Mighty_Chicken
2013-12-20, 04:59 PM
Heavily edited in 12-28-2013
The idea behind the system is:
* Skill checks should not be so random; if your character sheet says you're good at something, you must be good at it most of time, and only defeated by a villager at it once in a hundred times. However, there must be a way to let randomness happen for the more heroic moments.
* Level 10 heroes shouldn't be incompetent in almost everything. They're legends above all historical heroes of real life!
* A skillmonkey should be able to do a hundred things good, and a few things outrageously good, and preferably in ways where creative players can shine.
This system have an in-built action/awesome point system. Don't worry, it's fully optional.
Skills
All skill rolls are made with 2d10. 2 and 3 are equivalent to RAW's natural 1, 19 and 20 are equivalent to RAW's natural 20. A d20 can be rolled instead by spending a story point.
The ranks in all skills advance as the character gains more levels, depending of your level of training. There are only 3 levels of training for skills: untrained, trained and expert.
When you create your character, choose 8+(Int bonus) skills from your class skills list (humans and half elves choose 10+Int bonus). You are trained in these skills. Every time you get a level in a class, you pick two more skills from that class' skill list to become trained in.
Spending one skill point will take you from untrained to trained or from trained to expert. Character start the game with 3+(Int bonus) skill points (but see bellow).
{table=head]|
Skill Training
Untrained|
1 rank / 4 levels
Trained|
2 ranks +1/2 levels
Expert|
3 ranks +1/level
[/table]
Skill Mastery and Skill Knack
Being Expert in a skill has advantages beyond the greater number of ranks. Firstly, an Expert can always roll a d20 instead of 2d10, with no cost.
Also, if you are Expert in skill, you can spend a single skill point (if it's a class skill) or two skill points (if it's a cross class skill) to attain Skill Mastery or Skill Knack with this skill. You can have both abilities if you pay for them.
Skill Mastery: You never screw up at this. Any roll lesser than 10 is always treated as 10 when using this skill.
Skill Knack: You reached a deep but creative understanding of the skill.
Once per encounter and up to twice per day, the character can enhance the skill check with:
- an extra dice (d4 in levels 1-5, d6 in levels 6-10, d8 from level 11 on)
- an extra detail to the story, involving the use of your skill
- a bigger than life move not unlike Complete Scoundrel's skill tricks
The player should describe what the trick is. If you are using Story Points, spending a Story point will grant you 2 extra dices instead of one.
Skill Points
Every character receives a number of skill points equal to 3+Int mod at first level, and an extra skill point every 4 levels. Humans get an extra skill point at first level. If the character's Intelligence score advances in the future, he may gain more skill points accordingly.
Rogues receive an extra skill point at every level, including the first. (this stacks with the skill points received every 4 levels)
Bards, Monks and Rangers receive an extra skill point at level first, and another one at levels 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 and 18.
The Open Minded feat gives you 2 extra skill points the first time you buy it (see below).
For this ends, Craft, Perform and Profession count as a single skill each. Different kinds of Craft, Perform and Profession are still separate regarding skill point spending.
Craft, Perform and Profession
If Craft, Perform or Profession are class skill for a character, he or she should be trained in at least one form of it with no cost. Talk to your DM and decide what makes more sense according to the character's background.
A bard is Expert in a number of Perform skills equal to his Int bonus (minimum 1).
Since Skill Points are rare in this system, the DM shouldn't be afraid to allow players to learn professions, crafts and performances with no mechanical cost. A barbarian who spent months inside a ship as part of the crew should become trained in Profession (sailor).
Trained-only skills
This should be logical, but here we go: if you choose a trained only skill as one of your class skills you are Trained in, you don't have to spend skill points to be able to use it.
The system at work:
Tiberius, the sorcerer, has the following class skills: Bluff, Craft, Concentration, Profession and Spellcraft. At 1st level, he can choose 8 class skills to become trained at; since he has less than 8 class skills, he's trained in all of them. He has 4 skill points to spend since he's human: he spends 1 point in Concentration (becoming an Expert: 4 ranks at 1st level), 2 in Spellcraft (Expert, with the extra point going to Skill Mastery), and 1 in Diplomacy, a cross-class skill, becoming Trained at it (2 ranks at 1st level)
When he goes up a level he becomes a Sorcerer 2. He gains no skill points or class skills.
When he goes up a level again, he multiclasses to Rogue. He receives an additional skill point since that's a rogue class feature, and spends that point in Bluff. He can also choose 2 additional class skills from the Rogue list to become trained skills. He choses Hide and Diplomacy - since he had already a skill point spent in Diplomacy, that makes him an Expert in it.
Relevant feats:
Fool's Skill
In your own... unique way, you manage to irritatingly suceed in things you know nothing about.
Prerequisite: at least one ability 11 or less, level 5 or less.
Benefit: Choose two cross class skill you are untrained at, or two class skill you are inept (see optional rules) at, or one of each. They must be based on abilities in which your score is 11 or less. You have Skill Mastery and Skill Knack with them.
Special: if you ever spend a skill point in the chosen skill, you lose the benefit of this feat with that skill. You can gain this feat multiple times; every time it applies to two extra skills.
Open Minded
Benefit: gain 2 skill points.
Special: You can gain Open Mind multiple times. Every additional time you gain this feat it grants 1 skill point instead of 2. Exception: the second, but not the third, time a human or half-elf gains this feat it grants 2 skill points.
Skill Expertise
Prerequisite: Int 13
Benefit: choose one skill you are expert at. You now have skill knack or skill mastery with it.
Special: You can gain this skill multiple times. Every time it applies to another skill.
Skill Expertise is considered a Fighter feat for Str- and Dex- based Fighter class skills.
Skill Expertise II
Prerequisite: Int 15, Skill Expertise
Benefit: choose one skill you are have Skill Expertise in. You know have both skill knack and skill mastery with it.
Special: You can gain this skill multiple times. Every time it applies to another skill.
Skill Expertise II is considered a Fighter feat for Str- and Dex- based Fighter class skills.
Skill Focus
Choose a skill.
Benefit: You get a +3 bonus on all checks involving that skill. If it's a cross-class skill you're Expert at, you can now buy Skill Mastery and Skill Knack for only 1 skill point each.
Special: You can gain this feat multiple times. Its effects do not stack. Each time you take the feat, it applies to a new skill.
