Possible feat: Skill Mastery

[Spindel]

Skill Mastery
Prereq: Skill Focus (in the skill your selecting)
10 ranks in the skill
Benefit: The player chooses a single feat which they can then "take 10" with, regardless of circumstances.
Normal: A character can only "take 10" if there are no distracitons.

This is exactly like the special class ability the rogue can eventually take (can't remember what it's called), which is what makes it my biggest concern. On the flip side, I don't see why only rogues can get that confident at something.

This feat would also breath some life into the Skill Focus feat as it's only at it's most benificial at 1st level (+2 bonus on top of 4 ranks is a 67% increase, whereas at 20th level, +2 bonus on top of 23 is +9%... woohoo).

The 10 rank prereq I've come across is based on guarenteeing an unmodified result of 20, a means the feat is only available at 8th level, which may be a bit much of a penalty as it only applies to a single skill (unlike the rogues ability), so maybe downgrade it to 9 ranks or something.

I guess this one could be followed up with Skill Perfection, which allows you to "take 20" but I'm not sure how that would fit in and I haven't done any reading into Epic stuff.

 

[da chicken]

This is exactly like the special class ability the rogue can eventually take (can't remember what it's called)

It's called... Skill Mastery.

It isn't too bad as it stands, balance wise. Spending two feats to use a skill very well isn't too powerful, IMO. However, I would increase the rank prerequisites. Rogues can't get the ability until level 10, so it should be at least 13+, but I would start at 15+ or higher to show that Rogues are still better at skills.

Also, you might want to think about an ability prerequisite. I'd say a 15+ ability in the Skill's relevant ability (Int for Search, Wis for Spot, Con for Concentration, etc). This is normally a good class-exclusive ability, and it should be difficult for other classes to do it at all.

Still, IMC I wouldn't use it as I think it would step on the rogue's toes too much.

 

[Jens]

Sort of irrelevant questions, but anyway:

How useful is Skill Mastery actually? I haven't seen it taken, have you? What skills is it commonly used with?

How useful would it be to anyone but a rogue? Who actually uses a skill that much while stressed? (I can think of spellcasters using Concentration, but that's it.)

The feat: Unsurprisingly, I think the feat is a bit on the weak side, but then it never hurts to allow weak feats

 

[Spatzimaus]

Remember that the Rogue "Skill Mastery" affects more than one skill (something like 2+INT mod?).

Here's a suggestion, it's something we came up with for my campaign to counteract the inherent suckitude of Skill Focus. You should add skill rank prerequisites (I'd suggest 5 ranks for Skill Focus and 10 for Greater), I think, but the specifics are adjustable, and the result is something that people actually want.
(It also allows you to add more and more of the Alertness-type Feats that add to specific skills, since you won't make Skill Focus useless)

SKILL FOCUS:
If you roll a 5 or less on a skill check, you may re-roll; the new result is final. You may Take 10 on the skill check even if under duress.

Note that that "5 or less" part increases your average roll by 1.875, about the same as the old +2. It doesn't let you reach previously impossible stuff (things that required rolling 21 or 22), it doesn't help if you're taking 10 or 20, but it REALLY reduces critical failures.

GREATER SKILL FOCUS:
If you roll a 10 or less on a skill check, you may re-roll; the new result is final. You may Take 10 even if under duress. You may Take 20 even if failure normally has consequences.

The "10 or less" part adds, on average, 2.5 to a roll. The Take 20 thing is interesting; basically, instead of trying 20 times, you're planning out what you're going to do and then making one really good attempt. It still takes 20 times as long, so people won't be using this for a lot of skills.

 

[Jack Haggerty]

Sort of irrelevant questions, but anyway:

How useful is Skill Mastery actually? I haven't seen it taken, have you? What skills is it commonly used with?

How useful would it be to anyone but a rogue? Who actually uses a skill that much while stressed? (I can think of spellcasters using Concentration, but that's it.)

The feat: Unsurprisingly, I think the feat is a bit on the weak side, but then it never hurts to allow weak feats

Some skills that are well suited for this feat include... Tumble(!!!), Climb, Jump, Swim, Ride, Bluff, Concentration, and Spellcraft. In other words, any skill that is regularly used in the heat of battle (A situation that normally excludes taking 10), or in a situation where distraction is the norm.

Oh, and Spindel... your "Benefit" should read "a single skill", not "a single feat". And to compare, the rogue gets to pick 3 + Int modifier skills to apply this to. Picking just one skill per feat is definitely underpowered.

 

[Spindel]

Thanks for the feedback. I know where I got the inspiration for the name of the feat now!

The only reason I was pinning it to a single skill was because of the Skill Focus prereq, which only allows a single skill to be selected. But I can see how this would be underpowered, so I'll go think about it some more.

I actually started thinking about this when I read about the Cressent Moon ability "always sneaky".

 

[Crothian]

You might want to actually use this to strengthen Skill Focus. Have Skill focus give the +2, and then allows for a character to take 10 whenever he gains 10 ranks in that skill.

 

[hong]

I actually started thinking about this when I read about the Cressent Moon ability "always sneaky".

Always Sneaky sounds like a terrible curse to put on somebody, actually. Imagine not being able to get noticed at all. He keeps trying to get people's attention, but they keep ignoring him. He jumps up and front of them, and they walk straight past him. he shouts and screams, and people make a comment about noisy neighbours. It would be the perfect nightmare for an existentialist.



(Other classes that get a similar ability include the blade dancer and ninja spy in OA. The blade dancer get to take 10 on all Balance, Jump and Tumble checks, and the ninja spy gets it on Balance, Climb, Jump and Tumble checks.)

 

[Jack Haggerty]

Always Sneaky sounds like a terrible curse to put on somebody, actually. Imagine not being able to get noticed at all. He keeps trying to get people's attention, but they keep ignoring him. He jumps up and front of them, and they walk straight past him. he shouts and screams, and people make a comment about noisy neighbours. It would be the perfect nightmare for an existentialist.

An excellent idea for a Cthulu game, don't you think?

 

[Crothian]

An excellent idea for a Cthulu game, don't you think?

It might work for a session or so. It would be creepy for a kittke while, then the PCs would find a way to use it to their advanatage.