[d20 Modern] Cooking: what skill to use?

[The Shaman]

Craft (culinary arts) was the skill I was contemplating, and this thread and its sister on the WotC boards have confirmed that as the way to go.

I know the rules suggest not adding too many new skills, but the big thing in my mind is to avoid creating Craft and Knowledge skills that are too narrow - generally speaking they should be broad categories, rather than minutiae. Culinary arts is a little narrow for me - I was also considering Craft (home economics) to include sewing and other related skills - but it certainly works in the same vein as Craft (writing) and Craft (visual arts), so I'll go with it.

And to all the D&D folks out there: Modern is not D&D with gats and cell phones - there are differences in the rule sets. You really should check out d20 Modern - it's a great game!

Thanks for your help everyone! Glad I got to see this before it disappears!

 

[jaerdaph]

It's really a shame our brilliance won't be saved for posterity.

And for another take, check out Grim Tales (yes, it really IS the answer to all your problems ) - it uses the Craft and Profession skills D&D old school style as well as d20 Modern new school for Wealth etc.

 

[Treebore]

FYI, I do own the D20 rulebook, just I haven't read it since I bought it 3 years ago, so I didn't remember the differences, so definitely my fault there.

 

[The Shaman]

It's really a shame our brilliance won't be saved for posterity.

It's like performance art - you have to enjoy it in the moment.

FYI, I do own the D20 rulebook, just I haven't read it since I bought it 3 years ago, so I didn't remember the differences, so definitely my fault there.

No worries - I had a poster commenting on a homebrew Starting Occupation that I should make it a template. Just a tad unclear on the concept..

Your really should give d20 Modern a chance - it's a great game!

 

[Treebore]

I would give D20 Modern a chance, if i could find players who wanted to do so as well.

 

[Vigilance]

I think Cooking should be a craft skill as well... and in fact considered writing it up as such.

However my experience with adding new skills to the game is not good... people seem to prefer the skills as they are.

And honestly... in each case where I did it... I find myself merging the new skills into existing skills more as I use my own stuff... I think the only new skill that has stood the "test of time" in my game is Pressure points.

That said... I think cooking works best as a craft skill mechanically.

Chuck

 

[The Shaman]

I would give D20 Modern a chance, if i could find players who wanted to do so as well.

Have you considered joining a play-by-post game?

Good way to get your feet wet and learn the differences in the systems.

The discussion here and on the WotC boards seems to suggest that Craft (culinary arts) is the way to go with this new skill.

I'm leaning toward using the existing Craft (visual arts) for sewing, tailoring, or clothing design.

 

[HeapThaumaturgist]

I've never quite liked the Craft skill in Modern. In many ways, its too general and too narrow. It caveats out all "created" items by saying its cheaper and easier to buy something outright than try to build it ... this also means it becomes impossible to Mastercraft something without levels of Techie. Techie is the ONLY way Mastercraft items get created in Modern. So it's only useful for building a bomb or poison to complete a single mission, as opposed to BUILDING useful permanent items.

For my own game, Craft was going to play a much bigger part. Of course this game isn't modern (1450s-ish) and is Grim Tales, so we use the Grim Tales/D&D rules for Mastercrafting. But I'm using the Wealth rules from Modern, INCLUDING the Wealth-based prices for Mastercraft items (which is to say DC +3 for a Mastercraft item).

Unfortunately GT doesn't exactly explain fully what to do as far as cost goes into MCing. Right now we're just going with the difference between the product and the mastercrafted product / 3.

--fje

 

[Vigilance]

Heap... there is a mastercrafter feat in d20 Future... which covers some of that concern... its in the SRD as well.

Chuck

 

[SandraWinters]

A brief cooking situation came up in one of my d20 Modern games not too long ago. The character wasn't a cook, but he was simply fixing an Italian dinner for two. We just decided to roll a Charisma check in this case.