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Quellian-dyrae
2007-03-14, 06:21 PM
Social Skills:



Theories and Reasoning:


I have a few bones to pick with social skills. I mean, I think they're an important function in the game. Sometimes, you just need to know what a certain NPC thinks about what a character is saying. That in mind, Diplomacy and Intimidate strike me as a bit too powerful, and I feel like Sense Motive could be expanded. More than that, though, I wanted to redefine the skills here, change them from "making the NPC do what you want" to "making the NPC understand or believe what you are trying to communicate." I don't feel that checks should determine how an NPC acts--that's the DM's job. The checks, like alignments, should be tools that the DM can use to determine how the NPC views the situation, and from that, the DM can decide what its reaction should be.

Also...demoralizing and feinting. Demoralizing is useless. It is both weaker and harder to use than a total defense action and I don't feel that it captures the effect of, say, seeing a mighty barbarian charging full tilt your way in the full throes of its battle rage. Feinting doesn't make sense to me as written. A character without improved feint has to feint, wait six seconds, and then attack. That won't do.


NPC Reactions:

An NPC’s reaction level is similar to a character’s alignment—it is a role-playing tool, but not a flat guide to the NPC’s every action. It provides the DM a base for determining how the NPC acts, and a tool to quickly judge how certain things (such as Diplomacy checks or Charm spells) will adjust how the NPC might act. In any case, these are generalities, not regulations, and the situation might warrant an NPC acting different than its reaction level would indicate.

Although certain effects can temporarily modify an NPC’s reaction level, the only way to permanently change it is through developing the relationship through role-playing.

In addition to providing a descriptive base for reactions, the reaction levels provide a reaction modifier, which applies to certain social checks.

Intimate (+10): An intimate NPC cares deeply for the character. It will generally take significant risks or even make sacrifices on the character’s behalf, and will do its utmost to avoid courses of action that bring harm to the character. Example: A spouse or parent.

Close (+8): A close NPC cares for the character personally. It will often take risks or even make minor sacrifices on the character’s behalf, and will do what it can to avoid harming the character. Example: A close friend or sibling.

Helpful (+5): A helpful NPC likes the character and wishes it well. It will do what it can to help the character, possibly even taking some risks on its behalf (possibly including fighting opponents it is confident that it can handle) without any major expectation of reward or recompense. It won’t usually make personal sacrifices of any real significance just to help out, however. Helpful NPCs do what they can to avoid bringing the character harm. Example: A friend; the subject of a Charm spell.

Friendly (+3): A friendly NPC shows the character goodwill, although it probably doesn’t have a particularly personal relationship to it. It won’t generally take any major risks for the sole purpose of aiding the character, but it might go out of its way to provide minor help. Likewise, it won’t take actions that will hamper the character unless there is some significant reason. Example: An ally; the character’s priest or teacher.

Positive (+1): An NPC with a positive reaction level has no reason to think ill of the character. It won’t go out of its way to provide help, but it generally won’t hinder the character without a good reason, and it is usually willing to help the character when it isn’t inconvenient. Example: A merchant the character has frequent dealings with; a fellow member of the character’s organization.

Indifferent (+0): The NPC doesn’t care one way or another. It will react solely as the situation warrants. Example: A commoner; your average merchant.

Negative (-2): The NPC has no reason to think positively of the character. It won’t go out of its way to hinder it, and certainly won’t take risks to do so, but if the situation warrants it won’t shy away from the task. It likewise isn’t going to be providing any help without some significant recompense. Example: A town guardsman (towards a rogue); a greedy merchant.

Unfriendly (-5): The NPC is in some manner opposed to the character, although probably not personally. It won’t usually provide help without serious reason or recompense, and any aid it does provide is likely to be very limited. It won’t take any great risks to harm or hinder the character, just for the sake of doing so, but if it is being ordered to by a superior, paid, or otherwise provided incentive, it will take the opportunity. Example: An enemy minion; a brigand.