Optional rules:
Complete Scoundrel's skill tricks
How do Complete Scoundrel's fun rules for skill tricks fit in this system? For now I'll only propose some ideas, and you'll pick any of them you like, ok? First of all, let's have in mind the Skill Knack mechanic is inspired in Complete Scoundrel.
You could consider a character who's Expert (Skill Knack) in a skill automatically knows all skill tricks she qualifies for. In that case, the player should be allowed to play a single skill trick for that skill per encounter with no cost, along with his story point related ability.
Alternatively or along with it, you might consider that using a skill trick without being an Expert (Skill Trick) costs you a story point, but you don't need to qualify for it.
In any case, a character who's Expert (Skill Knack) should have good sinergy with Complete Scoundrel's skill tricks. DM and players can make everything funnier by researching real life, fictional and mythological "skill tricks" related to the skill. What kind of things require not only a highly skilled individual, but also someone who discovered a specific perk of his trade? Being an Olympic athlete probably means you have a lot of ranks in Jump, but doing Parkour probably involves knowing some tricks along with sheer talent. Skill tricks are surprising and cinematographic; more ranks in a skill mean you got better, but a skill trick mean you can do more with the skill you have. Odysseus wouldn't have fooled the wise Troyans without divine help; he wasn't such a good lier. He was, though, good enough to fool a stupid giant; the skill knack here is that he lied in such a way the giant bought even more time for him ("No-One hit me in the eye!").
Another option would be to allow players to buy Complete Scoundrel's skill tricks with the Practice Points discribed bellow.
Ineptitude
Many heroes were known for never learning to do something, no matter what.
An Inept character does not get ranks in a certain skill, no matter how high is his level.
There are whole races or cultures that are inept in something. It is said moutain dwarves are inept at Swim. Many real life cultures are obviously inept at Bluff. This racial or cultural ineptitude can be "fixed" by spending a Skill or Practice point (see bellow). From there on it advances normally.
There are harsher forms of ineptitude; the most common of those give a -2 penalty in all rolls with the skill. The tragic sorcerer Avintus got to know other realities but never learned to read other people; he was Inept-5 in Sense Motive.
Players should adopt a light Ineptitude on their own, as flavor for their characters; Inept 0 for a class skill or Inept-2 for a cross class skill shouldn't maim a PC.
The DM and players could negotiate harsher Ineptitudes for little advantages for the characters; like making a cross class skill a class skill. This should be used to give characters more organicity and versatility, not to facilitate combos. Because Drokkar, the fierce fighter, was a little uncomfortable with heights, he was Inept-2 at Climb (a class skill); the DM let the player pick Heal as a class skill to reflect Drokkar's experience in battle. But Viriatus, the rogue, had a terrible voice and was Inept-5 at Perform - the DM shouldn't let him get any goodie because of a flavor perk like this.
Generally, an Ineptitude adquired in such negotiation should never be "fixed".
Practice points
In this optional system, PCs advance in skills not only through their character building choices, but also through their actions in game, and how other player perceive them.
At the end of every session or start of the next one, players and DM will quickly discuss what skills each character used the most, or more dramatically, or in the most interesting way, etc. Then the other players will propose that the character gain a practice point in that skill. The DM will be the final judge in that, but he shouldn't say no too often.
A practice point is generally a +1 bonus is a certain use of the skill, or a Complete Scoundrel's skill trick, or other non-conventional use of the skill. Characters shouldn't be granted more than one character point per session or more than three per level. The bonus to a single skill shouldn't stack more than +3, and never be higher than half the character's level.
The objective of Practice points is both giving the skill system more versatility and more flavor. There is no rule against allowing PCs to get more powerful; but the priority is to make them more interesting.
Examples:
Last session, Julian was overinterpreting his bard's womanizer side. The other players think think since he devoted so much energy to this he should have a +1 bonus to any Diplomacy checks against women. The DM thinks this is a little imbalanced, for a bard, and not perfectly tasteful; he instead suggests the bard has +1 to Jump and Tumble when trying to impress a woman.
Nick, the new player, did little with his wizard other than bullying other people. The first thing other thought was giving him +1 to Intimidation outside of battle; but a cleverer player remembers he even yelled at a horse. Players decide that was funny and he gets +1 to Ride because he learned to 'whisper' to horses that way. Actually this is a bonus to all Ride rolls and not just to a certain use; but since Ride isn't important in any wizard combo, and since trolling Nick is so fun, the DM allows it.
Arthur's paladin was betrayed by a demon who was hiding its Alignment. He even got a scar for it and everything. Players think that now he won't be trusting his supernatural abilities so much, and gets +1 to Sense Motive to catch a supernatural creature lying. In another session, the paladin is succesful at uncovering a hidden demon - this time the others think he's got sharper at it and raise his bonus to +2.
Allan's monk spent a story point on a jump move that allowed him to catch the bad guy... who was supposed to run away in the DM's plans. The DM's face was priceless. That moment was special for everyone, so others think the monk should be the jump guy, and give him a Jump skill trick from Complete Scoundrel.
Gisa's cleric almost died with a fireball spell. Since Spellcraft is a class skill for her, other players decide she should always know when Fireball is being cast, no check needed, because of the trauma.
August's low Charisma ranger develop an interesting relationship with one of the other PCs. They decide that he's less cranky and gets +1 to Diplomacy and Charisma checks when the other one is around.
Speak Languages
Speak languages works almost normally in this system. Any rank in this skill means the character has a "language spot". He may learn a language immediatly after getting the rank, or wait to fill the spot in the future.
Speak Languages is a cross class skill for every class except bard. This means an untrained 10th level character with average Intelligence will speak up to three "foreign languages". If she's a bard, she'll know up to five foreign languages, plus her int bonus. This is realistic: without making too much effort, an adventurer will likely learn many foreign languages during his lifetime.
Anyone who spent one of her rare skill point in this skill is dedicated poliglote. For example, a 10th level non-bard who spent a skill point in Speak Languages will have 7 ranks, and speak 7 foreign languages. A trained bard or expert non-bard would speak 13 languages, plus her Int bonus!
A character with Skill Mastery in Speak Languages has a linguistic talent. He can understand almost perfectly any language that is similar enough to one of the languages he speaks. If he speaks Norweguian he can understand all Nordic languages, if he speaks French he can understand all Latin languages, etc. He could, by spending a story point, use his Speak Languages ranks instead of his Decipher Script ranks with the Script's used alphabet belongs to a language he knows. A character with Skill Trick in Speak Languages can improvise: for example, with a DC 15 Speak Languages check he can understand partly what foreign speakers are saying (better results means he got it better; a 30 result means almost perfect comprehension), and with a DC 20 check he can communicate poorly in an unknown language (with escalating results; a 40 means he communicates pretty much perfectly in the unknown language).
