Why do skill points only come in even numbers?

[Mark CMG]

Why do snowflakes have six sides?

It has to do with what Quantum Pseudo-Psyentists are now calling Flake Theory, where no two persons' realities are alike.

 

[Ulrik]

I want to somehow trace is this to the same reason they didn't use odd numbers for die bonuses (things give you +2, +4, +6, +8, not +3, +5, +7, +9) -- they wanted it to be statistically significant.

Are you talking about stat bonuses? Otherwise, there's plenty of +1 bonuses for dice rolls...

Stat bonus only come in even numbers because odd bonuses affect different characters differently (ie str +3: Str 15 base gives 18 effective, +2 extra str bonus, while str 12 base gives 15 effective, +1 extra str bonus). A +2 bonus to str always increases the str bonus by 1.

 

[LightPhoenix]

I'm going with the simplicity idea as well, but for a couple of reasons.

First, one of the unifying ideas behind 3E was to make the game simpler, more easily accessible, and easier to manage. Having twelve different skill progressions is not simpler, nor is it easier - it's a pain in the butt. Sure, after so many years you may know all of them by heart, but that doesn't help a new player jumping into the game. This doesn't apply as much to skill points, but more to BAB and Saves.

Second, there needs to be a fairly tangible benefit between levels. IMO, one skill point is not a significant benefit - but two might be. If I were to design an "expert" class, I'd probably give it ten skill points per level - that's a significant advantage over the Rogue... but nine doesn't seem as significant.

Third, I like the cross-class skill idea.

 

[I'm A Banana]

Are you talking about stat bonuses? Otherwise, there's plenty of +1 bonuses for dice rolls...

Read what I wrote again. I didn't point out +1 bonuses for a reason.

But even so, +1 bonuses are not extremely common. They're around, but they're around for minor tidbits.