Professions

[maniacalmojo]

What are they good for? Other then some flavor it seems like they are mostly not really helpful. Craft skills are at least moderatly useful for traps, poisons, weapons yadayada.
Mostly whenever i do invest in a profession its just a single rank for flavor reasons.

[AuraTwilight]

Making meager wages in downtime?

[Yomega]

You can roll profession in place of any relavant skill when its something you would do in your job.

For example profession (courtisan) could be used in place of diplomacy when dealing with nobles, used in place of knowledge (nobility), probably other skills cant think of them at the moment.

Altho having a job is just good stock for character flavor :smallbiggrin:

[theIrkin]

it seems to me that profession is most useful as a means to further develop your character at a cost of 1 skill point (or all the PC's get one rank for free at character creation). they also work really well in a themed campaign. the classic version is sailing in a sea campaign, but merchant is also pretty common and i always use soldier with my melee characters. if the DM and PC's work together, you can do a lot for building the world and the players' role in it with this skill, although it rarely has a huge impact on characters.

[Kelb_Panthera]

The professions siege engineer and sailor both have relevant rules associated with them but pretty much all the rest of them are just flavor unless you open a business per DMG2.

Siege engineer is useful for operating siege engines and placing explosive packs for maximum effect.

Sailor is useful for, unsurprisingly, sailing a sea-going vessel.

[Gemini476]

The professions siege engineer and sailor both have relevant rules associated with them but pretty much all the rest of them are just flavor unless you open a business per DMG2.

Siege engineer is useful for operating siege engines and placing explosive packs for maximum effect.

Sailor is useful for, unsurprisingly, sailing a sea-going vessel.

Profession(Executioner) can be used to insta-kill a helpless enemy (a failed check means you just get a coup de grace instead.)

I think there's another skill that's semi-useful, but that's pretty much it.

[Diovid]

You could check these lists:

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=293430
http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=269836

[tadkins]

Flavor mostly, though I'm looking at some of these Profession skills and some of them do seem to have tangible benefits.

Profession (Astrologist) has a chart of benefits and disadvantages one might receive for having their horoscope told, depending on how well the check is. A person might receive a +1 to their Initiative and a +1 to Knowledge checks along with a -1 to Reflex saves and a -1 to Charisma-based checks, among a list of others. Pretty interesting.

Profession (Barrister) might prove useful if you're going to Baator. :)

I like craft and profession skills, personally. Gives background to a character. I'm sure most people had to have done something before taking their chosen classes. For instance, I feel like my wizard with ranks in Profession(Farmer) would be RPed differently than your typical fancy, haughty wizard.

[Yomega]

All high OP characters should be required to either take craft (cheese) or profession (cheese maker).

Because what the fun of playing high OP if you cant poke fun at it.

[tadkins]

All high OP characters should be required to either take craft (cheese) or profession (cheese maker).

Because what the fun of playing high OP if you cant poke fun at it.

But those could be actual crafts/professions to take. xD

My character could be a proprietor of fine elven cheddar.

[Thurbane]

Profession(Executioner) can be used to insta-kill a helpless enemy (a failed check means you just get a coup de grace instead.)
Interesting - where are the rules for that?

[Kelb_Panthera]

Interesting - where are the rules for that?

BoVD.

Ten character minimum.

[Yomega]

But those could be actual crafts/professions to take. xD

My character could be a proprietor of fine elven cheddar.

Of course being a high OP character does not preclude you from enjoying a fine cheese, personaly I almost always take these, not on my most recent character tho due to taking profession (male exotic dancer) and the fact someone else in the party already took craft (cheese) so I let them have the fun this time

[Gemini476]

All high OP characters should be required to either take craft (cheese) or profession (cheese maker).

Because what the fun of playing high OP if you cant poke fun at it.

You misspelled Craft(Underwater basketweaving).

[Ravens_cry]

I had an idea for encouraging players pick a skill that is purely there to help develop the flavour of their character by giving them a 'free' skill point or two each level for this express purpose. For example, if someone was playing a mage based off of Kharl from The Saga of Recluse, they might take ranks in Profession: Cooper and Craft: Barrels.

[Gemini476]

I had an idea for encouraging players pick a skill that is purely there to help develop the flavour of their character by giving them a 'free' skill point or two each level for this express purpose. For example, if someone was playing a mage based off of Kharl from The Saga of Recluse, they might take ranks in Profession: Cooper and Craft: Barrels.