Hostile (-10): The NPC dislikes the character and actively wishes it ill. It won’t offer aid unless doing so is directly beneficial to it, and even then it will do what it can to sabotage the character’s efforts. It is generally willing to take risks to harm or hinder the character, and will do so to the best of its ability with little provocation. Example: A ranger (to a favored enemy); a paladin (to an evil character).

Hateful (-20): The NPC has a strong dislike for the character, personally. Getting help from such an NPC impossible in any but the most clearly necessary circumstances, and even then, it will likely turn on the character at the earliest opportunity. On the other hand, it will gleefully take risks to bring the character harm, and may even be willing to make sacrifices to do so. Example: A major villain.

Loathing (-40): The NPC despises the character and wishes to ruin or destroy it. It is unlikely that any circumstance will be enough to convince it to help the character, unless it can do so as a precursor to betraying and destroying its foe. It will take almost any risk and make significant sacrifices to bring down the character. Example: A vengeance-swearing family member of a slain former foe.

Base Reaction: An NPC’s reaction level towards a given character is based on role-playing and relationship, but not all strangers immediately start out as indifferent. As a quick guideline, you can use the NPC’s alignment and the character’s alignment (or the NPC’s perception of the character’s alignment) do determine a reaction starting point when there are no other factors to consider. The reactions are abbreviated here as: Friendly (Fr), Positive (Po), Indifferent (In), Negative (Ne), Unfriendly (Uf), and Hostile (Ho). Alignment never results in a relationship more positive than friendly or more negative than hostile.

{table=head]Char|LG|NG|CG|LN|N|CN|LE|NE|CE

LG|Fr|Fr|Po|Po|In|In|Uf|Uf|Uf
NG|Fr|Fr|Fr|In|In|In|Uf|Uf|Uf
CG|Po|Fr|Fr|Ne|In|In|Uf|Uf|Uf
LN|Po|Po|In|Po|In|In|In|Ne|Uf
N |Po|Po|Po|In|In|In|Ne|Ne|Uf
CN|In|Po|Po|Uf|In|In|Ne|Ne|Uf
LE|Uf|Uf|Ho|In|Ne|In|In|Ne|Uf
NE|Uf|Uf|Uf|Ne|Ne|In|Ne|Ne|Uf
CE|Ho|Uf|Uf|Ne|Ne|In|Ne|Ne|Uf[/table]

Revisions to Social Skills

Bluff: A successful Bluff check opposed by the target’s Sense Motive check (see the detect manipulation option of Sense Motive below) allows you to convince the target that a false claim is actually true. This does not indicate that the target will follow a given course of action; it only indicates that it believes you speak the truth.

If you believe you are speaking the truth you do not roll a Bluff check.

You gain a +5 bonus on Bluff checks that the target wants to believe. You take -5 if the lie stretches credibility, -10 if it is hard to believe, and -20 if it is almost too impossible to consider. You take a -40 penalty to try to convince a target of something it factually knows to be false.

The target’s reaction modifier towards you applies to your Bluff check. For example, if the target is helpful towards you (+5 reaction modifier) you get a +5 bonus on your Bluff check towards that character.

Feinting in Combat: Feinting is performed as a move action. An ability that normally allows you to feint as a move action allows you to feint at the cost of an attack (if used during a full attack action) or as a swift action in other circumstances. An ability that normally allows you to feint as a swift or free action allows you to spend your attacks to feint “out of order” (for instance, spending your third attack, with a lower attack bonus, to feint, and then attacking with your first attack). All other rules for feints apply normally.

Diplomacy: A successful Diplomacy check temporarily modifies the target’s reaction level towards a chosen individual or group. A successful Diplomacy check opposed by the target’s Sense Motive check (see the detect manipulation option of Sense Motive below) modifies the target’s reaction level up or down (your choice) one step for purposes of the chosen recipient (you may choose yourself as the recipient). Modifying its reaction by more than one step increases the DC by 15 per additional step.

