Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Rocket your D&D 5E and Level Up: Advanced 5E games into space! Alpha Star Magazine Is Launching... Right Now!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Doomhawk" data-source="post: 1880838" data-attributes="member: 26187">The Giant's diplomacy rules are great, although it is kinda OT.Since most people in the world are 1st level, and therefore have at most 4 ranks in a skill, it can be assumed that 4 ranks indicates at least a moderate level of proficiency. d20 Modern even states that 0 ranks can, in fact, still indicate competency (for instance, not having any ranks in Drive doesn't mean you don't know how to drive); having ranks in a skill simply indicates "heroic ability" in that skill. I know a fair bit about history (after all, I've taken classes in it), but I'm far from an expert on the subject, so I wouldn't have any ranks in it (since anything requiring a Knowledge check would, by definition, be a subject that isn't terribly common knowledge - and therefore outside the limits of my historical learning). Having any ranks in a skill indicates a good level of skill, having more than 4 ranks indicates exceptional ability, having bonuses in the 20's or higher indicates levels of skill that are amazing to normal people. A +20 on Jump means that the character can jump 30 feet on a running long jump *every time* by taking 10 (the world record for long jump is about that, isn't it?). A +20 on Balance indicates being able to move across a 2-inch-wide, severely slippery surface at normal walking speed *all the time* by taking 10 (think of trying to walk at normal speed on the narrow side of a 2-by-4 with butter on your feet). +20 on Climb means, by taking 10, you can climb a natural rock wall during a rainstorm, without any equipment, and have no chance of falling. Any of these things can easily be achieved before 10th level if the character really wants to (and invests in an item that gives a bonus).Even in 3.0, synergy bonuses always stacked. House-ruling otherwise is fine, but the RAW indicates that they stack. In 3.5, they're unnamed bonuses, so they DEFINITELY stack, and the 3.5 FAQ also specifically addresses the three synergy bonuses to Diplomacy brought up here (from Bluff, Sense Motive, and Knowledge [Nobility and Royalty]) and states that they all stack. Again, house-ruling that synergy bonuses do not always apply is fine as a house rule, but the actual letter of the rules states otherwise. The text is, "If you have 5 or more ranks in Handle Animal, you get a +2 synergy bonus on Ride checks." There is nothing indefinite or situational in that statement, it always applies within the RAW.</blockquote>

Verification