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<blockquote data-quote="Afrodyte" data-source="post: 1670804" data-attributes="member: 8713"><p>These are some of my own ideas. Most of them are rooted in the initial topic, but some diverge. I'd rather start a different thread to discuss the divergent aspects rather than hijack this one.</p><p></p><p>0. Introduce a scale that determines what level of expertise skill ranks represent. In my own games, I'm using: Untraned (0 ranks), Novice (1-5 ranks), Seasoned (5-10 ranks), Expert (11-15 ranks), Master (16-20 ranks), Legend (21+ ranks). DMs may have additional requirements for PCs wishing to achieve the Master and Legend levels.</p><p>1. Combine Bluff and Diplomancy into Persuade.</p><p>2. Intimidate gets its own skill, seeing as how a silver-tongued merchant is decidedly different from a merciless thug.</p><p>3. Listen, Search, Sense Motive, and Spot would be Perceive or something similar.</p><p>4. Climb, Jump, and Swim become Athletics.</p><p>5. Hide, and Move Silently become Stealth.</p><p>6. Language skills work like every other skill. For your native language, you get an automatic 10 ranks. For your bonus languages at character creation, you get 6 ranks for free. You'll have to spend skill points for everything else, just like other skills.</p><p>7. Perform would still be several skills under one umbrella, but I'd have the following skill sets: Musical Instrument (drum, flute, guitar, trumpet, voice, etc.), Dance (ballet, court, folk etc.), Acting (comedy, mime, tragedy, etc).</p><p>7a. You would start off knowing only one specialty of each Perform skill you take, but with every 4 ranks, you gain access to another specialty. So, when you first take Perform: Musical Instrument, you start off knowing how to play only one instrument. When you get 4 ranks, you can pick up another. A character with 14 ranks in Perform: Dance can know 3 forms of dance. Of course, nothing is keeping you from sticking with just one thing.</p><p>7b. I may give a little bonus to the bard to account for specialization within these skills, such that a bard who concentrates on singing gets a bonus. Maybe something like favored instrument (Music), favored dance (Dance), or favored method (Acting). It could work like the ranger's favored enemy, where you get bonus that increases by level that you can put anywhere you like. But I digress.</p><p>8. Disable Device, Forgery, and Open Lock would be Craft skills. Forgery would be Craft (Forgery) or maybe even Craft (Document; which can also cover making quality maps and such). Disable Device and Open Lock would be Craft (mechanical), which covers the construction and destruction of mechanical items, with varying DCs based upon the complexity of such objects and the character's intents. Using Craft (mechanical) to disable things is often easier than using it to make it.</p><p>8a. I'm thinking about doing Craft like I outlined Perform above, but unlike Perform, it makes sense for some Craft skills more than others. For Armorsmith and Weaponsmith, it can work, but for Blacksmith it can be awkward to start off only knowing how to shoe horses. Then again, I could make Armorsmith and Weaponsmith as subsets of Blacksmith. But it'd likely be more trouble than it's worth.</p><p>9. Synergy bonuses would be based upon actual ranks in the skill, not a flat bonus. I'd say a +1 bonus for every 4 full ranks you possess in the synergy skill works well. So, a character trying to use Survival who also has 15 ranks in, say, Knowledge (nature) can get a +3 synergy bonus to Survival checks. It's initially less potent than the current synergy bonus rules, but it can become more powerful later on.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Afrodyte, post: 1670804, member: 8713"] These are some of my own ideas. Most of them are rooted in the initial topic, but some diverge. I'd rather start a different thread to discuss the divergent aspects rather than hijack this one. 0. Introduce a scale that determines what level of expertise skill ranks represent. In my own games, I'm using: Untraned (0 ranks), Novice (1-5 ranks), Seasoned (5-10 ranks), Expert (11-15 ranks), Master (16-20 ranks), Legend (21+ ranks). DMs may have additional requirements for PCs wishing to achieve the Master and Legend levels. 1. Combine Bluff and Diplomancy into Persuade. 2. Intimidate gets its own skill, seeing as how a silver-tongued merchant is decidedly different from a merciless thug. 3. Listen, Search, Sense Motive, and Spot would be Perceive or something similar. 4. Climb, Jump, and Swim become Athletics. 5. Hide, and Move Silently become Stealth. 6. Language skills work like every other skill. For your native language, you get an automatic 10 ranks. For your bonus languages at character creation, you get 6 ranks for free. You'll have to spend skill points for everything else, just like other skills. 7. Perform would still be several skills under one umbrella, but I'd have the following skill sets: Musical Instrument (drum, flute, guitar, trumpet, voice, etc.), Dance (ballet, court, folk etc.), Acting (comedy, mime, tragedy, etc). 7a. You would start off knowing only one specialty of each Perform skill you take, but with every 4 ranks, you gain access to another specialty. So, when you first take Perform: Musical Instrument, you start off knowing how to play only one instrument. When you get 4 ranks, you can pick up another. A character with 14 ranks in Perform: Dance can know 3 forms of dance. Of course, nothing is keeping you from sticking with just one thing. 7b. I may give a little bonus to the bard to account for specialization within these skills, such that a bard who concentrates on singing gets a bonus. Maybe something like favored instrument (Music), favored dance (Dance), or favored method (Acting). It could work like the ranger's favored enemy, where you get bonus that increases by level that you can put anywhere you like. But I digress. 8. Disable Device, Forgery, and Open Lock would be Craft skills. Forgery would be Craft (Forgery) or maybe even Craft (Document; which can also cover making quality maps and such). Disable Device and Open Lock would be Craft (mechanical), which covers the construction and destruction of mechanical items, with varying DCs based upon the complexity of such objects and the character's intents. Using Craft (mechanical) to disable things is often easier than using it to make it. 8a. I'm thinking about doing Craft like I outlined Perform above, but unlike Perform, it makes sense for some Craft skills more than others. For Armorsmith and Weaponsmith, it can work, but for Blacksmith it can be awkward to start off only knowing how to shoe horses. Then again, I could make Armorsmith and Weaponsmith as subsets of Blacksmith. But it'd likely be more trouble than it's worth. 9. Synergy bonuses would be based upon actual ranks in the skill, not a flat bonus. I'd say a +1 bonus for every 4 full ranks you possess in the synergy skill works well. So, a character trying to use Survival who also has 15 ranks in, say, Knowledge (nature) can get a +3 synergy bonus to Survival checks. It's initially less potent than the current synergy bonus rules, but it can become more powerful later on. [/QUOTE]
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