Once a target’s reaction level has been modified for a given recipient through Diplomacy, it cannot be so modified again until it resets, even by other diplomats.

You apply the target’s reaction modifier towards you to your Diplomacy check.

Additionally, the target’s reaction modifier to the recipient is a factor; if you are “confirming” the target’s relationship (for example, making an already positive relationship better) you get a +2 bonus on the check per step of the existing relationship beyond positive or negative. If you are opposing the relationship, you take -5 per step beyond positive or negative. This modifier does not apply to positive, negative, or indifferent relationships.

If you fail your check by 10 or more points, the target’s reaction shifts one step in the opposite direction.

More delicate and long-term negotiations can create more lasting impressions. The duration of a Diplomacy effect is thus based on the time spent trying to influence the target. The time spent also applies a modifier to your check to represent the delicacy of the negotiations. The duration is given in a span of time; it lasts for five of those spans, plus one additional span per rank in Diplomacy you possess. For example, if the effect lasts for minutes, it lasts for five minutes, plus one minute per rank. Time spent is also given in a span of time; the exact amount is subject to DM discretion (1d6 is a good rule of thumb).

{table=head]Time Spent|Check Modifier|Duration

1 Round|-5|Rounds
Rounds|-5|Minutes
Minutes|+0|Hours
Hours|-2|Days
Days|-4|Weeks
Weeks|-6|Months
Months|-8|Years
Years|-10|Decades[/table]

Countering Diplomacy: You can negate the effects of a successful Diplomacy check by rolling a Diplomacy check against a DC equal to the check result of the Diplomacy check you are attempting to negate. The target’s reaction modifier towards you applies to the check, but there is no modifier for confirming or opposing the relationship. You take a -5 penalty on the check per category of time spent lower than the original diplomat spent (for example, if the original diplomat spent several days working out an alliance and you try and ruin it with a few minutes of discussion, you would take a -10 penalty on your check).

Make a Point: With a successful Diplomacy check against a DC of 20 you can treat the target as if it had rolled a successful Sense Motive check to empathize—that is, cause it to understand your intentions. If you fail this check by a number equal to five plus the target’s ranks in Sense Motive, your target picks up the opposite intention (for example, if you are trying to help the target, it might believe you are trying to harm it). The target’s reaction modifier towards you applies to this check. Unusually paranoid or mistrusting characters raise the DC by 5.

Intimidate: You use Intimidate checks to convince the opponent you are willing and able to bring them immediate harm or hindrance—whether or not you actually are. A successful Intimidate check can convince a foe that you are willing and able to follow through with a given threat. Your Intimidate check is opposed either by the target’s Sense Motive check (see the detect manipulation option of Sense Motive below) or its modified level check (as per the normal Intimidate rules). If you in fact are both willing and able to follow through, the target uses its modified level check.

If you have a positive relationship with the target, you apply the reverse of its reaction modifier to your check—those you are friendly towards are less likely to believe you will harm them.

You get a +5 bonus on your check if you are in a position where it would be easy to execute the threat. You take -5 if it would be moderately difficult for you to do so. You take -10 if it would be hard to follow through. You take -20 if it would be very hard. If the entire concept is ludicrous, you take a -40 penalty. This modifier is based largely on the target's perception of what you are capable of doing. If the enemy is surrounded by minions and you are alone, it is probably going to inflict a large penalty on your check--assuming it doesn't know you can obliterate its forces with a single meteor swarm.

Proof that you are willing and able to follow through (such as executing the threat on someone else) grants you a +5 bonus. If you make a threat and then don’t follow through, future threats against that target (or others who witnessed it) take -5 penalties.

In any case, a successful threat does not influence the target’s actions in and of itself, it only convinces them that you will act on your threat. Whether this bothers them or not, and how they will react, depends largely on the circumstance.

