If you had 1 rank in a skill irl

[gooddragon1]

From the same poster with the insane idea to ask which 3 cantrips you'd want to cast at will (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?319343-If-you-could-cast-3-cantrips-at-will) comes another thread likely to inspire extremely long and nuanced replies...

If you (in real life) had 1 rank in any 3.5 skill which skill would you pick? You may perform breaks of physics/common sense with uses of this skill if possible.

I choose... autohypnosis (power reading).

[Forrestfire]

Does Hide make you invisible in any sort of concealment, since no one else has Spot? Otherwise, autohypnosis for me as well. Memorization is great.

[gooddragon1]

Does Hide make you invisible in any sort of concealment, since no one else has Spot? Otherwise, autohypnosis for me as well. Memorization is great.

As much as I'd love to say that no one has skill ranks I can't because that would make it too easy.

EDIT: On second thought, you may state assumptions like this as justifications for the skill rank you pick. Just as long as they're artful and you can "sell" them logically. That should make it much more fun. Like bluff and anyone believes you...

[Forrestfire]

Like bluff and anyone believes you...

... for a single round :smalltongue:

Someone going around repeating their lie every six seconds is a hilarious thought, though.

[Vedhin]

Lucid Dreaming, because it's like magic in skill form.

[Grayson01]

Search, I am a Federal Correctional Officer. Would use it to find all the Home made Pointy things and Intoxciant.

or Speak Lang. English Cause I am a terrible speller and you automatically know how to read and write perfectly with one rank lol.


Edit: forget that Speak Lang. in any one of the Languages the NSA needs and make bank as a interpreter.

[The Grue]

Given I've been unemployed for the last six months, I'd settle for one rank in any Craft or Profession skill.

[Snowbluff]

Truenaming.

Mostly because I am huge nerd for random facts, and I have all of the social skills covered. :smalltongue:

[Alex12]

Knowledge(arcana)
Includes "ancient mysteries, magic traditions, arcane symbols, cryptic phrases, constructs, dragons, magical beasts"
"Answering a question within your field of study has a DC of 10 (for really easy questions), 15 (for basic questions), or 20 to 30 (for really tough questions)."
Given that Wizard is a base class, I'm pretty sure that figuring out the magic traditions regarding how to take my first level of wizard is a really easy question, and while I'm by no means a supergenius, I'm willing to bet I've got an Int score of at least 12 (and probably a Dex score below 10, but that's not important).
Since wizards begin play with a spellbook, I am forced to assume it just sort of materializes out of the aether in front of me.
I think I win.

[MirthTheBard]

Profession Sailor and take to the high seas. I'll end up having the best ship around, and begin commercial fishing while simultaneously stopping poachers and taking down drug smugglers or pirates, depending on the day. I'll record all this and score my own TV show, whilst making a killing getting paid by local governments.

Alternatively I could just take handle animal and make mad money getting paid by rich people to make their pets calm.

[Slipperychicken]

Autohypnosis (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/skills/autohypnosis.htm), to help me remember my passwords and do tricks like knowing thousands of digits of pi, or remembering the grapple rules.

Jump might be nice. It would be pretty cool to leap 20+ feet horizontally or 5 feet vertically in a single bound with no assistance or training :smallbiggrin:

Also, speak language doesn't involve ranks: You just spend a skill point and learn a language. Ranks in speak language are utterly useless.


The Speak Language skill (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/speakLanguage.htm) doesn’t work like other skills. Languages work as follows.

You start at 1st level knowing one or two languages (based on your race), plus an additional number of languages equal to your starting Intelligence bonus.
You can purchase Speak Language just like any other skill, but instead of buying a rank in it, you choose a new language that you can speak.
You don’t make Speak Language checks. You either know a language or you don’t.
A literate character (anyone but a barbarian who has not spent skill points to become literate) can read and write any language she speaks. Each language has an alphabet, though sometimes several spoken languages share a single alphabet.

Lucid Dreaming would let me kill people in my sleep, assuming I could finagle a +4 to the check with some new-age candles or something (the extra bonus I'd need obviously depends on my IRL Wisdom score). Which is admittedly pretty badass. I could also take the opportunity to mess with people in their dreams. Taking 20 would be trivial since I can retry once per round.

