Welcome to the SkillZone. This article is one in an occasionally running series on one of the cornerstones of most RPGs: Skills. Skills usually have pretty cut and dry uses in roleplaying games. They are used by the player characters to perform actions and see if they are able to accomplish tasks. If your group is like my play groups, about 6 or 7 skills are used in almost every adventure, 3 or 4 that pop up occasionally, and about 10 that are rarely used. But what really separates the great player and games I’ve found to be creative, narrative use of skills that aren’t necessarily obvious in the moment. These uses generally create the best roleplaying fodder as well!
So in the SkillZone we will discuss a skill that’s not commonly used, and possible creative uses of skills that are too often taken for granted. For the next examination, we’ll cover another skill that’s rarely used in my games:
Resilience
I can honestly say I don’t know a single Resilience check I’ve made in my games. In researching for this series I listed different checks I’ve made with each skill in my games, but for this one I can’t think of one. Resilience is a character’s physical fortitude against physical threats. It is the ability of the body to be pushed past normal limits. At first glance it would seem this is an easy skill to work into any setting. Sci-fi, fantasy, horror, or any setting traditionally has many physical challenges that are anchors of the games. So naturally Resilience checks would make sense to appear regularly I assumed.
But the truth is I have wildly under-utilized this skill and have never give my PCs incentive to use them. No one has spent XP on the skill and I’ve left it out of my head during game sessions. So what follows is a set of creative uses of this skill to help it become more part of your games. Some of these are fairly obvious, and others are not.
Poisons and Toxins
A fairly cookie cutter example for this skill that’s suggested by most. By rules it is the skill check that you need to use to fight off the effects of toxins or poisons. However, consider that someone who rolls a high number or extra successes might be able to hold off the effects even longer, or perhaps resist the effects all together. On the flip side, you could make it so after so many rounds, the toxins wear off more quickly with a strong Resilience check.
Holding On for Dear Life
There could be many situations in which a PC needs to grab on to a ledge or railing, or perhaps hang onto the side of a vehicle as it drives off. I found in my games I often used Athletics checks for this, or strength checks of some sort. But perhaps you would allow the PC to automatically and dramatically grab on to whatever they needed, yet make a Resilience check to see how long they could hold on, if at all. Perhaps a low number or a roll with threat or despair would cause the PC to fall or let go unexpectedly, or fall into an even more unfortunate situation. High numbered rolls or advantage could allow the PC possibly a maneuver while he hangs on. Maybe a door must be physically held open, and instead of a Brawn or strength check of some sort to see if the PC gets it open, a good Resilience check can determine if and how long the character can keep it held open.
Interrogations
I’ve run a few interrogations and such in my games. But usually there are combinations of social checks that govern success and failure and the direction of the encounter. But I believe a good Resilience check could really be in play here. You could roleplay out a character being kept for hours in a room with hours of questioning. If torture or aggressive tactics are used, Resilience checks can assist with how long the character can hold out. Perhaps failures to these checks sap the character’s strain threshold. One could even require Resilience from the ones doing the questioning if the subject is particularly resistant to questioning.
The Elements
Survival checks can be common when in the outdoors and in the elements; however, a good Resilience check might really be the way to go. Heat, cold, rain, snow, or low atmosphere could all require Resilience checks to be able to push through extreme conditions. Checks that fail can sap strain, or ones that succeed might get a character a free maneuver or their strain levels remain where they are.
The Chase Scene
In most roleplaying games, chase scenes have rules generally speaking to resolve who wins or loses, or who catches up or who falls behind. However, a good Resilience check in the middle of the encounter could be something to turn the tide. Let’s say a chase has lasted 3 rounds and is heading into the fourth round. A GM could call for a Resilience check because the chase is now lasting a while. Instead of straight Athletics checks, you could see how resilient the characters are during a long or intense chase. A successful Resilience check could mean that the character pulls ahead some more or keeps their endurance and wind. It could also give a boost to the next checks. A failed check can do things like cause strain, lose ground, or cause setbacks to subsequent checks.
The Duel
Much like with chase scenes, when players are locked in a duel with a foe, often combat skills are used to try and determine the winner. While this is still quite appropriate, there is an interesting opportunity to use Resilience in the middle of a fight. When fighting, after a few rounds of back and forth, a good Resilience check can spice up the fight. You could make the more resilient fighter get a boost the next round or some other benefit. You could even do opposing Resilience checks to symbolize the stress going on with a long fight and who gets the upper hand after a few rounds. Strain is a great mechanic for a test of endurance, but Resilience can really make it interesting. Setbacks, boosts, or different difficulties can all be at your disposal as a GM with the results of a good Resilience check.
What about you? Do you use Resilience in your games at all? Do you find any other creative ways to use the checks? Is it something your characters rank up in or pay attention to? I know I definitely need to do more to get it in my games!
Scott Alden
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I like to use Resilience on opposed rolls that potentially do damage but aren’t really attacks as such.
If a vehicle crashes, a barrel unexpectedly detonates when fire reaches it, or an electric cable falls onto the platform everyone’s standing on, I like to have everyone roll Resilience against a set difficulty rather than treating it like a direct attack. It might be more theoretically correct to have the hazard roll an “attack” against everyone’s resilience as a difficulty, so you get a more normal ‘successes add damage’ scenario, but I usually just pick a high starting damage — like say 8 to 12 — and then successes reduce the amount of damage dealt one-for-one.
Similarly, sometimes you can have things happening that are attacks in a general sense, but aren’t really directed at the PCs. If TIE Bombers are dropping proton charges on air defense batteries and power generators in a battle, they aren’t aiming for the PCs, so using the pilot’s attack roll seems wrong. Instead, I’d decide what the difficulty is based on the weapon involved and how far away it is, and everyone can roll Resilience against that.