Demoralize: You can demoralize a foe as a standard action, with a range of up to 10' plus 5’ per rank in Intimidate. Roll an Intimidate check opposed by the target’s modified level check or its Sense Motive check, whichever is higher. If you succeed, your target is shaken for one round per rank in Intimidate. If your CR is four or more higher than your opponent’s, your opponent is instead frightened. If your CR is eight or more higher than your opponent, it is panicked.

You can attempt to demoralize multiple opponents at once. Roll against the highest modified level or Sense Motive in the group. You take a -2 penalty per target beyond the first.

An attempt to demoralize a target who is already scared increases your effective CR by 2 for purposes of determining its new level of fear on a success; a demoralize attempt does not automatically stack with existing fear, unlike most fear effects. You cannot attempt to demoralize a target who has already been demoralized.

Sense Motive: A Sense Motive check allows you to discern a target’s intentions.

Detect Manipulation: You can roll a Sense Motive check when someone is trying to manipulate you through social interaction. An NPC automatically attempts to detect manipulation any time a character rolls a Bluff, Diplomacy, or Intimidate check against it, with success indicating that it recognizes the attempt at manipulation, generally causing a failure of the attempt. This doesn’t necessarily mean that the NPC won’t go along with a wise course of action, just that the effects of the check fail.

When a character interacts with a PC, no social checks need to be rolled unless the PC chooses to detect manipulation (that is, to discern if the NPC is trying to deceive, intimidate, or smooth-talk it). In this case, the character rolls a Sense Motive check opposed by the appropriate skill check, and if it succeeds, it discerns the character’s intent. If it fails it receives no insight as to the character’s intentions. Even if it fails the check, or doesn’t choose to make one, the player may always rely on its own reasoning to try and figure out the NPC’s motivation.

If the character is not, in fact, attempting manipulation, and the Sense Motive result is 20 or better, the detecting character intuits that fact.

Detect Oddity: A Sense Motive check can be made to detect when a character is acting strange—under the influence of an enchantment, impersonated, or just out of place. If the target is not actively trying to conceal this fact, as in the case of a dominated individual who is single-mindedly following its goal, the DC is 15. If the manipulation is very subtle, as with a Charmed individual who acts normally except with regards to the charming character, the DC is 25. If the character is actively trying to conceal its intentions, such as by acting in character, the check is opposed by the target’s Bluff check. If you have a positive relationship modifier towards the character, you apply it to your check (this modifier is towards the character you perceive; for example you get +8 against a foe tryng to impersonate a close friend). If you beat the DC by 10 or more, you intuit why things seem strange.

A character with five or more ranks in Spot gains a +2 synergy bonus on Sense Motive checks to detect oddities.

Empathize: You can roll a Sense Motive check to discern the target’s current motivation, such as hunger, fear, love, anger, and so on. The DC is 20. A character who is attempting to conceal its intentions adds its Bluff modifier to the DC. If you have a positive relationship modifier to the character, you add it to your check.



Ability-Restricted Skill Use:



Theories and Reasoning:



I'm talking here about track and trapfinding. These things kinda irk me. I don't know about other games, but in mine, tracking is easily half the reason to take the Survival skill in the first place, and it becomes even more important as magic to deal with nature becomes more prevalent (by 5th level or so a party can pretty much get by in wilderness travel with magic, and once they can teleport it's almost a moot point). And in my experience traps are easily 90% of the reason to take disable device and 50% of the reason to take search (40% is secret doors and 10% is actually looking for stuff).

Now don't get me wrong. Yes, rangers should be the preeminent trackers and rogues the top infiltrators, but they both have enough going for them that they can share these capabilities with others that need them.



Disable Device: See the section on technological skills below.

Survival:

Discern Direction: A Survival check allows you to determine which way is north. The DC is 10 if you know the time and can see the sun. Discerning direction by the stars has a DC of 15. If you cannot use the sky, the DC is 20. If you are not outdoors, the DC is 25.

