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DSG: On many occasions throughout
these rules, characters will be
called upon to roll Ability Checks against one or another of their
seven attributes: STR, INT,
WIS,
DEX,
CON,
CHA, and COM.
The check will be termed a
DEX Check, CON Check, etc., as appropriate to the
case at hand.
An Ability Check is rolled on 1d20. The check is successful if
the roll is equal to or less than the ability in question.
For example, a character with a STR of 12 is called ud
n to
make a STR Check. He rolls a 14 on the d20, so the check
is
unsuccessful and the attempted feat of Strength is a
failure.
Occasionally an Ability Check calls for a certain number or
combination of dice, as in a 4d6 DEX
Check. In this case,
substitute the listed dice for the d20. The purpose is still to roll
the
attribute score or less. Modifiers to the ability score might apply
in
some instances.
WSG: This procedure, introduced
to the
AD&D game system in the
DSG, enables the DM to determine
a player character’s success or failure in an attempt to
perform some function related to one of the character’s ability
scores. An Ability Check will always be referred to by the specific
ability in question (STR Check, DEX Check, etc.). To
conduct the check, the DM or the player rolls ld20
and compares the result to the character’s ability score. If the die
result is equal to or less than the ability score, the check is successful
and the character is able to do what he tried to do. If the
die result is greater than the ability score, the check has failed;
the character is unable to do what he tried to do, and may suffer
adverse effects because of his failure.
In some cases, an Ability Check may be made with a modifier
to the die roll that increases or decreases the chance of success.
A positive modifier increases the die result and thus decreases
the chance of success; a negative modifier works the other way.
An ability score greater than 18 is equivalent to 18 for purposes of
an Ability Check; thus, there is always at least a 10% chance that
an Ability Check will fail (on a roll of 19 or 20). An unmodified die
roll of 19 or 20 means automatic failure, even if a negative die roll
modifier would bring the result down into the range needed for
successs.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RFisher
Gary,
Yet another question. (Haven't
you got tired of this yet. 
)
What are your thoughts on ability score checks in OD&D or OAD&D? Calling for a roll <= to an ability score on 1d20 or 3d6 or whatever. (Possibly with modifiers based on difficulty.) Or 3e style: Roll 1d20 + ability score modifier >= difficulty class.
(There's a thread over on Dragonsfoot in which nobody has been able to find an occurrance of such a thing in anything you wrote, and at least one person guesses that you thought they are a bad thing.)
Anyone familiar with my
latest RPG, the Lejendary Adventure system will know the answer to this
immediately.
Ability checks are fine,
assuming the likelihood of success or failure in the game environment is
approximately the same as one would expect in actuality.
As for their use in my A/D&D
material, the Thief and Assassin
classes used them all the time.
Strength was tested thus
too, as in opening doors, bending bars,lifting gates.
Mainly, though, rolling to hit is a test of combat ability, right?
Random chance is a very important factor in the RPG, so using logical checks made with dice conforms to that element of the game form.
Cheers,
Gary
Quote, T. Foster:
P.P.S. FWIW I'm actually
the "one person" mentioned in RFisher's question above who guessed you
didn't approve of the universal "roll stat or less on 1d20" stat-check
mechanic (since AFAICT that method never appeared in any of your AD&D
writing). I didn't mean to suggest that you didn't approve of stat-based
rolls at all (the str-based bend bars and open doors rolls certainly prove
that's not the case!), merely that I suspected you hadn't much use for
the 'one size fits all' universal stat-or-less-on-1d20 mechanic that became
much more prevalent once you were no longer at the helm (in the Dragonlance
modules and Survival Guides, and eventually in the core 2nd edition rulebooks).
That I don't believe that
one size fits all in regards to ability checks is certainly true.
That's why I prefaced my
earlier post of approval of the concept as I did.
The various checks for thieving
abilities and assassination are also examples of how I view the concept.
Early in the developmental
stage of OD&D I allowed non-mages to use wands, needing to rolll their
Intelligence or less on 3d6 to make the device function.
I dropped the concept as
being incoingruous with the class-base of the game.
Cheers,
Gary
Quote:
Originally Posted by RFisher
Ability check: Roll ability
score or less on 1d20. (Or roll ability score -4 or less on 1d20. Or roll
ability score less on 3d6. Or roll ability score or less on 4d6.)
That is system specific,
and not applicable to all FRPGs.
Quote:
[snip]
I guess what I really want
to know from Gary is: When winging it while DMing, do you use this sort
of direct ability check? Do you use it often? Is there any basic mechanic
you fall back on, or do you just guesstimate the odds (informed by the
character's ability scores, class, level, & situation) and pick a dice
roll & target number to match?
I use what seems logical
for the situation, more or less as you set forth, and then have the player
roll for the PC, or do it in secret of it's something that should not be
known.
Quote:
Did you use Ability/Attribute
checks in your campaigns, or did you assign an arbitrary percent chance
to activities that the character might attempt which were not covered by
class abilities ?
If a player wanted a character
to do something not covered by class but otherwise logically possible I
would usually have a check rolled against the associated ability, with
a bonus or penalty depending on the action and the difficulty rating I
considered applicable. the rolls were made on d20 against the ability,
as adjusted, a score of at or under the number arrived at meaninga success.
Quote:
Originally Posted by eyebeams
Hi Gary,
It's great to read about the rules you're using in your personal D&D game (and in fact, I hope some enterprising fellow with web skills I don't have compiles them -- I'd like to try them out!).
My question is: How do you handle non-theiving, non-combat tasks? Do characters have an AD&D style trade profession, or has it just not come up?
Heh...
When most of the play is
action-based, there isn't much need to check on non-cmbat tasks.
When needed, though, I do
have a chack made against a stat, with such modification as I deem appropriate
for the circumstances.
Cheers,
Gary
Quote:
Originally Posted by eyebeams
Thank you. Are these checks
on 1d20? 3d6?
D20 so as to have a level
prbability curve
Quote:
Originally Posted by eyebeams
I'm thinking I might use
a mix of your idea and the AD&D system.
Maybe I'll give each character one "trade." Tasks where that trade applies
are made with a 4d6 (roll under) check. If the character doesn't have the
trade, it's 5d6 or impossible. Maybe at a high enough level you can choose
a second trade or to jump to "Master" level, rolling on 3d6.
You might want to check
out Castle Zagyg, Yggsburgh, when it's released.
I have a skills system in
there to make things more interesting for character class individuals,
both PCs and NPCs.
It is very general and without
a lot of rules and cases, more guidlines for the Gm than anything else.
Quote:
Originally Posted by eyebeams
I'm also interested in the
idea of using hit dice for checks (kind of like you did when you talked
about orcs grappling a PC). I wonder what else I could apply that to? Lots
of good ideas there.
Most applicable to conflict
situation resolution, I should think...