Mustrum_Ridcully
Legend
Many people dislike the fact that 4E has removed Craft, Perform and Profession from the regular skill list.
I think the decision to decouple these skills from the adventuring related list of skills is a good idea - but removing them outright might be a little too much.
So, for any group that likes using these non-adventuring skills, here is a non-adventuring skill approach. The skill approach ignores classes, levels and experience points, and simply assumes that you need to spend training time to advance your non-adventuring skills.
Non-Adventuring Skills
Overview
Non-Adventuring Skills are skills that normal adventuring experience does not train. Non-Adventuring skills often describes background abilities of characters, representing hobbies, past education, up-bringing or professional knowledge outside the life of adventurers.
Non-Adventuring skills are independent of class.
A character gains ranks equal to the highest ability modifier from the following three abilities: Intelligence, Wisdom or Charisma, but a minimum of one.
Non-Adventuring Skills come in five ratings: Untrained, Apprentice, Expert, Master and Grand Master. A character with a rating of Apprentice or higher can take 10 on a non-adventuring skill.
For each rank a character has, he may improve one background skill by one rating. A character can only achieve a rating of Expert if he is 25 years or older, and other ratings are unavailable for player characters and must be earned in play.
To advance a non-adventuring skill to a higher rating, a character needs to spend time training and using a skill to advance his rating. See the table below for advancement*.
Untrained characters and apprentices need a teacher. A teacher must have a skill rating above the trainees. Experts, Masters and Grand Masters no longer require trainers. If you want to train a skill without a teacher, you need twice the listed amount of time, and can train only one skill in that time.
Earning Money
DM Advice
Non-Adventuring skills should generally not replace actual training in adventuring skills. Doing this would risk setting off the balance. On the other hand, non-adventuring skills should never cause the PCs any penalties. Using them should always be advantageous to propel the story. The players should feel comfortable using their non-adventuring skills.
As an example – you might build an adventure around gathering several magical components to reforge the Sword of Kahres, to use it against the Beast of Kornos.. After gathering all components, the PCs need someone to reforge the sword – a PC with training in Weaponsmithing might want to try it himself. Do not allow the use of skill to destroy the sword and invalidate all they work they did before. The players might never be willing to use their non-adventuring skills again in such a situation. At worst, the PC should learn he is not qualified to reforge such an item of legend, and they must find a Grand Master in Weaponsmithing.
Craft (Int)
Possible Subskills: Alchemy, Armorsmithing, Blacksmithing, Weaving, Binding, Fletcher, Calligraphy, Carpentry, Cobbling, Gemcutting, Leatherworking, Mechanical, Painting, Pottery, Sculpting, Shipmaking, Stonemasonry, Weaponsmithing
The Craft skill allows you to craft items or work as a laborer. The goal of a Craft skill is to create something.
Creating Items
If you want to craft an item, you need raw materials worth 1/5th its market price. Roll for your craft skill as if wanting to earn money, but you can spend any amount of money as a progress to create the item. (Chose the ratio of money earned vs money spent to proceed on crafting the item before you roll the check) You need to spend enough money to cover another 3/5th of the market price in total, at which point the item is finished. To succeed at building particular complex items, you need to beat a minimum DC. Use the above table as a guideline for the DC. If you fail to beat the DC, you make no progress at all (and all money spent on building the item in that time is lost.)
Instead of checking every day, the character may check every ten days (multiplying the monetary result by 10). If building a magical item, you should always use this method. If you accrue 3 failures, you need a special component or otherwise outside help to proceed with building the item.
Others may use aid another to aid your check. If they succeed, add either a +2 bonus to your check result or the money value of their check.
You can use the Craft skill (instead of the Enchant Magical Item Ritual) to create magical items. Unlike with the enchant magical item ritual, you can create magical items beyond your level. You can't craft magical items if you are untrained.
Artistic Uses
A character may also use his Craft skill to create an item that is primarily used as an art object. In that case, the character may substitute his Charisma modifier for his Intelligence modifier. See the Perform skill to determine how impressive the resulting product is.