In low fantasy travel/exploration campaigns Speak Languages may be too important and too costy. PCs may learn a new language with Practice points. He sums the number of Practice points he was given in a specific language, plus his Int modifier, plus half of his speak language ranks. No player should be given more than 5 Practice points in a given language. The resulting number tells how good he is in the language:
1: Knows the name of some animals and objects, and verbs that are close to universal communication such as "yes", "stop" and "go". Can't communicate much more than a deaf/mute person.
3: Can communicate enough to trade common goods. Takes some time to understand simple directions ("when I raise the flag, you attack"). Body language is playing a heavy role here. Can understand what other people are talking about to each other with a DC 15 Speak Languages test, but details are lost, specially if something more conceptual as strategy, magic and profession is being discussed.
5: Basic understanding. With enough time can communicate anything. Stereotypically bad accent and vocabulary. Generally knows what other people are talking about to each other, but has a -5 to Listen checks regarding listening to conversations. Relevant Perform checks get a -5 or -10 penalty. Diplomacy checks can get similar penalties in some relevant cases (rushed, hostile NPC, etc). Complex discussions require a DC 15 Speak Languages test every few rounds, and fails can be very frustrating. If you have a foreing grandmother you know what I'm talking about.
8: Heavy accent, bad vocabulary, but most relevant penalties are reduced to -2, or -5 regarding more complex uses of the language such as academic or obscure discussions. Frustrating discussions do not happen anymore.
10: Communicates perfectly, with a heavy accent. Accents and slang can be confusing for the character.
12: Light accent, understands some regional accents that even native speakers don't understand.
If the character was already literate in that alphabet, starting in number 3 he can learn to write and read as well as he speaks and listens in the language for 1 practice points (2 if he has to learn the alphabet too).
Story Points
Some call it Action Points, some call it Awesome Points. In Vampire the Masquerate they should be called Punk Goth points, because they help to make the characters so Punk-Gothy. It depends on the genre the group wants to play. The system should be used to create action if you like action, or drama if you like drama.
Every character starts the game with 3 story points.
One can spend their story points in the following ways:
for 2 points, add a dice to any roll. It would be a d4 from level 1 to 4, a d6 from levels 5 to 10, and a d8 from level 11 to 20. If the sum the 2d10 (or 1d20) and the story dice is 21+, the result is considered a natural 20.
for 1 point, roll 2d10 instead of 1d20 or the opposite.
for 1 point, add some detail to the story, like having a handy object in an hour of need. For 2 points, add a more detailed element to the story, like an NPC.
Optional: once each character of the group spent 10 story points, everyone levels up.
Getting more story points:
In the middle of the gaming table, there a bowl of a limited number of story point tokens; say, 3 per player. Anytime a player thinks another player did something cool, he or she takes a token from the bowl and gives it to fellow player.
The bowl of tokens is replenished every game session, or everytime the DM "pushes it" inventing things that are too hard to do.
If last session the party got in trouble because of role playing too good, being too bold, acting too crazy or anything that helped the game to fit the appropriate game style, the DM puts more story point tokens in the bowl.
One more thing. A player spending a story point should also be able to negotiate minor mechanical bonuses with the DM, aka "special effects". The DM should be convinced the special effect isn't broken, and that it is fun or appropriate to the game style. But it shouldn't be too hard to convince him or her.
That's it. Finito.
Before we go, an optional advanced rule:
Traits
If story points are ways of giving agency to players, traits are channels that make player agency even stronger. The name "traits" makes us think of a character's personality, but it could also be a theme related to them.
Players choose up to 3 traits for their characters. They don't need to choose all of them at character creation. Traits are words or phrases you make up entirely on your own, and that describe something about your character, her story or something that's important for her.
Julian's bard is a lustful son of a rich merchant family who was exiled from his country so he wouldn't be killed by someone's jealous husband. He decides his bard has the following traits: Womanizer, Stranger in a Strange Land, Everyone knows my father
Everytime the player plays a story point and explains how it's related to one of his traits, he gets a "story point discount".
Adding a dice to a roll only costs one point.
Rolling 2d10 instead of 1d20 or vice versa still costs one point, but it can be done altogether with adding a small detail to the story.
Adding a small detail for one point could be a little more advantageous.. Adding a more detailed element to the story, like an NPC, costs only 1 point.
The player must convince the DM the trait is related to what he's asking; and this time, it's never wrong to say no to the player.
Julian decides says his obvious sexual aura makes provoking the ugly guard into attacking him even easier. The DM lets him use his Womanizer trait to add a dice to his Bluff check to taunt the guard.
Later, he has a pretty high DC Gather Information check to do. He will use a d20 rather than 2d10. He argues local drunkards will take him for a native dunkard, and that will all cost a single story point for him, because his character is used to it since he's always a Stranger in a Strange Land.
In another ocasion, he argues the city has a rich merchant that used to do business with his father. Fair enough: Everyone Knows his Father! And it's a port city anyway, so why not. He adds the NPC for just one story point.
A player can also use his traits to give her destiny in DM's hands. She first must argue that in the current situation, one of her traits could put her in danger or foil her plans. The DM can think for a moment. If he accepts, he immediatly gives her a story point token - not from the bowl, but from his pockets or another place. The place really isn't relevant as long as it isn't the bowl. The DM will, in this encounter/scene or in the next one, use the character's trait against her. The DM has a dice (one order greater than the one the PC gains when she pays story points) to add in favor of an enemy or to reduce from a roll.
Julian is fighting a fierce battle and he's all out of story points. He decides to argue, "you know what could my life even worse? Some vengeful husband!". The DM doesn't want to buy it because everything for Julian is a vengeful husband. But Julian argues he mentioned the guards came from nowhere, so maybe they found them because one of their wives told them where he was. The DM accepts it. Julian has his story point, but the DM has a 1d8 (Julian's bard is 5th level) to use against him any time, and the guards will do terrible things to him if he's caught...
The party is in a diplomatic mission. Julian wants a story point and argues that, despite being so charismatic and well versed, and exiled person has a psychologically marked with shame and he does not fit in rich ambients anymore. The DM accepts it; several NPCs in the court just don't like him, and the DM has a 1d8 in his pocket that he'll throw at Julian in the form of a stuttering during a speech.
