D&D 5E (Houserule) Add +1 to Int Mod Skill

[Stalker0]

As I noted in my Int to Initiative thread here: http://www.enworld.org/forum/showth...ule)-Adding-Int-to-Initiative-for-All-Classes

I think Int is a common dump stat for many characters, and I am looking for some general bonus to Intelligence that aren't too strong but good enough that people might invest a bit more.

A common thought was "go like 3e....add skill proficiencies equal to Int mod". That I think would be way too strong for just a general tweak.

So a more moderate version of that:


Skills: If your int modifier is +1 or greater, choose a number of skills you are proficient with equal to your Int mod. Your proficiency bonus for those skills is increased by 1.

While its only +1, in the realm of bounded accuracy its still a nice bonus. Further, Rogues and Bards expertise would make that a +2...giving them a little extra incentive to go for Int.


Thoughts?

 

[jaelis]

Skills: If your int modifier is +1 or greater, choose a number of skills you are proficient with equal to your Int mod. Your proficiency bonus is +1 for those skills.

Maybe you mean to choose a number of skills you are not proficient with?

Doesn't play very well with jack of all trades, but I guess that is OK. Personally though it doesn't make great sense to me to be better at, say, athletics, because you are intelligent.

 

[Stalker0]

Maybe you mean to choose a number of skills you are not proficient with?

Doesn't play very well with jack of all trades, but I guess that is OK. Personally though it doesn't make great sense to me to be better at, say, athletics, because you are intelligent.

Oh I see what you mean. I meant that your proficiency bonus was increased by +1 on those skills, but your right its not written well. I will change the language.

 

[Slit518]

Maybe you mean to choose a number of skills you are not proficient with?

Doesn't play very well with jack of all trades, but I guess that is OK. Personally though it doesn't make great sense to me to be better at, say, athletics, because you are intelligent.

You can physically grab the rocks and lift your own body weight up while carrying gear, the Strength side of Athletics.

In the OP's topic, they said a number of skills equal to your Intelligence Modifier.

So what this would assume, if the person chose Athletics, would be that they person knows what things to grab, what not to step on, etc... while climbing.

Athletics and swimming, the person knows the techniques and how to be more buoyant. Strength will just help them achieve the task.

Jumping, Strength will let them jump further, Intelligence will help them apply proper technique maximizing their jump.

 

[pukunui]

What I've done: For each point of Int bonus, you get a bonus language, tool, or Int skill proficiency of your choice.

 

[flametitan]

What I might do is have the amount of downtime days needed to learn a new language or tool divided by your INT bonus. So someone with a +3 bonus would get it done in 1/3 the time and 1/3 the GP cost.

 

[Yaarel]

As I noted in my Int to Initiative thread here: http://www.enworld.org/forum/showth...ule)-Adding-Int-to-Initiative-for-All-Classes

I think Int is a common dump stat for many characters, and I am looking for some general bonus to Intelligence that aren't too strong but good enough that people might invest a bit more.

A common thought was "go like 3e....add skill proficiencies equal to Int mod". That I think would be way too strong for just a general tweak.

So a more moderate version of that:


Skills: If your int modifier is +1 or greater, choose a number of skills you are proficient with equal to your Int mod. Your proficiency bonus for those skills is increased by 1.

While its only +1, in the realm of bounded accuracy its still a nice bonus. Further, Rogues and Bards expertise would make that a +2...giving them a little extra incentive to go for Int.


Thoughts?

I would do much more for Intelligence, especially splitting away Perception from Wisdom, and giving it to Intelligence instead. (Whence Investigation=Search, smart=perceptiveness, initiative, and so on.)

That said, playing around with skills is interesting.



The basic idea is that you get 1 skill per Intelligence. So, a +5 Intelligence (aka score 20) gets 5 skills. But maybe you can also use an Intelligence point to modify a skill. For example, use up one point to pick a skill from outside the class skills, and use an other point to boost a skill that you are already proficient with, up to Expertise or Advantage.

Intelligence can also augment skills like Athletics, as any sports doctor can confirm.

The flavor is, Intelligent people are good at lots of different things.

 

[Li Shenron]

A common thought was "go like 3e....add skill proficiencies equal to Int mod". That I think would be way too strong for just a general tweak.

I don't like it either. Skill proficiencies aren't "necessary" in a game where characters can try almost anything anyway, and IMHO the PCs already have a lot of proficiencies anyway, and there's already overlapping between PCs.

Skills: If your int modifier is +1 or greater, choose a number of skills you are proficient with equal to your Int mod. Your proficiency bonus for those skills is increased by 1.

This is definitely ok from a balance point of view. The downside is that it feels like fiddly bits.

Personally I just try to feature Intelligence checks more frequently in the game, for example using the "alternative ability to skills" option.

For example you can allow Int checks with nearly any skill to (a) make an assessment on the difficulty of the challenge or to (b) identify the best conditions. Examples:

(a) the party is unsure whether they should convince the local lord to fund their adventure, grant an Intelligence(Persuasion) group check for hints on what negative consequences there will be if they fail (e.g. the lord is outraged or offended)
(a) someone just failed a strength check to open a stuck door, grant an Intelligence check to figure out if it's worth retrying, or if an ally's help or a tool can help, or otherwise if it's just impossibly strong to open
(b) a character is going to climb somewhere, grant an Intelligence(Athletic) check to find the easiest path i.e. lowest DC
(b) the party wants to hide to prepare an ambush, grant a group Intelligence(Stealth) check to make them figure out that the location is not suitable and they will very likely be noticed

 

[Horwath]

What I've done: For each point of Int bonus, you get a bonus language, tool, or Int skill proficiency of your choice.

I would give language AND a tool per point of bonus. Because between language, tool and skill, 9 out of 10 the skill wins.

 

[Fanaelialae]

I've thought about doing so, but giving wizards 5 extra proficiencies seems a bit much. I haven't tried it out yet, but here's what I came up with as a tentative idea:

10-11: Normal
12-13: Bonus language
14-15: Bonus tool proficiency
16-17: Bonus mental skill proficiency
18-19: Double proficiency with the selected tool proficiency
20-21: Double proficiency with the selected skill proficiency

(If you somehow raise your Int above 21, it repeats all the way up to 30.)

This way it's useful. The wizard has an extra language, expertise with a tool, and expertise with a mental skill. But it doesn't put both the rogue and the bard to shame as in the case of having 5 bonus proficiencies.

Edit:
Got a bit side-tracked. With respect to the +1, I agree with those who say it seems a bit fiddly.