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General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
Idea: Equipment based skills and skill checks
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<blockquote data-quote="ferratus" data-source="post: 5999856" data-attributes="member: 55966"><p>Oh no, not a party of locksmiths. That's the most broken build of all. </p><p></p><p>Listen, the reason why people buy equipment is that they want to use it. If they want to use it, they learn how to use it. In your example, everyone in the party wanted to learn how to pick locks either because </p><p></p><p>a) they found it a skill worth learning to be a well-rounded dungeoneer or </p><p>b) they want to be a thieves' guild. </p><p></p><p>There is nothing wrong with either scenario. In fact, in the oldest days of OD&D solitary adventurers often knew every skill. That's how you could have a 1 on 1 game session with the DM. With limited skills you need 4 or 5 players to cover the bases. </p><p></p><p>Everyone knowing the same trained skill isn't going to break the game, because you can usually succeed if one person knows the skill. So what's wrong with having a little bit of redundancy, especially since the person with the highest applicable ability score is probably going to be delegated to do the job anyway. </p><p></p><p>One 2e session I had a thief who couldn't come. Since I use secondary skills and not proficiencies, and because my thief skills are ability checks (my own house rules) the ranger pulled out a set of lockpicks and picked the locks. I was flummoxed that he was doing this for a bit, but he explained that he had learned how to do it by watching the thief. My 4e "say yes" training kicked in, and he picked the lock. Later I thought it over, and I thought that was fantastic. Why shouldn't higher level adventurers learn from each other and become more well-rounded players? The guy with the high dex score came back next session, and he became the party safecracker again. Nothing broke because the ranger showed a talent for picking locks.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Yeah, but passing skill checks won't break the system. There is literally no case in which the party passing a lot of skill checks will break the game. It just means that party members will do more things as a group, like riding horses in a calvary unit, playing the politics of intrigue at court, or sneaking as a group. </p><p></p><p>All things which you pretty much kick out of the game unnecessarily in the name of balance.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="ferratus, post: 5999856, member: 55966"] Oh no, not a party of locksmiths. That's the most broken build of all. Listen, the reason why people buy equipment is that they want to use it. If they want to use it, they learn how to use it. In your example, everyone in the party wanted to learn how to pick locks either because a) they found it a skill worth learning to be a well-rounded dungeoneer or b) they want to be a thieves' guild. There is nothing wrong with either scenario. In fact, in the oldest days of OD&D solitary adventurers often knew every skill. That's how you could have a 1 on 1 game session with the DM. With limited skills you need 4 or 5 players to cover the bases. Everyone knowing the same trained skill isn't going to break the game, because you can usually succeed if one person knows the skill. So what's wrong with having a little bit of redundancy, especially since the person with the highest applicable ability score is probably going to be delegated to do the job anyway. One 2e session I had a thief who couldn't come. Since I use secondary skills and not proficiencies, and because my thief skills are ability checks (my own house rules) the ranger pulled out a set of lockpicks and picked the locks. I was flummoxed that he was doing this for a bit, but he explained that he had learned how to do it by watching the thief. My 4e "say yes" training kicked in, and he picked the lock. Later I thought it over, and I thought that was fantastic. Why shouldn't higher level adventurers learn from each other and become more well-rounded players? The guy with the high dex score came back next session, and he became the party safecracker again. Nothing broke because the ranger showed a talent for picking locks. Yeah, but passing skill checks won't break the system. There is literally no case in which the party passing a lot of skill checks will break the game. It just means that party members will do more things as a group, like riding horses in a calvary unit, playing the politics of intrigue at court, or sneaking as a group. All things which you pretty much kick out of the game unnecessarily in the name of balance. [/QUOTE]
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Idea: Equipment based skills and skill checks
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