I bought The Encyclopedia of Skill Lore with my own money, and am thus uninfluenced by any "freebies". Nevertheless, I LOVE THIS BOOK! It is my favorite .PDF purchase, to date!
This short ebook contains a two-page history of the Encyclopedia and its creator, giving the background and reasons for its existance. Then follows the mechanics, then descriptions of the 23 volumes, and then a few other books and magical items of interest to bookworms, the OGL, etc.
The "crunch" is pretty simple: Your PC spends a week reading a book, requiring an INT 12+, then makes a roll against DC:12, adding their INT Bonus, and a +2 Synergy Bonus if ALL of the skills improved by that particular volume are class skills. Studying with someone who has already mastered the text yields another +2 Synergy Bonus. If you get a total of 12 or more, your PC gains a Competence Bonus to one or more skills, ranging from +2 to +6 (with an additional +1 if they beat the DC by a certain amount, or more). One of the volumes even grants a +4 bonus to these checks!
The 23 volumes in the Encyclopedia include most of the skills in the game (Use Rope & Use Item are notably missing). Also, there is a mechanic to keep these bonuses from getting out of hand (two, really)... First, PCs with eight or more ranks in a skill can't gain a bonus (as the Encyclopedia is intended for beginners), and all the bonuses are Competence Bonuses, so they don't stack - with each other, or most magic items!
Some volumes only give a bonus under certain circumstances. One gives different bonuses to spellcasters and non-casters, and can grant the spellslingers an extra spell/day at each spell level. The bonuses are different for each volume. PCs without any ranks in a skill normally unusable, untrained, still get the bonus (if they succeed on the INT check), and can use the skill with whatever bonus they've gained, untrained, as though they were trained. This comes in very handy with Profession, for instance!
There are a few bits of "wonkiness", perhaps stemming from 3e, such as mention of "skills unusable to that class", and quite a few minor typos, but nothing to distract from this ebook getting five stars, from me! Naturally, these volumes are best found before fifth level, if you want all PCs able to (potentially) benefit from ALL skills... If the Rogue finds the volume on Mechanical Devices, and learns from it, (s)he can then train the Fighter, granting him or her the same bonuses!
Another good thing about this set of books is, the GM need include only the volumes they wish! Granting the PCs access to the two volumes covering the Perform skills, for instance, would probably have little to no effect upon the campaign... Provising access to all 23 volumes could pose problems, although far less, if done at level 5+ (as the PCs will gain no Competence Bonus in skills they have 8+ ranks in). No one will much care if the Ranger gets access to the volume increasing Survival, above fifth level, but for PCs with little or no skill (such as the Rogue), it can be a boon! The same is true, in reverse, for the volume on Mechanical Devices. By careful adjudication of which volumes are placed as treasure, the GM can award some free skill bonuses, allowing for a smart Fighter with some slight abilities in singing, playing, disabling devices, and picking locks, a Rogue with Survival skills, and a Ranger who can cast an extra spell of each level/day!
The initial background story also gives the set-up for an entire low-level campaign, where knowledge is power, but tyrany oppresses the people, and the only hope is for Linus Winterguest's non-magical volunes to be used to educate the populace! Can the PCs learn what they need to know, and pass it on, before the tyrants sniff them out?
For this price, you can't beat The Encyclopedia of Skill Lore. Even the self-scribing pens and the magical bookcase are pretty cool, for your wandering scholars. Also included are a few other books Linus used to write his Encyclopedia. One of them gives certain PCs +2 BAB, +1 Reflex & Will saves, and the Dodge Feat for free, while others can't comprehend it, and others get a mere +1 BAB and +1 on one save, depending upon alignment. (Is your TWF Ranger feeling down, due to his -2/-2 TWF penalty? Try tossing this volume at him!)
If the idea of acquiring non-magical Competence Bonuses to skill checks (that can't be taken away!) doesn't bother you (and it shouldn't, as you control which volumes the PCs find), then The Encyclopedia of Skill Lore is for you! At less than three bucks, how can you go wrong?!?
