Gather Info folded into Diplomacy?

[Tezrak]

For the most part, I'm quite happy with the way the skill list got consolidated in PFRPG. I even love the elimination of Concentration as a skill, and giving spellcasters a concentration check having to do with their caster level.

I'm trying to figure out the thought process behind folding Gather Information into Diplomacy, though. While I can see the similarity in the two skills (you acquire information by dealing well with people socially) I tend to feel like act of gathering information is different enough to warrant its own skill: sifting through rumor, innuendo and gossip, collected from a variety of sources, letting it coalesce into something useful.

I'm all for a small skill baseline expanding into many uses folded into each skill, don't get me wrong.

Thoughts?

 

[N0Man]

Oops, sleepy reply into the wrong browser window.

Move along, nothing to see in my post.

 

[Azgulor]

I'm not a fan of the skill consolidation or the fate of Gather Info in particular. I agree that it should have it's own skill.

Just like the combination of skills into Perception effectively eliminates the eagle-eyed character whose hearing isn't as sharp, now all characters good at gathering info must be socially adept. (Yes, I know they are both CHA skills. However, while the distinction may not be great in most cases, it was there.)

However, I knew going in that the skill system was getting nerfed a bit. I think the methodology they came up with is workable and makes the skill points you get go farther than before, so I can live with it.

For my son, who's just beginning to play RPGs, I'll use Pathfinder skills RAW.

For my existing campaign with my group, I'll use the 3.5 method.

 

[deadsmurf]

I'm not a fan of Gather info going into diplomacy - probably should have been rolled into Knowledge Local like 4E's Streetwise.

 

[Serphet]

I think the main thought process was to fold single purpose skills into more general skills.

 

[Dal Thrax]

Well if your talking about a classical European view of diplomacy, spying should probably be part of the same skill. If you're looking at a more modern view of espionage, with operations, intelligence gathering and analysis as three separate branches (all separate from the diplomats) then the 3.5 skill system is going to make more sense.

 

[Nikosandros]

I'm personally in favor of this folding. Gather information is an excessively specific skill in the context of a D&D-like game (especially after the consolidation of spot/listen and hide/ms).

 

[Sadrik]

I also think this is a good change. Though I am one of the ones that likes a more "cinematic" skill list as opposed to some sort of every-nich-of-human-activity-gets-a-skill kind of guy.

On a similar topic a really do not like what they did with the performance skill. I would have just axed it and said that the bard could play a performance and get the effects of bluff, diplomacy or acrobatics skill. Rather than the other way around where they can replace their performance skill with those skills. So now a bard does not need to take diplomacyhe just needs to know how to play a flute. Much, much, much would have prefered the other way around.

 

[billd91]

I'm content with Gather Info being folded into Diplomacy. They work closely together enough for me.

What I wish they'd done is put Jump and Climb together as some form of strength-based movement rather than put Jump in Acrobatics.