Last time I’m going to apologize for not posting in a while, even though nobody probably reads this, life got busy. The Problem Anyway, one of the things I think about a lot is how much skill systems kind of stink, and one of the reasons I think they do is they either overly complicate things or abstract them away too easily. They are quick and dirty ways of handling things the game system or setting is not interested in focusing on.

Skill systems in relation to OSR games are a funny thing, and in my opinion, not often required or needed. I’ve had a game running for a year and a half that, in no way, required skills, and I’ve typically defaulted to the standard “roll a d6 with a range of 1-2 for success,” modified by attribute bonuses, of course. And I think, for the majority of old school D&D style games, this is a completely adequate and fun way of handling rolls that do not fall under any sort of specific mechanic.