C&S, or: why skill systems make rpgs worse.

 C&S or, Chivalry and Sorcery, is a line of simulationist RPGs set in historically accurate medieval europe. If you've been keeping up with my blog (you haven't, this is my second post) you'll know I prefer rules lite systems moreso than complex bastards. Nonetheless, I find myself drawn to huge crunchy games for some reason. 

Anyways, back to C&S, I actually have like, several books, I have much of 2nd edition, I have a simplified version, and I have 2 versions of the Red Books, I'm gonna talk about 2e and Red Book 2 here. So basically, 2e is a refinement of 1e, basically a clearing up of much of the same rules, they've done something weird with armor class that I don't necessarily like now (roll dice for damage reduction), but a key thing is they've taken the semi-skill system mechanics in 1e (that I noticed in the 1st Red Book, but it was 1000 ish pages of improperly bookmarked rules that weren't organized well, so uh... fuck that) and they've made it an entire thing. The skill system, in combination with the point buy chargen, and the 'pre-leveling' system (basically level up character before the game, I actually like this tbh, even if the skill system makes it complicated), makes making a character a fucking chore, because the skills just add more complication. 

And I guess that's like, the fundamental thing, innit? It's a rule that adds complication, but what sorta depth does it add. Like sure, congrats, spend extra xp to get other class abilities,  very poggers, it's still a bitch to calculate, and there's various mundane skills that could prolly do without being full on skills and just... it seems like much.

Red Book 2 doesn't have a skill system, you start off at the age of 13-20, and at level 1 as an 'apprentice' of some sort till you reach level 5 (you're taught by a master till then who can give quests, cool mechanic tbh). Most 'skills' are covered by class abilities, and classes seem flexible enough you could apply this sort of stuff to any trade, like say you wanted to be a blacksmith, well, I guess you learn all the skills at levels 1-5 and possibly make better quality gear at higher levels. But like, the skill system and other complexities of 2e just... seem so unnecessary when pitted against Red Book 2's systems, which are no less comprehensive, but are significantly more focused. 

It got me thinking about skill systems in other RPGs, particularly rolemaster, which seems cool, I actually like the resolution system, and I like how the combat system is so efficient it can resolve HP loss in one roll (critical hits in 2 admittedly) and I'm just wondering, how much better would rolemaster be as a system, if they did away with skills and just leaned on the classes to determine overall abilities... maybe the chargen would be far easier to learn and work with? I mean... there's got to be an easier way to represent learning skills from other professions than this.

I think like only a few RPGs have got skills down good. Classic Traveller, possibly WHFRP1e, but in general, they only serve to like... complicate and obfuscate stuff, adding more variables to a game than is strictly necessary, making character generation a massive chore. Even skills as feats adds layers of complexity to a game that don't need to be there. 

I'm gonna dive into this a bit deeper, but I think our forebears who made OD&D and shit had the right idea when they decided every adventurer should be roughly equal and universally capable of dealing with hazards, it allows the rules to get out of the way of this overcomplex game of pretend.

But what do I know, I was horny as hell and wrote this on impulse.