Drolyt
2010-02-20, 01:02 PM
I've been thinking. In relation to my plans to make my own 3.5 variant I've been looking at how things worked in previous editions (as well as 4th edition and the plethora of related systems such as Pathfinder) and as most of you probably know skills were a 3rd edition addition. Now, when I first looked up information on the addition of skills to 3rd edition I found that they were supposedly an expansion of Non-Weapon Proficiencies, a 2nd edition rule. Now, looking through a friend's copy of 2nd edition I have come to realize that that is only half true. Non-Weapon Proficiencies more or less covered the Profession skill. Most other skills were either class abilities or something anyone could do.
Now, the skill system, while in many ways a huge improvement over previous editions in the versatility it adds to characters, has several flaws. Among them are the fact that they are an additional, rather complicated and time consuming step in character creation and advancement, that the skills tend to fall into two camps: useless (Decipher Script, Jump) or broken/awesome (Diplomacy, Use Magic Device), and that they tend to be overshadowed by other abilities anyways. Another thing is that we already have a great customization tool that was added in 3rd edition: Feats.
Now, here is my idea: give skills that are closely tied to a particular class to that class as a class ability (for example, all the thieving skills + UMD could be Rogue class features, Hide and Move Silently could be Rogue and Ranger class features, Listen and Spot could be Ranger and Barbarian class features etc.). Since these abilities are not meant to be exclusive they will also be available as feats in the case that another class wants them. Finally, a profession system similar to 2nd edition's Non-Weapon Proficiencies will have each character start out with a handful of "skills" that represent non-combat non-adventuring skills the character has.
What does everyone think about this? I think it would greatly simplify the system. As a side note, I hope to have my Fighter up this weekend.
Now, the skill system, while in many ways a huge improvement over previous editions in the versatility it adds to characters, has several flaws. Among them are the fact that they are an additional, rather complicated and time consuming step in character creation and advancement, that the skills tend to fall into two camps: useless (Decipher Script, Jump) or broken/awesome (Diplomacy, Use Magic Device), and that they tend to be overshadowed by other abilities anyways. Another thing is that we already have a great customization tool that was added in 3rd edition: Feats.
Now, here is my idea: give skills that are closely tied to a particular class to that class as a class ability (for example, all the thieving skills + UMD could be Rogue class features, Hide and Move Silently could be Rogue and Ranger class features, Listen and Spot could be Ranger and Barbarian class features etc.). Since these abilities are not meant to be exclusive they will also be available as feats in the case that another class wants them. Finally, a profession system similar to 2nd edition's Non-Weapon Proficiencies will have each character start out with a handful of "skills" that represent non-combat non-adventuring skills the character has.
What does everyone think about this? I think it would greatly simplify the system. As a side note, I hope to have my Fighter up this weekend.