Is There a Feat to Make a Skill a Class Skill?

[Falling Icicle]

Is there a feat that will make a cross-class skill into a class skill? Specificially, I'm interested in my wizard gaining the Hide skill, but the cross-class penalty makes it not worthwhile IMO.

[Theroc]

From Eberron Campaign Setting(I believe):

Education
[General] (Eb p52)
1st level only All Knowledge skills are added to your In-Class Skill List.
+1 bonus on two specific Knowledge skills of your choice.

From Races of Destiny:

Able Learner
[General]
(RoD p150)
Human or Doppelganger
only
1st Level only
All skills are “in-class” and only cost 1 skill point.
Does not effect the cost of learning a language or gaining literacy.

Unfortunately, if your Wizard already exists... this will be unattainable for you.

[StreamOfTheSky]

Do you use Unearthed Arcana?

Alternative Skill Systems :: d20srd.org


If you specifically want hide and want a little somethnig extra for a feat, just take a Martial Study feat from Tome of Battle. The main reason for the feat is to gain a maneuver once/encounter. But you also gain whichever discipline's key skill as a class skill as part of the feat. So pick any Shadow Hand maneuver and you get Hide as a class skill.

You can take the feat at level 2+. I'd recommend waiting until level 6 and picking up Cloak of Deception (swift action; greater invisibility on self until end of turn; Supernatural). If you want it ASAP, none of the first level maneuvers are useful at all to a wizard...just grab shadow blade technique (standard action melee attack; roll to hit twice and choose which roll to use; if you choose to take the lower dice roll and still hit, deal +(weapon base dmg) cold damage; Supernatural) with your level 3 feat, I guess.

[balthanon]

Originally Posted by Falling Icicle

Is there a feat that will make a cross-class skill into a class skill? Specificially, I'm interested in my wizard gaining the Hide skill, but the cross-class penalty makes it not worthwhile IMO.

Greensinger initiate – Ebberon campaign setting (requires spontaneous summon natures ally) (adds others)
Draconic heritage (Type) – Races of the dragon (sorcerer only)
Martial Study (shadow hand) – tome of battle

Martial Study (Shadow Hand) is the only one you'll likely be able to take. If you want another skill, you can check out this list over on the Wizards' boards: Alternative ways to get new Class skills - Wizards Community (this is a google cache link since the boards are down right now.)

[Arkhandus]

The Cosmopolitan regional feat from the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (and I believe reprinted in an issue of Dragon Magazine as a Greyhawk regional feat) grants one class skill of your choice. Cosmopolitan also grants +2 on checks with the chosen skill. The Education regional feat similarly makes all Knowledge skills into class skills, and gives +1 on checks with two particular Knowledge skills of your choice.

Outside of WotC's material, the Versatile feat from AEG's Rokugan book (a supplement of sorts for Oriental Adventures in 3E) grants two class skills of your choice and can be taken multiple times.

[GreenGecko81]

You could just take a level in rogue.

[Vegepygmy]

Originally Posted by StreamOfTheSky

Do you use Unearthed Arcana?

If you do, and your wizard is a human, you might find the human paragon class worthwhile. You'd take a one-level hit to your spellcasting, but wind up with more hit points, an extra feat, +2 to your Int, more skill points and the opportunity to pick any 10 skills as class skils, plus Adaptive Learning, which allows you to pick one class skill (say, Hide) and always treat it as a class skill no matter what class you're actually leveling in.

[Aus_Snow]

Personally, I wouldn't bother with a feat unless it granted at least three skills as class skills. Four would be nice. You could ask for a custom feat, I suppose. I know it's not the house rules forum, but still, it's the kind of thing that really *should* exist, IMO.

[aboyd]

Originally Posted by Aus_Snow

Personally, I wouldn't bother with a feat unless it granted at least three skills as class skills.

From the Net Book of Feats:

CROSS-CLASS LEARNING [General]
Pick two skills that become class skills for all your classes.
Benefit: Pick any two skills. The selected skills become class skills for all your classes from this point on.
Special: This feat may be taken multiple times, but does not stack with itself. Choose two new skills to become class skills each time it is taken.

CROSS-CLASS LEARNING Copyright 2000, Bradley H. Bemis Jr.
Revised by the Netbook of Feats Review Board
Balance: 4.35 (Purp 4.75, Pow 4.00, Port 4.50, Comp 4.75, Rule 3.75)

Although it only allows you to make two skills class skills, with a "balance" rating of 4.35, they feel it's pretty right-on for integration into a core books game of 3.5 edition. It would be exceptionally easy to just switch that feat to make it 3 skills.

[Aus_Snow]

I don't begrudge anyone's choice of RPG supplements, but personally, I found the NBoF to be poorly balanced, in many a case.

This is one of them. Mind you, how balanced is Skill Focus, or any of the '+2 to two skills' feats, when you've levelled up? There are plenty of examples of 'official' feats that truly suck, and in some instances are literally designed to trap n00bs, or rather, to make powergamers feel clever (by way of avoidance).

[aboyd]

I'm confused. I can't tell if you object to that feat because it's too weak, or too strong. In either case, you can add or remove a skill from the number of skills it makes into class skills, so it seems almost effortless to make it work.

EDIT #1: Never mind, your post is the one I originally responded to, and you made it clear you think such a feat should make 3 or 4 skills into class skills. So, go for it.

EDIT #2:

Originally Posted by Aus_Snow

Mind you, how balanced is Skill Focus, or any of the '+2 to two skills' feats, when you've levelled up?

My spellcasters always take Skill Focus (Concentration) and I've never regretted it.

[Aus_Snow]

Originally Posted by aboyd

My spellcasters always take Skill Focus (Concentration) and I've never regretted it.

Well, sure. That is the *one* exception that springs to mind, in the form of a 'necessary system patch', more or less. I mean, you could take Combat Casting if you preferred if a PrC required it. . .

But anyway, don't mind me. Like I said, just because I have (occasionally strong) opinions* on 3e rules, doesn't mean I believe everyone else should share them.


* Like, for example: Skill Focus and the +2/+2 feats (among others) should scale with level. . .