OK, before they became the most disturbingly rules heavy game company possible Alderac (now Crafty Games) had a take on the d20 system that valued skill checks as much as combat rolls, part of the reason for this is that skills checks can result in critical successes. Lucky breaks where skill performance is extraordinary, even supernatural. The mechanics are similar to scoring a critical hit are similar to combat, all skills are considered to have a threat range of 20 unless feats, items, spells or class abilities can increase that threat range. If a skill check results in a critical threat but the total check+skill bonus is not sufficient to succeed at the skill check then the check is not eligible for a critical success. The results of a critical success varies by skill and are as follows:
Acrobatics:
Cross Narrow Surfaces/Uneven Ground: You move at double the speed you were trying to move at up to double your normal speed.
Move Through Threatened Square: You move at double the speed you were trying to move at up to double your normal speed.
Jumping and Falling: You Ignore the last 20 ft of a fall.
Appraise:
You determine the market price and magical nature of all goods in a treasure hoard.
Bluff:
Your opponent is totally fooled. Only a critical success on a sense motive check or absolute proof reveals the truth. Character is immune to truth detecting magic with a caster level lower than his skill ranks + wisdom modifier for the duration of the lie.
Climb:
You move at double the speed you were trying to move at up to double your normal speed.
Craft:
Double progress for one week/day's check.
Diplomacy
Influence Attitude: Target's Attitude immediately becomes non hostile for one hour, any hostile action restores old attitude
Make Request: Any reasonable request is granted, nothing that knowingly puts the target in danger or costs more than character's check result in gold pieces.
Gather Information: Information is gathered in a half hour.
Disable Device:
Check is made in half time.
Disguise:
The Disguise is perfect, only a critical success on a sense motive check reveals it.
Escape Artist:
You escape your bonds in half time, you are unaffected by spells that allow an escape artist check with a caster level lower than your skill ranks in escape artist + your dex
Fly:
For the duration of combat you do not need to make a check to maintain altitude, all wind penalties to fly are halved for you until you touch ground.
Handle Animal:
The animal follows your commands without question so long as they are commands the animal is trained in, training an animal takes half time.
Heal:
First Aid: When stabilizing a dying person the target is immediately restored to 1 hit point.
Long-Term Care: Healing is tripled for one day.
Treat Deadly Wounds: Healing is increased by half.
Treat Poison/Disease: Target may make another save.
Intimidate:
You implant a Kernel of fear in the heart of your foe, intimidate DCs are lowered by 5 for all future interactions with your target.
Knowledge (any):
You know the knowledge as well as any closely related knowledge.
Linguistics:
Create or Detect Forgeries: Only a critical success reveals your forgeries / you identify forgeries and can recognize forgeries by the same forger.
Learn a Language: You can speak and read/write the language without an accent.
Perception:
You automatically win an opposed check when looking for creatures using stealth or hidden items.
Perform:
You double your earnings and gain a +10 to your next perform check in a 10 mile area.
Profession:
Earnings are doubled for that week or perform the task you where attempting particularly well.
Ride:
You ignore terrain penalties for one hour of mounted travel or gain a +4 to your CMB and CMD for the duration of combat so long as you are on a mount.
Sense Motive:
You receive extremely accurate information and automatically win any opposed check when opposing bluff checks.
Sleight of Hand:
Your slight of hand was perfect, it can only be countered by a critical success.
Spellcraft:
Identify Spell Being Cast: You are aware of the spell being cast, any metamagic feats affecting the spell and its target (if its in sight)
Learn Spell from Spellbook: Learning the spell only takes 1 hour.
Crafting Magic Items: Crafting is performed at double speed.
Determine Properties of Magic Item: You are aware of all properties of the target.
Stealth:
You or the object you hid is perfectly hidden and only revealed by a critical success, magic that would reveal you only work if the caster level is higher than your skill ranks + your dexterity. You move while sneaking at double speed, up to your normal speed.
Survival:
You don't need to make another survival check for one full week.
Swim:
you move twice your normal swimming speed for one round.
Use Magic Device:
You gain understanding of the magic item you are using and gain a +10 to future UMD checks with this item.
Feats:
Alertness, Animal Affinity, Athletic, Deceitful, Deft Hands, Magical Aptitude, Persuasive, Prodigy, Self-Sufficient and Stealthy are all considered to be basic skill feats. Basic skill feats in addition to their normal effects increase the threat range of a skill by one. Basic Skill Feats can be further enhanced with the following feats:
Journeyman Skill Mastery
You have worked diligently to improve one of your basic skill feats.
Prerequisites: Any basic skill feat, character level 6
benefit: The bonus and threat range granted by one of your basic skill feats is improved by one.
Special: You may take this feat multiple times, each time you take the feat it applies to a new basic skill.
Grandmaster Skill Mastery
Your ability with certain skills is legendary.
Prerequisites: Journeyman Skill Mastery with chosen basic skill feat, character level 12
benefit: The bonus and threat range granted by one of your basic skill feats is improved by one, in addition you no longer need to reroll to conform a critical success when using one of those skills. Finally once per day you may re roll one failed skill check when using one of those skills.
Special: You may take this feat multiple times, each time you take the feat it applies to a new basic skill.
Paragon Skill Mastery
you are one of the world's greatest experts in your chosen skill.
Prerequisites: Grandmaster Skill Mastery with chosen basic skill feat, character level 18
benefit: The bonus and threat range granted by one of your basic skill feats is improved by one, three times per day you may re roll one failed skill check when using one of those skills.
Special: You may take this feat multiple times, each time you take the feat it applies to a new basic skill.
Somehow the term 'threat' seems out of place...
Dotting for later perusal...
I like the more generalized rule that a critical on a skill check adds a +10 to the total result.
I do like the idea of having feats to increase the chance of a skill critical. I could also see those feats increasing the critical bonus from +10 to +15 or +20.
I like the more generalized rule that a critical on a skill check adds a +10 to the total result.
I do like the idea of having feats to increase the chance of a skill critical. I could also see those feats increasing the critical bonus from +10 to +15 or +20.
I like where your head is at.
We had a rule at my old gaming table (not my current one) where rolling a natural 20 resulted in 30+bonus and a roll of a natural 1 resulted in -10+bonus. This made it so that, even with a really high skill modifier, rolling a 1 could possibly cause you to fail. It also added some of that cinematic luck if you rolled a 20 and probably shouldn't have been able to succeed otherwise.
We liked it, but my current group didn't really want to adopt it, since we wanted to see how well we could do with playing as close to RAW as possible for a 1-20 game would work.
Dot!