Skills over the top

[shouit]

Does anyone else have this problem and what do they do with it.

A first level halfling thief can get up to +11 bonus to move silently and Hide. +5 for Dex(20), +4 Ranks, +2 Halfling bonus, plus they can take feats that help this even more.

I have found this to be true about certain skills in each class. It states that the DR of a difficult task is 25, therefore a 1 level thief could break that a 30 percent of the time.

Was this suppose to be the case. Please note that I am using the thief for an example, but isn't skill progression just a bit much, if a difficult task is 25.

Just want peoples ideas on the subject.

 

[Crothian]

Well, I think that is a race occuance. Your talking about someone who has the max starting Dex for their race, max ranks in the skill. THat is the equivilent of an olympian. You aren't looking at Mr Joe Average doing this. It is the exception, not the rule.

 

[Tzarevitch]

Does anyone else have this problem and what do they do with it.

A first level halfling thief can get up to +11 bonus to move silently and Hide. +5 for Dex(20), +4 Ranks, +2 Halfling bonus, plus they can take feats that help this even more.

I have found this to be true about certain skills in each class. It states that the DR of a difficult task is 25, therefore a 1 level thief could break that a 30 percent of the time.

Was this suppose to be the case. Please note that I am using the thief for an example, but isn't skill progression just a bit much, if a difficult task is 25.

Just want peoples ideas on the subject.

I don't have a problem with that particular example because it is rather rare. My problem comes with the fact that you can cheaply and easily make a magic item that grants a +10 bonus to a skill for ANYONE and THEN regularly blow the DC out of the water.

I do think that a lot of the DCs are too low and I also believe that there are too many static DCs that are too easy to exceed regularly. I have seen any number of players in various games who have made items to boost vital skills such as Concentration, Use Magic Device and Desable Device to the point where they will never (or rarely ever) fail to make the roll. Since all of these skills have fixed (and fairly low) DCs you can hit a point where success is automatic and the player knows it.

By high level, any PC who can make magic items can nearly automatically succeed at whatever skill he chooses to.

Tzarevitch

 

[Schmoe]

Not only is the example given an Olympian exception to the general case, but the example is still only successful at a difficult task roughly 30% of the time. If I only had a 30% chance of success, I would call that a difficult task.

 

[shouit]

But, I have seen it with even third level characters, not maximum stats. I had a fifth level bard I was playing and with skill focus and ranks and 16 CHA, I honestly don't remember all the pluses that were going on. Oh yeah, had a mastercraft flute, would roll 25-30 on a regular basis. That is suppose to be the equivalant of Bach or Bethovan. 35 is that you might get the attention of extraplaner creatures. Seriously, I was curious if others had this problem, or if was just me. Fifth level doesnt seem all that high to me.

It also seems that some of the characters that don't get a lot of skill points tend to put them in one or two skills that way the are really really good at them.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

I don't have a problem with that particular example because it is rather rare. My problem comes with the fact that you can cheaply and easily make a magic item that grants a +10 bonus to a skill for ANYONE and THEN regularly blow the DC out of the water.

Sure you can make these items. If your DM allows. There is a very good reason why the rules for item creation are noted in the DMG, and why it is called guidelines, not "rule framework that does not need any kind of tweaking, and the things we printed there are just examples so you see the rules "in work" ".

For some skills, these bonus are fine, and might even be somehow explainable - but why sould some funny item give me a +10 to use magic device? What spell/spellike ability or racial trait might give you the ability to create this item?

Mustrum Ridcully

 

[DispelAkimbo]

I know this won't solve your problem, but just to clarify, its actually possible to get +17 (or more?) at 1st level to the hide skill:

Dex bonus +5
Halfling racial bonus +2
Size bonus +4
Skill ranks +4
First level feat: Skill focus: Hide +2
-------------
Total +17

 

[reiella]

It gets even worse!

Any race sorceror or wizards can get a +30 (hmm is it un-named?) bonus to their Jump skill at a whim! .

Or a +10 bonus to Disguise checks!

However, really to a large extent, that 'top-loaded' skill focused person is going to probably be getting frustrated fairly soon at the lack of any 'real' advancement in that skill. They started at +17 to hide at first, and then by third it's all the way up to +19, or +21 at fifth... At least then again, that's my opinion.

 

[Negative Zero]

also, focusing too much on one skill means that others suffer. skill focus burns a feat for a demihuman non-fighter, those are really precious. so if someone wants to spend their ONE feat on that, let them. so, they can hide really well, what happens when they end up in broad daylight, in the middle of the street and the big bruiser who's been looking for them finally catches up? they'd better have good bluff and/or diplomacy as well. ... that or lots of really tough friends

point is specialization can lead to astounding micro ability. which is what it's meant to do. but it usually comes at the expense of just about everything else.

~NegZ

 

[Corinth]

In other words, it's a feature- not a bug.