Pick One

Ways to Improve

The original edition of the world's most popular role-playing game relies on class level as its principal mechanism for character advancement. In that edition, ability stats are rolled randomly, in order, and barring magic, they don't increase or decrease over the life of the character. Advancement in original D&D is accompanied by increased hit points, better to-hit and saving throw target numbers, and for magic users and clerics, an increased capacity to cast magic spells. Skills don't exist as such, at least not in the original  three little brown books. Supplement I, Greyhawk  does introduce the thief class with its percentile based skills - more on that later.

Tunnels & Trolls is considered by many to be the world's second published role-playing game. Like D&D there are six ability scores which are created by random dice rolls. T&T makes use of ability score improvement as its principal manner of increasing character power. As the T&T character accumulates experience points the player may choose to add to the ability scores, thereby improving their character's combat adds and the odds for them to successfully make a saving throw. 

The "Advanced Game" would add skill proficiency to its second edition as an optional rule. Skill based systems like RuneQuest and Call of Cthulhu are among the oldest competitors to D&D. The skill system does not generally rely on levels or classes, rather characters each have a number of specific skill abilities which may be improved through play and earned experience. The player may choose what skills their character specializes in and in the case of Chaosium's Basic Role-Playing d100 system, successful use of the skill earns an experience check which entitles the player to roll for skill improvement during the bookkeeping segment at the end of play.

The world's first role-playing game is now in its 5th edition - an edition that includes class levels, skills and ability score advancements. Any one of these three methods to improve the character seems adequate in itself and if a simpler game is desired, choosing just one way to advance thereby improving one of the character power curves, may be enough to increase future chances of successful adventuring. All three methods together is perhaps redundant and may lead to an unnecessarily complicated character build paradigm.

The original edition of the game assigns each class level a title. A first level fighting man is called a "veteran". At fourth level they become known as a "hero" and at level eight, "superhero"! The title is indicative of the character's proficiency, and at the table of an experienced referee, a hero should be able to do things that would be unlikely for a mere veteran. And as for a superhero - well the name kinda says it all! 

Not everything the player wants their character to do during an "adventure" needs to involve a dice roll. Many times it is appropriate for the referee to simply state, "Your character is an experienced hero, so that action presents no problem for them." How satisfying is it to hear that? No dice roll means no chance of bad luck messing things up and making your hero look bad. No fudging, no re-rolls, just an experienced character doing heroic things. And having one less dice roll means less game time is taken up and the pace of the game moves more quickly. 

So many times when I am thinking through the mechanics of the game and wondering to myself whether this contemplated change or that may improve my game, I find that Gary got it right from the start. And I sit in amazement...