Adding Proficiency to Non-weapon Proficiencies
The Nonweapon proficiency rules are indeed one of AD&D's sticky wickets. By basing the success of a player character's skills on their ability scores (2nd Ed PHB [1990 ed]page 55) the rules forgot what it means to be proficient. For example a character with a mining proficiency makes his/her check at -3. That means a character with a low wisdom, say 9 will only be able to use the skill he claims proficient at on a roll of 6 or less on a d20. A 30% success rate is hardly what one could call proficient. Furthermore, what about the effects of practice or experience. Say the character tries her skill every chance she gets for twenty years of game time. Will she never get better at it?
A solution is the Modified Beal Method. It is from an article by Clayton R. Beal in Dragon Magazine #225 (Back in the Saddle Again p.44). The MBM sets a base percentage chance (instead of using a d20) for the use of NWPs with modifiers for difficulty, ablity scores, experience, and training.
The first step is Base Percentage, or BP, which is the starting point at which one may be considered proficient in a particular skill. The BP for all skills is 50%.
The second step is calculating the check modifier (CM). This represents the difficulty in using a skill once it has been learned. For example, reading and writing is a relatively easy skill once it has been learned affording a +05% bonus (Check modifiers +1 times 05%). the check modifiers are found on pages 54 and 55 of the 2nd edition PHB (1990 ed.). They are calculated by multiplying the Check Modifier by 05% as noted above.
The next step is Relevant Ability Bonus (RAB). PCs with extrodinary ability scores in the Relevant Ability score to the Proficiency (again see PHB [1990 ed] pages 54 and 55) gain bonuses (or penalties) for natural talent (or lack of it). Table I below illustrates this:
Table I: Relevant Ability Bonus
Relevant Ability Score
18
16-17
13-15
9-12
6-8
4-5
3
Modifier
+15%
+10%
+05%
+00%
-05%
-10%
-15%
So now that the PC has a neat percentage chance to succeed in the use of her skills that doesn't depend solely on ability scores. So what about advancement and training? Under the MBM it is recognized that as a PC gains levels not only does he get better at casting spells, using weapons or picking pockets he also gets better with his NWP skills.
The Experience Bonus (XPB) is a +05% bonus to the BP of one proficiency per level of experience the PC gains. Ideally it is a skill that the character used during her last level of experience. The XPB must be used as soon as the character gains a level and cannot be given to a proficiency the the player did not possess during that last level.
The PC may spend NWP slots that he already has to specialize in a certain proficiency. Specialization represents the added bonus the character gains by concentrating on one skill rather than many. A PC may choose to buy a proficiency twice (at full cost in slots) to gain a specialization bonus (SB) of +15% to the BP. Buying the skill three times results in a further +10% Double Specialization Bonus (DSB) to the BP beyond the 15% of Specialization (+25% to BP total). A character cannot specailize in more than one skill.
The Calculated Percentage (CP) is the end result. It represents the number that a PC must roll under or equal to in order to succeed in the use of a certain skill. The basic equation for CP is explained in Table II below:
Table II: CALCULATED PERCENTAGE CHANCE OF PROFICIENCY SUCCESS
+
+/-
+/-
+
+
Base Percentage (BP)
Experience Bonus (XPB)
Check Modifier (CM)
Relvant Ability Bonus (RAB)
Specialization Bonus (SB)
Double Specialization Bonus (DSB)
Calculated Percentage (CP)
So there it is a workable system for determining a PC's chances of using skills not based on ability scores. It's worked out well in my campaigns and for characters I've ran. Enjoy!
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