Track: All characters can use the Survival skill to track, but a character without the track feat cannot retry attempts to track unless conditions improve. A character with the track feat can also discern more information about the tracks depending on how high it rolls above the DC:

Beat DC by 5: Number of creatures leaving the tracks and their type.
Beat DC by 10: Speed the tracked characters are moving at and their subtype (if any).
Beat DC by 20: Exact race or kind of the tracked characters.
Beat DC by 40: A tracker who beats the DC by this margin can infer key details just by the tracks (for example, noticing that they ate a large meal recently because of the length of their strides and the depths of their prints).

A character with the track feat adds its Survival check modifier to the DC of tracking it if it chooses to cover its trail, rather than the normal +5, if it desires (it can also apply this benefit to up to one ally per rank in Survival; multiple such effects don’t stack). A character without the track feat can add either the normal +5 to the DC or its ranks in Survival, as it chooses. A character with the swift tracker ability can move at its full speed while covering its trail.

Search: A character’s ability to detect traps is not limited based on its access to the trapfinding ability. However, a character without the trapfinding ability cannot retry a Search check to detect a trap. Additionally, a character with trapfinding can gain more information about the trap depending on how high it rolls above the DC:

Beat DC by 5: Trap’s trigger operation.
Beat DC by 10: Trap’s effect.
Beat DC by 20: The last time the trap was set off.
Beat DC by 40: A character who beats the DC by this much gains insight into the exact workings of the trap, and receives a +10 insight bonus on all checks or stats against the trap (such as a saving throw against its effects, a check to disarm it, or its AC against the trap’s attack).

In addition, a character with trapfinding who beats a trap’s search DC by twice the spell level or more does not set off the trap even if it has a trigger method that would normally be activated just by searching for it (as with some symbols).



Technological Skills:



Theories and Reasoning:


Disable Device and Open Locks strike me as rather similar skill sets. Okay, sure, there are a few sets of skills that are similar in scope and I could just as easily lump Climb, Jump, and Swim into an "Athletics" skill or Jump, Tumble, and Balance into an "Acrobatics" skill, so why pick on these two? The thing is that Disable Device might as well be called Disable Trap, and really, the two of them are both likely to be used in the same situation--getting into a place you're not supposed to be. Climb, Jump, and Swim may be similar in scope, but not in usage, and I'd estimate that in at least 80% of cases you won't be using more than one in a given situation. Open Locks and Disable Device, though, are very likely to be two parts of the same challenge. I mean, chances are good that if an opening is trapped, it will also be locked. Considering you already need Search just to find the trap (and possibly the door) requiring a third skill to handle this single type of challenge seems like too much, especially when a lock is, strictly speaking, a device.

Now, I also folded Use Magic Device in with these two. Why? Well, because I see magic as the science of a fantasy world. As such, magic items are like the technology of a fantasy world. So why wouldn't someone who can meddle with technological items be able to meddle with magical items? Especially if they can disarm magical traps? The combination, I admit, probably makes the skill a fair bit better than many others, but eh, I'll take it.


Tinker (Int, trained only):
Use the Tinker skill to manipulate technological items, such as locks, traps, wheels, machinery, and so on. In a fantasy world, magic is just as advanced a science as technology is in a modern world, and as such the Tinker skill can also be used to work magic items.

Check: The DC’s for various tasks are based on the complexity of the item:

{table=head]Complexity|DC|Examples

Simple|10|An item without any joints, hinges, or moving parts, such as most weapons.
Average|15|An item with joints, pulleys, hinges, or the like, such as a wagon wheel or suit of armor.
Tricky|20|An item with a few simple moving parts, such as a simple lock or mechanical trap.
Hard|25|An item with several moving parts, such as an average lock.
Difficult|30|A complex moving item, such as a clockwork device or a good lock.
Wicked|35|An item that uses non-mechanical parts (water, steam, air, etc).
Confounding|40|An item that uses numerous non-mechanical parts, such as an amazing lock.[/table]

Disrupt Function: You can use the Tinker skill to hamper an item’s function—jamming a lock, disarming a trap, sabotaging the gears of a machine, and so on. Skilled practitioners can even disrupt magic traps and items.

