D&D 5E Why don't more classes grant bonus skills?

[GlassJaw]

Just a random thought/observation while doing some design work lately.

Why doesn't the Wizard get proficiency in Arcana for free?
Why doesn't the Druid or Ranger get Nature or Survival?
Why doesn't the Beast Master doesn't get Animal Handling?

Nature domain gets a choice of a skill, including Nature and Survival.
Knowledge domain gets two Int skills!
Also weird that Trickery domain doesn't get Stealth.

The ranger is the biggest offender since a lot of its features are tied to Survival. Would a ranger player ever not take Survival? Same with a wizard and Arcana?

Anyway, just throwing that out there.

 

[DND_Reborn]

LOL I have no idea why not. They should, since 4 base skills (90%) of the time is laughable. Having classes grant one or even two "free" skill plus a selection as normal won't hurt anything.

Now, some features grant skills, but not nearly that many.

 

[Bacon Bits]

Personally I've always felt like PCs should be able to pick up a new skill along side every normal ASI or so. But there's almost too few skills to support that.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Just a random thought/observation while doing some design work lately.

Why doesn't the Wizard get proficiency in Arcana for free?
Why doesn't the Druid or Ranger get Nature or Survival?
Why doesn't the Beast Master doesn't get Animal Handling?

Nature domain gets a choice of a skill, including Nature and Survival.
Knowledge domain gets two Int skills!
Also weird that Trickery domain doesn't get Stealth.

The ranger is the biggest offender since a lot of its features are tied to Survival. Would a ranger player ever not take Survival? Same with a wizard and Arcana?

Anyway, just throwing that out there.

My guess, and this is deeply a guess, is that it’s because 4e did that, and the skill list already looked a bit like 4e (more like it that any other edition), and that caused negative feedback when they (IIRC) floated the idea during the playtest .

 

[Benjamin Olson]

Why can Warlocks choose to not take Eldritch Blast? It's so that people can build the character they want. Rangers get a third class skill pick so I would hardly call them the worst offender, given that that is 1 more class skill pick than 10 out of the 13 classes get.

That said, I think there should probably be a point at level 6 or something where each class gets proficiency in a core class skill, or expertise if they already have it. That way a Wizard can become a leading authority in Arcana without multiclassing and every Wizard eventually knows a few things about Arcana. Even if you don't want to be "that kind of wizard", I'm sorry at some point you know a few things about magic; that's what the class does.

 

[GlassJaw]

I understand that the designers didn't want to grant more skills at 1st level so as not to water down the already somewhat reduced skill list. 5E strikes a delicate balance between offering choices but not too much, and when it doubt, the designers favored less choice.

I 100% there needs to be a universal mechanic for gaining new skill proficiencies or increasing your proficiency bonus (like Expertise). If there was, there would be more space to grant specific skills to classes from the start. But that's another discussion.

I just find some of the design choices a bit odd, especially in cases where a class has abilities that are directly tied to skills (like the ranger and rogue). I don't think it's a coincidence that the ranger has undergone so many tweaks, including removing the double proficiency bonus from Natural Explorer.

 

[Azzy]

Personally I've always felt like PCs should be able to pick up a new skill along side every normal ASI or so. But there's almost too few skills to support that.

I've pondered a house rule that gives character the option to select a new skill proficiency, tool proficiency, or language every 3 levels (starting at 3rd level). This is similar to how 2e granted new nonweapon proficiencies.

I haven't playtested it, though.

 

[Helldritch]

just make everyone get one more skill. This should solve your problem.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

I've pondered a house rule that gives character the option to select a new skill proficiency, tool proficiency, or language every 3 levels (starting at 3rd level). This is similar to how 2e granted new nonweapon proficiencies.

I haven't playtested it, though.

I'd been considering the same, though a bit more spaced out, and also including a new save proficiency at at least levels 11 and 17.

 

[DND_Reborn]

I've pondered a house rule that gives character the option to select a new skill proficiency, tool proficiency, or language every 3 levels (starting at 3rd level). This is similar to how 2e granted new nonweapon proficiencies.

I haven't playtested it, though.

I've offered in other threads the idea of gaining something at each new tier, so 5th, 11th, and 17th. @doctorbadwolf has offered similar ideas.

IMO three bumps offers enough to show progress without so much that it becomes, well, "too much". Each bump can offer a skill or similar. I think even doing a save as an option at 11 and 17 as @doctorbadwolf suggests might be ok--it might be borderline too much as a lot of class features offer saves, so it sort of takes away from them a bit. I guess it just depends on how much stronger you want to make PCs as skills are one thing, saves are quite another.