Non-Weapon Proficiencies, Skills, and Castles & Crusades

I've been doing a LOT of thinking and tinkering with thoughts on Skills in Castles & Crusades. One strong option, to give it that 'AD&D' Feel would be to use the Non-Weapon Proficiencies in some way.

I've gotten rid of Blind Fighting, to many people used to take it. That should be a rarity, only obtained by Finding a Master who could teach it to you. A great Role Playing opportunity IMHO.

I've merged Fungus and Plant Lore - I am personally into natural remedies, and know as much about their applications when it comes to Fungi as I do Plants Lol. I don't see the need to seperate them.

I've also added Cooking in, as our group likes to know EVERYTHING thats going on - we may cover certain parts of an adventure in brief - but we always cover the details.

Secondary Skills

Secondary Skills (referred to as Non-Weapon Proficiencies in AD&D) are those day to day Skills everybody has, those abilities and talents that aren’t covered by your Class Skills.

When using Secondary Skills, follow all the rules for standard Attribute Checks (remember this makes choosing skills around Prime and Secondary Attributes quite a challenge, so choose your Skills carefully) except you never add your Class Level when making such a Test. Instead, use the Secondary Skills Level Instead.

The Number of slots a Character has for his Secondary Skills are equal to the Characters INT+WIS, +1 per 4 Years of the Characters Starting Age (another advantage for Most Non-Humans).

Craftsman Secondary Skills

Secondary Skill/Cost*/Attribute
Animal Trainer/1/WIS
Armourer/2/INT
Blacksmith/1/STR
Boatwright/1/INT
Bowyer-Fletcher/1/DEX
Carpenter/1/STR
Gem Cutter/2/DEX
Leather Worker/1/INT
Miner/2/WIS
Potter/1/DEX
Smelter/1/INT
Stone Mason/1/STR
Weapon Smith/1/INT
Weaver/1/INT

Adventuring Secondary Skills

Secondary Skill/Cost*/Attribute
Animal Noise/1/WIS
Boating/1/WIS
Cooking/1/INT
Direction Sense/1/WIS
Endurance/2/CON
Fire Building/1/WIS
Fishing/1/WIS
Healing/2/WIS
Mountaineering/1/STR
Plant Lore/1/INT
Riding/1/WIS
Rope Use/1/DEX
Sound Analysis/1/INT
Swimming/1/STR

(*per level)

Each Slot after the initial purchase Cost increases the Secondary Skills Level by one.

For example -

Brother Kydric has 26 ‘Slots’ to spend on his Secondary Skills – and he decides to spend 2 Slots on Healing. Giving him the Healing Secondary Skill at Level 1, he spends 4 more Slots on Healing – giving him a Total Level of 3 in Healing.

A Character gains a new Secondary Skill Slot at every ‘Odd’ level (3rd, 5th, 7th and so on).

A quick note about Endurance – A character with Endurance is able to perform physical activity longer than a normal character, without succumbing to fatigue and exhaustion. This Skill doubles the length of time that a Character can exert himself before the effects of fatigue and exhaustion set in.

Keep Rollin'