The DC to disrupt a mechanical item depends on its complexity. The DC to disrupt a magic item (or trap) is 25 plus the spell level of the highest-level spell the item utilizes. A disrupted mechanical item can no longer perform its functions (at your option, you can delay the effect, generally for 1d4 uses or 1d4 rounds or minutes of use). A disrupted magical trap is disarmed. A disrupted magical item has its function suppressed for 1d4 minutes.

A successful check to disrupt a potion or scroll ruins it entirely, although at your option it may not appear so until the target tries to use it.

Utilize Function: You can use the Tinker skill to utilize items that you don’t have access to the normal functions of, either due to a lack of understanding or the lack of some trigger or part of the item. For example, you might pick a lock (opening it without a key), activate some ancient piece of technology, open a secret door without knowledge of the normal opening method, and so on.

The DC to utilize a mechanical item is based on the item’s complexity. The DC to utilize a magic item is 10 + the caster level of the item + five for every reason you could not normally utilize the item. For example, if you are trying to use a wand with a spell that isn’t on your spell list, the DC is 15 + the caster level of the wand. If you also don’t know (or can’t/don’t want to say) the command word, the DC is 20 + the caster level. If you do not know what the item does, the DC increases by 10.

Improve Function: You can utilize the Tinker skill to improve the function of an item for a single use. Doing so has a base DC equal to the DC to utilize the item’s function. If you are attempting a check to utilize the function simultaneously, use only the highest DC and increase it by 5.

When you improve the item’s function, you may select one of your ability scores that relates to the item’s usage. For each point of the ability modifier in that score, the DC of the check increases by 1. If you succeed, the item uses that ability modifier for purposes of a relevant check or stat (if another effective ability modifier is in use, this one replaces it).

Alternately, you can add the effects of one of your feats or special abilities to the item. The DC is equal to the utilize function DC plus 2 (for a feat) or plus 5 (for a special ability).

You may apply multiple function improvements to the same use. In this case, use the base DC for the utilize function and add all modifiers.

For example, a rogue with 18 Dex wants to add its Dexterity modifier to the attack rolls of a crossbow trap it recently set. It also wants to add its sneak attack ability to the damage done. The rogue rolls a Tinker check against a DC of 20 (base) + 4 (for its Dex modifier) + 5 (for adding an ability) for a total DC of 29. The next time the trap is triggered, it will get an extra +4 on the attack roll, and deal sneak attack damage if its target is flat-footed and within 30’ (which it probably will be).

Another example: a high-level wizard with an Int of 24 wants to use its Int modifier for its wand of fireballs rather than the default Int of 13. The wand has a caster level of 10 and there is no reason that the wizard can’t use it, so the base DC is 20, +7 for its Int modifier, for a total DC of 27. If the wizard succeeds, the wand’s save DC for its next use becomes 20 rather than 14. If the wizard also wanted to add the effects of its Spell Focus (Evocation) feat, the DC would increase by another +2.

Complicate Item: A skilled tinker can also make its items harder to disrupt or utilize. Roll a Tinker check; the result becomes the base DC of future Tinker checks made against your item (except by you).

Action: Disrupting a mechanical item takes time based on the item’s complexity: Simple 1 standard action, average 1 full round, tricky 1d4 rounds, hard 1d8 rounds, difficult 1d3 minutes, wicked 1d10 minutes, confounding 2d10 minutes. Disrupting a magical trap takes 1d10 rounds. Disrupting a magical item is a full-round action. By raising the DC by 5, you can lower the time taken by one step (you may do so multiple times).

