Where I became familiar with the phrase "The Three Pillars" as it pertains to D&D, was during the playtest for 5th Edition; Combat, Social, and Exploration. D&D typically has different mechanics for each of these subsets of gameplay (with "Magic" being the subsystem that overlaps all three, but I digress.) The way I've divided the mechanics is a little bit different: class (and various forms of character customization) handle most of the combat mechanics, with skills handling everything else. However, there are a couple exceptions; obviously, some skills can be used in combat (and some of those almost exclusively so.) But the other exception would be what I think of as the "4th Pillar" in terms of defining skills. So let's start to unpack that.
Exploration & Social
First, let's set the ground rules for what we mean when describing Social skills and Exploration skills. A social skill should generally involve interacting with people; an exploration skill should have to do with comprehending or traversing the physical world. Persuasion and Intimidation are obvious examples of social skills, while Climb, Jump, Search, and Investigation are pretty clearly for exploration.
So what doesn't fit? Well, I realized that there is a subset of skills that is mostly about avoiding social interaction... and exploration interaction. Kind of. Let me explain:
When you use Stealth, you're trying not to be seen or heard. The implication here is that there is some sort of external opponent either trying to attack you, or to engage with you in some other fashion (even if it's just talking.) Likewise, when using Disguise, you probably actually want to avoid interacting directly with an opponent trying to "explore" who you really are -- hoping to give yourself the appearance of someone who is allowed to be (or supposed to be) in some place you are trying to get to, without your presence there being drawn into question. In the same vein, using a Sleight of Hand check usually involves either a) interacting with an object (exploration) without being observed doing so, or; b) interacting with a person (social?) by planting something on them, or lifting something off of them. The final example I would give is Lockpicking; assuming you succeed, the idea is that bypassing a lock not only gives you access to the chest/door/etc. but that also no one suspects (upon visual inspection) that the lock has been defeated or tampered with. So, is that a "social" interaction?
It's an interesting question.
But the further question is how does this manifest itself in gameplay.
Let's go back to the Lockpicking example; should the DM ask for a check to see if they can unlock the lock, or only to see if they can do so without arousing suspicion that the lock has been picked? If the lock is deep in a dungeon and serves only as a barrier to either progress or reward, then the latter is of no concern; this seems to be more of an "exploration" usage of the skill. On the other hand, if the lock being picked is to get access to important documents from the desk of a public figure (without damaging, destroying, or otherwise leaving evidence behind) then the skill is functioning in more of a "social" capacity -- or, perhaps, "anti-social" as it were.
Similar questions arise for using Disguise. Does the DM ask for a check when the Disguise is donned, or only when the Disguise is brought into question, i.e. by a social interaction (such as with a guard)?
If a Rogue stealths through a forest, and there's no one around... does it
The existence of the opposing force necessitates either the perception or stealth check, but that same necessity spoils the fact of its existence... or does it? You end up in a paradigm of making checks whether the threat is there or not, because to do otherwise would tip off the fact that the threat does exist. It's kind of strange, when you think of it that way. Calling for a check implies that the opponent is there, when it may not be; a failure of the check may imply that the opponent isn't there, or that it is there, but, "your character doesn't know that." All this is to say, I'll have to give some guidance as to when to have players or opponents roll, and whether they should be making opposed checks, or rolling against static DCs.
Subterfuge
Anyways, that got a little bit navel-gazey. I should wrap this up by saying I've always felt that this particular subset of Social/Exploration skills could almost be its own "pillar" ... but not quite. I started referring to these as "Subterfuge" skills, and if there were to be a formalized 4th pillar, that's what I would call it.
Speaking of subterfuge, as has been mentioned before, I'll be going dark for the month of July. No posts will be forthcoming, but I'll be working on things behind the scenes. The blog should return sometime in the first week of August (or, worst case, second week.)
