Deciding Who Gets to Roll

For today I have a brief post about how you can differentiate skill/knowledge checks into subcategories.

What I mean when I say subcategories is that diplomacy is a broad skill, checks with a noble require a different set of conversational maneuvers than getting information out of a hardened information broker.

For example if two characters are trained in heal but one is a Cleric and another is a fighter you should let them both roll on checks to dress wounds but maybe only the cleric rolls on diseases and other complex infirmities. Maybe the fighter is better at stabilizing people in combat than the cleric due to his combat experience. In this way, even though you are stealing a bit of thunder from both players maybe you've made each feel more unique and clearly defined in his/her utility to the party.

Another and perhaps best example is something like history checks. If every character is trained in history but only one is an arcane caster he/she should either be the only one to roll or be the only one without a penalty to identify an obscure historical wizard.

This idea can apply to pretty much every situation and you should be careful not to overuse it. Indeed overuse of this system can make people feel like they do not get the benefits of being trained in a skill. However, when used correctly this system can increase the degree to which a player's class is unique and useful out of combat. Subcategorizing skills like this can also add a great deal of realism to a campaign by once again making characters function more like real people.