I am...perplexed by this situation.

[TheGM]

I may be misunderstanding this, but I'm not out to punish him. If he doesn't use the option, he'll have a leg up on levels (if others are using said option ). Just wondering what to expect. Do you predict problems?

I'm surprised that he's reacting this way to something that optionally can give him some extra stuff... But I'm also surprised at the responses here that sound as if you have a responsibility to let him do what he wants, as if each player can pick and choose. He has a choice, do it or no. He has another, play with you or no.

Expecting problems: I would if other PCs are going on these quests and his character goes with them. You might give him some of what he's asking for on each such trip - "Find Heglemeyer across the Rainbow Bridge, on the Isle of Lost Men..." That will give him a focal point while the other PC searches for their scroll or tome.

Edit: Fixed poor grammar caused by living in Wisconsin too long.

 

[Geron Raveneye]

There is an exp cost of the additional points/feats. Sorry for not mentioning this.

And this makes it equal to a wizard's player complaining about magical item creation bein "lame" and him not being in the mood to run around and collect weird ingredients for a magical item...even if he doesn't have to take the feat and do so in the first place. Simply makes no sense to me.

 

[Treebore]

It's funny...a GM sets up a system to simulate additional learning of feats and skills by spending time and money on the task, and keeps it optional as an add-on to the existing system, and people complain that they have to follow that option or otherwise their characters "fall behind" mechanically.

If you're loath to have your character spend time in a library, searching up information pertaining to a certain skill or feat, nobody forces your character to do that. He could as well spend the time and money locating a wizard and have him whip up a magical item for him to even out the mechanical disadvantage. Or create a masterwork weapon in the spare time while another character sits in the library.

And as far as I got the description, it's just a bit of flavour text around "mechanical" effects...spend X amount of time and Y amount of money to locate/purchase the needed information and gain Z amounts of skill points. That there's some roleplaying attached is a preference of the individual GM, no? And just because one player isn't "in the mood", he's supposed to put his ideas aside? Sorry, sometimes a player either takes the carrot if he wants the goodie bag attached, or he looks for another carrot.

I totally agree with you. I wouldn't use such house rules in question because I already have enough "power creep" problems with D&D, but my opinion mirrors yours if I were to use, or play in, a game that has such rules.

 

[fusangite]

Ok -- so I was wrong in my assumption about how these items worked. Maybe you could post the relevant section from your house rules document so we can see if it's unbalancing.

 

[Storyteller01]

The rules I'm using are from an OGL book, so this thread should do. General product discussion is what it's all about...

The watered down version is that a book that provides a skill has a depth rating (it's max skill bonus). If your using the book as a reference, it provides a bonus equal to it's DR - your current ranks in said skill.

If your using the book to learn additional skill ranks, the cost is 85 exp times your current rating (It doesn't state it, but I'm assuming each rank must be purchased separately).You cannot increase a skill from 0 unless the book is specifically used as a learning aid. You cannot purchase more than your Int mod or 2 skill ranks (whichever is higher) per level in this manner. A book cannot be used to purchase skill ranks beyond its DR.

If purchasing a feat, the cost is 300 X your current level. You cannot learn more than 2 feats in this manner. You must meet the feats prereq in order to learn it.

Time needed to learn from books is (exp spent/500) in weeks.

 

[I'm A Banana]

This is a first for me. I've never had someone complain about having an option they didn't have to use, and I'm a bit apprehensive. ANyone ever had this problem before? Anyone know what I can expect?

Well, I'm sure none of my players would really go for the option....

But I would change it from describing it as an additional ability at a cost, to a form of treasure. It's an upgrade. It's a special power. It's an artifact, a magic sword, a girdle of gender-bending, or whatnot.

Of course, that means I would take it out of party treasure rather than out of XP, but whatever works.

 

[sword-dancer]

I 've been writing up a new campaign, and announced on our on-line group that I would be intro'ing a system for purchasing skill points/feats beyond those alloted by level increase.?

What did the complete group think?
Did you`ve asked them before-?

The main diff: you have to do research, finding books/journals/blue prints with the info you seek to gain the additional skills/feats....He didn't mind finding schools or instructors, but questing for a mundane book was uninteresting/boring/unrealistic

I don`t gp out and quest for Silvers Paradoxes of defence or the I.66, I order it at a bookstore and get it delivered un the renaissance or in the middle ages(okay in this case I let one written for me)

This is a first for me. I've never had someone complain about having an option they didn't have to use, and I'm a bit apprehensive.

How would this option used and unused affect character balance.

 

[Storyteller01]

Seems we may have solved the situation...

Other players didn't mind the new option, and I added to this that books that provide up to +8 are fairly easy to obtain. Elite crews in the game have a +8 to relavent skill checks. Manuals are out there for these folks. It's a future camapaign, so this is equivalent to researching on the Net (a research skill check, if nothing else), then purchasing the PDF.

Anything else must be searched for. Some libraries and collectors (even in the RL) have valuable sources of info that are one of a kind. One can't find them anywhere else, as they can't or won't copy them.

Once he heard this, he didn't seem to mind.

 

[sword-dancer]

http://www.thehaca.com/manuals.htm

look here.

The I.66 was a sword and buckler manual copied frommonks.

Silver, Talhoffer, and the other books were and are printed.
I own a new made copy of Talhofer, I´ve seen Huttons Cold Steel on the Feen Con at Sale.