During the same diplomatic mission Julian is hungry for another story point and says that someone will know him in the party because of his father, making everything even worse. The DM thinks a little and accepts it. But no one recognizes Julian during the party. Party is over, the consul sends them into a stealth mission. But by coincidence they find not an enemy, but an old friend of him that wants to talk to old times and must suspect of nothing. The group has just probably lost their bard for the rest of the mission, unless Julian can get rid of the friend very in a most subtle way - but the friend's sense motive check will have a 1d8 waiting for it.
Giving your destiny into the DM's hand is dangerous. It may create more trouble than you can deal with. But it's also a way of reafirming who your character is, and if all goes bad, maybe you can even influence in the way you'll lose!
EDIT:
Here's how the rules were before the 12-28 edit
Skills
All skill rolls are made with 2d10. 2 and 3 are equivalent to RAW's natural 1, 19 and 20 are equivalent to RAW's natural 20. A d20 can be rolled instead by spending a story point.
There are only 3 levels of training for skills: untrained, trained and expert. Being untrained costs nothing, being trained costs 1 skill point and being an expert costs 2.
The ranks in all skills advance as the character gains more levels, depending if the skill is a class or a cross-class skill.
{table=head]|
Cross-Class|
Class skill
Untrained|
+1 rank / 3 levels|
+1 rank / 2 levels
Trained|
2 ranks +1/2 levels|
3 ranks+1/level
Expert|
3 ranks +1/level|
3 ranks +1/level + mastery or trick
Expert+1|
- |
3 ranks +1/level + mastery and trick[/table]
Experts in class skills can choose between having mastery or trick in that skill. If they spend another point (3 points in total) they'll have both the mastery and the trick.
Skill Mastery: You never screw up at this. Any roll lesser than 10 is always treated as 10 when using this skill.
Skill Trick: You reached a deep but creative understanding of the skill. Once per encounter and up to twice per day, the character can enhance the skill check with any of the options described in the "story points" chapter without spending story points. Whenever using a skill trick, the player should describe what the trick is (even if it doesn't make much sense). Spending a story point along with a skill trick allows the character to add two dice instead of one to the check.
Skill Points
Every character receives a number of skill points equal to 3+Int mod at first level, and an extra skill point every 4 levels. Humans get an extra skill point at first level. If the character's Intelligence score advances in the future, he may gain more skill points accordingly.
Rogues receive an extra skill point at every level, including the first. (this stacks with the skill points received every 5 levels)
Bards and Rangers receive an extra skill point at level first, and another one at levels 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 and 18.
The Open Minded feat gives you 2 extra skill points the first time you buy it (see below)
Class skills (and multiclass)
A character can have up to 8 class skills at first level (up to 10 if she's human). She choses from the class skills list of her class.
Everytime a character advances a level, she gets 2 more class skills from the list of the class she just took a level on.
For this ends, Craft, Perform and Profession count as a single skill each. Different kinds of Craft, Perform and Profession are still separate regarding skill point spending.
Craft, Perform and Profession
These skills have also another perk.
If any of those skills is a cross class for a character, it can be used untrained, but he gets no ranks in it.
If any of those skills is a class skill for a character, he gets automatic ranks in only one or two forms of it that are related to the character's background. These forms may or may not be defined at character creation.
For example:
Jodiah, a fighter, never spent any skill points in the Craft skill. However, Jodiah's player and the DM agree Jodiah probably knows something of weaponsmithing, so his Craft (weaponsmith) skill progresses automatically as an untrained class skill. If Jodiah later spends a skill point in Craft (weaponsmithing), the player and the DM could maybe agree that, during his adventures, he learned something about crafting armor as well, so from now on Craft (weapons) is a trained class skill, Craft (armors) is an untrained class skill, and for all the other Craft skills he receives no ranks.
Another example: Amma the monk was raised in a temple with no contact with mundane musical instruments. The player and the DM don't think she'd get any ranks in Perform (guitar), for example. She might have ranks in Perform (sing) because of ritual chanting, or in Perform (oratory) because of her contact with philosophers and apologists in the temple. Having both really wouldn't be unbalanced, but the player decides she'll only have automatic ranks in Perform (sing) because it's more related to her personality.
Since Skill Points are rare in this system, the DM shouldn't be afraid to allow players to learn professions, crafts and performances with no mechanical cost. A barbarian who spent months inside a ship as part of the crew should get ranks in Profession (sailor); the DM could consider Profession (sailor) an untrained class skill for her, even if Profession is a cross class skill for barbarians.
The system at work:
Tiberius, the sorcerer, has the following class skills at level 1st: Bluff, Craft, Concentration, Profession and Spellcraft. He has 4 skill points to spend since he's human: he spends 1 point in Concentration (trained), 2 in Spellcraft (he becomes an expert and choses Mastery for this skill), and 1 in Diplomacy (trained), a cross-class skill.
When he goes up a level he becomes a Sorcerer 2. He gains no skill points or class skills.
When he goes up a level again, he multiclasses to Rogue. He receives an additional skill point since that's a rogue class feature, and spends that point in Bluff. He can also choose 2 additional class skills from the Rogue list. He choses Diplomacy and Hide.Relevant feats:
Fool's Skill
In your own... unique way, you manage to irritatingly suceed in things you know nothing about.
Prerequisite: at least one ability 11 or less, level 5 or less.
Benefit: Choose two cross class skill you are untrained at, or two class skill you are inept at, or one of each. They must be based on abilities in which your score is 11 or less. You have Skill Mastery and Skill Trick with them.
Special: if you ever spend a skill point in the chosen skill, you lose the benefit of this feat with that skill. You can gain this feat multiple times; every time it applies to two extra skill.
Open Mind
Benefit: gain 2 skill points.
Special: You can gain Open Mind multiple times. Every additional time you gain this feat it grants 1 skill point instead of 2. Exception: the second, but not th third, time a human or half-elf gain this feat it grants 2 skill points.
Skill Expertise
Prerequisite: Int 13
Benefit: choose one skill you are expert at. You now have skill trick or skill mastery with it.
Special: You can gain this skill multiple times. Every time it applies to another skill.
(note: this is for your expert cross class skills)
Skill Expertise II
Prerequisite: Int 15, Skill Expertise
Benefit: choose one skill you are have Skill Expertise in. You know have both skill trick and skill mastery with it.
