Possible Repurcussions

[Blackhawk748]

Ok i just came up with this idea while planning for a new campaign i may be running. What would be the possible repercussions of granting everyone 2 extra class skills of their choice?

[Honest Tiefling]

Well, everyone is going to take spot/search/listen/perception. I never really find any troubles with more then one person taking this skill however, but YMMV. People who tend to play Skillmonkeys might be more upset if everyone takes their Skillmonkeying skills (depending what the monkey takes), so it might be worthwhile to get people to diversify.

Given skill overlap, probably best with groups that are small and missing key skills, or are really good at teamwork so could work with two people doing each task. I've played a group with two rogues and it was rather nice to have back up while sneaking and you could in theory, have two negotiators working in tandem. A lot of cons also rely on two or more people, so that could be a benefit.

[FinnDarkblade]

From an optimization standpoint you could well end up with every non-caster getting UMD as a class skill. But whether or not that end sup being a problem depends on what they have access to.

[Doc_Maynot]

Or people grabbing Autohypnosis or Iajustsu Focus. Or wizards grabbing Truespeak to use some of the spells that require that skill.

[Novawurmson]

Pathfinder essentially did this with Traits (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/traits). A good 80% of them are +"1 trait bonus to x skill, and it is always a class skill for you."

[Blackhawk748]

Well thankfully my players are fullf junkies not OP junkies so i dont think Iaijustsu Focus and Autohypnosis will be a big problem, UMD i kinda expect to show up though

[nyjastul69]

PrC entery will become easier for many classes.

[Honest Tiefling]

Maybe say 1 combat skill, 1 non-combat skill? That is, if you don't run diplomacy as written...

[FinnDarkblade]

Maybe say 1 combat skill, 1 non-combat skill? That is, if you don't run diplomacy as written...

There are a lot of fuzzy areas though. Is UMD combat or non-combat? Same with Tumble, Bluff(feinting), Intimidate, Heal, Escape Artist, etc.

[Blackhawk748]

Maybe say 1 combat skill, 1 non-combat skill? That is, if you don't run diplomacy as written...

Run diplomacy as written? :smalleek: By the gods man you must be mad! lol no i just use their roll as a guidline, its mostly roleplay on out part.

[Honest Tiefling]

Yeah, that was probably a bit silly to ask.

But as for if a skill is combat/non-combat, I'd just say that only skills with a substantial non-combat use other then UMD qualify because I've yet to see anyone be able to abuse either Heal or Escape Artist to break a campaign, but might add some flavor to characters. I am not certain why the OP wanted to increase skills, so that would be an issue as well.

[Blackhawk748]

Well i just thinking about adding more skills because there are times where i would really like to have a skill, like Survival, on a class that wont have it, its mainly for fluff reasons.

[NeoPhoenix0]

don't forget knowledge geography. gotta know where you are and where you are going. being able to get there doesn't help much otherwise.

[Sir Chuckles]

don't forget knowledge geography. gotta know where you are and where you are going. being able to get there doesn't help much otherwise.

If they're big on fluff, this could hold far more true than you know.
I've had players with no character ranks in Geography and Survival end up dead in a desert, high mountains, and one time a tropical island.

"Make a Knowledge: Geography check to understand the map."
"Uhhh...it's untrained. I rolled a 7+2."
"You are certain that you're going North, the way you want."
15 minutes later
"There is a 80ft cliff in front of you and the trail ended 1/4th of a mile ago. Wanna check the map again?"

[NeoPhoenix0]

If they're big on fluff, this could hold far more true than you know.
I've had players with no character ranks in Geography and Survival end up dead in a desert, high mountains, and one time a tropical island.

"Make a Knowledge: Geography check to understand the map."
"Uhhh...it's untrained. I rolled a 7+2."
"You are certain that you're going North, the way you want."
15 minutes later
"There is a 80ft cliff in front of you and the trail ended 1/4th of a mile ago. Wanna check the map again?"

Oh, I know. I once played a character with knowledge geography. She couldn't tell you which way to walk to the next town though. It was very useful for knowing where she was however. which can be important when you plan on teleporting a lot.