PCGen Skill Question

[Cthulhu's Librarian]

Hopefully someone who has been using PCGen can answer the following question for me. I am using PCGen 5.6.1

Why does the Ride skill always default to -5 before adding skill ranks, Dex bonus, etc? Am I missing something in the rules that says all ride checks start at -5, not at 0 like every other skill?
I have tried everything I can think of to get rid of the -5 starting point, but nothing seems to work, and I can't find a way to over ride it.

Mods, if this belongs in the Computer forum, feel free to move it.

 

[Crothian]

If one rides bareback, they do get a -5 penalty. So, maybe if you ghet yourself a saddle that will goto zero. That's a guess, but it does happen to be the same penalty that you are getting.

 

[Henry]

Riding without a saddle causes a -5 penalty to the score.

Equipping a saddle was supposed to counteract this, but didn't until version 5.7.6.

If you want to remove the (IMO) ridiculous -5 penalty for not equipping a saddle on your character, you have to edit the LST files that are loaded.

If no one else comes along to tell you more, I'll try to expand on this tomorrow.

 

[Henry]

Riding without a saddle causes a -5 penalty to the score.

Equipping a saddle was supposed to counteract this, but didn't until version 5.7.6.

If you want to remove the (IMO) ridiculous -5 penalty for not equipping a saddle on your character, you have to edit the LST files that are loaded.

If no one else comes along to tell you more, I'll try to expand on this tomorrow.

 

[Cthulhu's Librarian]

I thought it might have something to do with a saddle, and tried that but it didn't fix the problem. At least I know I was looking in the right place...

Henry, if you can tell me how to edit the file, that would be greatly appreciated.

I'll look into updating to the newest version sometime soon.

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

Quick way --

0. Load up your sources, then go to Tools->LST Editors.
1. Edit skills, then select 'Ride' and click 'Copy'
2. Go to the 'Advanced' tab, and remove the two 'Bonus' and the one 'Define' entry.
3. Call it 'Ride (We don't need no stinkin' saddle)' or something and save it.
4. Unload and re-load your sources. The new skill will show up under the 'Custom' sub-tree on the skills tab.

Note: doing it this way, your modified skill won't satisfy any pre-reqs for feats, etc. since they are looking for 'Ride' explicitly.

Better way --

Load up a text editor and make the same change to the entry for Ride in the skills.lst file. Be very, very careful that you don't alter the formatting of the file, or it will break many things. Doing it this way will let your modified skill satisfy pre-reqs.

 

[Chacal]

Better way --

Load up a text editor and make the same change to the entry for Ride in the skills.lst file. Be very, very careful that you don't alter the formatting of the file, or it will break many things. Doing it this way will let your modified skill satisfy pre-reqs.

Can you .MOD a skill to acheive the same thing?
If so, it would be less risky and wouldn't be overwritten with every release



Chacal

 

[Henry]

In the pcgen program folder, under "data\d20ogl\srd" or "data\d20ogl\rsrd" you will find a skills.lst file. It will be called srd_skills.LST or rsrd_skills.LST

• make a copy of this file (call it .BAK instead of .LST) so that, if you harm something unintentionally, you can restore the file.
• use a text editor (windows notepad will work, especially if you are in XP; if you are in win 98 or similar, it might not be able to handle the file) and open the original file.
• search for the phrase below:
  BONUS:VAR|MountSaddle|-5|PREAPPLY:ANYPC
• change that "-5" to a "0"
  
• save the file. be sure it has the same same it started with (rsrd_skills.LST or srd_skills.LST).

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

Can you .MOD a skill to acheive the same thing?
If so, it would be less risky and wouldn't be overwritten with every release



Chacal

Beats me. I gave up tweaking PCGen a long time ago. I just fired it up to give Cthulu's Librarian a quick hack.

 

[Cthulhu's Librarian]

Thanks everyone. I'll work on this one night later this week, or over the weekend. I appreciate the help!