Ability Checks vs Skill Checks

Ability Checks vs Skill Checks

When we call for a roll at the table we have a few choices at our disposal - Saves, Abilities and Skills. The uses of and when to use Saves is kind of obvious. We leverage that kind of roll when the player has a chance to save their character from something either an effect or an external force of some kind. What can get a little wibbly wobbly is when to call for a general Ability check and when to call for a Skill check. Sometimes we like to think of them as the same thing when in actuality they cue the player into very different things. Anyways in case you didn't get it by now this is what I am going to be ranting about today.

I haven't done one of these in a while but I'll do my best to get started right from the get-go. Let's start with a classic DM Dalliance move with definitions. We will be using the specific language tied to D&D 5e but most TTRPG systems have base stats and then skills that build off those items. So while the language will be specific the theory and application can be used across most systems agnostically. Our first definition goes to Ability Check - "An ability check tests a character's or monster's innate talent and training in an effort to overcome a challenge."  This means that this is an umbrella term that provides a catch-all for a lot of things where there isn't a specific thing tied to it outside of an ability category. Narrowing in on things we then have the Skill Check - "A skill represents a specific aspect of an ability score, and an individual's proficiency in a skill demonstrates a focus on that aspect." So a specialization or enhanced skill in a very narrow item that may fit under one of the Ability categories.

A great example to just further solidify things for everyone before I really get going on this rant is that of taking an Ability like Dexterity and looking at the skills under it and how diverse their functions really can be. Under that Ability we have both Acrobatics and Sleight of Hand, one where you can tumble through enemy legs and the other with the ability to nimbly pickpocket someone. A similar foundation in that you need to be flexible and have control over your body but the application of which is very different. Someone who is great at flipping through the air and landing with grace somewhere doesn't necessarily have the ability to be a good pickpocket and vice versa. They focus on different muscles doing different things and have practiced those to a level of expertise. Now you may have someone that is extremely good under a single Ability category and therefore they have expertise and practice in multiple ones that make them a broad expert in Dexterity.

When we take this back to our discussion on when a DM should call for an Ability Check vs a Skill Check you can already start to see where I'm going with. Whenever possible you should let the players shine by calling for a skill check that fits because their character has put in the time and effort to specialize in things. It gives them more of a spotlight as the rogue can pick the lock while the monk can run up the wall to an open window. But Ability Checks are useful as well because as we all know players like to do things that throw us for a loop. Every so often they'll ask a question that will just leave you doing the owl blinky eye thing as your brain scrambles for what rules apply to the request. The application of these two rolls are easily divided and I could leave it at that and have a short rant but I'm not really that kind of ranter.

My main point for this particular dive into the minutia of the TTRPGs we love is the cues and impact calling for each type of roll has on how the player perceives the task, how it can color how we handle success/failure for the roll, and how a player might try and bend things a little to get creative. Let's tackle those in order and see if I can get you to see how their differences and understanding how you can use those actually make for a more nuanced game. First our lovely cues and impact statement what the hell do I mean? That is a great and insightful question imaginary internet audience. When we talk about cues and impact we are talking about the kind of learned language between a DM and the players at the table. Like if they ask to do something in game and you replied with "Let me just get this straight" or "You can certainly try" or "You do what?" they'll probably start rethinking that decision enough that it might buy you table to figure out how to make it a feasible in-game thing. The same is true when we ask for different checks. Calling for a Skill Check is the bread and butter of most systems and is how the players interact with the majority of the world in game. It is so normal that its the expected and if you know anything about me you know I pay close attention to that in games because subverting that expectation is how we can play with storytelling things like tension. Players want to have skill checks asked for because chances are they have looked at their character sheet once or twice and know what they are capable of and are using those skills to get creative to solve a problem. Like in the example I mentioned earlier with the Rogue picking a lock while the Monk wall runs to an open window. Two creative but different solutions to the same problem of trying to get into the house are solved with different skill checks that control not just what success looks like but what the failure in it might look like too. The monk could end up just running face-first into the wall and the rogue could break their tools off in the door. So when we ignore the skills that the players have and call instead for an Ability Check we are telling them a few things - 1) there is no way they could have experience in doing this thing, its too specific or has never come up before or is a super bizarre application of a character's abilities. 2) maybe that to pull this off is going to take more than practice in a skill, it might instead encompass more than one which makes it more of an overall ability check and 3) if we use it too much it signals the players that aren't familiar enough with the rules to know what skills to call for or that there won't be as many opportunities for their characters to shine.

Wow that is a lot for a check to say to a table but sometimes its the backing behind the calls that is the best use of deciding between Ability or Skill check. When we call for any kind of roll there is the knowledge that this could either succeed or fail. Kind of a given right? But for DMs we have to often come up with what both of those options for the roll look like on the fly even if we are running a pre-written adventure. So we can use which we call for to help shape that in a way that keeps us from feeling so overwhelmed. If we called for a Strength ability check on someone trying to carry a heavy chest a failure might look like them going to lift it and the handle snaps off, a crit failure might be dropping the chest on their foot for damage. On the flip side a success could be the ability to carry it at half speed with a crit success making it so that you could carry it on one shoulder without it harming your speed. Lets say we called for instead an Athletics skill check to do the same thing, this kind of narrows down our window of options. The Athletics skill covers things like difficult situations you encounter while climbing, jumping, or swimming. It is your endurance for a foot race or to pull up a fellow character up a rope and into a window. Which means if they are lifting a heavy chest its their physical prowess to overcome the obstacle. Success with this skill check would be lifting with their back and carrying the chest, a failure might be straining a muscle. Both end up close too each other but you can see how the broad vs the specific changes that you as the DM might provide as the outcome from a check.

Now the obviously fun part for a player is the chance to get really creative with what they can do to try and improve their chances of success or do something really cool, potentially... if they succeed. I would say that if a player tries to do something crazy and doesn't think the right check was called for or was trying for an approach to leverage a specific skill, I'd let them explain what they are doing that makes it apply. This is a great way to learn how your players problem solve, a chance to have either a great story from the table even if it fails, and lets your players have the freedom of both choice and creativity. We want them to engage with the world enough that it gets them thinking to that degree about things. Sometimes even they know what they are trying is so batshit crazy and out there that they don't even know what skill it is but are trying instead to leverage their foundational ability score to try something in a wheelhouse of things that they are good in. Honestly this is one of my favorite things because as you get used to exercising the difference in these two checks you'll see your players stretching those creative muscles more and more when it comes to obstacles. Its some sort of psychological trigger that just prompts the players that such attempts are welcome at the table.

With that little rambling over with, I’m JustKay your regular DM Dalliance on the web and I’ll see you next post.