I like (Strength) Intimidation and (Intelligence) Thieves’ Tools.
I don't know if this is non-standard, since I can't find anything in the rules that says what base ability score you're supposed to use with Thieves' Tools or any tool set. But yeah I usually use Dex, but I could see using Int if it's a particularly cleverly-designed lock.
I sometimes use Intelligence to identify the mechanism, this then lowers the Dc for disarming which is dex
Certainly a lot work, and some you can imagine niche scenarios where they could work, but some would be a real stretch.
Charisma (Survival)?
Convincing urchins in an alleyway to show you the trail left behind by someone you're trying to catch.
I knew someone would try to be contrarian.
I was thinking maybe surviving in a foreign land where you don't speak the language.
Dexterity (History)?
Umm . . . your mind literally has muscles wrapped around your brain, and you have to grab the memories of an historical event in order to succeed at the check?
Or, you have a memory-extractor that you have to use fine-tuned movements to retrieve specific bits and pieces of information from in order to succeed at the check? (maybe as a sort of Mind-Flayer psionic technology?)
Yeah, this is veeeeery niche.
Constitution (Insight)?
Ever heard of the phrase "go with your gut?"
Okay. Like Han Solo is probably not a very wise character, but when he says, "I have a bad feeling about this," you listen.
Intelligence (Performance) for when one character tried to write his adventures into a storybook and get it published. Performance covers storytelling, but Intelligence was more appropriate for writing, I thought.
Yep, I use Performance for all creative endeavors, but the base skill depends on the type of art: Dexterity for dancing or sculpture, Wisdom for painting (because it's about perception in your mind's eye), Charisma for acting or singing. Playing a musical instrument should probably be Dex, but since it's the classic Bard performance, I'd allow the standard Charisma (Performance) as well.
Playing a musical instrument would normally come under Performance, and that would be Charisma, but it could easily be Dexterity for fine manipulation, just like you said, if you had a percussion instrument, it could be Strength, it could be a judgement call and fall under Wisdom, or it could be intelligence as you remember your lessons in how to play the instrument. I suppose a really long performance could be something to do with Constitution.
Ok, I've never been able to figure this feature how to use it. I understand the combination of Ability and Skill but not how to work out what the dice modifier is determined. (With proficiency or not)
Ok, I've never been able to figure this feature how to use it. I understand the combination of Ability and Skill but not how to work out what the dice modifier is determined. (With proficiency or not)
The DM declares the applicable ability and (optionally) skill.
You add your ability score modifier.
If you are proficient in that skill, you add your proficiency. (If you have expertise, add double your proficiency, jack of all trades, add half.)
You basically have to throw out the precomputed modifiers on your character sheet that already combine skills with their standard abilities. Or adjust based on them. So if your sheet says Athletics +7 but your DM calls for Constitution (Athletics) instead of Strength (Athletics), and your Str is +3 but your Con is +2, subtract 1 from what's on your sheet to get +6.
This is my biggest problem with using non-standard skill checks. Players who let dndbeyond build their character sheet don't know how skill modifiers are derived.
Umm . . . your mind literally has muscles wrapped around your brain, and you have to grab the memories of an historical event in order to succeed at the check?
Or, you have a memory-extractor that you have to use fine-tuned movements to retrieve specific bits and pieces of information from in order to succeed at the check? (maybe as a sort of Mind-Flayer psionic technology?)
Yeah, this is veeeeery niche.
My immediate thought was a puzzle where muscle memory is important. Like playing a game of Simon.
"Ok, I've never been able to figure this feature how to use it. I understand the combination of Ability and Skill but not how to work out what the dice modifier is determined. (With proficiency or not)." Pavilionaire has it right. I'll go ahead and give you more detail.
You start out with the DM setting a Difficult target number. That's a Difficulty Check target number, and if you get equal to or better than that when you roll a 20 sided die, you succeed. The way you start out, you make an Ability Check, which is modified by your base score and if you have one, your level of Proficiency with a skill. Proficiency comes in 4 levels. You an have none, which adds nothing, half which adds 1, full adds 2, and Expertise adds 4.
The DC starts out at Very Easy at 5, then goes up by five each level things get harder. Easy is a 10, Medium is 15, Hard is 20, Very Hard is 25, and Nearly Impossible is 30.
Imagine you are playing a Rogue, with expertise in Slight of Hand, which is the skill you use for picking a lock. The DM decides that the DC if 25, it's a Very Hard lock to pick. It's an Ability check against your Dexterity score and your proficiency in Slight of Hand. The best you can have is a score of 20 without some pretty hard to get magic items. So you take 5 from your Dex, 4 from your expertise, and roll the 20 sided die and add 9. If you get a 16 or better, clickty click, the lock opens.
There is more to the system, various ways of improving your chances or adding on modifiers, but I think that should give a basic idea of how the system in general works.
Certainly a lot work, and some you can imagine niche scenarios where they could work, but some would be a real stretch.
Charisma (Survival)?
Convincing urchins in an alleyway to show you the trail left behind by someone you're trying to catch.
I knew someone would try to be contrarian.
We are nerds. What did you expect?
I was thinking maybe surviving in a foreign land where you don't speak the language.
That would also work. Or, being able to fib that you know how to survive well enough to actually succeed at the check.
Dexterity (History)?
Umm . . . your mind literally has muscles wrapped around your brain, and you have to grab the memories of an historical event in order to succeed at the check?
