I think I first ran into this concept in Kevin Crawford's excellent game Stars Without Numbers. Later, I heard it repeated in Fate Core and Fate Accelerated Edition. It is such a simple idea that I have no clue why it didn't hit me earlier. Characters should be good at what they do, and bad at what they don't.
I am not talking about a mechanical advantage, though of course those may well exist. No, here I am referring to the core character concept should include a core character competence (and in some cases incompetence).
"Your hero is assumed to be competent at all the ordinary functions of their role and background. If he’s a moisture farmer from a back-of-nowhere desert world, he’s going to know how to keep a dew still running and how to put on a coolsuit. If she’s a corporate magnate’s succession-groomed daughter from a megacorp-dominated hiveworld, she’s going to know how to read a balance sheet and speak during a meeting with C-level executives. They will never fail at these basic tasks unless some situation makes them much harder than usual." - Stars Without Number (SWN).
"Characters in a game of Fate are good at things. They aren’t bumbling fools who routinely look ridiculous when they’re trying to get things done— they’re highly skilled, talented, or trained individuals who are capable of making visible change in the world they inhabit." - Fate Core
These are two very different games. The first and OSR (Old School Renaissance) game, where character death could happen in your first violent clash. The other a narrative game with loose rules and characters who start as well experienced experts, but both have an initial focus that your PC is good at what they know and what is central to who they are.
Another example come from a very excellent 3rd party book to help new Fate players come to grips with its somewhat lofty concepts
"Fate characters are competent. They're good at stuff. Maybe not the best in the world, but whatever they're good at, they're good at it. They're not bumbling amateurs." - The Book of Hanz
The idea though has been part of gaming going back to its oldest roots. Lets take perhaps the humblest of old school rpg concepts. The OD&D Fighter. From the moment you look at this humble pile of 3d6 rolls in which you were lucky to get a 12 in an Ability Score and decide to make it the fighter, that character knows how to use every weapon and suit of armor he will every come across. That is a gifted individual. It speaks of a high degree of training and capability that leaves your average humble city guard distantly in the dust. Oh, he may be taken out by a goblin with a pointy stick at first, but he is already competent at his chosen role.
With that said, a new character, is probably only good at a few things. A starting SWN character is guided by their background and by their class abilities, that goes far beyond what every meager skills they happen to have chosen or rolled for, but only as it relates to their background. A Fate Character is elevated to excellence in some field High Concept, but even if that covers a broad swath of implied ability, there is a whole world they haven't experienced yet and will need to struggle to over come.
Which brings us to the second part of the title. Sometimes you are just not cut out for something. If your background, before taking to life as an adventurer, was as maintenance personnel on a space frigate, you shouldn't have to roll to do basic life support upkeep. You can change an air filter in a snap, on any ship that is not completely foreign to you. With that said, there is a world of difference between maintenance and piloting. If you have no background or training in navigation or piloting, even if you can keep the engine running top notch, you probably can't safely make it to the next space station, and that is ok. Not every character needs to be good at everything, and that is a good thing. Letting your character shine in some respects doesn't mean they won't still be challenged.
This whole line of thought came to as part of a discussion on the Mythic Discord (Mythic Discord Lobby), a location I highly suggest you check out if you are into solo or duo gaming, because it is a good natured supportive community bristling with good ideas.
There was a conversation going on about when to roll against a the Oracle for a yes or no answer, and when to assume a character either has no chance of success or no chance of failure. A suggestion was made by user Mr. Grock and Roll that sometime even success or failure is granted, because of either a characters excellence or ignorance, but a roll could determine what success or failure will look like. As we gamers are a dice rolling culture, I can see the value of this even if the outcome is already a certainty. A very high roll, could show off the characters finesse. A very low roll (that would be a failure if that were on the table) may indicate that something that looked easy has a hidden component that you were hither to unaware of.
If you are a master thief there is no way a common shop lock is going to challenge you, but if you roll low perhaps you discover it is hooked to a crude but effective alarm system you have to disarm before you can move on to the lock itself.
On the flip side, there are some obstacles only a few specialist can handle. If two rows of 20 archers are raining arrows down on you, you are going to get hit, unless you have some supernatural dodging ability, as is found in some warriors, rogues, and monks. A high roll to dodge could indicate you are lucky and only get flesh wounds by a couple of arrows, where a low roll may indicate you are going to go through the next few minutes as a pin cushion.
In both of these cases, the outcome was predetermined by the abilities of the character, but the severity of the effect is dictated by the quality of the roll. If there is no chance of a special outcome just forgo the roll.
Taking a moment to steer this conversation into the realm of solo roleplaying, the focus of the blog, there is a second option available for your auto success or failure. Instead of rolling for severity on your oracle (May I suggest the MGM2e, my starting point for all solo games $14.95 pdf) or game system of choice, instead you roll on an inspiration chart for descriptors of your success or failure.
In the case of the rain of arrows you could get the word pair "Generously Full" suggesting that (no matter what damage was rolled" you were hit by a large barrage and now look like the forementioned pin cushion. Perhaps your afterwards roar with defiance and charge on giving the front line of bowmen a hell of a fright.
In the case of the master lock pick, you could get "Trap Weather" showing that you were delayed disarming some sort of spraying or shocking trap in the midst of opening an otherwise simple lock.
In conclusion, there are several ways to handle the fact that your character has an expertise or a deficiency. Use the tactic that works best for your game, but don't be a slave to a pass or fail binary system when it would actually fracture the game fiction to do so.
W.D.
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