I'm going to assume that you won't allow them to use those free skill ranks to get semi-useful skills like Craft(pottery) or such, right? For magic-users, at least. Magical crafting can east up skill ranks in obscure skills pretty easily, not to mention things like using those free ranks to get into stuff like Incantatrix.

[Ravens_cry]

I'm going to assume that you won't allow them to use those free skill ranks to get semi-useful skills like Craft(pottery) or such, right? For magic-users, at least. Magical crafting can east up skill ranks in obscure skills pretty easily, not to mention things like using those free ranks to get into stuff like Incantatrix.
It depends on the character. I'd let a character take Spellcraft with these points if they were, for example, a Fighter who has spent most of their career as a caravan guard for a band of mages.

[Chronos]

While I might choose to take a skill because of flavor reasons, a skill is never just for flavor. Situations can come up where any skill can be useful, and by golly, if one of those comes up, I intend to take advantage of it. They're just not laid out in the rules because they're too ideosyncratic.

Think of that scene in Jaws. Hooper probably never expected to have real use for tying a sheepshank knot, but he knew how to do it, and managed to achieve the practical purpose of impressing Quint. Should the rules state that a Use Rope check can substitute for Diplomacy under appropriate circumstances? Of course not. But the DM should allow it anyway.

[Rastapopolos]

Just like to point out that profession (executioner) isnt just agains helpless foes (a-la coup-de-gras) RAW you can do it agains grappled people too. Making a druid with a greataxe and crocidile or bear animal companion even dirtier.

[Slipperychicken]

It lets you work as a wage-slave prole.

[1pwny]

Something I actually did for a campaign off mine, was have the people enter a casino to get information on a secret criminal guild.

There was an information dealer, an NPC Expert, level 18, that had 22 ranks in Profession (Gambling). Then, from various other bonuses, he had something like a +34 for Gambling, and would only give the party information if they beat him in a game.

On a side note, the owner of the casino was a level 20 Gambler (real class) that was the Guildmaster of the criminal guild. It was actually a pretty awesome scenario.

But yeah, you can use Profession (Gambling) as a part of campaign easily.

[Broken Crown]

Some professions require at least a little knowledge or skill in a lot of different areas. How useful it can be depends a lot on the DM, but you can get a lot of use out of a Profession skill. For example, Profession (sailor) has been mentioned a few times: Not only does this let you sail ships, but a good sailor also needs to to be able to handle ropes, climb rigging, balance on a swaying deck, read the weather, and repair or jury rig any number of items. In game, that can be good for synergy bonuses to Balance, Climb, Craft, Survival, Tumble, Use Rope, and possibly other skills if they're applied in the right circumstances.

Similarly, in one campaign, my character had ranks in Profession (farmer). I don't think a single session went by when I couldn't use it for a bonus to something.

[tadkins]

Of course being a high OP character does not preclude you from enjoying a fine cheese, personaly I almost always take these, not on my most recent character tho due to taking profession (male exotic dancer) and the fact someone else in the party already took craft (cheese) so I let them have the fun this time

Wouldn't exotic dancing be more of a Perform skill than a Profession? I'd assume you would need charisma as opposed to wisdom. xD

[Slipperychicken]

Wouldn't exotic dancing be more of a Perform skill than a Profession?

I'd count it as a Perform skill. I think Profession is mostly for "honest"/normal work, while any sort of entertainment is governed by a Perform skill. Pickpocketing would likely use the Profession rules with your Sleight of Hand modifier, only there's a chance of getting busted (like you have an encounter with the police if you roll a natural 1, and maybe if the d20 comes up under 5 in a well-policed area).

[Yomega]

To be clear that was a VERY pc way of saying the skill I actually took.

Good catch tho gonna add ranks in perform (dance) I bet I can convince my gm to let me use it for tumbling :smalltongue:

[Slipperychicken]

To be clear that was a VERY pc way of thsaying the skill I actually took

I still count it as entertainment, most likely using the Perform (Sexual Acts) skill from BoEF (a third party source, but it's generally accepted as the go-to for such rules). If you get your skill check high enough to earn 3d6 gold per day, I'd just say you're scoring higher-class clients and/or big tips.

[Afgncaap5]

Something I actually did for a campaign off mine, was have the people enter a casino to get information on a secret criminal guild.

