Skill Boosts from Spells?

[Anubis the Doomseer]

I think you have hit it exactly on the head, and Anubis is exactly right with regard to description.. I want a game which is log-magic, and LoTR derived in that way, but I still don't just want Wizard's to become buffed versions of an existing class.

Another spell possibility - a skill rank multiplier spell - one that gives a bonus equal to the number of ranks you currently have (this is a bonus, the spell/effect/item does not confer extra 'ranks'). This virtually requires that you begin with something in the skill before you get the bonus (useful for those characters that use skills on race/ability score/feat bonuses alone without sinking any ranks into the skill itself).

Actually, that might be more useful as a magic item. As a spell it would require caps to bonuses (to avoid the level 19 doofus/1 wizard from using the spell to get a free +23 to a skill roll (the maximum ranks for a 20th level character).

In general the idea is the higher the bonus one of two things have to come into effect - the bonus must have some sort of restriction (circumstance, drawback, cap max by spell level) or it must be a higher level spell.

- Ma'at

 

[Kemrain]

As the Girlfriend in question, it's only fair that I chime in about now. Given the posts so far, this is a little off topic, but I want to give more information on our situation.

We play a Low Magic game, where our ideas of what magic should be are borrowed both from Tolkein and from Mage the Ascention. As such, we include the concepts of Coincidental and Vulgar magics, and we've decided that vulgar affects are more difficult to control and thus higher level. We have also instituted a rule that requires a caster check as every spell is cast, and failure ruins the spell.
I'm bothered by my partner's desire to have magical affects be something that only a mage can do, when those things that only a mage can do are consitered very vulgar, and thus available to high level casters only. When you're limited to coincidental affects, you can get a lot of milage out of Stat/Skill/Save/Attack/Defense boosting spells, but you can't cast a magic missile to save your life. I think it's hypocritical to complain that I want to get a +5 to my hide skill from casting a spell one level beneath the level with the spell that makes you completely transparent.
To my credit, I've been fairly good about describing spell effects, and I've kept every one I've used so far beneath the notice of even the other PC's let alone people in the world. That's about as Coincidental as you can get, isn't it? Isn't using magic to boost something you're already pretty good at easier than using it to make someone who' never tried a task before a master, or even a decent competitor?

I don't want this to be an argument between E1ven and I, and I certan'y do't want to have it on the boards, as I respect others enough to realise that would be in quite bad taste. I would, however, like to see what others have to say about this disagreement, and hopefully be able to come to a compramise.
I really like the game I'm playing in, and I really do like the idea of using my character's magical ability to improve her skills; it defeats the entire purpose for taking levels of Mage if I can't do that. It's not even from a powergaming stance, because the character saught out the magical training to use magic to improve her skills. If she can't do that, because of a limitation of the system, then I need to redesign my character, as levels of Mage are useless to her without buffs.

- Kemrain the Girlfriend in Question.

 

[Anubis the Doomseer]

Kemrain - I suggest you take a look at what I wrote about how to do skill boosts in the game, because I think it would work quite well with the sort of game you and e1ven are describing. The ignored ancestor of the ideas is Rolemaster which had some pretty nice ideas about skill magic (even though, obviously, I'm not drawing on it for anything beyond the concept).

In general magic should give a nice, temporary, boost. Lowlevel magic would give minor boosts, OR decent (for low level) boosts that are useful in only a number of situations. Higher level magic would expand the bonuses and the difference between the two would collapse.

Here's part three: high (level 4,7 and possibly epic) spells that allow you to Take 10/20 in more circumstances. At level 4 it would allow the caster to Take 10 at any time, possibly as a free action, even if the situation would normally deny the user the ability to Take 10 on the skill. Level 7 would give the user the ability to Take 10 no matter what, even in the face of failure. Another use (or another spell entirely) would allow the user to Take 20, but in less required time (say, you can Take 20 but the amount of time is only equal to a Take 10).

A lesser spell (level 2?) would allow you to make a skill roll (unmodified) in any skill that is "trained-only" use. You effectively, and for the duration only, act as if you had a phantom "1 rank" in the particular skill. The next spell in this chain would do the same but maybe allow for a minor boost (say +1 bonus per 3 levels).

This way a skill mage has a number of spells that actively enhance certain skills, change how they use those skills, and generally give a more "magical" feel to their using of skills. It doesn't break the balance because obviously you are devoting more and more levels of Wizard to the acquiring these spells, and Wizards do not get the healthy amount of skill points per level that a Rogue would get. So maybe 2-3 times per day the skillmage/rogue would be better than a normal rogue at a certain task, but overall the pure rogue would have the better skill ranks all the time.