I discovered roleplaying in 1981 with the D&D B/X set. As anyone who has read those rules knows, there is no 'skill' system, no rules for stuff we now consider de rigueur like perception checks, knowledge checks, stealth checks for non-thieves, and so on. It was simply enough for the player to describe what they were doing and for the GM to respond. When our group played, for example, someone who wanted to track an enemy would describe what they were looking for and how they were doing it. The GM would decide if the goal was met based largely on those descriptions, environmental factors, and the needs of the game session itself. If any roll was made, it was usually a d6. The GM might look at a result of 2 as failure, a 3 as "sort of", a 4 as "pretty much" and so on. It was really an implicit contract between player and GM that hard numbers were really only used for the stuff explicitly described in the rulebook such as combat, spells, and saving throws. Everything else was fair game for off the cuff roleplaying.



My question is, do you think such an approach has a place in modern game design? For example, let's look at the previously mentioned tracking attempt. Is it enough for the rules to say "rangers are skilled at tracking" and leave it at that so, even if the GM asks for a roll, the interpretation isn't based on hard numbers but on the GM assessing the numerous factors going into the attempt, including the fact that the character is assumed to be good at tracking? And that a non-ranger achieving the same roll would not do as well as the ranger?



Such as...

Ranger PC: I'm going to try to follow those tracks.

GM: It's quite messy with many different tracks. What are you looking for?

Ranger PC: We're after a guy who is carrying a sack of gold. He's probably weighted down. His stride will be shorter and his heels dug in. I'll look for a short stride and deeper heel imprints.

GM: You see what you're looking for. The tracks veer off away from the others, toward the swamp. You can clearly see where he's going.



Looking at it from a character who isn't a ranger, but a city-raised thief, the GM might say:

- The tracks are very confusing, even considering what you're looking for. Roll a d6. You want a 5 or better to get what you want.

- Player rolls a 4.

- GM: you think you see what you want. You follow the tracks for 50' before they become obscured again. Roll again.

- Player rolls a 2.

- GM: you've lost them.