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<blockquote data-quote="Spatula" data-source="post: 4671674" data-attributes="member: 2198">Yes.If task DCs are what they are (e.g. the Balor has a +38 Spot bonus), it is suboptimal to not maximize skills.If task DCs are set by the DM with the group's (or a particular character's, if the group is split up) capabilities in mind (e.g. you have a chance to successfully hide from the Balor regardless of your skill bonus), then it doesn't really matter what you do with your skills.&nbsp; Specialize, or not, the DM will set the DC so that you can succeed.&nbsp; I'm not sure why you'd even bother with skill points in this case.Wouldn't the 4e light cantrip be the equivalent of the lowly 3e light spell?&nbsp; And light spoiling darkvision - wha?&nbsp; There's nothing about that in the 3e spell description.That's a bit extreme. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile&nbsp; &nbsp; :)"&nbsp; data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />&nbsp; Flaming sphere would light fires and cause less collateral damage in the process. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f61b.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":p" title="Stick out tongue&nbsp; &nbsp; :p"&nbsp; data-smilie="7"data-shortname=":p" />Of course, this illustrates a problem with rules-based effects.&nbsp; Some fire spells (fireball, flaming sphere, flame blade) have text stating that they can light combustible materials on fire.&nbsp; Other fire spells do not, and so by implication, cannot.&nbsp; Which is pretty silly to me, but I've heard it before.&nbsp; As Scribble and LostSoul note, the enumeration of what a spell is capable of can be just as limiting (it says it does X, therefore it doesn't do anything else).</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Spatula, post: 4671674, member: 2198"] Yes. If task DCs are what they are (e.g. the Balor has a +38 Spot bonus), it is suboptimal to not maximize skills. If task DCs are set by the DM with the group's (or a particular character's, if the group is split up) capabilities in mind (e.g. you have a chance to successfully hide from the Balor regardless of your skill bonus), then it doesn't really matter [i]what[/i] you do with your skills. Specialize, or not, the DM will set the DC so that you can succeed. I'm not sure why you'd even bother with skill points in this case. Wouldn't the 4e [I]light[/I] cantrip be the equivalent of the lowly 3e [I]light[/I] spell? And light spoiling darkvision - wha? There's nothing about that in the 3e spell description. That's a bit extreme. :) [I]Flaming sphere[/I] would light fires and cause less collateral damage in the process. :p Of course, this illustrates a problem with rules-based effects. Some fire spells ([I]fireball, flaming sphere, flame blade[/I]) have text stating that they can light combustible materials on fire. Other fire spells do not, and so by implication, cannot. Which is pretty silly to me, but I've heard it before. As Scribble and LostSoul note, the enumeration of what a spell is capable of can be just as limiting (it says it does X, therefore it doesn't do anything else). [/QUOTE]

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