I was sitting and thinking about skills, and why it isn't a problem that everyone can pick locks, because generally only one guy buys the lockpicks. Like a thunderbolt I realized only one guy buys the lockpicks. We already have a cost that discourages players from being skilled in everything, and that cost is money. So why put an artificial cost as well, which is a limited number of skill ranks or slots?
We are basically codifying in D&D equipment lists in a way that is already true in OD&D and 1e games run by good DM's, but perhaps with a couple tweaks, we can remove any fears of "mother may I" problems from the mediocre DM's. So not a new idea, but hopefully tweaked enough to be acceptable to players used to skills.
The implications of going to a equipment based skill bonuses are as follows:
1) If you own something you are trained how to use it. You don't need merchant profession checks, you own a market stall or a stock wagon. You don't put skill points or feats to be a blacksmith, you are a competent smith if you own a blacksmith workshop. If you bought a griffon or a warhorse, you've trained in how to ride and fight with them before you try to get on and go into battle. If you own a sextant and/or a compass you know how to navigate etc. etc. Everything that is pretty much a trained only skill in 3e requires special equipment, so you assume they know how to use it if they bothered to buy it.
2) Since you need equipment to gain bonuses to skills, or to bypass skill checks completely, party members need to sit down and make sure they are properly equipped for an expedition. So instead of going over their skill lists, and making a plan, they will be going over their equipment lists instead. Instead of making sure someone knows the skill open locks, they make sure they have lockpicks, files, and hacksaws for example.
3) Some tools give you a bonus to overcome your ability score limitations (crowbars give a bonus to bending bars) but sometimes it allows you to bypass it completely (a compass always points north, so you don't need to make a wisdom check to find north). This as a consequence makes high ability scores less important when it comes to the skill side of the game.
So let's see how well this model holds up as I go through each category of skills.
We are basically codifying in D&D equipment lists in a way that is already true in OD&D and 1e games run by good DM's, but perhaps with a couple tweaks, we can remove any fears of "mother may I" problems from the mediocre DM's. So not a new idea, but hopefully tweaked enough to be acceptable to players used to skills.
The implications of going to a equipment based skill bonuses are as follows:
1) If you own something you are trained how to use it. You don't need merchant profession checks, you own a market stall or a stock wagon. You don't put skill points or feats to be a blacksmith, you are a competent smith if you own a blacksmith workshop. If you bought a griffon or a warhorse, you've trained in how to ride and fight with them before you try to get on and go into battle. If you own a sextant and/or a compass you know how to navigate etc. etc. Everything that is pretty much a trained only skill in 3e requires special equipment, so you assume they know how to use it if they bothered to buy it.
2) Since you need equipment to gain bonuses to skills, or to bypass skill checks completely, party members need to sit down and make sure they are properly equipped for an expedition. So instead of going over their skill lists, and making a plan, they will be going over their equipment lists instead. Instead of making sure someone knows the skill open locks, they make sure they have lockpicks, files, and hacksaws for example.
3) Some tools give you a bonus to overcome your ability score limitations (crowbars give a bonus to bending bars) but sometimes it allows you to bypass it completely (a compass always points north, so you don't need to make a wisdom check to find north). This as a consequence makes high ability scores less important when it comes to the skill side of the game.
So let's see how well this model holds up as I go through each category of skills.