The idea behind the system is:
* Skill checks should not be so random; if your character sheet says you're good at something, you must be good at it most of time, and only defeated by a villager at it once in a hundred times. However, there must be a way to let randomness happen for the more heroic moments.
* Level 10 heroes shouldn't be incompetent in almost everything. They're legends above all historical heroes of real life!
* A skillmonkey should be able to do a hundred things good, and a few things outrageously good, and preferably in ways where creative players can shine.
This system have an in-built action/awesome point system. Don't worry, it's fully optional.
Skills
All skill rolls are made with 2d10. 2 and 3 are equivalent to RAW's natural 1, 19 and 20 are equivalent to RAW's natural 20. A d20 can be rolled instead by spending a story point.
The ranks in all skills advance as the character gains more levels, depending of your level of training. There are only 3 levels of training for skills: untrained, trained and expert.
When you create your character, choose 8+(Int bonus) skills from your class skills list (humans and half elves choose 10+Int bonus). You are trained in these skills. Every time you get a level in a class, you pick two more skills from that class' skill list to become trained in.
Spending one skill point will take you from untrained to trained or from trained to expert. Character start the game with 3+(Int bonus) skill points (but see bellow).
{table=head]|
Skill Training
Untrained|
1 rank / 4 levels
Trained|
2 ranks +1/2 levels
Expert|
3 ranks +1/level
[/table]
Skill Mastery and Skill Knack
Being Expert in a skill has advantages beyond the greater number of ranks. Firstly, an Expert can always roll a d20 instead of 2d10, with no cost.
Also, if you are Expert in skill, you can spend a single skill point (if it's a class skill) or two skill points (if it's a cross class skill) to attain Skill Mastery or Skill Knack with this skill. You can have both abilities if you pay for them.
Skill Mastery: You never screw up at this. Any roll lesser than 10 is always treated as 10 when using this skill.
Skill Knack: You reached a deep but creative understanding of the skill.
Once per encounter and up to twice per day, the character can enhance the skill check with:
- an extra dice (d4 in levels 1-5, d6 in levels 6-10, d8 from level 11 on)
- an extra detail to the story, involving the use of your skill
- a bigger than life move not unlike Complete Scoundrel's skill tricks
The player should describe what the trick is. If you are using Story Points, spending a Story point will grant you 2 extra dices instead of one.
Skill Points
Every character receives a number of skill points equal to 3+Int mod at first level, and an extra skill point every 4 levels. Humans get an extra skill point at first level. If the character's Intelligence score advances in the future, he may gain more skill points accordingly.
Rogues receive an extra skill point at every level, including the first. (this stacks with the skill points received every 4 levels)
Bards, Monks and Rangers receive an extra skill point at level first, and another one at levels 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 and 18.
The Open Minded feat gives you 2 extra skill points the first time you buy it (see below).
For this ends, Craft, Perform and Profession count as a single skill each. Different kinds of Craft, Perform and Profession are still separate regarding skill point spending.
Craft, Perform and Profession
If Craft, Perform or Profession are class skill for a character, he or she should be trained in at least one form of it with no cost. Talk to your DM and decide what makes more sense according to the character's background.
A bard is Expert in a number of Perform skills equal to his Int bonus (minimum 1).
Since Skill Points are rare in this system, the DM shouldn't be afraid to allow players to learn professions, crafts and performances with no mechanical cost. A barbarian who spent months inside a ship as part of the crew should become trained in Profession (sailor).
Trained-only skills
This should be logical, but here we go: if you choose a trained only skill as one of your class skills you are Trained in, you don't have to spend skill points to be able to use it.
The system at work:
Tiberius, the sorcerer, has the following class skills: Bluff, Craft, Concentration, Profession and Spellcraft. At 1st level, he can choose 8 class skills to become trained at; since he has less than 8 class skills, he's trained in all of them. He has 4 skill points to spend since he's human: he spends 1 point in Concentration (becoming an Expert: 4 ranks at 1st level), 2 in Spellcraft (Expert, with the extra point going to Skill Mastery), and 1 in Diplomacy, a cross-class skill, becoming Trained at it (2 ranks at 1st level)
When he goes up a level he becomes a Sorcerer 2. He gains no skill points or class skills.
When he goes up a level again, he multiclasses to Rogue. He receives an additional skill point since that's a rogue class feature, and spends that point in Bluff. He can also choose 2 additional class skills from the Rogue list to become trained skills. He choses Hide and Diplomacy - since he had already a skill point spent in Diplomacy, that makes him an Expert in it.
Relevant feats:
Fool's Skill
In your own... unique way, you manage to irritatingly suceed in things you know nothing about.
Prerequisite: at least one ability 11 or less, level 5 or less.
Benefit: Choose two cross class skill you are untrained at, or two class skill you are inept (see optional rules) at, or one of each. They must be based on abilities in which your score is 11 or less. You have Skill Mastery and Skill Knack with them.
Special: if you ever spend a skill point in the chosen skill, you lose the benefit of this feat with that skill. You can gain this feat multiple times; every time it applies to two extra skills.
Open Minded
Benefit: gain 2 skill points.
Special: You can gain Open Mind multiple times. Every additional time you gain this feat it grants 1 skill point instead of 2. Exception: the second, but not the third, time a human or half-elf gains this feat it grants 2 skill points.
Skill Expertise
Prerequisite: Int 13
Benefit: choose one skill you are expert at. You now have skill knack or skill mastery with it.
Special: You can gain this skill multiple times. Every time it applies to another skill.
Skill Expertise is considered a Fighter feat for Str- and Dex- based Fighter class skills.
Skill Expertise II
Prerequisite: Int 15, Skill Expertise
Benefit: choose one skill you are have Skill Expertise in. You know have both skill knack and skill mastery with it.
Special: You can gain this skill multiple times. Every time it applies to another skill.
Skill Expertise II is considered a Fighter feat for Str- and Dex- based Fighter class skills.
Skill Focus
Choose a skill.
Benefit: You get a +3 bonus on all checks involving that skill. If it's a cross-class skill you're Expert at, you can now buy Skill Mastery and Skill Knack for only 1 skill point each.
Special: You can gain this feat multiple times. Its effects do not stack. Each time you take the feat, it applies to a new skill.