There was an information dealer, an NPC Expert, level 18, that had 22 ranks in Profession (Gambling). Then, from various other bonuses, he had something like a +34 for Gambling, and would only give the party information if they beat him in a game.

On a side note, the owner of the casino was a level 20 Gambler (real class) that was the Guildmaster of the criminal guild. It was actually a pretty awesome scenario.

But yeah, you can use Profession (Gambling) as a part of campaign easily.

Isn't Profession (Gambling) a prerequisite for a prestige class?

I also noticed once that one web enhancement on the WotC website included Profession (Gambler) feats that could be taken in conjunction with the release of 3 Dragon Ante. Most of them were highly specific and not useful for "regular play", but a couple of them actually seemed intriguing. Can't recall them off the top of my head, though.

One thing that I've included sometimes is Profession (Taxidermist) for a variety of purposes. It's aided the magic of necromancers through some house rules, helped players to understand some of what was being done by Baphomet, and been a nice 'stumbling block' for the player who always wants to skin the carcass of enemies for trophies (he knows it's a valid skill in my games, but has yet to take ranks in it, even though he knows it'd speed up his ability to skin monster hides. Nowadays he just sighs and moves on, usually not having the time.)

I think a good use for Profession would be for conveying information that might fall outside of the scope of regular Knowledge checks. It might be an unreasonably high knowledge (history) or knowledge (nobility) check to determine the best cask of wine, but a profession (bartender) check might speed that along nicely. So, I think that the best way to see some use from Professions is as a DM; basically, if you learn that a player has ranks in a skill, design one or two challenges for them based on that profession. It might, in turn, encourage more players to do so and lead to oddly memorable challenges, and could inspire other DMs to do the same down the line.

Or just ignore them beyond noting their flavor, whatever floats your boat.

[tadkins]

I'm planning on running a campaign where the party and a good number of prisoners and refugees end up stranded on an unknown island after their ship is caught up in a storm. They'll basically have nothing to start with except what they can build/salvage.

It's something I plan on paying attention to. I've actually told my players something along the lines of "A craft/profession skill on your character will come in handy, so think on it". Depending on how they approach this, things may become easier or harder for the party during the campaign.

[manyslayer]

Wouldn't exotic dancing be more of a Perform skill than a Profession? I'd assume you would need charisma as opposed to wisdom. xD

For those professions that could also be a craft or perform, I've always taken the Profession version to be someone that has studied the aspects of the profession itself. For your example, someone with a high Profession(Exotic Dancer) might make as much as someone with a high Perform (Dance) because they know what clubs have higher paying clientele, how to pick out the big tipper in the crowd, etc. He/she may not dance as well, but knows how to pick 'em. And I'd certainly grant a synergy bonus.




One thing that I've included sometimes is Profession (Taxidermist) for a variety of purposes. It's aided the magic of necromancers through some house rules, helped players to understand some of what was being done by Baphomet, and been a nice 'stumbling block' for the player who always wants to skin the carcass of enemies for trophies (he knows it's a valid skill in my games, but has yet to take ranks in it, even though he knows it'd speed up his ability to skin monster hides. Nowadays he just sighs and moves on, usually not having the time.)

Craft(Taxidermy) is required for the Trophy Collector (http://dndtools.eu/feats/players-handbook-ii--80/trophy-collector--2973/) feat from PHBII. You might houserule it as an acceptable substitute.

[Person_Man]

In general, Skill ranks spent on Profession or Craft will be used less often then Skill ranks spent Skills that overcome more common challenges, especially Tumble, Spot, Listen, Search, Disable Device, Diplomacy, Bluff, Sense Motive, and Use Magic Device.

Having said that, taking ranks of Profession, Craft, or less commonly used Skills (Appraise, Decipher Script, Forgery, most Knowledges, etc) encourages DMs to create situations where those Skills would be useful. So if you want an adventure on the high seas, take ranks of Profession (Sailor) and talk to your DM about how important being a sailor is to your character.

[Ravens_cry]

I'd count it as a Perform skill. I think Profession is mostly for "honest"/normal work, while any sort of entertainment is governed by a Perform skill. Pickpocketing would likely use the Profession rules with your Sleight of Hand modifier, only there's a chance of getting busted (like you have an encounter with the police if you roll a natural 1, and maybe if the d20 comes up under 5 in a well-policed area).
Personally, I'd say Preform is when you are doing a performance, while Profession is the daily grind, so to speak.