D&D fan here, I really love the concept. Looking forward to the final result! Question, are you going to show the check results on screen when the player attacks or interacts with something?
Viewing post in GB/X - Old School–ish Dungeon Crawling for the Game Boy
I definitely could! It would probably only add a line to each post-interaction dialog box. Something like this:
> A goblin jumps out of the vase and sneers at you!
> What do you do?
Attack {Strength}
Frighten {Charisma}
Befriend {Charisma}
Trick {Charisma}
Escape {Dexterity}
> Befriend
> You offer the goblin a small snack from your satchel. They cautiously accept and begin nibbling.
> {Roll: 12 vs. 16 -- Success!}
> The goblin yips with joy and tugs your arm towards the vase.
Inside, you see a cache of gemstones worth 50 G.
When you turn to thank the goblin, they are gone.
The results would be a little odd-looking to people familiar with 3e and later editions, though, since I'm using the roll-under-ability-score mechanic from Basic/Expert D&D, instead of the roll-over-difficulty-class mechanic from modern D&D.