Patryn of Elvenshae said:
"Don't step there - there's a board loose. Walk over here - otherwise the wind of your passage will disturb those leaves."
Weak.
If there are no loose boards or loose leaves, how do you help them? You are assuming there are difficulties that make it MORE difficult to do the skill.
Plus, TALKING kind of defeats the purpose of moving silently, doesn't it?
Patryn of Elvenshae said:
In which case, you pick who the primary performer is, and everyone aids another to determine how good the entire performance is.
That's silly.
Performer One has 22 Ranks in Lute.
Performer Two has 1 Rank in Lute and sounds like a cat screeching in the night.
There is NO way that Performer Two can help Performer One, he can only hinder him.
This should use two individual skill checks (one of which is great and one probably lousy) for success on both, not one plus an Aid Another.
Patryn of Elvenshae said:
"Look right at me. Don't look down, look right at me. Now, one foot in front of the other. DON'T LOOK DOWN."
And because he is not looking at the rope he is balancing on, he misteps and dies.
You are stretching.
Patryn of Elvenshae said:
"I read somewhere that Lord Selacchii really, really, really likes the words 'Inasmuch' and 'hereunto.' He puts them in nearly every document he writes - but he's got a little curlicue on the 'o' in 'hereunto.' Be careful of that."
And if Lord Selacchii really, really, really HATES the words 'Inasmuch' and 'hereunto.'?
I guess you did not read the skill.
"To forge a signature, you need an autograph of that person to copy, and you gain a +4 bonus on the check. To forge a longer document written in the hand of some particular person, a large sample of that person’s handwriting is needed."
Having the Forge skill does not give him Knowledge information on a specific person.
Patryn of Elvenshae said:
Tell that to a Gymnastics coach.
There is a difference between training and aiding.
Stay on topic.
Patryn of Elvenshae said:
"Now, Bobby-my-lad, what you've got here is a classic example of the Pusher-Glocer three-stripe lock. You'll notice, if you wiggle your wrench just a little bit, the raised portion near the back. You're going to need to slide that a little bit towards with your hook probe."
And if it is a Puller-Glocer two-stripe lock?
You are making assumptions that people can only help, not hinder, on solo activities.
Advice is NOT Aid.
"Aid Another
You can help another character achieve success on his or her skill check by making the same kind of skill check in a cooperative effort. If you roll a 10 or higher on your check, the character you are helping gets a +2 bonus to his or her check, as per the rule for favorable conditions. (You can’t take 10 on a skill check to aid another.) In many cases, a character’s help won’t be beneficial, or only a limited number of characters can help at once.
In cases where the skill restricts who can achieve certain results you can’t aid another to grant a bonus to a task that your character couldn’t achieve alone."
Note the phrase "cooperative effort".
Aid Another should only be used when both characters can work together cooperatively (e.g. bandage wounds together), not when one person can tell the other what to do (i.e. advice).
Person One: 20 ranks in skill
Person Two: 1 rank in skill
The advice of Person Two should be total nonsense to Person One. You don't have the Janitor tell the NASA Scientist how to do his job.
Aid Another should only be used for active cooperative efforts, not advice.