is there any way to have more than 3+LV ranks in a skill?

[Deca4531]

I know there are a lot of items, spells, and feat that give you bonuses to a skill but is there anything that States it increases your ranks in that skill? I'm looking at a PrC and it requires 8 ranks in 1 skill but only 4 in all others required. Is there any way to cheese this requirement so I can access the class three levels earlier?

[Gemini476]

There's one that I know of. Primary Contact. It's a feat in Cytiscape that requires you to have another feat (Favored) and be a member in an organization. It has other benefits as well, but it gives you one bonus rank (that explicitly can go above your maximum ranks) in a skill related to your organization.

It's pretty useful for early entry.

[danzibr]

There's always bloodline "levels."

[Vaz]

Polymorph into a Dusk Giant. It gains the Cannibalize special attack. You then eat a load of creatures, gaining HD. These HD allow you to gain skills and feats, as well as HD based abilities, but not those based on class features. You then dismiss the Polymorph, and you now have a higher HD so a higher maximum limit.

These HD are permanent, non dispellable/disjunctionable, or removable in any way short of level drain attacks, which would then lower your skill limit.

However, this technically doesn't actually increase your maximum limit (so still 3+HD), it just gives you excess HD.

[Gemini476]

Polymorph into a Dusk Giant. It gains the Cannibalize special attack. You then eat a load of creatures, gaining HD. These HD allow you to gain skills and feats, as well as HD based abilities, but not those based on class features. You then dismiss the Polymorph, and you now have a higher HD so a higher maximum limit.

These HD are permanent, non dispellable/disjunctionable, or removable in any way short of level drain attacks, which would then lower your skill limit.

However, this technically doesn't actually increase your maximum limit (so still 3+HD), it just gives you excess HD.
It also does not give access to the Prestige Class much earlier, either, since the EXP needed to reach it increase as you gain in HD. Not to mention that Polymorph is a fourth level spell and would either be available when you already have eight ranks (after level five), or cost 700gp to acquire as a scroll. Which is available by level two by WBL, but is still pretty pricy before level three. And even then it's not guaranteed to work.

So what, Wizard 3/Giant 2/PrC 1? You'll need 5000Xp to reach level six, so you save 7000Xp.

...Yeah, I guess that'd work.

[Jack_Simth]

I know there are a lot of items, spells, and feat that give you bonuses to a skill but is there anything that States it increases your ranks in that skill? I'm looking at a PrC and it requires 8 ranks in 1 skill but only 4 in all others required. Is there any way to cheese this requirement so I can access the class three levels earlier?
Yes, but generally speaking, they use too much optimization for most tables, and make use of rules in ways that were almost certainly not intended.

A couple have been mentioned. One that only costs you cash (and a little XP):
1) Hire a Bard of at least 9th level to Inspire Greatness (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/classes/bard.htm#inspireGreatness) in you (it helps if the bard has, and is willing to use for you, Words of Creation from the Book of Exalted Deeds).
2) While the Bard plays, have a psion manifest Psychic Reformation (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/powers/psychicReformation.htm) on you to reallocate your skill points.

When you're done, you had an Instant effect change your skill points around... at a time when you explicitly had extra hit dice. Non-dispellable, because everything involved already expired.

The dusk giant bit works too, but is a little less certain - many DMs will have the bonus hit dice go away when the effect that granted them (the Ex special attack from the polymorph) goes away.

[Heliomance]

Polymorph into a Dusk Giant. It gains the Cannibalize special attack. You then eat a load of creatures, gaining HD. These HD allow you to gain skills and feats, as well as HD based abilities, but not those based on class features. You then dismiss the Polymorph, and you now have a higher HD so a higher maximum limit.

These HD are permanent, non dispellable/disjunctionable, or removable in any way short of level drain attacks, which would then lower your skill limit.

However, this technically doesn't actually increase your maximum limit (so still 3+HD), it just gives you excess HD.

I thought that the way it worked was that the extra HD vanished, along with the skill points they granted, but you could remove those skill points from wherever you liked - so you end up with the same number of skill points as you would normally have, but ignoring caps. If it grants you actual permanent HD, that's far less useful for optimisation, as it raises your ECL and thus decreases the XP you get.

[Inuzuka]

There's also the Item Familiar (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/magic/itemFamiliars.htm) feat's 'Invest Skill Ranks' which can be applied to a skill in which you already has maximum ranks.
Edit: Allows you to boost a skill to double the normal cap, so at level 1 level 3 (Forgot the level prereq) you could get 8 12 in a skill.

Works better if you Psychic Reformation all your previously assigned skills into the feat as well.

[Jack_Simth]

There's also the Item Familiar (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/magic/itemFamiliars.htm) feat's 'Invest Skill Ranks' which can be applied to a skill in which you already has maximum ranks.
Edit: Allows you to boost a skill to double the normal cap, so at level 1 level 3 (Forgot the level prereq) you could get 8 12 in a skill.Catch: It's not actual ranks, just a bonus.

[TheMooch]

Ilithid savant let's you add whatever ranks the creature who's brain you've eaten to your current ranks.

[Vaz]

I thought that the way it worked was that the extra HD vanished, along with the skill points they granted, but you could remove those skill points from wherever you liked - so you end up with the same number of skill points as you would normally have, but ignoring caps. If it grants you actual permanent HD, that's far less useful for optimisation, as it raises your ECL and thus decreases the XP you get.

It's one of those grey areas I think that the DM has to decide on. With no real way of removing the HD (which is detailed in the Dusk Giant ability), however, there's no way of getting there.

It might slow down your initial advancement (as well your ECL being so high that normal CR appropriate encounters don't actually give you XP), but it's still quicker.

You could Reserves of strength Alter Self if you were a Half-Giant if you can boost your CL to 6, if your DM rules its ability to eat something and gain HD is due to a "gross physical quality" (i.e it's stomach). I'm AFB, and shenanigans in my head tell me "no", but still.

[Togo]

Get a more powerful creature to make you their familiar.