength and 2 Brawl. This means I'd assemble a pool of 5d10, giving me the following chances of success:

  • No successes: 3.13%
  • 1 success: 15.63%
  • 2 successes: 31.25%
  • 3 successes: 31.25%
  • 4 successes: 15.63%
  • 5 successes: 3.13%
Animon Story works in a similar way, except it uses 6-sided dice (d6es), and the following alterations:
  • Kids use a pool of Trait + Talent.
    • A Trait is always 2, 3, or 4, arranged however you wish.
    • A Talent ranges from 1-3.
  • Animon use a pool of Stat + Quality, plus their rank in their Signature Attack (if applicable).
    • Stats start at 1, and then you get 8 points to distribute across their Stats however you wish (though the maximum value of a Stat is determined by a 'mon's evolutionary stage)
  • A "success" is any roll of 4 or higher.
  • Difficulty ratings range from 1 ("Simple") to 6 or higher ("Almost Impossible"), and are the number of successes you need.

So, let's say Tai is building a dice pool from his Spirit (4) plus his Team Leader talent (1). He'd amass and roll 5d6, and he's trying to fix his dad's computer, which has suffered a blue screen of death. He has to beat a difficulty of 5 (𝔈𝔵𝔱𝔯𝔢𝔪𝔢!!!), because he's simply no good with computers.

🎵 ITS BEEN one week since you crashed on me... 🎵

Tai has the following chances of success under this system:
  • No successes: 3.13%
  • 1 success: 15.63%
  • 2 successes: 31.25%
  • 3 successes: 31.25%
  • 4 successes:  15.63%
  • 5 successes: 3.13%
He.... does not make it, gaining only 3 successes.

 🎵...cocked your head to the side and said "the Pentagon has launched an intercontinental ballistic missile at Tokyo Bay" 🎵

(Quick aside for anybody who doesn't like my lyrics):


One really interesting thing, is that "any result of 6 or higher on 5d10" and "any result of 4 or higher on 5d6" seem to result in the exact same odds. This can't be a coincidence (or maybe it is, and my maths is way off--that's a DISTINCT possibility!)

Only counting 10s on a d10 and only counting 6es on a d6 result in very different odds, and so does only counting 9s and 10s, and only counting 5s and 6es.

Even using different dice pools results in the same results! 3d6 and 3d10 versus 5d6 and 5d10 doesn't matter, you get the same odds, regardless if the dice are different, as long as the pool is the same size. I suspect this was done intentionally: Vampire's maths is proven to work, so why not borrow a bell curve if it provides results you want to capture?

One thing I REALLY like about the "Vampire Skill" system, is that it creates a lovely bell curve. I love me a bell curve.


This is easy to balance for, as you know that a middle-of-the-road value is the most likely result. Outright failure is rare, and so is overwhelming success. The average player is going to get average results, and that's easy to account for. Just halve your pool to decide on the number of successes required, and you've got a skill check of average difficulty every time.

I can see why multiple games want to capture this spread of percentages.

It's got a few points against it for my needs, however. The first is that I have three separate sources of dice: dice from Attributes, dice from Skills, and dice from Applause. I want to be able to visually differentiate between these, as it's important to know how much Applause you're using. Too many of the same dice from too many different sources, and players (and GMs) are likely to get confused. Using a different dice for different rolls allows you to know, at a glance, exactly how many Skill points you're using, and how much Applause you're using.

It does increase the starting cost to get a game up and running, but I'd wager that very, very few RPG groups start by playing an indie RPG. Most are gonna start with the most famous one. You know, the one with the dragons. And if you started by playing that game, you will have d8s.

Of course....... it does bring up an interesting question. Do Skills NEED to use dice? What if they used simple "yes/no" conditions? You either know how to fix computers, or you don't, after all. The degree of success might come from how meticulous you are in your approach (Laziness vs. Motivation, Messiness vs. Neatness, Carefulness vs. Carelessness, or any other possible Personality).

Another reason to not combine Attributes and Skills goes back to the Vampire character sheet, above. Why are Strength and Brawl different things? It's not martial arts, you're not using years of training to master a skill, you're brawling. Anybody can brawl. It's hitting somebody really really hard until they fall down. That's Strength. You don't need to be a skilled brawler, you need to be a strong one.

Boxing, is different, that's a skill. There's endurance exercises, there's knowing when to bob and weave, when to put your guard up... it's a martial art. It's not a brawl, it's a sport. I could see "Boxing" as a Skill. But Brawling? I don't see it.

It's one reason why I like my Attribute system being purely personality-based. It keeps social mechanics and physical mechanics separate. So, in Nobody Poops on TV, Skills COULD work differently than Attributes. There's that disconnect baked in from the start.

However, removing dice would also necessitate removing my "learn by doing" system, so I don't know if that's something I'm prepared to do just yet. We'll see. I really, really like learning by doing.

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