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D&D 3.# Skill System thoughts.


the_taken

King of the Impossible
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Here's an idea I came up with. For D&D 3.#, instead of skills points being linked to INT, link the total number of skill points to every ability score, but only allow the skill points gained from a high ability score to be linked to the skills that use the ability score modifier as the bonus. So characters with high strength would have lots of points in the Strength based skills like, Climb and Swim, while Intelligent characters would have plenty of ranks in Knowledge skills. After that, they get their skill points from their character, which can be spent on class skills. There is no penalty for have a negative ability modifier. Even if all your stats are 8, you sill get skill points from your class levels.

This kind of things opens up the versatility of characters. That means that a Fighter could actually have ranks in Spot or Sense Motive, ranks in Use Rope, Ranks in Climb, Swim and Jump, ranks in a Knowledge skill or two, and maybe even ranks in Bluff.

This will be a complete departure from the forgettable fighter that can only climb, jump, swim, or ride a horse.

Edit-> An example build using these rules with 3.5:
Willow the Elven Fighter
Level 1:
STR 14 +2
DEX 18 +4
CON 12 +1
INT 12 +1
WIS 12 +1
CHA 10 +0

Skills:
STR: Climb (4) 6, Jump (4) 6
DEX: Ride (4) 8, Tumble (cc 2) 6, Balance (cc 2) 6, Escape Artist (cc 2) 6, Use Rope (cc 0.5) 4
CON: Concentration (cc 2) 3
INT: Knowledge(Nature)(cc 2) 3 (Search +3)
WIS: Sense Motive (cc 2) 3 (Listen +3, Spot +3)
CHA: -

Class Skill Points: Craft(Bow-making) (4) 5, Craft(Woodworking) (4) 5
Level 4:
STR 14 +2
DEX 19 +4
CON 12 +1
INT 12 +1
WIS 12 +1
CHA 10 +0

Skills:
STR: Climb (7) 9, Jump (7) 9
DEX: Ride (7) 11, Tumble (cc 3.5 +Synergy) 9, Balance (cc 3.5) 7, Escape Artist (cc 3.5) 7
CON: Concentration (cc 3.5) 4
INT: Knowledge(Nature)(cc 3.5) 4 (Search +3)
WIS: Sense Motive (cc 3.5) 4 (Listen +3, Spot +3)
CHA: -

Class Skill Points: Craft(Bow-making) (7) 8, Craft(Woodworking) (7) 8
Level 8:
STR 14 +2
DEX 20 +4
CON 12 +1
INT 12 +1
WIS 12 +1
CHA 10 +0

Skills:
STR: Climb (11) 13, Jump (11 +Synergy) 15
DEX: Ride (11) 16, Tumble (cc 5 +Synergy) 12, Balance (cc 5 +Synergy) 12, Escape Artist (cc 5) 10
CON: Concentration (cc 5) 6
INT: Knowledge(Nature)(cc 5) 6 (Search +3)
WIS: Sense Motive (cc 5) 6 (Listen +3, Spot +3)
CHA: -

Class Skill Points: Craft(Bow-making) (11) 12, Craft(Woodworking) (11) 12

As you can see, there is plenty of versatility here. He's still not a diplomancer, but Willow can do more than jump around, and isn't a complete fool. Like a good elf, he knows about the forest, and he's not easy to bluff. He can also escape from bindings with limited success, and can hope around better than a normal fighter. He can also make his own bow and arrows, though that won't come up to often (Trap crafting may be a better option).

Note that this doesn't use up any of his feats, which doesn't detract from his combat abilities in the slightest.
 
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