[Snowbluff]

Knowledge(arcana)
Includes "ancient mysteries, magic traditions, arcane symbols, cryptic phrases, constructs, dragons, magical beasts"
"Answering a question within your field of study has a DC of 10 (for really easy questions), 15 (for basic questions), or 20 to 30 (for really tough questions)."
Given that Wizard is a base class, I'm pretty sure that figuring out the magic traditions regarding how to take my first level of wizard is a really easy question, and while I'm by no means a supergenius, I'm willing to bet I've got an Int score of at least 12 (and probably a Dex score below 10, but that's not important).
Since wizards begin play with a spellbook, I am forced to assume it just sort of materializes out of the aether in front of me.
I think I win.

Lack of self control. You lose, good sir. Good day to you.

I pick planes. I ascend and squish the level 1 wizard. :smalltongue:

[Slipperychicken]

I pick planes. I ascend and squish the level 1 wizard. :smalltongue:

Your plan seems to rely on Pazuzu, candles of invocation, and Sarrukhs all existing in real life :smalltongue:

[Seerow]

Given I've been unemployed for the last six months, I'd settle for one rank in any Craft or Profession skill.

I'm going with the Profession skill.

1 rank in profession allows you to effectively translate your work into gold pieces directly. So with 1 rank of profession, a +1 stat modifier, and average roll, that means I make 6 gold pieces per week.

At 50 gold pieces to the pound, 6 gold pieces weighs .12 lbs, which is just shy of 2 ounces of gold. I will round up for simplicity's sake. Gold price right now is sitting at $1200.00 per ounce, give or take. So 1 rank of profession skill allows me to reasonably make $2400.00 per week. And Profession can be literally anything you want. So I'll take my 1 rank in Profession(Forum Poster), and make my $2400 per week doing exactly what I'd be doing anyway even if I weren't getting paid.

If you ever get to take more ranks in the skill, I'd look into starting up a business with the DMG2 rules, but I don't think they're profitable at 1 skill rank (5-10 is pretty much the minimum iirc), and I'm comfortable with making over 100 grand a year that increases with the cost of gold (inflation protection built in!) doing basically nothing. I can't think of any other single skill rank worth half as much.

[Snowbluff]

Your plan seems to rely on Pazuzu, candles of invocation, and Sarrukhs all existing in real life :smalltongue:

The guy had spellbooks, spells, and wizards, so I add Pazuzu, Sarrukh, and all of the magic he brought in. :smalltongue:

[Vizzerdrix]

Control Shape is for lycanthropes only. I guess I'd become a were-something by taking a rank in it. :smallbiggrin:

[Erik Vale]

Which would net you levels and thus more skill points.
*Tips Hat*

Game, set, match.

Edit: And not only that, with quantifiable levels, you would then be able to earn exp, allowing you to level up...
*Stares at the evil genius*

[A.A.King]

Use Magic Device

There are a bunch of ancient artifacts in the world and I'm betting the only reason we haven't been able to use them yet is because UMD is a trained-only skill.

[Angelalex242]

Diplomacy.

Because I've found dealing with people is the single most important skill in the universe. All other skills are ultimately subject to it.

[HunterOfJello]

Assuming no one else in the world has any ranks?

Decipher Script. No one else can use it at all since you need ranks in it before you can use it.

I can now take a 10 and decipher any cipher anyone has ever made.

~~~~~~~~~

Second choice?

Lucid Dreaming. That skill is crazy as hell.

~~~~~~~~~~

Third choice?

Knowledge (Forbidden Lore)

[ben-zayb]

Sleight of Hand.

There is no check to oppose it, just a check to notice it.

Alternatively, get Bluff, become a poker player, and hope nobody got Sense Motive ranks or a good wisdom. Not to mention it will soon make me a better diplomat, disguiser, and intimidator.

[Beardbarian]

Diplomacy.
Is the most single broken skill in the game.

i'm supposing 1 rank +1 Cha +2 Item = +4 total
The worse i can do is a 5 so no one will become hostile towards me.
Reroll permitted. There is no GM forbidding me or imposing penalties.

Everyone if my friend now!

[Arbane]

Spellcraft.

Now I can research spells....

[Vaz]

Craft (Money).

Triple what I put into it. Turn myself into Dan Bilzerian. Without the muscles and the epic beard.

[Tohsaka Rin]

Knowledge (Psionics) Rank 1.

Like Alex12 said, but I'd figure out how to become a Psion.

Because we don't need no steenken spellbooks.

...Also, I'd be debunking 'psychics' and 'real mediums' like crazy.

[Chronos]

Given that most skills are completely mundane, and given that a single rank is a really, really low bar to clear (even a first-level commoner with a 3 Int can have two ranks in any skill he wants), I think it's pretty safe to say that most of us already do have a rank in the skill we like the most.

