Skills, would this be better for D&D

[Imaro]

Thinking about implementing this rule whenever I get around to running another game of D&D. How about every PC begins with all of their class skills and then recieves half the number they would normally be allowed to purchase Cross-class skills. The class skills would go up one every level while points would have to be spent to maintain Cc skills.

I think this would be cool because it cuts down on character creation time, makes sure that every class is capable in their niche and gives PC's some skill points to actually customize the archetypes with, without going overboard. Skill based PC's still maintain an advantage over non-skill based characters.

So does anyone see any problems with this? And how would you feel if they implemented something like this for fourth edition.

 

[WayneLigon]

Blue Rose does something similar; it doesn't use skill points but makes your skill ranks into a level benefit. You have Favored Skills and regular skills. Favored Skills are basically the same as Class Skills. When you level, all your Favored Skills go up by one, and the other skills you've chosen go up every other level.

I could take it or leave it for 4E; I like the ability to customize my skills but for some classes those choices are already made, for the most part. (If I play a Ranger, you can bet I'm taking max ranks in Survival and Knowledge: Nature for instance).

I'd like to see it as an option for fast NPC creation at the very least.