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Message: <blockquote data-quote="fuindordm" data-source="post: 2099534" data-attributes="member: 5435">(In reference to consolidating Jump, Swim, Climb into Athletics)All you say is true.  No matter what skill (or for that matter, ability score) you examine in D&D you can make simiar arguments--there are people highly resistant to disease but not injury; there are people that are terribly dextrous with their hands but not with their legs... there are people who have studied underground monsters extensively but not underground natural hazards.  Any game system is at best a coarse model of reality.For this skill in particular, however, one could make the argument that someone who is naturally athletic, plays a lot of sports, etc. would do better at jumping even if they've done mostly climbing, and someone in good athletic shape could probably stay afloat better than someone with no appreciable skill in any of the three categories.More often than not, a player conceptualizes their character as "someone athletic" rather than as "a strong swimmer, but not so hot climber".  It makes sense then to allow them a skill where all three modes are part of a package deal, especially when skill points are a scarce commodity.The other side of the question, then, is how to repackage the other skills so that they have roughly equal utility.  Here's the system I came up with an another thread (and I've seen about half a dozen of these come and go...)I'd appreciate further comments on this system.Ben---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------A PC gets 1+Int bonus languages and 1+Int bonus free Craft, Knowledge, or Profession skills in addition to their class skills. Unlike class skills, these three skills do not get a +3 bonus; their rank is simply the PC's character level. These skills are important, however, because they can add a +2 synergy bonus to the player's skill rolls whenever they're doing something closely related to their background as defined by these skills.A PC also gets from 2 to 6 "adventuring skills" chosen from the following list, according to their class. A PC may choose any skill from the list, but if they choose one of the skills favored by their class they get a +3 bonus to that skill.Fighters, Clerics, and Wizards get 2 skills.Barbarians, Druids, Monks, Paladins, and Sorcerers get 3 skills.Rangers and Bards get 4 skills.Rogues get 6 skills.Humans get an additional skill. Anyone may choose an additional skill from the list by expending a feat.All skills are treated as if you have ranks equal to your level.ADVENTURING SKILLS:If a PC has levels in any class listed after an adventuring skill, they get a one-time +3 bonus to that skill.Each skill can be broken down further into a number of tasks, listed after the skill description in bullet points.  The appearance of a profession skill among the tasks indicates that the character can use this skill to make money at the indicated profession.Acrobatics (DEX) [Bard, Fighter, Monk, Ranger, Rogue]        * Balance        * Escape Artist        * Tumble        * Profession (acrobat)Acting (CHA) [Bard, Rogue]        Use this skill to lie well and to pretend you are someone you're not.        * Bluff        * Disguise        * Profession (actor)Artifice (CHA) [Sorcerers]        Use this skill to guess at the powers of a magic item and make it        work for you without the necessary training or attributes.        * Identify potions and other magic devices        * Use Magic DeviceAthletics (STR) [Barbarian, Druid, Fighter, Monk, Ranger, Rogue]        * Climb        * Jump        * SwimAwareness (WIS) [Barbarian, Bard, Monk, Ranger, Rogue]        * Listen        * Spot        * SearchHealing (WIS) [Cleric, Druid, Fighter, Monk, Paladin, Ranger]Influence (CHA) [Bard, Cleric, Paladin, Rogue, Sorcerer]        Use this skill to convince another person or creature to a course of        action or see you in a more favorable light.        * Diplomacy        * IntimidateIntuition (WIS) [Barbarian, Bard, Cleric, Druid, Paladin, Ranger, Rogue]        Use this skill to sense another creature's mood and deal with them  appropriately. This skill also gives a small chance of sensing magic, unnatural presences, and other such phenomena at the DM's discretion. Intuition skill rolls can also aid the use of many divination spells.        * Sense Motive        * Sense UnseenMechanics (DEX) [Rogues]        Use this skill to infiltrate forbidden areas and come back out alive.        * Pick locks, given reasonable tools.        * Find and disable mundane traps and other mechanical devices        * Find and open secret doors and compartments.Mystic (INT) [Bard, Druid, Cleric, Sorcerer, Wizard]        * Identify spells and magical effects        * Concentration        * Used in some advanced spells such as Scry and Teleport        * Knowledge (arcana)        * Profession (fortune-teller)Riding (CHA) [Bard, Druid, Fighter, Paladin, Ranger]        * Handle Animal        * RideScribe (INT) [Bard, Rogue, Wizard]        Characters without this skill can read and write, but those with it can make a living at it. You spend much of your time reading and are familiar with numerous writing styles and tricks of language.        * Create and decipher coded messages        * Make sense of old languages or scripts, provided they are related          to a language you already know.        * Forge documents and signatures        * Profession (clerk)Stealth (DEX) [Barbarian, Bard, Monk, Ranger, Rogue]        * Hide, given concealment        * Move silently        * Follow someone without being noticedStreetwise (CHA) [Bard and Rogue]        Use this skill to learn the important people and places in a new town quickly, find specific information in an urban setting, uncover or join conspiracies, and deal in black-market goods.        * Gather information        * Allows untrained use of Knowledge: Local after a short period        * Access to and influence on covert societies and the black marketSurvival (WIS) [Barbarians, Druids, Rangers, Rogues]        Use this skill to subsist and navigate in the wilderness, as well as to recognize and use local flora and fauna.        * Survival        * Intuit Direction        * Knowledge (nature)Sleight of Hand (DEX) [Bards, Rogues]        Use this skill to conceal small items on your person and to steal small items from other people, even in plain sight.  This skill can be used for entertainment, for cheating at cards and dice, or for swapping a replica for a real item without anyone noticing..        * Profession (stage magic)Trader (INT) [Bards, Rogues]        Use this skill to haggle over prices and appraise goods and treasures.        * Appraise        * Knowledge (geography)        * Profession (merchant)SPECIAL SKILLSThere are four special skills that follow slightly different rules: Craft, Knowledge, Linguist, and Profession.Craft, Knowledge, and Profession must be associated with a reasonably specific category, but may be taken multiple times. These three skills, and only these three skills, can grant a +2 synergy bonus to appropriate applications of the adventuring skills. This encourages PCs to put some thought into their character's background and choose appropriate skills. For example, a PC with Craft: Locksmith gets +2 to their Mechanics roll when trying to open locks.CRAFT SKILLS (INT):  The principle benefit of a Craft skill is the ability to create and repair things, but some craft skills grant clear synergy bonuses.  All craft skills grant the ability to appraise items that the character could create, the ability to repair items given proper tools and materials, and can generally be expected to give a bonus to Awareness rolls when there is something unusual to be noticed about such items.Craft (Alchemy): grants a +2 bonus to Mystic to identify potionsCraft (Clockwork): grants a +2 bonus to Mechanics to disable many traps.Craft (Engineering): grants a +2 bonus to Awareness when searching for secret doors.Craft (Herbalism): grants a +2 bonus to Healing in appropriate terrain.Craft (Locksmith): grants a +2 bonus to Mechanics when trying to pick locks.Craft (Shipwright): no synergy bonuses to speak of, but sometimes indispensable!Craft (Smithing): grants a +2 bonus to Artifice when used on armor and weapons.KNOWLEDGE SKILLS (INT): These skills simply provide the PC with plenty of facts, rumors, and legends in a fairly broad subject. A character with only knowledge skills can't be expected to do much with it, however, since this skill represents only the kind of learning you can get by reading books. Some knowledge skills can allow the characters to recognize and know the abilities of certain kinds of creatures.Some adventuring skills subsume a category of knowledge as well; if a character has both (for example, Survival and Knowledge: Nature), then the +2 synergy bonus applies to all applications of the adventuring skill.Knowledge (Arcana): Magical creatures, runes and symbols, elementals, arcane materials.Knowledge (Geography): Geographical features, borders, imports and exports, landmarks, mysterious and legendary places, common surface animals and monsters.  +2 to Survival rolls when navigating the wilderness.Knowledge (History) [bard, wizard]: Age of legends, rise of nations, noble houses, current affairs.Knowledge (Local) [bard, cleric, rogue, wizard]: Replace 'local' with the name of a country or large city.  It becomes a mishmash of Geography and History for that region.Knowledge (Nature) [bard, druid, ranger, wizard]: Natural hazards; flora and fauna, their behavior and uses.Knowledge (Religion) [bard, cleric, paladin, wizard]: Mythology, doctrine, iconography, cosmology, and anathema such as demons and undead.Knowledge (Science): Mathematics, ballistics, basic engineering principles, strange but natural phenomena.PROFESSION SKILLS (WIS)Profession allow the character to act with reasonable competence in a given profession, so that they can earn money.  When acting in the context of a profession, these skills allow a character to use certain adventuring and knowledge skills as if they had (level/2) ranks, even if they didn't take those skills. If the character has the appropriate skill as well, then a profession applies a +2 synergy bonus to that skill instead.Profession (Beggar): Acting, Influence, Streetwise (simulating poverty and injury, obtaining charity)Profession (Courtier): Acting, Influence, Knowledge (History) (simulating wealth, currying favor)Profession (Farmer): Craft, Survival, Trader (finding food in home terrain, haggling for common items)Profession (Fence): Artifice, Sleight of Hand, Trader (recognizing magic items, concealing andswapping items, haggling for stolen goods)Profession (Guardsman): Awareness, Intuition (when standing sentry duty)Profession (Miner): Athletics, Craft, Survival (climbing natural formations and shafts, natural hazards)Profession (Sailor): Athletics, Craft, Survival (swimming, tools and ropes, fishing, navigation at sea)SKILL-RELATED FEATSAnimal Empathy: This feat can only be taken if you have the Intuition and Survival skills. You can use Influence on animals as well as people.Arcane Trapfinding: This feat can only be taken if you have the Artifice and Scribe skills. It allows you to use Awareness to detect the presence of magical traps, but you must be actively searching for them. You can also use Scribe to try to discharge some such traps harmlessly.Duelist: Allows the character to feint in combat as if they had the Acting skill at full ranks.Extra Training: pick one additional skill.Skill Focus: gives a +2 bonus to one skill (only once per skill)Skill Specialization: This feat grants a +4 bonus to one specialized application of an adventuring skill.  Examples include stabilizing (Heal), swimming (Athletics), avoiding attacks of opportunity in combat (Acrobatics), feinting in combat (Acting), spell research (Mystic), sensing the unseen (Intuition), listening (Awareness), and so on. The player should feel free to give this feat a more flavorful name reflecting the bonus.Tracking: This feat requires the Awareness and Survival skills. You can use Survival to follow another creature's traces.Example: Kugel the rogue grew up on the streets of Baghdad, running small errands and messages for figures of the underworld when he wasn't begging.  His only friend and mentor was a hedge wizard who discovered him spying on his activities and took a liking to the boy. Now, at the tender age of 15, he sees his golden opportunity and joins up with an adventuring party.Kugel's stats are: Str 8 Dex 15 Con 10 Int 12 Wis 14 Cha 13.  He's a human rogue, so he gets seven skillsand two feats; he also gets 2 languages and two background skills.For skills, he chooses:  Acrobatics, Acting, Awareness, Mysitc, Stealth, Streetwise, and Sleight of Hand.For feats, he chooses Improved Initiative and Skill Specialization (Acrobatics: tumbling to avoid attacks ofopportunity).For background skills, he chooses Profession (beggar) and Knowledge (Baghdad)His character sheet looks like this:Acrobatics +6 (level + 3 + Dex) (+10 tumble vs. AoO)Acting +5 (level + 3 + Cha)Awareness +6 (level + 3 + Wis)Mystic +2 (level + Int) (Mystic is not a class skill, so he doesn't get the +3 bonus)Stealth +6Streetwise +5Sleight of Hand +6Profession (beggar) gives +2 synergy to Acting and Streetwise, and the use of Influence at +2 when Kugel is acting like a beggar or moving in similar social circles at the DM's judgement.Knowledge (local) is at +5 (level+3+Int).</blockquote>

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