[Vedhin]

Given that most skills are completely mundane, and given that a single rank is a really, really low bar to clear (even a first-level commoner with a 3 Int can have two ranks in any skill he wants), I think it's pretty safe to say that most of us already do have a rank in the skill we like the most.

Then why haven't I conquered the universe with Lucid Dreaming and an army of fanatically loyal Plant Pun-Puns?

[Drelua]

I'd definitely go with lucid dreaming, but not for anything crazy like killing people. I don't wanna do that. I'd use it to go to sleep and hang out with my friends that live far away. We could do all sorts of awesome stuff, and I'd try to teach them the skill to so we could just invite each other over to our dreamscapes. There's plenty of more practical applications, of course; I'm sure the government would love to have a guy who can assassinate just about anyone in the world by taking a nap, but that doesn't sound like something I'd like to do. Although I could just spy on them. I could probably get a lot of useful intel by looking around in Putin's dreamscape, but that place would probably traumatize the hell out of me. I don't wanna know what that guy dreams about. :smalleek:

Autohypnosis is, of course, a close second, but it's just not quite as cool.

[Ruethgar]

Lucid Dreaming because you can literally create anything in reality from your dreams.

[Dr.Gara]

Knowledge(arcana)
Includes "ancient mysteries, magic traditions, arcane symbols, cryptic phrases, constructs, dragons, magical beasts"
"Answering a question within your field of study has a DC of 10 (for really easy questions), 15 (for basic questions), or 20 to 30 (for really tough questions)."
Given that Wizard is a base class, I'm pretty sure that figuring out the magic traditions regarding how to take my first level of wizard is a really easy question, and while I'm by no means a supergenius, I'm willing to bet I've got an Int score of at least 12 (and probably a Dex score below 10, but that's not important).
Since wizards begin play with a spellbook, I am forced to assume it just sort of materializes out of the aether in front of me.
I think I win.
There's two ways to go about this. I'll do them in order.

But there's not any wizards in real life, so you can't be a member of a class that doesn't exist!
I've never seen any flavoring or hard mechanics that say a word about a magic tradition that allows you to take training as a wizard. Now, summoning a demon so you could work your way into Warlock levels, I could buy.

[FidgetySquirrel]

Speak language/Linguistics, because there's nothing like a free language!

[Yogibear41]

I'm going with the Profession skill.

1 rank in profession allows you to effectively translate your work into gold pieces directly. So with 1 rank of profession, a +1 stat modifier, and average roll, that means I make 6 gold pieces per week.

At 50 gold pieces to the pound, 6 gold pieces weighs .12 lbs, which is just shy of 2 ounces of gold. I will round up for simplicity's sake. Gold price right now is sitting at $1200.00 per ounce, give or take. So 1 rank of profession skill allows me to reasonably make $2400.00 per week. And Profession can be literally anything you want. So I'll take my 1 rank in Profession(Forum Poster), and make my $2400 per week doing exactly what I'd be doing anyway even if I weren't getting paid.

If you ever get to take more ranks in the skill, I'd look into starting up a business with the DMG2 rules, but I don't think they're profitable at 1 skill rank (5-10 is pretty much the minimum iirc), and I'm comfortable with making over 100 grand a year that increases with the cost of gold (inflation protection built in!) doing basically nothing. I can't think of any other single skill rank worth half as much.

You are assuming the entire coin is made of gold? silly human.

[Grayson01]

Profession Sailor and take to the high seas. I'll end up having the best ship around, and begin commercial fishing while simultaneously stopping poachers and taking down drug smugglers or pirates, depending on the day. I'll record all this and score my own TV show, whilst making a killing getting paid by local governments.

Alternatively I could just take handle animal and make mad money getting paid by rich people to make their pets calm.

Dude in that case I'll be your 1st mate and we can fight pirates!

[Slipperychicken]

I'm going with the Profession skill.

1 rank in profession allows you to effectively translate your work into gold pieces directly. So with 1 rank of profession, a +1 stat modifier, and average roll, that means I make 6 gold pieces per week.

At 50 gold pieces to the pound, 6 gold pieces weighs .12 lbs, which is just shy of 2 ounces of gold. I will round up for simplicity's sake. Gold price right now is sitting at $1200.00 per ounce, give or take. So 1 rank of profession skill allows me to reasonably make $2400.00 per week. And Profession can be literally anything you want. So I'll take my 1 rank in Profession(Forum Poster), and make my $2400 per week doing exactly what I'd be doing anyway even if I weren't getting paid.

I don't know, you have to think of where that money's coming from. If someone's paying you to post on forums, then you're most likely either an admin or an advertiser. Also, posting for 8 solid hours every day could get old.

