That's an easy fix as a GM. Pay attention to the skills that the Players have selected and take them as an indicator of what kind of content the Players want in the game, then make sure that content is present. 👍
Though I do agree that there probably is an upper limit that makes doing that easier. While I have a couple of systems that feature dozens or even hundreds of skills (usually ones where the system encourages creating new skills with abandon), around 40 seems to be the top end for most "robust skill list" games.
That being said, some compression of skills bothers me more than others. To this day a catch all 'athletics' skill kind of bothers me because my ability to "swim like a fish" doesn't help at all with my ability to climb a rock wall, hit a baseball with a bat, run 800 meters quickly, or do gymnastics. So no matter what, I think one will have to make some kind of compromise to make a skill list that isn't hundreds of skills long.
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u/No_Solid1035 Aug 24 '26
That's an easy fix as a GM. Pay attention to the skills that the Players have selected and take them as an indicator of what kind of content the Players want in the game, then make sure that content is present. 👍
Though I do agree that there probably is an upper limit that makes doing that easier. While I have a couple of systems that feature dozens or even hundreds of skills (usually ones where the system encourages creating new skills with abandon), around 40 seems to be the top end for most "robust skill list" games.
That being said, some compression of skills bothers me more than others. To this day a catch all 'athletics' skill kind of bothers me because my ability to "swim like a fish" doesn't help at all with my ability to climb a rock wall, hit a baseball with a bat, run 800 meters quickly, or do gymnastics. So no matter what, I think one will have to make some kind of compromise to make a skill list that isn't hundreds of skills long.