Utilizing a function is a full-round action, unless the normal time required to utilize the function is higher.

Improving a function can be done as a free action simultaneous with using the function, or as a full-round action in preparation for a future use.

Complicating an item takes a day of work.

All of these actions require that you can work on the item (generally, you either need to be adjacent to it or have it in your possession). They all provoke attacks of opportunity.

Try Again: Yes. However, if you fail a check to disrupt or utilize a function by five or more points, something goes wrong (you might spring a trap, for example, or jam the lock, or accidentally suppress a magic item for 1d4 minutes). A character who does not have the trapfinding ability cannot retry on attempts to disarm traps.

Special: A character with the trapfinding ability who beats a trap’s DC by a high number when trying to disrupt it causes additional effects (characters no longer need the trapfinding ability simply to disarm complex traps):

Beat DC by 5: You can cause the trap to automatically reset, either after a chosen delay or with a standard action.
Beat DC by 10: You can incorporate a bypass into the trap, allowing you and your party to pass it without harm, although it remains armed.
Beat DC by 20: You can safely remove the trap from its current location and reset it elsewhere (mechanical only, if feasible—you couldn’t move a pit, for example, though you could remove the trap door and install it on a pit of your own).
Beat DC by 40: You can safely remove the trap from its current location and reset it elsewhere (mechanical or magical).

In addition, a character with trapfinding who beats a trap’s Tinker DC by twice the spell level or more does not set off the trap even if it has a trigger method that would normally be activated just by attempting to disarm it.

If you have the nimble fingers feat, you get a +2 bonus on all Tinker checks that deal with mechanical devices and a +2 bonus on Sleight of Hand checks (this supercedes the normal rules for the feat).

If you have the magical aptitude feat, you get a +2 bonus on all Tinker checks that deal with magical devices (you retain the normal +2 bonus on Spellcraft checks).

Synergy: A character with at least five ranks in Spellcraft gets a +2 synergy bonus on Tinker checks when dealing with magical devices.

A character with at least five ranks in Decipher Script gets a +2 synergy bonus on Tinker checks when dealing with scrolls.

A character with at least five ranks in a given Craft skill gets a +2 synergy bonus on Tinker checks related to that Craft skill.

A character with at least five ranks in Tinker gains a +2 synergy bonus on Craft checks.

Classes: Any class that normally receives Open Lock, Disable Device, or Use Magic Device as a class skill instead receives Tinker. In addition, wizards receive Tinker as a class skill.



Grouped Skills:



Theories and Reasoning:



My thing here is character description. Craft, Profession, and the like are nice for character detail, but only mediocre as far as actual functionality. A few Craft skills are credible at the low levels, the only Profession skill that ever routinely gets mentioned in anything even remotely adventure-related is Herbalism, and even bards only need one Perform skill. The sad thing is that these skills are put in competition with such worthies as Concentration, Spot/Listen, Diplomacy, and the mighty Tumble. I'm hoping that this rule allows players to put a bit more detail into their characters without sacrificing as many other valuable skills.



This variant rule allows a character to diversify its access to grouped skills—that is, skills where you have to select from a sub-set of skills: Craft, Knowledge, Perform, and Profession. Using this variant rule, a character who spends ranks in such a skill may apply those ranks to up to one such skill per point of its Intelligence modifier (minimum 1). The character need not choose all skills of the same type. For example, a character with an Int of 18 taking eight ranks in such skills would spend eight skill points and get eight ranks in any combination of four Craft, Knowledge, Perform, and/or Profession skills.

These ranks are not swappable. You can’t, for example, spend two skill points and then pour 2 * your Int modifier in ranks to a single skill. Likewise you cannot take half as many ranks in two skills or the like (although you could buy another group of skills and only spend half as many skill points on it).



New and Revised Feats and Abilities:



Theories and Reasoning:



Nothing big here. New rules merit new feats and a couple revisions.



Arcane Attunement:
You have a strong connection to your magic items.

