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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Leatherhead" data-source="post: 7885845" data-attributes="member: 53176">The 3.x skill system had more granularity, but that doesn't mean you could actually do more. In practice it meant there were far more ways to mess it up. Especially when talking about books printed later in the edition's lifespan.First Problem: System Mastery. Some skills were virtually useless, especially when compared to others. You had "fluff" skills like Profession alongside game changers like Use Magic Device, and skills that were point sink requirements for your class to even function properly like Spellcraft on Wizards.Second Problem:  Cross Class skills.  You spend all the points for half the effect, hard regulating you to be second fiddle no matter how many points you sink into being different than the average Fighter. Also creates a headache whenever you try and build a character with multiclassing, or the Prestige classes, which is what everyone wanted to do.Third Problem: INT bonus to skill points. If your character became smarter, they got more skill points. The reverse was also true, if you were a dumb character, you didn't know how to do anything except for like 1 skill. Additionally, putting one skill point in a new skill isn't going to do anything for you other than enable to you fail the "Must be Trained" checks. You need to invest so much of your character into a skill in order to be good at it. This leads into the next problem.Fourth Problem: Bonus Stacking. I can't even list all the different ways you can modify your skill check by using a wide array of different factors such as; Spells, Psionics, Pure dumb Luck, taking a vow of poverty, sacrificing a goat, having cancer, and receiving a friendly pat on the back. It got out of hand. Heck, the standard DC table in that system goes up to 40 for a reason. Fifth Problem: Spells and especially custom Magic Item Crafting largely surpassed the mundane skill system anyway. Why hide when you can turn invisible? Why jump when you can fly? Why pick a lock when you could Knock?Sixth Problem: Skill Requirements. You had to pay for cool Feats and Prestige Classes by spending an arbitrary amount of skill points on things, that may not be directly related to your character. For instance, to be a Duelist, you needed to be level 6, have 3 points in perform and 5 points in tumble. Why specifically those numbers in those skills? Nobody knows. Many people were quite glad when the system didn't make it back into 4e or 5e.</blockquote>

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