professions help

[agumathebear]

in d&d professions seem kinda useless, i always try to make my d&d world hyper realistic (despite the fact that there are orcs and goblins and the like) and i like how warhammer does their professions class, but i dont want professions to be a major thing, you know? i always thought it was cool in stories where someone like the blacksmith becomes a badass adventurer, but still carries his profession wherever he goes.

my players (i am a dm) also think that professions are lacking in d&d and i was just wondering if anyone out there had a re-vamped profession skill or if anyone had any thoughts.

for the most part its just for rp and extra money, but my campaign currently takes place in a world that is mostly medieval, (save for one nation that's on the verge of colonial) and there are guns, but most people dont use them because of how expensive they are.

[Altair_the_Vexed]

Agreed - usually, profession skills are weak in D&D.

There are at least a couple of WotC canonical ways to make Professions more significant. One is to tie in action to a profession check. In Stormwrack, sailing is done on a Profession Sailor check, for example.

Another is to adopt and modify the starting occupations from d20 Modern (http://www.systemreferencedocuments.org/resources/systems/pennpaper/modern/smack/occupations.html). These add some depth to your character, and give various mechanical benefits.

[Lysander]

I think the trick is to view Profession as Project Management (Specialty). It's the check you use to determine how well you lead others.

For example if you're trying to get a city ready and fortified before a goblin invasion force arrives you could use Profession (Sheriff) to organize a peasant militia, Profession (Farmer) to ensure as much food is gathered and stockpiled as possible, Profession (Guard) to identify the best places to put sentries, Profession (Carpenter) to organize the construction of wooden barricades (a Craft (Carpenter) check could achieve higher quality result but you'd have to do all the work yourself), Profession (Thief) to identify escape routes that the old and weak can use to escape undetected, Profession (Healer) to get sanitary cots set up, procure bandages, and train nurses, etc.