Prerequisites: Spellcraft 6 ranks or Tinker 6 ranks.

Benefit: When determining the save DCs for effects created by your magic items, you may use your primary spellcasting ability modifier (or your Cha modifier) to set the DC without rolling a Tinker check. Additionally, any feats, abilities, or effects you have that improve the effects of spells improve the effects of appropriate magical items, with the exception of metamagic feats. For example, a character with Spell Focus (Evocation) would add +1 to the save DC of its wand of fireballs.

Your magic items also use your caster level or your ranks in Use Magic Device – 3 for their caster level for purposes of overcoming Spell Resistance. Other effects based on caster level use the item’s normal level.

Special: A wizard may select arcane attunement as one of its bonus feats.

Arcane Feint:
You cast your spells deceptively.

Prerequisites: Spellcraft 6 ranks, Bluff 6 ranks.

Benefit: You can perform an arcane feint as a move action. All opponents who are watching you cast the spell are subject to your arcane feint. Roll a Bluff check opposed by either the opponent’s Spellcraft or Sense Motive check, whichever is higher (in a group, use the highest). If your Bluff check succeeds, the targets believe that you are casting another spell of the same school and spell level that is on your class spell list. This usually foils counterspells (because the opponent is trying to counter the wrong spell) and inflicts a -4 penalty on Dispel checks made as counterspells. If the spell is an illusion, the opponent takes a -4 penalty on its Will save to disbelieve the spell.

Potentially, a successful arcane feint may make the opponents take future foolhardy actions (such as when you cast Protection from Energy {Fire} and make your foes think you are casting Protection from Energy {Electricity}). This can only occur, however, if your opponents do not have any way of perceiving the spell’s effects. In any case, contradictory evidence immediately corrects the misinterpretation.

By taking a -5 penalty on your Bluff check, you can make the target believe you are casting a spell of a different school. You can make the foe believe you are casting a spell of a different spell level by taking a -2 penalty per spell level different. You can try to make the foe believe you are casting a spell that is not on your class list by taking a -10 penalty. These penalties stack. However, no penalties apply if you are trying to make your foe believe you are casting a spell that can be emulated by the spell you are actually casting (such as using shadow evocation to emulate a fireball, and making the foes think you are casting fireball).

If you take a -10 penalty on your Bluff check, you can deceive a single target into trying to defend poorly against your spell, inflicting a -2 penalty on its saving throw. If you take a -20 penalty, you can deceive the target into taking a wholly ineffective means of defense (such as trying to dodge a spell that requires a Will save, or believing a real spell is an illusion). This causes the target to lose its relevant ability modifier on the save, as well as any special abilities (such as evasion or mettle) that improve the result of its saving throw.

Special: A wizard may select arcane feint as one of its bonus feats.

Demoralizing Glance [Fighter]:
You can terrify foes with a look.

Prerequisites: Intimidate 6 Ranks.

Benefit: You can attempt to demoralize foes who you can see and who can see you with a single look. A demoralizing glance has a range of half your usual demoralize range. You can affect a single target as a swift action, a cone as a standard action, or a burst centered on you as a full-round action.

When using a demoralizing glance, you take no penalty on your Intimidate check for the number of foes you attempt to demoralize.

Demoralizing Kill [Fighter]:
You can slay a foe in a terrifying manner.

Prerequisites: Intimidate 9 Ranks.

Benefit: If you succeed to kill (not just drop) a foe, you may make a demoralize attempt as a free action. Opponents with a higher CR than the opponent you killed are not affected by this attempt.

Frightful Presence (revised ability): A creature with the frightful presence ability may make a free demoralize attempt against all foes within its frightful presence range whenever it attacks, charges, or casts a spell. It takes no check penalty for the number of foes affected.

Intimidating Rage (revised feat): The benefit of this feat changes to: You may make an attempt to demoralize an opponent once per round as a free action while raging.