It also depends on the cam specs. A stock cam can run reasonably well as long as nothing hits (valves and pistons). The problem gets a lot worse when the timing chain is worn enough to skip and the distributor timing ends up about 15-20 degrees less than normal at the same time. I've replaced the chains on a couple of Dodges that had skipped twice before not being able to run - luckily!
The variable timing controls on newer cars have quite a wide range of movement, in some cases enough to mimic skipping a tooth.