Optional rules:
Complete Scoundrel's skill tricks
How do Complete Scoundrel's fun rules for skill tricks fit in this system? For now I'll only propose some ideas, and you'll pick any of them you like, ok? First of all, let's have in mind the Skill Knack mechanic is inspired in Complete Scoundrel.
You could consider a character who's Expert (Skill Knack) in a skill automatically knows all skill tricks she qualifies for. In that case, the player should be allowed to play a single skill trick for that skill per encounter with no cost, along with his story point related ability.
Alternatively or along with it, you might consider that using a skill trick without being an Expert (Skill Trick) costs you a story point, but you don't need to qualify for it.
In any case, a character who's Expert (Skill Knack) should have good sinergy with Complete Scoundrel's skill tricks. DM and players can make everything funnier by researching real life, fictional and mythological "skill tricks" related to the skill. What kind of things require not only a highly skilled individual, but also someone who discovered a specific perk of his trade? Being an Olympic athlete probably means you have a lot of ranks in Jump, but doing Parkour probably involves knowing some tricks along with sheer talent. Skill tricks are surprising and cinematographic; more ranks in a skill mean you got better, but a skill trick mean you can do more with the skill you have. Odysseus wouldn't have fooled the wise Troyans without divine help; he wasn't such a good lier. He was, though, good enough to fool a stupid giant; the skill knack here is that he lied in such a way the giant bought even more time for him ("No-One hit me in the eye!").
Another option would be to allow players to buy Complete Scoundrel's skill tricks with the Practice Points discribed bellow.
Ineptitude
Many heroes were known for never learning to do something, no matter what.
An Inept character does not get ranks in a certain skill, no matter how high is his level.
There are whole races or cultures that are inept in something. It is said moutain dwarves are inept at Swim. Many real life cultures are obviously inept at Bluff. This racial or cultural ineptitude can be "fixed" by spending a Skill or Practice point (see bellow). From there on it advances normally.
There are harsher forms of ineptitude; the most common of those give a -2 penalty in all rolls with the skill. The tragic sorcerer Avintus got to know other realities but never learned to read other people; he was Inept-5 in Sense Motive.
Players should adopt a light Ineptitude on their own, as flavor for their characters; Inept 0 for a class skill or Inept-2 for a cross class skill shouldn't maim a PC.
The DM and players could negotiate harsher Ineptitudes for little advantages for the characters; like making a cross class skill a class skill. This should be used to give characters more organicity and versatility, not to facilitate combos. Because Drokkar, the fierce fighter, was a little uncomfortable with heights, he was Inept-2 at Climb (a class skill); the DM let the player pick Heal as a class skill to reflect Drokkar's experience in battle. But Viriatus, the rogue, had a terrible voice and was Inept-5 at Perform - the DM shouldn't let him get any goodie because of a flavor perk like this.
Generally, an Ineptitude adquired in such negotiation should never be "fixed".
Practice points
In this optional system, PCs advance in skills not only through their character building choices, but also through their actions in game, and how other player perceive them.
At the end of every session or start of the next one, players and DM will quickly discuss what skills each character used the most, or more dramatically, or in the most interesting way, etc. Then the other players will propose that the character gain a practice point in that skill. The DM will be the final judge in that, but he shouldn't say no too often.
A practice point is generally a +1 bonus is a certain use of the skill, or a Complete Scoundrel's skill trick, or other non-conventional use of the skill. Characters shouldn't be granted more than one character point per session or more than three per level. The bonus to a single skill shouldn't stack more than +3, and never be higher than half the character's level.
The objective of Practice points is both giving the skill system more versatility and more flavor. There is no rule against allowing PCs to get more powerful; but the priority is to make them more interesting.
Examples:
Last session, Julian was overinterpreting his bard's womanizer side. The other players think think since he devoted so much energy to this he should have a +1 bonus to any Diplomacy checks against women. The DM thinks this is a little imbalanced, for a bard, and not perfectly tasteful; he instead suggests the bard has +1 to Jump and Tumble when trying to impress a woman.
Nick, the new player, did little with his wizard other than bullying other people. The first thing other thought was giving him +1 to Intimidation outside of battle; but a cleverer player remembers he even yelled at a horse. Players decide that was funny and he gets +1 to Ride because he learned to 'whisper' to horses that way. Actually this is a bonus to all Ride rolls and not just to a certain use; but since Ride isn't important in any wizard combo, and since trolling Nick is so fun, the DM allows it.
Arthur's paladin was betrayed by a demon who was hiding its Alignment. He even got a scar for it and everything. Players think that now he won't be trusting his supernatural abilities so much, and gets +1 to Sense Motive to catch a supernatural creature lying. In another session, the paladin is succesful at uncovering a hidden demon - this time the others think he's got sharper at it and raise his bonus to +2.
Allan's monk spent a story point on a jump move that allowed him to catch the bad guy... who was supposed to run away in the DM's plans. The DM's face was priceless. That moment was special for everyone, so others think the monk should be the jump guy, and give him a Jump skill trick from Complete Scoundrel.
Gisa's cleric almost died with a fireball spell. Since Spellcraft is a class skill for her, other players decide she should always know when Fireball is being cast, no check needed, because of the trauma.
August's low Charisma ranger develop an interesting relationship with one of the other PCs. They decide that he's less cranky and gets +1 to Diplomacy and Charisma checks when the other one is around.
Speak Languages
Speak languages works almost normally in this system. Any rank in this skill means the character has a "language spot". He may learn a language immediatly after getting the rank, or wait to fill the spot in the future.
Speak Languages is a cross class skill for every class except bard. This means an untrained 10th level character with average Intelligence will speak up to three "foreign languages". If she's a bard, she'll know up to five foreign languages, plus her int bonus. This is realistic: without making too much effort, an adventurer will likely learn many foreign languages during his lifetime.
Anyone who spent one of her rare skill point in this skill is dedicated poliglote. For example, a 10th level non-bard who spent a skill point in Speak Languages will have 7 ranks, and speak 7 foreign languages. A trained bard or expert non-bard would speak 13 languages, plus her Int bonus!
A character with Skill Mastery in Speak Languages has a linguistic talent. He can understand almost perfectly any language that is similar enough to one of the languages he speaks. If he speaks Norweguian he can understand all Nordic languages, if he speaks French he can understand all Latin languages, etc. He could, by spending a story point, use his Speak Languages ranks instead of his Decipher Script ranks with the Script's used alphabet belongs to a language he knows. A character with Skill Trick in Speak Languages can improvise: for example, with a DC 15 Speak Languages check he can understand partly what foreign speakers are saying (better results means he got it better; a 30 result means almost perfect comprehension), and with a DC 20 check he can communicate poorly in an unknown language (with escalating results; a 40 means he communicates pretty much perfectly in the unknown language).
