Tag: Skill Focus

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Player Resources

Players Need to Be More Creative

One significant improvement that 4e D&D has over previous editions is the “say yes” mantra. DMs are actively instructed to let things happen. No matter what comes up at the gaming table the DM is now encouraged to say yes and find a way to make it work. That’s not to say that the DM should let the players get away with anything and everything, but if a player comes up with a creative idea the DM is encouraged to find a way to make it work and say yes.

In my experience the majority of DMs took this idea to heart. At the beginning, when 4e was still relatively new, players were trying all kinds of interesting things because they knew that the DM would likely say yes. However, over the past year or so I’ve realized that most players are content to player squarely within the rules. They are unwilling to take chances and propose ideas that are outside of the normal rule-set. This is especially evident in public-play situations like D&D Encounters. I think it’s time that the DMs make a point of reminding the players it’s ok to use your imagination. Being creative is a big part of what makes D&D fun.

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Editorial Player Resources

Addressing Your Weaknesses (Part 2)

How do you explain you character’s low mental attributes (Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma)? How do these low ability scores affect the way you role-play your PC? We continue looking at how an ability score of 8 has in-game consequences and provide some in-game suggestions to explain your low scores.

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Player Resources Skill Challenges

Skill Focus: Streetwise

Streetwise can be more than knowing where to go, who to talk to and what to look for in an urban setting. The most common use for Streetwise is to gather information, but that’s certainly not the only way to use this skill. A clever DM can launch an entire quest beginning with a simple Streetwise check. The PCs may overhear a careless word at the tavern, a trader’s rumours in the market or the vain words of a noble. Streetwise may garnish information but determining its reliability is another matter all together.

PCs trained in Streetwise should have a clear advantage over those who don’t (in addition to the +5 bonus). If the player has provided a clever back-story for how the PC gained training in Streetwise, the DM may decide that certain avenues of exploration are easier than usual to that PC in certain circumstances. The exact nature of any additional fringe benefits is left up to the player and the DM to decide.

As with all skills, Streetwise is only limited by the player’s imagination. If you’re having trouble coming up ideas on how to use Streetwise creatively, here are 10 suggestions that you may find useful.

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Player Resources Skill Challenges

Skill Focus: Nature

Nature, like all the knowledge skills in 4e D&D, encompasses a great amount of information. Its scope is quite broad and its use is often limited only by the PC’s imagination. Here are 10 new and creative ways to use Nature.

Knowledge skills can be used for more than just monster knowledge checks. This is certainly a very useful feature of the skill, but its use shouldn’t end there. During skill challenges, Nature can often be used to assist other skills depending on the circumstance.

The Druid, Ranger, Shaman and Warden all receive automatically training in Nature. The Barbarian, Bard, Sorcerer and Wizard have it as an optional choice. Nature may not be the most common skill, but there’s a pretty good chance that someone in the party will have a good Nature check.

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Player Resources Skill Challenges

Skill Focus: Religion

The most common use for knowledge skills is to identify monsters and perform rituals. The knowledge skills tend to take a back seat to social and physical skills during most skill challenges. The knowledge skills are so tightly focused that most players assume these skills have a limited scope. But this doesn’t mean that they have limited uses. It’s up to players to be imaginative and creative.

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Player Resources Skill Challenges

Skill Focus: Diplomacy

After Perception, Diplomacy seems to be the skill used most often in my games. Any time your PC finds himself in a social situation you know that you’re going to end up making a Diplomacy check. But Diplomacy is more that just talking the talk. It’s usually about knowing what to say and how to say it. Your PC’s body language can also have as much of an impact as the words coming out of his mouth.

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Player Resources Skill Challenges

Knowledge Is Power

I was looking over the pre-generated characters Wizards provided for Worldwide D&D Game Day on May 23. Something interesting about the Eldarin Wizard, Althaea caught my eye. This character is trained in four knowledge skills. This seemed unusual to me as I find there is a tendency to be one dimensional when training skills. Physical characters take physical skills, charismatic characters take social skills and everyone ignores the knowledge skills. But the more I thought about it the more I realized that ignoring the knowledge skills is often a fatal decision made during character creation.

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Player Resources Skill Challenges

Skill Focus: Athletics

Here are 10 new and alternative ways to use Athletics. Athletics and Acrobatics are not interchangeable. Too many PCs assume that if they’ve got a high Strength they can use Athletics and if they’ve got a high Dexterity they can use Acrobatics. Well I disagree. If these skills were intended to be interchangeable then they would only be one skill. When I’m the DM, I make a point to set up challenges that can only be overcome with Athletics or Acrobatics.

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Player Resources Skill Challenges

Skill Focus: Bluff

Everybody lies and you can do it better than most because you’re trained in Bluff. But why limit yourself to just telling a convincing lie? Here are 10 new and creative ways to get more out of Bluff.

Bluff is not only applicable when speaking untruths. Any attempt at a falsehood is covered by this catch-all skill. Whenever you pretend to be someone you’re not, or mislead an opponent in combat, you rely on Bluff.

In many situations a Bluff check can or should be accompanied by another skill in order to make the lie more believable. It’s up to you and the DM to determine which situations warrant secondary checks, the appropriate DCs and what modifiers may apply.

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Player Resources Skill Challenges

Skill Focus: Heal

You’re trained in Heal so you can patch wounds and stabilizing dying characters, but it doesn’t have to stop there. Here are 10 new and creative ways to get more out of Heal. Depending on your PC’s background and how you role-play him, Heal can encompass a wide variety of disciplines.

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