Saeviomagy said:
No, but I'd allow him to know that there was a cliff coming up without having to look out the window of the carraige.
Also, having fallen off the cliff in the carraige, if he survived he'd be able to make a check to find his way back to town.
Likewise, I'd probably allow the Survivalist to figure out that a reef was near - based on whatever natural intuition he's developed - and, if he survived the ship running aground, he'd be able to live off of reef fish and mollusks, but, just like you ruled,
he doesn't get to steer the ship or the carriage.
In my book - profession gives no mechanical benefits beyond possibly a synergy bonus, and that only in very specific areas.
Note that well. MECHANICAL benefits. You still get all the roleplaying aspects. You know what things are called. You know how much you should be paid. You know the names of ports etc.
In other words,
useless. Does anyone in any of your campaigns ever take a Profession skill and, more importantly, do they ever add points to it past 1st-level?
I wouldn't. I'd be better served with cross-class skill ranks in Spellcraft. At least then I'd have the chance, albeit slim, to do *something* with my precious few skill points.
Otherwise profession is the be-all end-all of skills.
Only if you fubar it as a DM.
Take profession(cat burglar) and you've got virtual ranks in pick locks, move silently, hide, bean person over the head with sap, search, appraise and anything else you can think of.
No, you don't. Certain Profession skills don't exist, because any checks that would be made by them are already covered by other skills / mechanics. Hit someone over the head with a sap? BAB. Pick Locks? Open Lock. Etc., etc., etc.
In other words, if you allow a redundant, unbalanced Profession and rule that it acts in redundant, unbalanced ways, you'll get a redundant, unbalanced skill.
Pretty simple, actually.
Survival provides a mechanic for not getting lost, for predicting the weather, and for avoiding storms, reefs and the edge of the world.
Except, as above, you still don't get to steer the carriage *or* the boat.
Profession(sailor) gives you the appropriate background
No. It gives you the knowledge and ability to "know how to use the tools of your trade, how to perform the profession’s daily tasks, how to supervise helpers, and how to handle common problems."
Manning a ship, setting the rigging, plotting courses, proper ship maintenance, all these things are "the profession's daily tasks."
Having a character history of "He was born on a ship o'war to a smuggled concubine and a random member of her crew, and spent the next 20 years of his life at sea" gives you the appropriate background.
Letting NPC's away with just having profession(sailor) to do everything is cheating, and telling your PC's that their skills don't work just because they're on the sea is even worse.
And where did I say the NPCs would only have Profession (Sailor)?
The trained hands would likely be Experts, with max ranks in Profession (Sailor), Use Rope, Climb, and Balance. Some would have ranks in Swim, some in a Craft skill or two. Others might have Survival, or Heal. An exceptional sailor might be a Rogue, instead of an Expert.
The ship's carpenter would have Craft (Shipmaking), and possibly Skill Focus in it, as well.
The ship's doctor? Also, likely, an Expert - or an Adept if the crew is particularly lucky.
The pressed crew - if they exist - would be a hodge-podge mixture of Commoners, Experts, Warriors, and possibly some PC classes. Very few, if any, would have the appropriate skills, and, therefore, would need constant supervision by the trained crewmen. For most shipboard tasks, Taking 10 would be sufficient, assuming none of them were complete morons.
The ships marines would be warriors - many of whom would have taken cross-class ranks in Profession (Sailor) - with perhaps a Fighter or other class officer. In this way, they could fill in for a regular sailor if necessary though would be less effective at it.
In summation, if you *force* the Profession skill to be a background and downtime-only skill, you are
not following the RAW, as they allow for Profession checks to
accomplish specific tasks.
And, besides that, you are ripping out one of the very, very few reasons that a PC would ever "waste" his skill points on such an otherwise useless skill.