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How do you handle skill descriptions?

M

Madmaxneo

Well-known member
The game I play (HARP) is a system focused on skills. I would like to start putting some skill descriptions into Realm Works so the players have a better understanding of certain skills and how they work. I could easily create another category and add the spells under that as sections. But I am not so sure that is the best way. For those that use a skill system in their games and have input some skills how did you do it?

This is also a question for those that have input spell descriptions into their Realm Works, as I need to input the spells also (which are handled just like skills in this game).
 
I'm surprised no one answered. Someone else from another forum for the game I play helped me out. Since no one else has answered.....
This is easily explained by simply going to the Mechanics Reference section and scrolling down until you find the Abilities section and under that is Skill/Ability. Enter in the skill category here then right click on that skill category and click "Create Contained Article". The first time this is done you will need to make sure you select the correct "Simple Grouping", then "Category", but also ensure you have the correct container checked in the section to the right of that. As a side note once you have entered the name of the skill you can select either "Create" or "Create and open in New Tab" which is a real handy set of options.
 
I read this, but am unfamiliar with the HARP system and was not sure how its skill-system worked. I guess I read too much into your question and figured that I was not qualified to answer. If you simply asked "how do you organize skills in RW", I would have given an answer similar to that you have received.

My Mechanics article tree looks like this:

ABILITIES
>Skill/Ability
>>Languages
>>>Dwarvish (Khudzul)
...
>Spell
>>Acid Splash
...

And so forth.

I'm still have a lot to enter here. So far it hasn't been a priority, because I just reference the print books. Also in DD5, skills are tied into Ability Scores and I'm still thinking about how I would organize them in RW. Currently I have ability scores under a general Gameplay Article I called "Using Ability Scores" and have a sub-article for each ability: Charisma, Constitution, ...

In DD5, skills are pretty easy to use. You just need to know which Ability governs a skill and whether you have proficiency in it.

What I am thinking about doing eventually is creating a Skills/Abilities subcategory called "Proficiencies" and then creating an article for each. I would create a relationship between the proficiency and the governing Ability. I would also add the governing ability abbreviation as a suffix to the proficiency's article name, so it reads "Acrobatics (STR)". That way I can look at the list of proficiencies and readily see the governing ability, which is generally all you need to know in DD5.

That said, this would all be more for my OCD personality wanting things to be complete. The character sheets themselves in DD5 tell you which ability governs a proficiency. Looking up a proficiency in RW would be more work than looking at your character sheet.

Feats, on the other hand, benefit from having articles. So "Feats" is a subcategory of skills/abilities.

I'm not sure, however, how to treat something like "Darkvision". I'm thinking I'll have a subcategory called "Racial Traits" or "Natural Abilities". Haven't decided yet.

I've been devoting most of my time building my homebrew world and I must admit to neglecting the game mechanics section. With a few exceptions, the task of data entry seems more onerous than flipping pages in the rule books. Still, knowing my personality, I'll get to it eventually and it is good to starting thinking more about how I'll organize this informaiton.
 
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I've attached a picture of my Paranoia XP skill tree:

Paranoia Skills Thumbnail.png

Paranoia XP has 6 Primary Skills where other systems have Attributes, and Specialties where other systems have Skills. Given the simplicity of the Paranoia system compared to other, "not-fun" games, my custom Skill and Specialty categories don't have that much to them.

Hope this helps.
 

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Parody said:
I've attached a picture of my Paranoia XP skill tree:

View attachment 3804

Paranoia XP has 6 Primary Skills where other systems have Attributes, and Specialties where other systems have Skills. Given the simplicity of the Paranoia system compared to other, "not-fun" games, my custom Skill and Specialty categories don't have that much to them.

Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

That looks good and interesting. I almost played paranoia when it first came out in 80 something, but my friends and I were into other things like Marvel Superheroes (best years of role playing there) and some D&D 2ed. I have always wanted to try it but never asked the group I was running if they wanted to try it. I may try it with this group and it will probably be fun.

BTW fun in a game is more from the way the GM and the players interact and less from the game mechanics... A good example was I GM'd a game that a lot of people might say is not that fun, but my players and I had a blast. The game was Rolemaster! It is and always will be my all time favorite RPG and I can't wait for the next edition called RMU (Rolemaster Unified).
 
I'm skeptical of the new card-based Paranoia, but I was in on the Kickstarter and it'll be interesting to see what comes out of it. It's not like other editions just disappear. :)

Aside: "not-fun" isn't really meant as a slam on other games. It's a tongue-in-cheek way the various Paranoia writers have referred to other games over the years. (So it's a slam, but a pretty soft one. Maybe a d4 non-lethal damage.)
 
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Parody said:
I'm skeptical of the new card-based Paranoia, but I was in on the Kickstarter and it'll be interesting to see what comes out of it. It's not like other editions just disappear. :)

Aside: "not-fun" isn't really meant as a slam on other games. It's a tongue-in-cheek way the various Paranoia writers have referred to other games over the years. (So it's a slam, but a pretty soft one. Maybe a d4 non-lethal damage.)
Click to expand...

LOL... yeah I kind of got that when you mentioned "Friend Computer"....
 
I'd like to play in a Dark Heresy/Paranoia mashup. Just imagine how much "fun" friend Machine Spirit could have when backed up by commissars and grey knights.

Games Workshop and Whoever owns Paranoia, I know you're monitoring this thread. Make it happen!
 
Mongoose publishing owns Paranoia. I am not familiar with Dark Heresy, but I am excited about the new release of Paranoia and am upset that I missed my opportunity to buy it when it was on kickstarter. No I have to wait for it to be available through retail outlets.

But I would *REALLY* love to see Mongoose Publishing make the new Paranoia material available via Realm Works.

Mongoose Publishing and RealmWorks...Make it Happen! ;-)
 
That would be cool, but then again so would most other systems....
There is one fantasy world that I think stands way above others, it could even match Tolkien's Middle Earth for content, structure, and inspiration. It's called Shadow World by Terry Amthor. I would really love to see this world implemented into Realm Works. Fpr those that have never heard of Shadow World here is a link to the wiki: Shadow World Wiki
and the page for the world:Shadow World
 
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