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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Zustiur" data-source="post: 4499869" data-attributes="member: 1544">To you. I get the distinct impression that you feel no-one is able to disagree with you on this issue.I happen to find that "Roll... you manage it well" is very fun, particularly when it means you're then able to get on with the story instead of playing out 3 hours of dialog that has little or no bearing on the abilities your character actually has.Craft and profession both have uses within the system as written. The fact that your games apparently ignore that and resolve the issue by player ability instead of character ability is not sufficient reason to alter the rulebook.I don't recall Profession guitarist being listed... I don't have 3.5 to hand, but 3.0 certainly doesn't list musician or instrument-ist under profession. That's separated out into perform.To take the sailor example; Use rope does not mean you know how to rig a boat. Diplomacy does not mean you know the difference between port and starboard, or the meaning behind other nautical terms and phrases. It's to do with getting what you want from someone without offending them.Balance does not mean you're accustomed to sea travel (have sea legs). Knowledge (geography) does not mention travel at sea, or navigation by stars.And so on.The professions fit between the other skills and glue them together, as they should. One thing that would have helped is a synergy statement - "If you have 5 or more ranks in profession (x), you get a +2 synergy bonus on Diplomacy checks and Gather Information checks when dealing with members of that profession."I alluded to this up-thread. Knowing a profession, rather than a collection of skills, is highly valuable when dealing with people of that profession, as adventurers do. Particularly when trying to get information from the cook at the castle, or the fisherman who passes near the mysterious island, or the stablehand who works for Lord Badguy.Think about the work you do IRL. Think about how you feel with talking to customers or clients who do not know what they're talking about in regards to your field of work. Sure, today's society preaches 'customer first' so we smile and get on with it, but we all groan inside. We're all happier to be helpful with someone who understands what you're telling them. The same therefore applies to NPCs.The other example I gave was of espionage.How do you pretend to be a waiter at the ball if you don't know the etiquette? The answer is badly. Regardless of your diplomacy or balance checks. The diplomacy might get you out of trouble after you've upset someone, but it won't keep you from being detected as a spy.Sure you can swing an axe all day long against orcs, but do you know enough about felling trees to mingle with the lumberjacks without alerting the bad guys/monsters that there's an imposter?You might be the proverbial horse whisperer, but do you know enough about working as a stablehand that you can walk in and steal the lord's horse without anyone noticing the extra person in the stable?And finally, you may be a dab-hand at disguises, but do you have the bluff and profession skills required to actually fool anyone that you're Ringo the master brewer?As with all rules in all editions, skills are what you (the players) make of them. If you choose to ignore the possibilities and uses presented here, it is little wonder that you think that they're useless.</blockquote>

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