In low fantasy travel/exploration campaigns Speak Languages may be too important and too costy. PCs may learn a new language with Practice points. He sums the number of Practice points he was given in a specific language, plus his Int modifier, plus half of his speak language ranks. No player should be given more than 5 Practice points in a given language. The resulting number tells how good he is in the language:
1: Knows the name of some animals and objects, and verbs that are close to universal communication such as "yes", "stop" and "go". Can't communicate much more than a deaf/mute person.
3: Can communicate enough to trade common goods. Takes some time to understand simple directions ("when I raise the flag, you attack"). Body language is playing a heavy role here. Can understand what other people are talking about to each other with a DC 15 Speak Languages test, but details are lost, specially if something more conceptual as strategy, magic and profession is being discussed.
5: Basic understanding. With enough time can communicate anything. Stereotypically bad accent and vocabulary. Generally knows what other people are talking about to each other, but has a -5 to Listen checks regarding listening to conversations. Relevant Perform checks get a -5 or -10 penalty. Diplomacy checks can get similar penalties in some relevant cases (rushed, hostile NPC, etc). Complex discussions require a DC 15 Speak Languages test every few rounds, and fails can be very frustrating. If you have a foreing grandmother you know what I'm talking about.
8: Heavy accent, bad vocabulary, but most relevant penalties are reduced to -2, or -5 regarding more complex uses of the language such as academic or obscure discussions. Frustrating discussions do not happen anymore.
10: Communicates perfectly, with a heavy accent. Accents and slang can be confusing for the character.
12: Light accent, understands some regional accents that even native speakers don't understand.
If the character was already literate in that alphabet, starting in number 3 he can learn to write and read as well as he speaks and listens in the language for 1 practice points (2 if he has to learn the alphabet too).
Story Points
Some call it Action Points, some call it Awesome Points. In Vampire the Masquerate they should be called Punk Goth points, because they help to make the characters so Punk-Gothy. It depends on the genre the group wants to play. The system should be used to create action if you like action, or drama if you like drama.
Every character starts the game with 3 story points.
One can spend their story points in the following ways:
for 2 points, add a dice to any roll. It would be a d4 from level 1 to 4, a d6 from levels 5 to 10, and a d8 from level 11 to 20. If the sum the 2d10 (or 1d20) and the story dice is 21+, the result is considered a natural 20.
for 1 point, roll 2d10 instead of 1d20 or the opposite.
for 1 point, add some detail to the story, like having a handy object in an hour of need. For 2 points, add a more detailed element to the story, like an NPC.
Optional: once each character of the group spent 10 story points, everyone levels up.
Getting more story points:
In the middle of the gaming table, there a bowl of a limited number of story point tokens; say, 3 per player. Anytime a player thinks another player did something cool, he or she takes a token from the bowl and gives it to fellow player.
The bowl of tokens is replenished every game session, or everytime the DM "pushes it" inventing things that are too hard to do.
If last session the party got in trouble because of role playing too good, being too bold, acting too crazy or anything that helped the game to fit the appropriate game style, the DM puts more story point tokens in the bowl.
One more thing. A player spending a story point should also be able to negotiate minor mechanical bonuses with the DM, aka "special effects". The DM should be convinced the special effect isn't broken, and that it is fun or appropriate to the game style. But it shouldn't be too hard to convince him or her.
That's it. Finito.
Before we go, an optional advanced rule:
Traits
If story points are ways of giving agency to players, traits are channels that make player agency even stronger. The name "traits" makes us think of a character's personality, but it could also be a theme related to them.
Players choose up to 3 traits for their characters. They don't need to choose all of them at character creation. Traits are words or phrases you make up entirely on your own, and that describe something about your character, her story or something that's important for her.
Julian's bard is a lustful son of a rich merchant family who was exiled from his country so he wouldn't be killed by someone's jealous husband. He decides his bard has the following traits: Womanizer, Stranger in a Strange Land, Everyone knows my father
Everytime the player plays a story point and explains how it's related to one of his traits, he gets a "story point discount".
Adding a dice to a roll only costs one point.
Rolling 2d10 instead of 1d20 or vice versa still costs one point, but it can be done altogether with adding a small detail to the story.
Adding a small detail for one point could be a little more advantageous.. Adding a more detailed element to the story, like an NPC, costs only 1 point.
The player must convince the DM the trait is related to what he's asking; and this time, it's never wrong to say no to the player.
Julian decides says his obvious sexual aura makes provoking the ugly guard into attacking him even easier. The DM lets him use his Womanizer trait to add a dice to his Bluff check to taunt the guard.
Later, he has a pretty high DC Gather Information check to do. He will use a d20 rather than 2d10. He argues local drunkards will take him for a native dunkard, and that will all cost a single story point for him, because his character is used to it since he's always a Stranger in a Strange Land.
In another ocasion, he argues the city has a rich merchant that used to do business with his father. Fair enough: Everyone Knows his Father! And it's a port city anyway, so why not. He adds the NPC for just one story point.
A player can also use his traits to give her destiny in DM's hands. She first must argue that in the current situation, one of her traits could put her in danger or foil her plans. The DM can think for a moment. If he accepts, he immediatly gives her a story point token - not from the bowl, but from his pockets or another place. The place really isn't relevant as long as it isn't the bowl. The DM will, in this encounter/scene or in the next one, use the character's trait against her. The DM has a dice (one order greater than the one the PC gains when she pays story points) to add in favor of an enemy or to reduce from a roll.
Julian is fighting a fierce battle and he's all out of story points. He decides to argue, "you know what could my life even worse? Some vengeful husband!". The DM doesn't want to buy it because everything for Julian is a vengeful husband. But Julian argues he mentioned the guards came from nowhere, so maybe they found them because one of their wives told them where he was. The DM accepts it. Julian has his story point, but the DM has a 1d8 (Julian's bard is 5th level) to use against him any time, and the guards will do terrible things to him if he's caught...
The party is in a diplomatic mission. Julian wants a story point and argues that, despite being so charismatic and well versed, and exiled person has a psychologically marked with shame and he does not fit in rich ambients anymore. The DM accepts it; several NPCs in the court just don't like him, and the DM has a 1d8 in his pocket that he'll throw at Julian in the form of a stuttering during a speech.
