You know that scene in a movie where the characters are being chased by something and they have to get through a door but oh no it is locked. The tension mounted as one person tries to force the door open or perhaps pick the lock while the others have to hold back the beasts?

Most games make that opening the door one die roll. In Whack Pack Adventures we are taking a different look at skills. The basic idea is that everything is combat.

What does that mean?

In the above example with the party defending the thief who is trying to open a door the party is in combat. Monsters are attacking they are rolling to hit, doing damage and reducing the monster’s HP.  Meanwhile the thief is doing the same thing except the monster he is fighting is the lock. Were the party is generating damage the thief is generating effort. Where the party is reducing the creature’s hit points the thief is reducing the goal (the amount of effort needed to open the lock) of the lock.

When the thief defeats the lock, the door is open and the party can go through.

One of the side effects of this everything is combat idea is that all equipment are weapons. Just as a good sword can add to the damage you do having the right tools can make a job go faster. A cheap set of lockpicks might add nothing to the thieves skill but still let him pick that lock. On the other hand a well made set may give him an extra dice of effort.

That is the spirit of the system, we can dive in to the bones and meat of it later. Till then stay whacky.