Sick of just class skills

[GargantuanOwl]

So I'M building a druid healer and want to take ranks in knowledge religion. Is there a way to make a skill a class skill without taking a dip into another class?

[Extra Anchovies]

Thankfully, Knowledge is one of the easier skills to add to your list. Have a guide. (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=6832.0)

[BowStreetRunner]

The guide is great, but all you really need to look at in this case is Knowledge Devotion. As long as you have 5 ranks in your class Knowledge skill (nature) you qualify. Not only can you add another Knowledge skill to your class skills, but you can now use the ability to get a bonus to attack and damage against creatures that are ID'ed using the Knowledge skills you possess. In fact, one rank in each of the other Knowledge skills will guarantee at least a +1 to attack and damage to creatures of those types as well.

[eggynack]

Not sure if it qualifies as a dip in another class, as it's using a PrC rather than multiclassing, but my favorite method's always been taking a level of holt warden. You get a very powerful ability for your troubles, a bunch of extra spells a day which can be the fuel for either spontaneous summoning, or domain spells from some other class like contemplative. That you need those knowledge (religion) ranks to get into contemplative is a reasonable part of why the combo is so awesome. You lose a bit of thing progression in the process, but not an excessive amount, and casting is preserved.

[Socratov]

Dragon has a feat called Flexible Mind which adds 2 skills forever to your list of in-class skills.

[Morrolan]

In one of my groups we have actually done away with the whole class skills thing. And I have to say that it works just fine, in fact it gives us more freedom without doing any harm to the system.

[OldTrees1]

Your title made me wonder: Did you know you can put ranks in cross class skills already (2 skill points -> 1 rank)?
Able Learner is a feat that changes this to 1 skill point -> 1 rank.


However I would also suggest talking to your DM. Personally I encourage my players to swap skills on their class list with cross class skills to create a more fitting skill list.

[Gale]

Able Learner can only be taken by humans and dopplegangers. It's kind of absurd considering humans already get extra skill points along with their infamous bonus feat; this only gives players more reasons to play a human instead of anything else.
Also the issue with cross-class skills is that even with Able Learner the max number of ranks you can put into them is half as many as a normal class skill. Only having half as many ranks in a skill may really hurt for some people. Honestly, I think their should be a system where you can permanently add class skills to your skill list, perhaps each skill could cost 2 skill points to add just like skill tricks.

[Hiro Quester]

Apprentice spellcaster (DMGII) might be a good idea for you, esp if you are looking at spontaneous casting as your reason for wanting the knowledge religion as in-class (prerequisite of 4 ranks).

Apprentice spellcaster gives several useful benefits: +2 spellcraft, any one knowledge and UMD as class skills

The final ability is the kicker: you get the ability to nominate any spell you know as a "preferred" spell that you don't need to prepare, but can convert other spells to, spontaneously. You can change this spell each level.

So as an alternative to spontaneous caster,take apprentice spellcaster, and keep your best cure spell as your preferred spell. Use wands for out of combat heals, but in combat you can always convert a spell to your best heal spell.

It's only once /day you can do this. But hopefully you don't need yo in-combat heal more often than that. If you do, perhaps your tank is doing it wrong.


However if your Druid is playing healer because you have to, (this happened to me; I created Druid character then party cleric pulled out of our game) then talk to your DM. Perhaps writing a religious conversion into your character's backstory will be enough to convince DM that if you have to play healer, it would be okay for them to let you make knowledge religion a class skill for your character, so you could take spontaneous healer.

However, even with spontaneous healer, my Druid has only once had to heal more than once in a single encounter. And that was because our tank was being a bit too foolhardy.

[General Sajaru]

There's the Cosmopolitan feat from the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting. It's region specific to Amn and Waterdeep, which might be an issue (especially since the fluff implies that you get it due to being in a big city); however, it allows you to pick up a non-class skill and consider it to be a class skill, along with receiving a +2 bonus to it.

[martixy]

If you're going to take a feat anyway, take Education(Eberron) which makes ALL Kn. skills class and +1 to two of those of your choice.

Knowledge devotion gets you 1 Kn. skill as class and has battle uses, but there are 6 skills for identifying creatures, so depending on what you face, you may not be able to take advantage of it. Nature identifies animals, fey, giants, monstrous humanoids, plants, vermin and Religion adds undead.

[Crake]

Also the issue with cross-class skills is that even with Able Learner the max number of ranks you can put into them is half as many as a normal class skill. Only having half as many ranks in a skill may really hurt for some people. Honestly, I think their should be a system where you can permanently add class skills to your skill list, perhaps each skill could cost 2 skill points to add just like skill tricks.

Able learner + 1 level in factotum means every skill is forever 1:1 point to rank ratio, and level+3 max ranks. Easy peasy

Edit: Or just steal the pathfinder skill method, which i like much better. All skills cost 1 point per rank, but class skills get a flat +3 bonus. Also retroactive skill points from increased int, which makes things much nicer.