This table is an excellent tool for you and your players to keep track of the progression of tasks. It provides a simple yet engaging way to add another layer to your gameplay and is especially effective at providing a downtime system used for travel time or gaps between adventures.
| Current Points | Difficulty Check | Add Points |
|---|---|---|
| 0-10 | 19 | 1d4 |
| 11-20 | 18 | 1d6 |
| 21-30 | 17 | 1d8 |
| 31-40 | 16 | 2d4 |
| 41-50 | 15 | 1d10 |
| 51-60 | 14 | 1d12 |
| 61-70 | 13 | 2d6 |
| 71-80 | 12 | 3d4 |
| 81-90 | 11 | 2d8 |
| 91-100 | 10 | 3d6 |
Each task will have a point value assigned to it, starting at zero. The player will then roll to beat the difficulty check on the same row as their current point total.
If they are successful in beating the DC then they roll the dice in the last column and add those points to their counter. When they reach 100 points, the task is completed.
This table is designed to make learning a new skill extremely challenging to begin with but once they start to develop the skill then progression improves rapidly.
Each task can have an ability check attached to it where applicable or you can just use a flat d20 every time. For example if a player wants to attempt to learn a new language in their spare time this could become an intelligence check, whereas working on mastering a new battle technique could require athletics.
Particularly hard tasks might impose disadvantage on the roll, or perhaps finding somebody knowledgeable to assist you might grant advantage instead.
The open-ended nature of the table means that it can be easily tweaked to make things easier or harder. The easiest way to do this is to alter the difficulty check values, either raising or lowering the values. A slightly more involved option is to edit the dice roll amounts although a little more work is required to balance them out.
If you have enjoyed this mechanic, there are plenty more you can learn on one of my courses.