Journalism in Eberron - craft or profession?

[Driddle]

My final call on this (and one which might appeal to CDSaint and others interested in the same):

One profession skill, 'writer/journalist,' backed up by whatever synergies would be appropriate for the story from other knowledge skills (local, religion, etc.) and interpersonal communications skills (diplomacy, sense motive, etc.) So in other words, he's got a reason to develop more skills if he's interested in certain topics (or style of play), but it's not required to do a decent job for roleplaying purposes.

This logic has been used before in the case of healers, for example, who might take up extra knowledge skill points in the animal kingdom to earn an appropriate synergy bonus when doing 'veterinarian' work. It's not required for the game system, but it makes the player happy to define that sort of focus for his character's development.

Writer/journalist ... I'm happy with that. You've been good folk. Thanks.

 

[jmucchiello]

This is insane. In d20 you take one skill, it covers the entirety of doing the job. A journalist does not create goods, and he does not perform before an audiance. (And while an audiance reads his writing, he doesn't write it live in front of an audiance.) Thus, he takes profession (journalist). In a game with narrowly defined skills, yes, you need to take multiple skills to make up a professional. But a single rank in a d20 skill implies an expensive dedication of your resources.

Now, you might give P(J) a synergy bonus from 5 ranks in gather information and/or k(local).

This is like saying a lawyer must have perform (oratory). He does not need it at all. Perform (oratory) is the skill of getting people to put money in a hat because you entertain when you speak. Profession (lawyer) might gain a synergy bonus from Perform (oratory) but such skill is not necessary. If a lawyer needs to make an impassioned plea for his client, he can use Profession (lawyer), Diplomacy or Perform (oratory) and I would give both the profession and perform attempt the same DC (Diplomacy might be 5-10 higher).

Farmers have profession (farmer). 1 rank and they can sow seeds, bring in the harvest and save the proper amount of seed for next season all by themselves. No rolls necessary. Profession (farmer) checks would only be needed if they were attempting to crossbred some plants. Or try to work a farm larger than his available manpower. (And no, I don't know how many acres/farmhand that would be offhand. I know very little about acres of farmland.)

 

[Torm]

Okay, I buy Jounalism as Profession (Journalist), so long as you agree that Editor is Craft (Editing).

 

[eris404]

Fair enough. It's not like bards get lots of chances to use a required skill anyway. Does your DM make you take ranks in individual perform skills, or do they treat it as a single skill?

Well, my bard is basically a storyteller/author/poet (no musical bard for me), so the DM has pretty much let me use the same skill for all. If I had decided to add singing or other kinds of performance into the mix, that might be a different matter. He is a sort of "fast-and-loose" kind of DM, so it might not matter to him anyway.

 

[dogoftheunderworld]

Sorry I'm late

I would see using Craft more for production values, than writing of the articles. Depending on the level of technology in that area -- Craft(Scribe) for handwriting dozens of newsletters, Craft(Printing) for type-setting and running a press, etc.

Definately would use Profession(Journalism) for writing of the arctiles.

 

[Shadowdancer]

This is insane. In d20 you take one skill, it covers the entirety of doing the job.

That's why clearing traps is one skill for Rogues. Oh wait, I'm sorry, you need two skills -- one to find the traps and one to disable them.

 

[Funksaw]

Profession Journalist, which should work exactly like Bardic Knowledge.

 

[Torm]

That's why clearing traps is one skill for Rogues. Oh wait, I'm sorry, you need two skills -- one to find the traps and one to disable them.

Right, and this is why I suggested a combo of Knowledge or Craft (Reporting), and Perform (Storytelling) or maybe Profession (Journalist). It seems to me that some more modern skills in a more modern setting than the one presented in the basic D&D core books would have sprung from the evolution of previous skills and perhaps the combination of use of older, simpler skills, and having to use more than one skill to achieve a more "modern" task would reflect advances in education and the notion of a scholastic career.

 

[Tarrasque Wrangler]

Yeah, it's definitely a profession IMO and IME. To go a step further to what has been said, I'd give a conditonal bonus to fit the piece being worked on, depending on your skill suite and the article you're trying to write. If you want to do a probing piece on a scandal involving the local constabulary, I'd add a bonus for having a high Gather Information or possibly Knowledge (local). If you want to do a fluff interview with a visiting hero, a high Diplomacy might be in order. If you're writing a scathing review of the latest play by that hack Swingsmace, a high Perform (acting) or Knowledge (the theater) would apply. If you want to be Eberron's version of Dave Barry, Perform (comedy) would grant a bonus to the final Profession (journalism) check.

All of these skills could be useful to making a living by themselves, but Profession (journalism) would be for getting the point of these skills across to the widest audience possible. I think it's the same way with the profession of teaching; anyone can know tons about history, but actually imparting that information to someone else in a useful manner requires a separate skill altogether.