EDIT: Besides, who says you're posting on forums about something you like? They could be sending you forums for PUA, weightlifting, and neonazi stuff. And who is paying you in ounces of gold per week?

[Seerow]

I don't know, you have to think of where that money's coming from. If someone's paying you to post on forums, then you're most likely either an admin or an advertiser. Also, posting for 8 solid hours every day could get old.

EDIT: Besides, who says you're posting on forums about something you like? They could be sending you forums for PUA, weightlifting, and neonazi stuff. And who is paying you in ounces of gold per week?


Profession Skill doesn't really care about where the money comes from. You work for a week, you gain the gold pieces. It's a pretty straightforward exchange. For all that the game cares, that gold pops out of thin air after you work. As for what the profession itself represents, the only real requirement for Profession is that you are not creating anything of value (as that is the Craft skill), and it is something you can invest time in. Logic and common sense might dictate that it has to be a profession that provides real value, but according to the rules Profession(Clown) is just as valid and pays exactly as much as Profession(Lawyer).

[Slipperychicken]

Profession(Clown) is just as valid and pays exactly as much as Profession(Lawyer).

I'd have clowns down as Perform(Comedy), rather than a profession skill.

[Yue Ryong]

Concentration. Seriously. The ability to maintain focus on things would be really nice.
Then, Lucid Dreaming. Because... wooo! Dream Internet.
Then Martial Lore. Use it to develop whole new fighting styles. Same as the Arcana & Psionics examples above, with the added bonus of reality's DM not giving funny looks.

[T.G. Oskar]

Forgery.

...What?

I mean, it's a skill that's used to create forgeries and also to detect them. So, if I want to work detecting forged documents, I have to get Forgery. And it's a real life skill, much like Climbing or Jumping or Swimming.

If it's PF version...then Linguistics. All the niceness of Forgery, plus an extra skill and Decipher Script all tagged at once. Plus, all of them are trained-only skills: I can attempt a Profession check untrained, but not create a forgery, detect a forgery, translate an ancient script or learn a language. Nor it's a potential impossibility like Use Magic Device. And I believe quite well I can do a good transition from dreaming to Lucid Dreaming to attempt it untrained, so...

The rest is getting the right documents to get bonuses to other skill checks.

[Umbranar]

If noone has ranks in Forgery? Forgery!
Else ill just take profession (gaming) and do what I like a lot and earn my gold pieces a week.

[Erik Vale]

Which, being something done IRL, works.

I've still yet to see control form beaten though.

[Psyren]

Linguistics/Speak Language. That gets me perfect spoken and written fluency with any one other language of my choice, so I'll always have a job as an interpreter or at a foreign branch of any company lined up. (The language itself would probably be something like Mandarin or Japanese since I could always pick up one of the romantics on my own through study.)

[Shining Wrath]

I think it's pretty clear watching movies, TV, and musical performances that almost no one has any ranks in Perform. I'd take 1 rank in Perform(singing) and become Shining Wrath, rock star, rich and famous and groupie-fied.

EDIT: Not rock star. Country & Western star. The level of virtuosity is so much lower that 1 rank in Perform would make me like unto a god by comparison.

[Ruethgar]

Oh! Knowledge Arcana to cast an Incantation of that 9th level spell that allows casting in dead magic zones. I can't remember what it is called, but that would be my second choice next to the infinite power of Lucid Dreaming Trans-Dimensional Spell Traps.

Edit: Incantations can be found here (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/magic/incantations.htm). I would take 10 and research an incantation that mimics the Item Portion of Wish and add Natural Lycanthropy, to all 101 casters, with 1hr between checks, only on the new moon, as a touch effect, down to rounds duration, and causes exhaustion. So DC 3 is pretty reachable, 13 if I do it on my own(and I can take 10 with one assistant). I then create a Rune Circle of whatever the hell I want. It only lasts a short while, but I can make one of wish so who cares?

Or Lucid Dream take 10 to realize I am dreaming, take chances until I make an architectural change by making a Spell Trap of Gate and one of Transdimentional Wish.

[lytokk]

Concentration, sometimes it's annoying being ADD.

[OverdrivePrime]

Concentration. Seriously. The ability to maintain focus on things would be really nice.
Then, Lucid Dreaming. Because... wooo! Dream Internet.
Then Martial Lore. Use it to develop whole new fighting styles. Same as the Arcana & Psionics examples above, with the added bonus of reality's DM not giving funny looks.
This is my exact same sequence of skill preference. I applaud your class and taste!