Skill Power/Martial Practice/GrandMaster Training: Pole Vault or Riding the Spear design thoughts

thanson02 · Feb 21, 2017

AbdulAlhazred said:
Right, though obviously that would beg the question of why it isn't useful in combat if it only worked in that context.

Oh, what if there were certain MPs that have Skill Powers as prerequisites?

If you see Skill Powers as a form of "lesser Skill specializations" and MPs as "greater skill specializations", then I don't see why not. As long as it is a definite additional element that can be done independently of the Skill Powers and not "when you use a skill power, you get a bonus". If it is the latter, then you might as well use a feat because that is what they are for.

Garthanos · Feb 21, 2017

thanson02 said:
If it is the latter, then you might as well use a feat because that is what they are for.

I personally dont currently plan to wed them that tightly... but if one is wanting to easily use the mp in mid battle the skill power is one such way... in fact I see that as one of the skill powers features many seem to be well defined mid battle application of skills ... which is kind of a positive and negative.

AbdulAlhazred · Feb 21, 2017

thanson02 said:
If you see Skill Powers as a form of "lesser Skill specializations" and MPs as "greater skill specializations", then I don't see why not. As long as it is a definite additional element that can be done independently of the Skill Powers and not "when you use a skill power, you get a bonus". If it is the latter, then you might as well use a feat because that is what they are for.

Well, a feat could give you access to both the skill power AND the feat (it would have to count as your 'Power of Skill' feat or something like that).

Again, these are all reasons why in HoML all of this stuff just became 'boons'. The whole endless debate about which category of rule should apply to any given thing goes away and it all gets moved onto narrative game logic. There are powers, practices/rituals, and items, but they all arise out of the common boon mechanic and thus participate in the level pacing (if they're significant enough to be major boons).

Something like a boon "learn this ritual formula" is likely to be minor, just knowing 5 rituals that are each useful in some specific circumstances isn't enough to make you 5 levels higher level! Powers and permanent items generally ARE major boons, but it could be circumstantial too, a high level PC might not consider a minor magic item to be a major boon, whereas a low level one might well find the same item to be quite significant. This kind of flexibility is pretty useful in terms of character definition, and helps to iron out "how do I build this" questions that often arise in 4e and lead to "you need to get these 2 particular feats, plus this specific item, and then take power X" which is OK, but sometimes gets in the way of the fun.