Perform (Cha)
Example Subskills: Acting, Comedy, Dance, Keyboard Instruments, Oratory, Percussion Instruments, String Instruments, Wind Instruments, Sing
You can use the Perform skill to entertain other people. Consult the table below to determine the quality of your performance.
You can use Performances in social skill challenges to aid others, or even substitute regular skill checks. Avoid giving out penalties or even failures for Performances.
For example, in a social encounter with a dryad, she might require you to prove your true heart by singing. If you deliver a great performance, this might count as a success, but if you merely achieve a disappointing result, she might ask something else of you to prove your worth.
Profession (Wis)
Example Subskills: Apothecary, Boater, Bookkeeper, Brewer, Cook, Driver, Farmer, Fisher, Guide, Herbalist, Herder, Hunter, Innkeeper, Lumberjack, Miller, Miner, Porter, Rancher, Sailor, Scribe, Siege Engineer, Stablehand, Tanner, Teamster, Woodcutter
The Profession skill represents occupations that require you to perform services instead of manual labor.
Professional Skill and Adventuring Skill
Professions are sometimes related to adventuring skills. A Sailor might be good at keeping his balance on a storm-shaken ship (A use of the Acrobatics skill.), and a Guide might be able of finding a way through the wilderness (A use of the Nature skill). In such cases, the Gamemaster may allow the character to add a +2 bonus to the skill check in question and treat the character as trained. If the character is already trained in the skill, the Gamemaster may even allow to roll on Profession instead of the actual skill. But be careful with this option – Since non-adventuring skills can be trained without spending character resources, allowing to many free benefits from them can be unbalanced, especially since not all professions will help in a adventuring situation.
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*) Variant: Instead of fixed ratings, you could use a 3E like skill rank system. To advance a rank, a character might require 1 month of training per rank he wants to achieve. (So, to train from 3 to 5 rank, you need 4+5 = 9 months). I don't think there is much to be gained with a higher granularity - keep it simple.
I think the decision to decouple these skills from the adventuring related list of skills is a good idea - but removing them outright might be a little too much.
So, for any group that likes using these non-adventuring skills, here is a non-adventuring skill approach. The skill approach ignores classes, levels and experience points, and simply assumes that you need to spend training time to advance your non-adventuring skills.
Non-Adventuring Skills
Overview
Non-Adventuring Skills are skills that normal adventuring experience does not train. Non-Adventuring skills often describes background abilities of characters, representing hobbies, past education, up-bringing or professional knowledge outside the life of adventurers.
Non-Adventuring skills are independent of class.
A character gains ranks equal to the highest ability modifier from the following three abilities: Intelligence, Wisdom or Charisma, but a minimum of one.
Non-Adventuring Skills come in five ratings: Untrained, Apprentice, Expert, Master and Grand Master. A character with a rating of Apprentice or higher can take 10 on a non-adventuring skill.
For each rank a character has, he may improve one background skill by one rating. A character can only achieve a rating of Expert if he is 25 years or older, and other ratings are unavailable for player characters and must be earned in play.
To advance a non-adventuring skill to a higher rating, a character needs to spend time training and using a skill to advance his rating. See the table below for advancement*.
The table assumes that a character spends 6 hours each day to train in a skill. A character not adventuring may advance two skills over that time frame (assuming he can spend 12 hours each day to train skills), but may not focus this training on just one skillSkill Ratings said:
Untrained characters and apprentices need a teacher. A teacher must have a skill rating above the trainees. Experts, Masters and Grand Masters no longer require trainers. If you want to train a skill without a teacher, you need twice the listed amount of time, and can train only one skill in that time.
Earning Money
Earning Money said:
DM Advice
Non-Adventuring skills should generally not replace actual training in adventuring skills. Doing this would risk setting off the balance. On the other hand, non-adventuring skills should never cause the PCs any penalties. Using them should always be advantageous to propel the story. The players should feel comfortable using their non-adventuring skills.
