The Campaign Builder's Guild

I was trying to put together a list of skills yesterday, and while doing that i found myself generalizing more and more so get could get an overview of it all. Finally i found something of a pattern: at first six, and now 7, different traits that, in very general terms, can describe any action (or so i believe). Honestly, i'm not sure what this can be used for: maybe somebody else can use it to get an overview, or it could be used to make an alternative attribute system. One way or another, i thought i'd share this pattern of sorts with you.
To describe each generalized skill i have used a title (in bold; ends on -ion) and a short sentence/verb describing what action you undertake with that skill. I have also added a relation in italics that can be used to understand what situations might warrant that skill.

Skills:

Evasion - to avoid something  
relation to something somebody else has

Exertion - to exert your will, to use something
relation to something you have

Creation - to make something
relation to something that doesn't exist

Persuasion - to convince someone
relation to somebody

Motion - to move
relation to your surroundings

Comprehension-to know
relation to something about something

Enduration-to persist
relation to something you are

The way i see this, these can used alone or in combinations to make any skill (and sometimes more than one): motion-evasion = stealth, Exertion-motion = combat, manipulation-persuasion = ride.
Can you come up with any skills that couldn't be fitted into this framework? Or any uses for this?

Quote from: Crippled CrowCreation - to make something
relation to something that doesn't exist

I don't know how much creation skills are useful.  Admittedly my only experience is with d20 versions, but it seems that this skill really only ties in to whether or not you have the tools to use another skill.  It just seems like a very limited use.

Quote from: SilvercatMoonpaw

Quote from: Crippled CrowCreation - to make something
relation to something that doesn't exist

I don't know how much creation skills are useful.  Admittedly my only experience is with d20 versions, but it seems that this skill really only ties in to whether or not you have the tools to use another skill.  It just seems like a very limited use.

It would be very applicable in the Guildschool system, for both PCs and NPCs.

How do they work in that system?

Also, it can be the creation of anything:
Creating a piece of music would be a creation-only skill (writing it down isn't really part of making it). Using an instrument to play the music would be exertion, and improvising on a flute would be creation-exertion.
Creation is about relating to something that doesn't exist yet: using your creativity and visualising/whatever-is-the-musical-equivalent-of-that your work.
Hmm, i even considered that taming animals might be a sort of creation-persuasion skill, seeing that you're attempting to make something new (a tamed animal) using relations to something living.  
Thanks for the replies; three is more than i anticipated for such a rather obscure thread. :)

EDIT: Whether you have a use for creation skills or not, if you're making a game that isn't heavily focused on something specific you'll have to give people the craft options. Otherwise the system is incomplete. I was trying to generalize to all skills, so i needed creation to be there; whether you have a use for it or not shouldn't affect the system :)

Quote from: Crippled Crowwriting it down isn't really part of making it

I know several music composers who would argue that point with you fervently.

Well, of course you have to write it down as part of the process, but your writing skills don't really interfere. Your music isn't better because you're better at handling a pen.
Or what was your point? I'm afraid i don't know too many composers (although it has always been one of the "crafts" i've been most impressed at).

Your analysis is okay.  I just wanted to point out that in terms of what actually needs a skill creation ranks lowest of what I've seen.

I'm not going to lie, I've read over your beginning post about 3 times now, and I'm rather impressed with the attributes that you put together.  And you're right - I thus far can think of nothing that can't be done with a combination of two of these.  This would make a very nice system baseline.

Have you looked into the new Alpha Omega RPG?  It does something similar, where there's (I think) 4 or 5 main stats, and then secondary stats.  You play the entire game adding your main stat and a secondary stat.  I thought it was kinda clever.

But your theory here I actually like much better.  It could be quite fun!

Well, thank you very much :) I'm glad i'm not the only one who thought this looked kinda cool.
And I heard about Alpha Omega when it first came out, but my interest sort of dwindled so i never really took a look at the system.

CC, I'm wondering how social skills like leadership, charming, morale increase, blandishment, and lying would fit in...

I think all of those would work with just Persuasion, right? Maybe some comprehension or exertion if you wanted.

What Jharviss said, since leadership is mostly just a point of convincing your undrlings that you are competent/they are doing good/they have the potential for doing better. In addition to what he said, though, i might imagine creation being used with lying; creativity plays a major role in the creation of lies. I'm not sure how exertion would figure into it, unless you are torturing somebody.

I'm thinking of using something like this in the game I'm currently writing. Mine's a bit more limited... I've just given some skills descriptors like "movement" "attack" and "defense". Mainly I use these descriptors for skills with mechanical similarities, or if they're prone to getting bonuses/penalties under similar circumstances. I tend to give no more than one descriptor to any given skill, and many skills don't get descriptors at all. I'm not sure if I'm going to lump social skills together, but if I do, I don't know that I'd go with the word "persuasion" to describe them all... I just don't know that it would necessarily be accurate. Likewise, I've got "defense" in place of "evasion" since for me that covers shield use and parrying as well as the dodge skill.