...because it'll work for everything!
Fantasy? Check.
Historical? Of course.
Modern? Yup!
Superheroes? Absolutely!!
TRON-style interprogram conflict within a computer system? Uh...
Maybe not
everything. I guess. But I do want to have one that I can apply across
most genres I'll be playing...and potentially mixing into the games that sprout from my
fantasy heartbreaker.
The core of the game is D&D Fifth Edition. It has 18 skills, which were kept identical in the transition from the 2014 to 2024 editions and which are used as-is by the 5e-forked rules of Tales of the Valiant. They're a solid set for fantasy and in general hit a nice level of broadness (breadth? too weird a word for this use...). Some of the really specific choices from 3e/3.5 have been absorbed by others, and we're left with a selection of nouns that feel more specific than ability/attribute descriptors, but that all could also be subdivided into more specific tasks. So...no Use Rope. They should all stay; here's our base:
• Athletics
-----
• Acrobatics
• Sleight of Hand
• Stealth
-----
• Arcana
• History
• Investigation
• Nature
• Religion
-----
• Animal Handling
• Insight
• Medicine
• Perception
• Survival
-----
• Deception
• Intimidation
• Performance
• Persuasion
And vehicles, FWIW, are treated as
Tools, so a different kind of proficiency entirely.
Now, I consulted with a couple of modern takes on 5e to see how they deal with the skill list -- Everyday Heroes and Ultramodern5. They're both worth looking at! And since both games are pretty open and have SRDs just a search away, I think it's probably safe to talk about their skill selections pretty...er, openly.
So...both end up with 22 total skills. Ultramodern5 does this by just adding four more on top of the 5e list: Computer Use, Demolitions, Engineering, and Sciences (all designated for use with Intelligence, although I'm not TOO concerned with that yet, as I think it might be best to just let every skill check have its associated ability determined at the time of the check). And vehicles, once again, are handled by a proficiency separate from skills.
Everyday Heroes, meanwhile, also has a list of 22 but goes about it in a different way. For one thing, as you might have imagined I would get to by my mentions of them above, Vehicles is a skill in itself. The rules also drop Arcana, History, Nature, Religion, and Animal Handling. Arcana is arguably gone just to fit the modern setting better. It's also possible that it is simply taken up into the new skill Social Sciences, much as History and Religion must be. Natural Sciences can then absorb Nature. (Getting rid of Animal Handling is a little bit of a head-scratcher for me, though.)
The other additions are Endurance, Computers, Mechanics, Security, Arts and Crafts, and Streetwise. (Oh...and if it matters, Medicine is moved from Wisdom to Intelligence as the standard base ability. I do like it better with INT...)
As I mentioned above, I want to take the
Ultramodern5 route and just keep the basic 18 from 5e, adding on what's necessary. So, from what I see here...what's necessary? Both games have a computer skill...that's a good one. Demolitions? Nah...I definitely had a phase where
I thought Demolitions made sense as a skill, but that just seems so...specific. It can be a Talent/Aptitude/whatever I end up choosing to call the proficiencies that work kind of like Tools but don't have to be tools. Same with Security from
Everyday Heroes.
I'm fine with just one Sciences skill and letting Nature hang around as a related but not identical set of knowledge that someone may have. After all, quantum mechanics seems to be at the root of how nature works, but that's not what we mean when we say someone has an understanding of Nature.
Arts and Crafts? It's broad enough to fit the theme, but just seems...unnecessary. And do we need Streetwise when we already have Insight, Perception, Survival, and all the skills that describe characters' impact on those around them? (I don't think so.)
Engineering and Mechanics hit a similar note for the games, and I'm definitely tempted to run with one of those...there is something a bit different about these approaches as compared to the more theoretical angle of the Sciences. That's a tough one, though...especially since we so often think of the scientists in a story/RPG as the ones who come up with all the gadgets. I'm leaning no, but with these and Endurance, I could still be convinced either way.
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Alright...uh, drumroll please...? The WIP skill list for the Monstrous Heartbreaker stands at (and please feel free to check my math on this):
• Athletics
-----
• Acrobatics
• Sleight of Hand
• Stealth
-----
• Arcana
• Computers
• History
• Investigation
• Medicine
• Nature
• Religion
• Sciences
-----
• Animal Handling
• Insight
• Perception
• Survival
-----
• Deception
• Intimidation
• Performance
• Persuasion
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I think it might work. And I'm definitely up for whatever criticisms you may have to send my way...!