Or, you have a memory-extractor that you have to use fine-tuned movements to retrieve specific bits and pieces of information from in order to succeed at the check? (maybe as a sort of Mind-Flayer psionic technology?)
Yeah, this is veeeeery niche.
Exactly! The main uses are what's printed on the Character Sheet, the more niche ones are the unusual/unexpected combinations, like this one. Or, as @Mcapsam said, it could be used for a game similar to Simon.
Constitution (Insight)?
Ever heard of the phrase "go with your gut?"
Okay. Like Han Solo is probably not a very wise character, but when he says, "I have a bad feeling about this," you listen.
Yep!
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Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
My friend told me of this amazing time they had and i thought it fit in here. for context they're a vet at dnd been with it since 2 edition and to this day still praises H(just a shortening of the dms name and also for privacy we'll call the person this story is about N) for this off guard idea. N's character was a ranger who due to H always liking chaos had a displacer beast as their familiar. There was a beast master npc who glared at the party across a bar and just threw a key at N's ranger and nodding as a sign of respect for having such a powerful familiar. Basically H without realizing it needed to help move the story along so on the fly they realized that due to N having such a powerful familiar H could make that a feature in how the party could get a key item.
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I sometimes use Intelligence to identify the mechanism, this then lowers the Dc for disarming which is dex
I knew someone would try to be contrarian.
I was thinking maybe surviving in a foreign land where you don't speak the language.
Yeah, this is veeeeery niche.
Okay. Like Han Solo is probably not a very wise character, but when he says, "I have a bad feeling about this," you listen.
Yep, I use Performance for all creative endeavors, but the base skill depends on the type of art: Dexterity for dancing or sculpture, Wisdom for painting (because it's about perception in your mind's eye), Charisma for acting or singing. Playing a musical instrument should probably be Dex, but since it's the classic Bard performance, I'd allow the standard Charisma (Performance) as well.
Playing a musical instrument would normally come under Performance, and that would be Charisma, but it could easily be Dexterity for fine manipulation, just like you said, if you had a percussion instrument, it could be Strength, it could be a judgement call and fall under Wisdom, or it could be intelligence as you remember your lessons in how to play the instrument. I suppose a really long performance could be something to do with Constitution.
<Insert clever signature here>
Ok, I've never been able to figure this feature how to use it. I understand the combination of Ability and Skill but not how to work out what the dice modifier is determined. (With proficiency or not)
The DM declares the applicable ability and (optionally) skill.
You add your ability score modifier.
If you are proficient in that skill, you add your proficiency. (If you have expertise, add double your proficiency, jack of all trades, add half.)
You basically have to throw out the precomputed modifiers on your character sheet that already combine skills with their standard abilities. Or adjust based on them. So if your sheet says Athletics +7 but your DM calls for Constitution (Athletics) instead of Strength (Athletics), and your Str is +3 but your Con is +2, subtract 1 from what's on your sheet to get +6.
This is my biggest problem with using non-standard skill checks. Players who let dndbeyond build their character sheet don't know how skill modifiers are derived.
My immediate thought was a puzzle where muscle memory is important. Like playing a game of Simon.
"Ok, I've never been able to figure this feature how to use it. I understand the combination of Ability and Skill but not how to work out what the dice modifier is determined. (With proficiency or not)." Pavilionaire has it right. I'll go ahead and give you more detail.
You start out with the DM setting a Difficult target number. That's a Difficulty Check target number, and if you get equal to or better than that when you roll a 20 sided die, you succeed. The way you start out, you make an Ability Check, which is modified by your base score and if you have one, your level of Proficiency with a skill. Proficiency comes in 4 levels. You an have none, which adds nothing, half which adds 1, full adds 2, and Expertise adds 4.
The DC starts out at Very Easy at 5, then goes up by five each level things get harder. Easy is a 10, Medium is 15, Hard is 20, Very Hard is 25, and Nearly Impossible is 30.
Imagine you are playing a Rogue, with expertise in Slight of Hand, which is the skill you use for picking a lock. The DM decides that the DC if 25, it's a Very Hard lock to pick. It's an Ability check against your Dexterity score and your proficiency in Slight of Hand. The best you can have is a score of 20 without some pretty hard to get magic items. So you take 5 from your Dex, 4 from your expertise, and roll the 20 sided die and add 9. If you get a 16 or better, clickty click, the lock opens.
There is more to the system, various ways of improving your chances or adding on modifiers, but I think that should give a basic idea of how the system in general works.
<Insert clever signature here>
We are nerds. What did you expect?
That would also work. Or, being able to fib that you know how to survive well enough to actually succeed at the check.
Exactly! The main uses are what's printed on the Character Sheet, the more niche ones are the unusual/unexpected combinations, like this one. Or, as @Mcapsam said, it could be used for a game similar to Simon.
Yep!
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
At level 1. Proficiency scales up as you gain levels.
Not me beforehand warning
My friend told me of this amazing time they had and i thought it fit in here. for context they're a vet at dnd been with it since 2 edition and to this day still praises H(just a shortening of the dms name and also for privacy we'll call the person this story is about N) for this off guard idea. N's character was a ranger who due to H always liking chaos had a displacer beast as their familiar. There was a beast master npc who glared at the party across a bar and just threw a key at N's ranger and nodding as a sign of respect for having such a powerful familiar. Basically H without realizing it needed to help move the story along so on the fly they realized that due to N having such a powerful familiar H could make that a feature in how the party could get a key item.