Four classes get spot and listen as class skills...

[Felon]

Myself, I find the "all classes should get listen and spot" side more plausible because all the classes gain experience and levels in exactly the same way and have to survive under pretty much exactly the same conditions. Any rationalization of why one class needs keen senses to survive will apply to all the others as well.

You could make that same arguement for a lot of things, like say:

"I think it's plausible that all classes should get d10 hit points per level becaucse all classes gain experience and levels the same way and have to survive under pretty much exactly the same conditions, so any rationalization of why one class needs lots of hit points to survive will apply to all the others as well."

Of course, any subjective notions about plausability must needs give way to the more objective notion that classes should be defined by roles at which they excel. Scouting is one such role.

At any rate, while all characters may survive under similar conditions, they do so in different ways. If a trap door opens up underneath the entire party's feet and plunges them into a 100ft deep pit, some may make the Reflex save needed to avoid falling in. Some may use special abilities like Slow Fall or spells like Feather Fall. Others just soak up the damage and shout for the cleric. Others still may just die a splattery death because they don't have the means for dealing with falling into deep pits. Spotting a hazard in advance is just one way to survive it.

 

[ruleslawyer]

This all has the sound of post rules rationalization rather than pre-rules justification.

It can be justified either way.

I totally disagree.

The default assumption is that Spot and Listen are cross-class skills for the "common adventurer." Why? Because Hide and MS are cross-class skills for the common adventurer. Basic balance. Why should adventurers be worse at hiding and sneaking than at spotting and hearing sneaking creatures?

Reasons why druids, monks, rogues, and rangers get Listen and Spot, and clerics, wizards, fighters, and bards don't:

Druid and ranger: Wilderness characters. Listen and Spot are far, far more important in wilderness settings than in dungeon settings for purposes of determining encounter distance, which is a crucial element of wilderness adventuring. These characters are supposed to be better than "civilized" characters in an outdoor setting; it's an element of play balance for the druid, and somewhat for the ranger.

Rogue: Obvious. In addition to being the skill monkey, the rogue is also commonly the party scout. This is a function that is not commonly given to wizards, priests, or fighters in the D&D paradigm, or the fantasy literature upon which that is based. It is the rogue, not the cleric, wizard, or fighter, who should be looking out for the orcs and oozes.

Monk: OK, I really don't have much justification for this one, but then I think most monk abilities are hard to justify without relying on the monk's chop-socky film archetype, within which it makes perfect sense that the monk have superior Listen and Spot abilities. All too many kung-fu film cliches involve blindfolded fighters, halls of mirrors, and similar stuff.

The cleric, wizard, and fighter: Where's the justification for exceptional senses? The cleric specializes in defense, support, and turning undead; he's neither a scout nor survival character. The wizard specializes in, well, spells, and gets no real skills outside knowledge, craft, and arcane skills. He's a bookworm. The fighter? I'll accept that you certainly could house-rule that the fighter gets Listen and Spot, but the standard fighter archetype is a tank warrior, not a scout nor wilderness character. (Note that fighters don't get Survival.) Again, I think that the ranger, druid, monk, or rogue should be better at spotting and listening than should the fighter.

But this isn't going to go anywhere... think what you will.

 

[Tonguez]

Druid and ranger: Wilderness characters. Listen and Spot are far, far more important in wilderness settings than in dungeon settings for purposes of determining encounter distance, which is a crucial element of wilderness adventuring. These characters are supposed to be better than "civilized" characters in an outdoor setting; it's an element of play balance for the druid, and somewhat for the ranger..

Then what about the Barbarian?

Genghis the Barbarian riding out along upon the steepe, he feels a cold wind across his back, he hears the cry of an eagle overhead and in the distance he sees...(errr nothing?)

 

[ruleslawyer]

To be honest, I've no idea why. They get Listen, after all, as you point out. I'd love to hear one of the designers on this. Not that Spot's all that useful for a barb, of course, since they're meleeists and can't hide well enough for a successful opposed check to matter.

 

[LazarusLong42]

Well, at least we can all agree, I think, that the Bard should get Listen as a class skill.

"My gods, man, is that toneless crap supposed to inspire me? Can you even hear yourself singing??"