Curious to hear what custom skills others have added to their campaigns. My group has found that the 5e skills list is a bit overly broad and we like to define some talents a bit more. For example, we have added:
I've never added custom skills to my game; how do you approach that from a balance perspective? Do you give characters more proficiencies to match the increased number of skills, and if so how do you distribute those?
Agreed. I assign proficiencies (or half-proficiencies) based on race/backstory. I try to keep it even - meaning, the same number of proficiencies per player. However, in rarer cases, I will assign an expertise in place of two proficiencies. For example, in my current campaign, I gave the monk expertise in fitness to start. I use fitness checks to determine exhaustion instead of just a straight Con check, because I think there is a strong case to be made for a PC who has perfected the body as opposed to someone who is just naturally brawny.
Curious to hear what custom skills others have added to their campaigns. My group has found that the 5e skills list is a bit overly broad and we like to define some talents a bit more. For example, we have added:
Appraise (Int)
Culture (Int)
Gather Information (Cha)
Fitness (Con)
Listen (Wis)
Spellcraft (Int)
Spot (Wis)
Street Smarts (Wis)
Resolve (highest mental ability)
Endurance (Con)
Thievery (Dex)
Appraise (Int)
I've never added custom skills to my game; how do you approach that from a balance perspective? Do you give characters more proficiencies to match the increased number of skills, and if so how do you distribute those?
Speaking for myself, it was either selectable as part of class skill set, or a free skill from a PC's race, class or background.
Agreed. I assign proficiencies (or half-proficiencies) based on race/backstory. I try to keep it even - meaning, the same number of proficiencies per player. However, in rarer cases, I will assign an expertise in place of two proficiencies. For example, in my current campaign, I gave the monk expertise in fitness to start. I use fitness checks to determine exhaustion instead of just a straight Con check, because I think there is a strong case to be made for a PC who has perfected the body as opposed to someone who is just naturally brawny.