Uses for the Profession skill(s)

[Saeviomagy]

Synergy is good. It does add a little life to a character. But why shouldn't a skill do more than just add synergy. Earning a living counts for ZERO, since it's only a few silver pieces ... and you have to sit around for a while to even get that.

Basically because every useful skill is already statted out as it's own skill. If you make something it's craft, if you know something it's knowledge, and if you do just about anything, it's a skill on the list.

Essentially the only purpose left to profession is to give specialist bonuses when working within a specific area.

 

[Herremann the Wise]

Specifically, I am trying to come up with something called Profession (mercenary) or maybe Profession (mercenary captain). I was thinking maybe I could persuade the DM to allow me use the skill to recruit good quality hirelings at good prices.

This is more using diplomacy one would think.

or maybe also determine how loyal and trustworthy they are.

This is more sense motive.

I believe there is a feat that covers both of these (giving them both +2 bonus).

I used to think the Profession skills are pretty useless. (The Craft skills are a close second in uselessness.) BUT ... recently I made up a new character and I happen to have an abundance of skill points, and it occured to me to put some points into a Profession. And then once I started thinking about it, I thought maybe it's an under-utilized opportunity for character customization.

It all depends. My latest character Lucifus (see my sig for my story hour if you want a good laugh) has ranks in Profession (Book seller). A little like the primary character Lucas Corso in "The Club Dumas". I use it more for flavour than anything else. However, when the DM looked at me as if to say "He wouldn't know that", I pointed out his ranks in this profession and the DM let it slide. I suppose it is more of a roleplaying aid more than rollplaying aid.

Best Regards
Herremann the Wise

PS: Seriously, have a read of my story hour. I think you'll like it and I can do with some feedback.

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

The problem with Sav's point of view is that it axes the Profession skills. Specifically, he's ignoring the following line from the RAW:

An attempt to accomplish some specific task can usually be retried.

In other words, the RAW say that you can use Profession skills to accomplish specific tasks.

Sav says you can't.

He's therefore wrong, but you'll never get him to admit it. For a rousing good discussion on the Profession skill - specifically, Profession (Sailor), there's a thread a couple of pages back on the general board on sailing without a crew. I'll try and hunt down a link.

To me, the Profession (Sailor) skill is the skill that is checked against to accomplish daily shipboard tasks:

You know how to use the tools of your trade, how to perform the profession’s daily tasks, how to supervise helpers, and how to handle common problems.

So, if you wanted to set a ship's sails, perform basic damage control, maintain the rigging, and steer the ship, then you'd make Profession (Sailor) checks (and, likely would Take 10 under most circumstances).

If you're Sav, you'd make a Survival check. I, personally, disagree with that - as you'll read elsewhere - in large part because it makes the Profession skill completely worthless - why would *anyone* take ranks in a Profession skill that confers absolutely no benefits whatsoever?

In other words, the usefulness of a Profession skill is going to be directly related to how *limited* your DM is, and how munchkinny your players are.

One of Sav's main problems with the Profession skill is the possibility to take Profession (Catburglar), and use that as psuedo-ranks in Hide, Move Silently, Open Locks, etc.

If your DM is smart, and your players aren't idiots, you'll never, ever encounter that problem.

In short, allowing Profession skill checks to accomplish specific tasks is not only a good idea, it's a fundamental part of the RAW, and anyone attempting to tell you otherwise is playing around with house rules - which in and of itself isn't bad, except when it makes your primitive plains barbarian a better person to take on a transoceanic voyage than my born-on-a-schooner, sailed-his-whole-life rogue.

EDIT:

Link found!

You can find the earlier discussion here: http://www.enworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=105866