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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Campbell" data-source="post: 7803112" data-attributes="member: 16586">Let's consider a fairly typical 4th Level FighterVertigan (Level 4)Ability Scores: 18 Strength, 12 Dexterity, 14 Constitution, 10 Intelligence, 14 Wisdom, 10 CharismaTrained Skills: Athletics (Expert) 12, Intimidate 6, Lore(Warefare) 6, Medicine 8, Nature 8, Survival 8This is Vertigan if assuming a long term campaignVertigan (Level 5)Ability Scores: 19 Strength, 12 Dexterity, 16 Constitution, 10 Intelligence, 16 Wisdom, 12 CharismaTrained Skills: Athletics (Expert) 13, Intimidate 8, Lore(Warefare) 7, Medicine (Expert) 12, Nature 10, Survival 10This is Vertigan if assuming a short term campaignVertigan (Level 5)Ability Scores: 18 Strength, 12 Dexterity, 16 Constitution, 12 Intelligence, 16 Wisdom, 12 CharismaTrained Skills: Athletics (Expert) 13, Intimidate 8, Lore(Warefare) 8, Medicine (Expert) 12, Nature 10, Society 8, Survival 10Is the short term version better off? Sure. He managed to pickup a skill (Society) and is slightly better at Lore (Warfare) then he was before. Is he much better off? I don't really think so. He picked up a skill that chances are someone else in the party was already much better at. I mean maybe Religion or Diplomacy might have been a better choice, but the same line of reasoning likely applies. He is not meaningfully better at any of his core competencies.You are already getting boosts to 4 Ability Scores. Choosing not to boost your primary score means you are dropping to your fifth priority. In this case Vertigan has opted to stay at 12 Dexterity because he wears heavy armor so it's kind of his last priority.Let's also be real about picking up a skill. Vertigan is human. He has had so many opportunities to train in another skill. Every general feat, ancestry feat, and skill feat has been an opportunity to pick up Society. How badly does Vertigan's player really want it?I mean it is useful to have a more broadly capable character, but the fundamental question here is how much of an impact that 12 Intelligence is really going to have on play. Will long term play planning Vertigan's player miss it? Will his fellow players notice the difference?Personally I would be fine with players retraining their boost given maybe a month of downtime. It's not something I consider a super big deal, but would want some time in the fiction to justify.I do not think in most cases you can really plan this stuff out. Most campaigns do not close at a certain planned level. I know the way I run games I have no way of knowing when the story will be finished because I do not have an outcome planned out. We just play until there is no more story left to tell for these characters.Even if there is a plan it often does not go the way you think it will. Unexpected things happen. New story arcs appear out of play. Sometimes real life just gets in the way. Sometimes you go back to a game everyone thought was finished because you decide there is more story there or you just like the game.</blockquote>

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