As an example – you might build an adventure around gathering several magical components to reforge the Sword of Kahres, to use it against the Beast of Kornos.. After gathering all components, the PCs need someone to reforge the sword – a PC with training in Weaponsmithing might want to try it himself. Do not allow the use of skill to destroy the sword and invalidate all they work they did before. The players might never be willing to use their non-adventuring skills again in such a situation. At worst, the PC should learn he is not qualified to reforge such an item of legend, and they must find a Grand Master in Weaponsmithing.
Craft (Int)
Possible Subskills: Alchemy, Armorsmithing, Blacksmithing, Weaving, Binding, Fletcher, Calligraphy, Carpentry, Cobbling, Gemcutting, Leatherworking, Mechanical, Painting, Pottery, Sculpting, Shipmaking, Stonemasonry, Weaponsmithing
The Craft skill allows you to craft items or work as a laborer. The goal of a Craft skill is to create something.
Creating Items
If you want to craft an item, you need raw materials worth 1/5th its market price. Roll for your craft skill as if wanting to earn money, but you can spend any amount of money as a progress to create the item. (Chose the ratio of money earned vs money spent to proceed on crafting the item before you roll the check) You need to spend enough money to cover another 3/5th of the market price in total, at which point the item is finished. To succeed at building particular complex items, you need to beat a minimum DC. Use the above table as a guideline for the DC. If you fail to beat the DC, you make no progress at all (and all money spent on building the item in that time is lost.)
Instead of checking every day, the character may check every ten days (multiplying the monetary result by 10). If building a magical item, you should always use this method. If you accrue 3 failures, you need a special component or otherwise outside help to proceed with building the item.
Others may use aid another to aid your check. If they succeed, add either a +2 bonus to your check result or the money value of their check.
You can use the Craft skill (instead of the Enchant Magical Item Ritual) to create magical items. Unlike with the enchant magical item ritual, you can create magical items beyond your level. You can't craft magical items if you are untrained.
Artistic Uses
A character may also use his Craft skill to create an item that is primarily used as an art object. In that case, the character may substitute his Charisma modifier for his Intelligence modifier. See the Perform skill to determine how impressive the resulting product is.
Perform (Cha)
Example Subskills: Acting, Comedy, Dance, Keyboard Instruments, Oratory, Percussion Instruments, String Instruments, Wind Instruments, Sing
You can use the Perform skill to entertain other people. Consult the table below to determine the quality of your performance.
You can use Performances in social skill challenges to aid others, or even substitute regular skill checks. Avoid giving out penalties or even failures for Performances.
For example, in a social encounter with a dryad, she might require you to prove your true heart by singing. If you deliver a great performance, this might count as a success, but if you merely achieve a disappointing result, she might ask something else of you to prove your worth.
Profession (Wis)
Example Subskills: Apothecary, Boater, Bookkeeper, Brewer, Cook, Driver, Farmer, Fisher, Guide, Herbalist, Herder, Hunter, Innkeeper, Lumberjack, Miller, Miner, Porter, Rancher, Sailor, Scribe, Siege Engineer, Stablehand, Tanner, Teamster, Woodcutter
The Profession skill represents occupations that require you to perform services instead of manual labor.
Professional Skill and Adventuring Skill
Professions are sometimes related to adventuring skills. A Sailor might be good at keeping his balance on a storm-shaken ship (A use of the Acrobatics skill.), and a Guide might be able of finding a way through the wilderness (A use of the Nature skill). In such cases, the Gamemaster may allow the character to add a +2 bonus to the skill check in question and treat the character as trained. If the character is already trained in the skill, the Gamemaster may even allow to roll on Profession instead of the actual skill. But be careful with this option – Since non-adventuring skills can be trained without spending character resources, allowing to many free benefits from them can be unbalanced, especially since not all professions will help in a adventuring situation.
---
*) Variant: Instead of fixed ratings, you could use a 3E like skill rank system. To advance a rank, a character might require 1 month of training per rank he wants to achieve. (So, to train from 3 to 5 rank, you need 4+5 = 9 months). I don't think there is much to be gained with a higher granularity - keep it simple.
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