Skill Focus

[candidus_cogitens]

Some people give three skill points for the Skill Focus feat, instead of two. How common is that? Do you do it in your campaign?

Also, why is it that there aren't any +2/+2 feats, like Persuasive, Trustworthy, Athletic that work well for classes other than bards and rogues (except for Alertness, of course!).

Finally, I'm trying to come up with a good, balanced feat for wizards that would boost Concentration. Should it be:
a) Just +2 Concentration
b) +2 Concentration and +1 Will saves
c) +2 Concentration and +2 some other skill (which one?)
d) +3 Concentration

Someone is bound to say that Combat Casting is the way to go. Maybe it is, but it might be nice to have the higher Concentration bonus for checks made when you take damage, and not just when you cast defensively.

 

[Eternalknight]

I use the +3 to skill focus.

Also, your +2 Concntration and +1 Will already exists: its a feat called Discipline from the Forgotten Realms book.

 

[Plane Sailing]

Some people give three skill points for the Skill Focus feat, instead of two. How common is that? Do you do it in your campaign?

I do it in my campaign

 

[Xeriar]

I make Skill Focus give two actual ranks, rather than just a bonus.

 

[Plane Sailing]

I make Skill Focus give two actual ranks, rather than just a bonus.

That actually makes it *weaker* unless you've changed the level cap for skills!

 

[candidus_cogitens]

Also, your +2 Concntration and +1 Will already exists: its a feat called Discipline from the Forgotten Realms book.

Wow. Glad to know about that!


Anybody have a sense of how common it is to give +3?

 

[Crothian]

Anybody have a sense of how common it is to give +3?

Within the first year of d20 when everyone was posting thie house rules, having skill fouce give +3 was the most common house rule out there.

 

[Xeriar]

That actually makes it *weaker* unless you've changed the level cap for skills!

Yeah, sorry, it's actually clearer in my house rules document:

"Skill Focus grants two ranks in the chosen skill, and increases the skill cap by two, accordingly, ie: Level +5 for a class skill, level/2 + 3.5 for a non-class skill)

 

[Deadguy]

Yeah, sorry, it's actually clearer in my house rules document:

"Skill Focus grants two ranks in the chosen skill, and increases the skill cap by two, accordingly, ie: Level +5 for a class skill, level/2 + 3.5 for a non-class skill)

Hmmm... that has quite some impact for a fair few Prestige Classes, since there a quite a lot that are predicated on having so many ranks in certain skills to be the way to control the level of entry to the class.

Have you found any problems in designing PrC's for your setting?

 

[tetsujin28]

There's quite a few "improved skill focus"-style feats in Swashbuckling Adventures, as well as ones that turn a set of cross-class skills into class skills.

And btw, I think that the most discussed houserule topic used to be "X class got the shaft!"