I’m still working on a new skill system. I think I might even have one that is simple enough for Gods & Monsters but still allows for basing success on attributes, a range of success levels for specialist and non-specialist tasks, deals with wide areas as well as focuses, and handles languages well.

This is not that system. This was an attempt to nearly fully quantify the chance of success. The Adventure Guide would need merely to decide the difficulty level as if the character had no skill at all. The player would then shift up the difficulty levels depending on how tightly focused their skill was.

Difficulty levels

Character creation

You can choose facilities for your character: things your character does better because they have more facility in that area. Because this is a pulp game, you can choose wide areas such as History or Engineering or Culture or Languages, and do better at anything in that area.

If you want to focus your facility a bit, you can add limitations. For example, you could choose History:Highland to be really good at the history of Highland. Or you could choose History:Highland:West to be really good at the history of West Highland. Or you could choose History:Highland:East:Crosspoint to be even better at the history of Crosspoint in East Highland. You can focus down up to three levels. As you focus down, the range of your facility decreases but your bonus increases.

You can use the facility any time it is appropriate for an ability roll or a saving roll. Commonly, tests for book learning will require Intelligence rolls. Tests for finding things will require Perception rolls. Tests for interacting with people will require Charisma rolls.

For example, you might be on a horse and end up in combat. You might make a Charisma roll to keep your horse under control. If you have Sports or something do with Equestrianism those will help you, as might Farming or something to do with animal handling. You might make an Agility roll to keep from falling if your horse gets out of control. If you have the facility “Sports” it will be easier for you. If you have “Sports:Physical” it will be easier yet. And if you have “Sports:Physical:Equestrianism” it will be even easier, and “Sports:Physical:Equestrianism:Buckriding” it will likely be a snap.

If you have only a wide “area” you can shift the difficulty level up by one. Wide areas include:

History, Survival, Philosophy, Languages, Engineering, Cultures, Sports

If you focus down one from a wide area, you’ve got a “field” and can shift difficulty levels—where the field applies—up by two. For example:

• History:Highland
• Survival:Wilderness
• Philosophy:Natural
• Philosophy:Divine
• Languages:Human
• Cultures:Faerie

If you focus down one from a field, you have a “skill” and can shift difficulty levels—where the skill applies—up by three. For example:

• History:Highland:West
• Survival:Wilderness:Forest
• Philosophy:Natural:Chemistry
• Languages:Human:Romance
• Engineering:Structures:Bridges
• Cultures:Faerie:Languages
• Cultures:Faerie:Elves

Finally, you can focus your character’s facility down three from the wider area and have a “speciality”. Specialties—where they apply—will shift difficulty levels up by four. For example:

• History:Highland:East:Crosspoint
• Survival:Wilderness:Forest:Firebuilding
• Philosophy:Natural:Chemistry:Poison
• Engineering:Structures:Bridges:Suspension
• Languages:Human:Romance:Frankish
• Sports:Physical Sports:Equestrianism:Combat
• Cultures:Faerie:Languages:Elvish
• Cultures:Faerie:Elves:Language

Each facility, regardless of the depth of focus, costs the same amount. When first acquired, a facility grants no special bonus, it only shifts difficulty levels. If you choose to pay for a facility more than once, each successive increase grants a +1 to rolls where the facility applies.

Characters begin with two free facilities: Cultures:Native Culture:Etiquette at +1 and Cultures:Native Culture:Languages:Native Tongue at +2. The player may choose to specialize that Etiquette skill to a specialty, such as “Court Etiquette” or “Backwoods Etiquette”.

Using Facilities

When using a facility, the Adventure Guide determines the difficulty of the action assuming no facility and the ability or saving roll it will require. The player chooses the facility they're going to use, subject to the Guide’s approval.

For example, a player may decide to build a fire quickly in a snowstorm. The Guide decides that this is Nearly Impossible and requires an Agility roll. A character with no facility at building fires in snowstorms would make an Agility roll at a penalty of 12.

1. If the character has an Area that applies (Survival), building this fire would shift to Extremely Difficult. The player would make an Agility roll at a penalty of 6.
2. If the character has a Field that applies (Survival:Wilderness), building this fire would shift to Very Difficult. The player would make an Agility roll at a penalty of 3.
3. If the character has a Skill that applies (Survival:Wilderness:Arctic), building this fire would shift to Difficult. The player would make an Agility roll with no penalty.
4. If the character has a Specialty that applies (Survival:Wilderness:Arctic:Firebuilding), building this fire would shift to Easy. The player would make an Agility roll with a bonus of 3.

When a specialty applies, the character is very likely to succeed, but specialties are not likely to apply often. Any focus applies only if the parent facilities would also apply.

If the character has a parent skill, field, or area that would be relevant if they had that facility, they can use their bonus (if they have one) but the difficulty is not shifted:

• If a skill is needed, and the character has a specialization in that skill, the bonus will apply but there is no shift.
• If a field is needed, and the character has a skill in that field, the bonus will apply but there is no shift.
• If an area is needed, and the character has a field in that area, the bonus will apply but there is no shift.

So, for example, a character with the Specialty “Survival:Wilderness:Arctic:Shelter” would be able to use their bonus if they had one, but the difficulty level would not be shifted. It would have been the right skill if they had that skill, but they don’t. The same with the Skill “Survival:Wilderness:Forest”. If the character has a bonus it can be used, because “Survival:Wilderness” would be the right Field, but they don’t have that field. Similarly, “Survival:Urban” would get to use their bonus but would not get to shift.

On the other hand, a character with the Specialty “Survival:Wilderness:Swamp:Shelter” would get neither shift nor bonus. The parent skill is “Survival:Wilderness:Swamp”, which doesn’t apply either.

Language example

Understanding a conversation is generally Extremely Difficult. A character with no facility at the language used for the conversation is not going to understand it very well. The more facility the character has with the language, however, the better they’ll be able to understand that particular conversation.

Let’s say that the character has an Intelligence of 12, and the free Cultures:Native Culture:Languages:Native Tongue at +2. The difficulty level shifts from Extremely Difficult to Very Easy. The player will need to roll twenty or less to succeed: an automatic success.

1. If the character had only an applicable Skill at a zero bonus, the difficulty would be Easy and the player would need to roll fifteen or less to succeed.
2. If the character had only an applicable Field at a zero bonus, the difficulty would be Difficult and the player would need to roll twelve or less to succeed.
3. If the character had only an applicable Area at a zero bonus, the difficulty would be Very Difficult and the player would need to roll nine or less to succeed.
4. If the character had no applicable facility, the difficulty would be Extremely Difficult, and the player would need to roll six or less to succeed.

Improving facilities

Facilities continue to cost the same mojo as skills: an initial high price to gain the facility at shift only (11, 12, or 15 mojo), and then smaller costs (that increase with the new bonus) to improve the facility (7 mojo plus the new skill bonus).

A new facility that is wider or narrower than an existing facility can be learned at a lesser cost. Take the mojo that the facility would have cost (11, 12, or 15) and subtract the character’s related facility bonus (if there is one); add the “jump”. This is the mojo cost for gaining the new facility.

For example, a character with the Area "History” at a bonus of 4 wants the skill History:Highland:West. Assuming that this is an archetypal purchase, it would normally cost 11 mojo. Because the character already has some facility with history, however, it will cost 9 mojo: 11 minus 4 plus 2.

Once purchased, the new facility can be improved as normal.