D&D 3E/3.5 What 3 skills would you add to DnD 3.5

[IceFractal]

Invention (although this could be rolled into Research).

Repair (more general than craft - you have to take Craft(armorsmith) or Craft(firearms) but you could just take Repair(mechanical) or Repair(solid)).

Knowledge (tactics) - Knowledge for the Fighters!

And Perform does cover art pretty well, if you allow extending the time spent to increase the possible reward. Basically, something that produces a steady, even, income would fall under Craft or Profession, whereas something that sometimes nobody even likes, but could potentially have meteoric success uses the Perform mechanics. So if you spend a month working on a sculpture, and then try to sell it, you could roll a Perform(sculptor) check and multiply the result by 30. If the artwork incorporates valueable materials you could also make a Craft(metalworking, gemcutting, or whatever) check to maximize their potential. If you succeed, double the value of the materials is added to the artwork's final price, if you fail, only 1/2 the value is.

 

[Storyteller01]

Navigate (Int). Yes, I know that Survival covers being able to find north, but there is a difference between that and plotting a course from Point A to Point B, especially if you are unfamiliar with one or the other.

Wouldn't this be covered under Intuit Direction, with equipment such as compasses and maps giving bonuses? Not being snarky or '3.0 rules'-ish. Just an observation.

 

[Nellisir]

Rokugan had a Battle skill that was pretty good; Grapple might be interesting, and...I forget the third one I was thinking of.

Cheers!
Nell.

 

[ydirbut]

Ok - so what do the do in d20? What effect or purpose.... Currently, I can take prof: administrator or siege mechanic, while leadership is a feat rather then a skill. Is there a specific mechanic you have in mind for these? Perhaps removing the feat leadership, replacing it with a skill, perhaps?

BB

http://www.birthright.net/news.php

 

[Afrodyte]

Wouldn't this be covered under Intuit Direction, with equipment such as compasses and maps giving bonuses?

Because, as Tonguez says,

No not all sailors are navigators or should even know how to navigate. Navigation involves calculating ones position in space from available clues (stars, wave patterns, landmarks etc), then determining orientation to a known target and then measuring (and correcting for) any variation from the planed course. The Prof:Sailor skill might cover Piloting but not Navigation

 

[Terath Ninir]

Instead of Balance, Climb, Jump, Swim, and Tumble, I'm adding three skills: Acrobatics, for all Dex-based athletic maneuvers; Athletics, for all Str-based; and Stamina, for the Con-based. You want to tumble, you use Acrobatics. You want to sprint, you use Athletics. You want to run a marathon, you use Stamina.

This also has the advantage of adding a Con-based skill that is actually useful for the classes with high Con scores.

 

[Tonguez]

Instead of Balance, Climb, Jump, Swim, and Tumble, I'm adding three skills: Acrobatics, for all Dex-based athletic maneuvers; Athletics, for all Str-based; and Stamina, for the Con-based. You want to tumble, you use Acrobatics. You want to sprint, you use Athletics. You want to run a marathon, you use Stamina.

This also has the advantage of adding a Con-based skill that is actually useful for the classes with high Con scores.

In the homebrew system I was experimenting with before D20 came out the Ability scores (8 of them) were also the Skill Groups being:

Power (Strength)
Stamina (Con)
Coordination (Dex)
Agility (Dex)
Perception (Wis)
Intuition (Wis)
Intelligence
Presence (Cha)

Skills were freeform (so PCs could create any skill they wanted eg from Accupuncture (Intellgence) to Zen Archery (Intuition) *feats also worked like skills in the system). It cost one point to increase a specific proficiency+1 and 5 points to increase the Skill Group mod +1. A PCs Aptitude would then be determined as D20+Ability/Skill Group mod + proficiency vs Target (DC)

Anyway I dropped it when D20 came out

 

[Terath Ninir]

Interesting idea. I like the idea of freeform skills, but I've never figured out a good way to apply it to d20. It's inherently rigid.

 

[jeffh]

Well, the three I have added are:

Bargain. There's really no good way to handle haggling as things stand.

Memory. Monte Cook's Intelligence-checks-to-remember-stuff, only with the ability to get better at it. Cross-class for every class by default (though this wouldn't be true for the Akashic if I used it), but my rules are such that it's fairly easy to add a class skill.

Trance. Enables faster healing as well as recovery of Action Points and a few other miscellaneous things, and a near-must for planar travel the way I work things. Adapted from, but quite different than, the Trance skill from Green Ronin's Shaman's Handbook and the Tea Ceremony skill from Rokugan.