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Thoughts on skills in OSR systems and WWN

I know a lot of players have strong opinions on skills/feats in OSR systems, afaik normally towards the negative side. But even then, I often see Worlds Without Number (WWN) as one of the most recommended system around, and that system has skills/feats.

So, I'm just curious on why is that? Is it because of the way they are implemented? Or maybe people are recommending it more for the GM tools and guidance instead of the system itself? What do you all think about the skills/feats implementation on WWN? Any other opinions on skills/feats systems in OSR games in general?

1 comments

sambeastie

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I think WWN gets recommended for the reason you stated; the GM tools are very good. It also, I think has a reputation for being similar enough to 5e that tables accustomed to that might have an easier time switching.

I think skills in general aren't so popular because they place kind of psychological minutes on what a PC can do. If there's no skills, it's easier for players to imagine that they can try anything, even if they aren't necessarily the best suited for it. For example, in a system without skills, a player might just try to intimidate a bandit into running away, even if their Charisma is 7. In a system with skills, they likely have a negative modifier to Intimidate, and so are less likely to try, since someone else likely has a better chance of making it work when the dice come out. In the event that they want to do something that's not on the list in front of them, some number of players will also simply assume they can't do it (it isn't on the list after all).

Personally, I just find them unnecessary. If someone wants to do something that they have the skills and tools for, it just works. If they don't have one of those things, I just ask for a roll of the most relevant attribute.