Player skill vs. character skill

 A lot has been written on the subject of player skill vs. character skill, by minds more steeped in RPG theory than mine, but nonetheless I had some thoughts, and I'm going to write them down.

Player skill in tabletop RPGs is simply the ability of making good decisions within the context of a game*. ("Good" in the case of D&D-like games encompasses facilitating such outcomes as character survival, the acquisition of loot, discovery of interesting features, accomplishing party goals, and of course a fun time at the game table.) Perhaps I should say good, meaningful decisions. There must be enough information available to make the decision more than a mere coin toss (or worse, an obvious case of "one right answer," and the decision must produce some outcome different from other possible courses of action. It's easy to see that an emphasis on player skill is inseparable from an emphasis on player agency. Without agency, player skill never really comes into play.

*Naturally, other types of games test other areas of player skill, e.g. hand-eye coordination, agility, speed, etc. But we're not playing darts or Super Mario Bros., so these aren't of much interest here.

I would define character skill as any feature of a character that takes direct control away from the player. Character skill is usually (but not necessarily always) tied to randomized results, and represented by modifiers to (or modifications of) certain types of random rolls, e.g. a fighter's THAC0 or attack bonus, a thief's Open Lock percentage, or a cleric's Turn Undead ability. 

Note that, for purposes of this discussion, I am not considering character abilities which are completely under the control of the player to be "character skills," as such. Though a knock spell is certainly a skill possessed by a character, it is wholly the player's decision which determines how effectively it is used. 

It's often noted that old school play emphasizes player skill over character skill, but the truth is a little more nuanced than that. Clearly, character skill has a place in old school games, often a very important one. The relatively simple combat rules in many old school rule sets, for instance, rely heavily on character skill. 

To me, the maxim "player skill over character skill" really means the subordination of character skill to player skill. The decision to use a character skill in the first place belongs to the player; in essence, the player makes a strategic decision and then delegates its implementation to the character. The player says, "I attack the orc," and the particulars of when to thrust, when to slash, how high to feint and parry, are left to the character's fictional expertise to handle, subsumed in a couple of dice rolls and modifiers. The DM doesn't say, "Roll for X" until the player announces, "I try to do X." In this way, character skill is simply a tool in the player skill toolbox: it informs the player's management of risk. 

(The only exception to this principle I can think of is saving throws, which are usually called for by the DM when player skill has already failed.)

Another aspect of "player skill over character skill" is that character skill should never replace the need for player skill, and as a corollary, should not override or reverse the results of player skill. For instance, social skills (persuasion, negotiation, intimidation, or *ugh* seduction) should not make it unnecessary for the players to actually role-play dealings with monsters and NPCs, nor should they be allowed to overturn natural results of role-playing. If a player, in-character says something an NPC would find highly insulting or threatening, the NPC should react accordingly, regardless of how high the persuasion roll is, and if the player offers a gift or bribe the NPC would find very attractive, it's inappropriate to have it rejected because of a failed persuasion check. If a player declares her character searches the right place in an appropriate way, the character should find what's there to be found, not overruled by a bad dice roll.

Character skill should not be a crutch for players who don't want to actively interact with the game environment, nor for DMs who can't be bothered to create details (either during prep or in the middle of a game) to properly inform player choices. It's easy (and lazy) to say, "Roll a search check!" when a player announces he wants to search the area. It's harder, but more fulfilling, to say, "You see a large wooden desk with many drawers, books piled on top, and beside it a pile of moldy rags. What do you do?" It's easy and lazy to say, "Roll a persuasion check!" when a PC wants something from an NPC; it's harder and more fulfilling to give this NPC motivations and desires and have the players figure out how to press the right buttons to get what they want from him.