During the same diplomatic mission Julian is hungry for another story point and says that someone will know him in the party because of his father, making everything even worse. The DM thinks a little and accepts it. But no one recognizes Julian during the party. Party is over, the consul sends them into a stealth mission. But by coincidence they find not an enemy, but an old friend of him that wants to talk to old times and must suspect of nothing. The group has just probably lost their bard for the rest of the mission, unless Julian can get rid of the friend very in a most subtle way - but the friend's sense motive check will have a 1d8 waiting for it.
Giving your destiny into the DM's hand is dangerous. It may create more trouble than you can deal with. But it's also a way of reafirming who your character is, and if all goes bad, maybe you can even influence in the way you'll lose!
EDIT:
Here's how the rules were before the 12-28 edit
Skills
All skill rolls are made with 2d10. 2 and 3 are equivalent to RAW's natural 1, 19 and 20 are equivalent to RAW's natural 20. A d20 can be rolled instead by spending a story point.
There are only 3 levels of training for skills: untrained, trained and expert. Being untrained costs nothing, being trained costs 1 skill point and being an expert costs 2.
The ranks in all skills advance as the character gains more levels, depending if the skill is a class or a cross-class skill.
{table=head]|
Cross-Class|
Class skill
Untrained|
+1 rank / 3 levels|
+1 rank / 2 levels
Trained|
2 ranks +1/2 levels|
3 ranks+1/level
Expert|
3 ranks +1/level|
3 ranks +1/level + mastery or trick
Expert+1|
- |
3 ranks +1/level + mastery and trick[/table]
Experts in class skills can choose between having mastery or trick in that skill. If they spend another point (3 points in total) they'll have both the mastery and the trick.
Skill Mastery: You never screw up at this. Any roll lesser than 10 is always treated as 10 when using this skill.
Skill Trick: You reached a deep but creative understanding of the skill. Once per encounter and up to twice per day, the character can enhance the skill check with any of the options described in the "story points" chapter without spending story points. Whenever using a skill trick, the player should describe what the trick is (even if it doesn't make much sense). Spending a story point along with a skill trick allows the character to add two dice instead of one to the check.
Skill Points
Every character receives a number of skill points equal to 3+Int mod at first level, and an extra skill point every 4 levels. Humans get an extra skill point at first level. If the character's Intelligence score advances in the future, he may gain more skill points accordingly.
Rogues receive an extra skill point at every level, including the first. (this stacks with the skill points received every 5 levels)
Bards and Rangers receive an extra skill point at level first, and another one at levels 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 and 18.
The Open Minded feat gives you 2 extra skill points the first time you buy it (see below)
Class skills (and multiclass)
A character can have up to 8 class skills at first level (up to 10 if she's human). She choses from the class skills list of her class.
Everytime a character advances a level, she gets 2 more class skills from the list of the class she just took a level on.
For this ends, Craft, Perform and Profession count as a single skill each. Different kinds of Craft, Perform and Profession are still separate regarding skill point spending.
Craft, Perform and Profession
These skills have also another perk.
If any of those skills is a cross class for a character, it can be used untrained, but he gets no ranks in it.
If any of those skills is a class skill for a character, he gets automatic ranks in only one or two forms of it that are related to the character's background. These forms may or may not be defined at character creation.
For example:
Jodiah, a fighter, never spent any skill points in the Craft skill. However, Jodiah's player and the DM agree Jodiah probably knows something of weaponsmithing, so his Craft (weaponsmith) skill progresses automatically as an untrained class skill. If Jodiah later spends a skill point in Craft (weaponsmithing), the player and the DM could maybe agree that, during his adventures, he learned something about crafting armor as well, so from now on Craft (weapons) is a trained class skill, Craft (armors) is an untrained class skill, and for all the other Craft skills he receives no ranks.
Another example: Amma the monk was raised in a temple with no contact with mundane musical instruments. The player and the DM don't think she'd get any ranks in Perform (guitar), for example. She might have ranks in Perform (sing) because of ritual chanting, or in Perform (oratory) because of her contact with philosophers and apologists in the temple. Having both really wouldn't be unbalanced, but the player decides she'll only have automatic ranks in Perform (sing) because it's more related to her personality.
Since Skill Points are rare in this system, the DM shouldn't be afraid to allow players to learn professions, crafts and performances with no mechanical cost. A barbarian who spent months inside a ship as part of the crew should get ranks in Profession (sailor); the DM could consider Profession (sailor) an untrained class skill for her, even if Profession is a cross class skill for barbarians.
The system at work:
Tiberius, the sorcerer, has the following class skills at level 1st: Bluff, Craft, Concentration, Profession and Spellcraft. He has 4 skill points to spend since he's human: he spends 1 point in Concentration (trained), 2 in Spellcraft (he becomes an expert and choses Mastery for this skill), and 1 in Diplomacy (trained), a cross-class skill.
When he goes up a level he becomes a Sorcerer 2. He gains no skill points or class skills.
When he goes up a level again, he multiclasses to Rogue. He receives an additional skill point since that's a rogue class feature, and spends that point in Bluff. He can also choose 2 additional class skills from the Rogue list. He choses Diplomacy and Hide.Relevant feats:
Fool's Skill
In your own... unique way, you manage to irritatingly suceed in things you know nothing about.
Prerequisite: at least one ability 11 or less, level 5 or less.
Benefit: Choose two cross class skill you are untrained at, or two class skill you are inept at, or one of each. They must be based on abilities in which your score is 11 or less. You have Skill Mastery and Skill Trick with them.
Special: if you ever spend a skill point in the chosen skill, you lose the benefit of this feat with that skill. You can gain this feat multiple times; every time it applies to two extra skill.
Open Mind
Benefit: gain 2 skill points.
Special: You can gain Open Mind multiple times. Every additional time you gain this feat it grants 1 skill point instead of 2. Exception: the second, but not th third, time a human or half-elf gain this feat it grants 2 skill points.
Skill Expertise
Prerequisite: Int 13
Benefit: choose one skill you are expert at. You now have skill trick or skill mastery with it.
Special: You can gain this skill multiple times. Every time it applies to another skill.
(note: this is for your expert cross class skills)
Skill Expertise II
Prerequisite: Int 15, Skill Expertise
Benefit: choose one skill you are have Skill Expertise in. You know have both skill trick and skill mastery with it.