Studying (Intelligence Skill Training)

[Nytmare]

I don't think I'd want to introduce a new treasure type and attribute to track for something like this.

We have skill training and focus to represent studied knowledge, character levels to represent growth through experience, and if need be, item bonuses to represent tools at a character's disposal.

If you're bothered by the "cheapness" of skill training and the overnight benefits gained from it, maybe changing your perspective around so that the explanation of gaining the feat is "the weeks of late night study over those musty old tomes have payed off" instead of "you wake up and know more arcana" is a better answer.

I'd much rather have a bit of retroactive story telling over a complicated bit of math to enforce character development.

 

[Keenberg]

It took some convincing from you guys, but now I'm seeing the lack of need for (and overall burden of) the time aspect of the system. The bookeeping and time requirement can be easily avoid by just highlighting the need to study, and roleplaying it proactively with something like LS suggested, would undoubted be more engaging. It now seems like time would take away from the fun anyway, and gaining bonuses should be fun through-and-through.

 

[Zinovia]

I will concede that the time requirement does interfere with adventures in older editions, and was something we hand-waved most of the time even then. I don't mind letting people pick up new skills and just retroactively saying they'd been studying it for some amount of time prior to taking the feat.

As far as languages go, there is no by the book means of a character learning a single language, especially with a 10 int score, yet a person of normal intelligence can certainly learn a language when surrounded by others who speak that language. So I'm going to give the character a free language (like a background benefit) once we've roleplayed a bit about everyone teaching him. This is where the rules are interfering with the fun, so ignore the rules.

 

[Keenberg]

In my game the scenario is that a character has a few bibles. I'll probably have the first book be a living book which engages in a dialogue with her, the second will be magically imbued so that she reads it faster than any book she ever has read before, and the third will be regular, likely assumed that she studied it over long hours of the night while reading the others.
In the campaign we're playing, I'm planning for religion and the deities to be central to the storyline, so I'm saying that History, Arcana, and Religion are distinct, but with blurry boundaries. So when she's done with all the books and has talked to an expert in any of the field, I'll grant her 5 skill points to spend as she likes on the three skills.

 

[eriktheguy]

Another option would be to give the players a bonus for a book they are reading whenever they level. A character breaks out their book of 'arcana' or 'zombieslaying' during rests, and at the next level up they complete their studies and gain the benefit. Each character can benefit from a given book only once.
You could drop as many books as you like and the characters could not abuse the option, since you decide when they level. Each character gets to decide which sort of specialized learning they want to undertake, and books can become a cornerstone of character advancement. Best of all theres no math or int scores involved.
Credit for this idea goes to Final Fantasy VI.
You could occasionally drop more powerful books that can only be used once and then disappear (maybe for free feats, etc). These would be magical items that count as a player's share of treasure.

 

[Stalker0]

This idea seems as long as you abide by the flavor test....that books are RARE!

Then they become a fun treasure for the group. Do that, and you shouldn't have to worry about abuse.

 

[Keenberg]

Agreed, Stalker. Books are supposed to be rare (in my campaign.) Like I said, no huge libraries, no peddlers at the town's market, etc.