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Message: <blockquote data-quote="DEFCON 1" data-source="post: 6063083" data-attributes="member: 7006">This is actually exactly why I LIKE 'Use Rope'.  I personally think that any skill that doesn't default to just ONE Ability Check is much, much better than any others.  In my opinion... because the way the game is set up... you tell the DM what you want to do, the DM tells you what Ability Check applies, and then you look and see if you have anything on your list that might give you a bonus... and the more universal a skill is across your abilities, the more useful and the more applicable it becomes.So 'Use Rope' is a universal bonus to your ability scores.  You want to climb down a wall and tell the DM you want to do that?  He tells you it's a STR check.  You say "I have a rope and a Use Rope skill, I tie the rope off and use it to help me climb down."  The DM gives you the bonus to your STR check to do so.And by the same token... you awake to find yourself captured and your hands are tied behind your back.  You tell the DM you want to escape the bonds.  He tells you it will be a DEX check to escape.  You then say you have "Use Rope" and thus are familiar enough with most knots to be able to loosen/untie the rope from behind your back.  DM says okay and gives you a bonus to your DEX check.In both cases... you have a single focus that applies to multiple Ability Checks, as opposed to the other way, which is multiple focuses applying to a single Ability Check.  And there is definitely a place for that in the system.Someone might have Climbing... which applies to all STR checks to scale all different types of walls and the methods to do so (but ONLY scaling walls), and someone might have Sleight of Hand... which applies to all DEX checks involving manual dexterity (but ONLY manual dexterity).  But then on the flipside is someone who has Use Rope, who can apply it to STR checks *and* DEX checks *and* any number of other ability checks, so long as they involve the use of rope somehow.  I think that's way cool.  It's like having the skill of Commerce.  It's a bonus to an INT check to appraise an item, it's a CHA check bonus to haggle with a shopkeep, it's a WIS check bonus to quickly recognize different types of boxes and barrels and what might be stored within them, it's a DEX check bonus to hide a moneypurse on your person, etc. etc. etc.  You are all over every aspect of dealing with money, regardless of the Ability Check that gets used.And I think the game is better off by having a host of skills that are like that.  They are much more exciting to me in trying to figure out reasons why they might apply to a situation.</blockquote>

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