FadedC said:
Well some of these points are valid, but some are a bit exagerated.
That was intentional.
FadedC said:
Same thing for playing a violin like a master....there is no way an untrained character is going to equal my bard no matter how charismatic he is.
Actually, no. No matter how good your bard is, a character with a high enough Charisma has him beat, even if said character has never before looked at a violin.
Consider: suppose you're 12th level Bard has maxed Perform (stringed instruments), has a Charisma of 22, Skill Focus (perform(stringed instruments), and a masterwork instrument. That gives him a skill modifier of +26.
A character with a Charisma of 64, and none of the other advantages listed, has a skill modifier of +27. So, he's better.
Now, the example is clearly extreme, a 64 Charisma is in the realms of Pun-Pun, and one can argue that if you can get a Charisma of 64 then you
deserve to play like a master. I tend to agree.
Unfortunately, we now take the character who manages to get a Wisdom of 64, give him any and all advantages we see fit short of anything that will allow him to use Profession untrained. Compare him with a 1st level Commoner with a 10 Wisdom (or even a 1 Wisdom), and a single rank in Profession(butler). Which one is the better butler?
Stacked up together, these are clearly absurd examples, and yet that's what the rules support.
FadedC said:
You can in fact track the orcs by the current rules, really easy track checks can be done with untrained search.
Not without the Track feat.
FadedC said:
And the rogue finding traps has nothing ot do with skill checks, that's just about his find traps class ability (and rogues in 3.x are weak enough I'd be loath to take away one of their few useful abilities).
I'll submit that the solution to the problem of 3.x Rogues being weak is to empower the class more, rather than arbitrarily restrict a fairly vital dungeoneering function. At the very worst, trapfinding should be a feat (so that the Ranger can step up if the group has no Rogue). Frankly, though, it should just be available to everyone with sufficient ranks in Search (IMO, of course).