This short ebook contains a two-page history of the Encyclopedia and its creator, giving the background and reasons for its existance. Then follows the mechanics, then descriptions of the 23 volumes, and then a few other books and magical items of interest to bookworms, the OGL, etc.
The "crunch" is pretty simple: Your PC spends a week reading a book, requiring an INT 12+, then makes a roll against DC:12, adding their INT Bonus, and a +2 Synergy Bonus if ALL of the skills improved by that particular volume are class skills. Studying with someone who has already mastered the text yields another +2 Synergy Bonus. If you get a total of 12 or more, your PC gains a Competence Bonus to one or more skills, ranging from +2 to +6 (with an additional +1 if they beat the DC by a certain amount, or more). One of the volumes even grants a +4 bonus to these checks!
The 23 volumes in the Encyclopedia include most of the skills in the game (Use Rope & Use Item are notably missing). Also, there is a mechanic to keep these bonuses from getting out of hand (two, really)... First, PCs with eight or more ranks in a skill can't gain a bonus (as the Encyclopedia is intended for beginners), and all the bonuses are Competence Bonuses, so they don't stack - with each other, or most magic items!
Some volumes only give a bonus under certain circumstances. One gives different bonuses to spellcasters and non-casters, and can grant the spellslingers an extra spell/day at each spell level. The bonuses are different for each volume. PCs without any ranks in a skill normally unusable, untrained, still get the bonus (if they succeed on the INT check), and can use the skill with whatever bonus they've gained, untrained, as though they were trained. This comes in very handy with Profession, for instance!
There are a few bits of "wonkiness", perhaps stemming from 3e, such as mention of "skills unusable to that class", and quite a few minor typos, but nothing to distract from this ebook getting five stars, from me! Naturally, these volumes are best found before fifth level, if you want all PCs able to (potentially) benefit from ALL skills... If the Rogue finds the volume on Mechanical Devices, and learns from it, (s)he can then train the Fighter, granting him or her the same bonuses!
Another good thing about this set of books is, the GM need include only the volumes they wish! Granting the PCs access to the two volumes covering the Perform skills, for instance, would probably have little to no effect upon the campaign... Provising access to all 23 volumes could pose problems, although far less, if done at level 5+ (as the PCs will gain no Competence Bonus in skills they have 8+ ranks in). No one will much care if the Ranger gets access to the volume increasing Survival, above fifth level, but for PCs with little or no skill (such as the Rogue), it can be a boon! The same is true, in reverse, for the volume on Mechanical Devices. By careful adjudication of which volumes are placed as treasure, the GM can award some free skill bonuses, allowing for a smart Fighter with some slight abilities in singing, playing, disabling devices, and picking locks, a Rogue with Survival skills, and a Ranger who can cast an extra spell of each level/day!
The initial background story also gives the set-up for an entire low-level campaign, where knowledge is power, but tyrany oppresses the people, and the only hope is for Linus Winterguest's non-magical volunes to be used to educate the populace! Can the PCs learn what they need to know, and pass it on, before the tyrants sniff them out?
For this price, you can't beat The Encyclopedia of Skill Lore. Even the self-scribing pens and the magical bookcase are pretty cool, for your wandering scholars. Also included are a few other books Linus used to write his Encyclopedia. One of them gives certain PCs +2 BAB, +1 Reflex & Will saves, and the Dodge Feat for free, while others can't comprehend it, and others get a mere +1 BAB and +1 on one save, depending upon alignment. (Is your TWF Ranger feeling down, due to his -2/-2 TWF penalty? Try tossing this volume at him!)
If the idea of acquiring non-magical Competence Bonuses to skill checks (that can't be taken away!) doesn't bother you (and it shouldn't, as you control which volumes the PCs find), then The Encyclopedia of Skill Lore is for you! At less than three bucks, how can you go wrong?!?
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