Jigawatts
2015-12-06, 05:04 PM
I've been working on consolidating the Pathfinder skill list while keeping things grounded in verisimilitude and internal consistency, and I wanted to share and get some outside opinions on it. I will go over my thoughts on each skill removed and added. First the list:
Acrobatics (Dex) (Armor Check Penalty)
Animal Handling (Wis) (Trained Only)
Arcane Lore (Int) (Trained Only)
Athletics (Str) (Armor Check Penalty)
Crafting (Var) (Trained Only)
Cultural Lore (Int) (Trained Only)
Deception (Cha)
Disable Device (Dex) (Trained Only) (Armor Check Penalty)
Healing (Wis)
Heraldry (Int) (Trained Only)
Historical Lore (Int) (Trained Only)
Insight (Wis)
Intimidation (Cha)
Legerdemain (Dex) (Trained Only) (Armor Check Penalty)
Linguistics (Int) (Trained Only)
Natural Lore (Int) (Trained Only)
Perception (Wis)
Performance (Var)
Persuasion (Cha)
Profession (Var) (Trained Only)
Religious Lore (Int) (Trained Only)
Riding (Dex)
Spellcraft (Int) (Trained Only)
Stealth (Dex) (Armor Check Penalty)
Survival (Wis)
Use Magical Device (Cha) (Trained Only)
Now I will go into each skill that got removed or changed and my thoughts behind the process.
Appraise: At first I took Appraise and folded it into a new skill called Mercantile, but as I went along I felt maybe it didn't call for its own individual skill and could just as easily be handled by Profession: Appraiser or Merchant. Would be willing to relook at this one based on feedback.
Bluff and Disguise: Rolled into a single Deception skill.
Climb and Swim: Rolled into a single Athletics skill along with partially taking jumping from Acrobatics, whether a specific jump is Athletics or Acrobatics will depend on the individual circumstances.
Diplomacy: Renamed to Persuasion.
Escape Artist: Folded into Acrobatics. Can attempt either an Acrobatics or Athletics check to escape bonds, depending on whether you are trying to slip free or brute force it.
Fly: To be honest, this skill doesn't come up very often in our games, we kinda lean somewhat old school and all kinda scratched our heads when we saw it added to the game. We generally handle flying as it was in 3E and earlier.
Knowledge Dungeoneering: This is described as covering "aberrations, caverns, oozes, and spelunking". Aberrations and oozes are moved to Arcane Lore, caverns to Natural Lore, and spelunking to Survival.
Knowledge Engineering: For a while I kept this, just calling it Engineering, until like Mercantile I realized it might not call for its own skill and is easily covered by Profession: Engineer.
Knowledge Geography: Covers "lands, terrain, climate, people", this is divided between Natural Lore and Survival, expect for "people" which goes to Cultural Lore.
Knowledge Local: Renamed Cultural Lore with the intention of broadening its aspects and uses.
Knowledge Nobility: Renamed Heraldry. I have thought about folding this into Cultural Lore also, but have left it as it for now.
Knowledge Planes: For quite a while in the process of doing this revision I had this as Planar Lore, until I decided to fold it into Religious Lore. This is one of the ones I am most open to reverting and would love to hear some discussion on that front.
Sense Motive: Renamed to Insight.
Sleight of Hand: Renamed Legerdemain (thoughts on that name?)
Other notes:
Crafting, Profession, and Performance are all list as "Var" which means it Varies on which is its governing stat. Each one will be based on the individual chosen subskill. For example smithing will be Str based, painting and other forms of artistry will be Dex based, alchemy will be Int based, etc. Same goes for profession, sage will be Int based, shopkeeper will be Wis based, courtesan will be Cha based, etc. As for Performance, singing, acting, comedy, and oratory will all be Cha based, whereas the instrument ones will be Dex based.
At one point I had Riding folded into Animal Handling but ultimately decided to reseparate the two as they had very difference primary purposes and were distinct enough to merit it.
I have considered combining Spellcraft and Use Magic Device into a single skill, or rolling both Spellcraft and/or Use Magic Device into Arcane Lore, but I felt this could make these too potent. I have also considered changing the stat powering Use Magic Device (I honestly could see it being any of Int, Wis, or Cha). I've left it all as is for now but would like feedback in this area.
I am also seriously considering changing Intimidation from Cha to Str.
Do you like "Natural Lore" or "Nature Lore" better? I went back and forth on this.
A friend of mine has advocated combining Disable Device and Legerdemain, but I dont feel thats necessary and like them as separate skills.
I think thats about it, looking forward to hearing what you guys have to say.
Acrobatics (Dex) (Armor Check Penalty)
Animal Handling (Wis) (Trained Only)
Arcane Lore (Int) (Trained Only)
Athletics (Str) (Armor Check Penalty)
Crafting (Var) (Trained Only)
Cultural Lore (Int) (Trained Only)
Deception (Cha)
Disable Device (Dex) (Trained Only) (Armor Check Penalty)
Healing (Wis)
Heraldry (Int) (Trained Only)
Historical Lore (Int) (Trained Only)
Insight (Wis)
Intimidation (Cha)
Legerdemain (Dex) (Trained Only) (Armor Check Penalty)
Linguistics (Int) (Trained Only)
Natural Lore (Int) (Trained Only)
Perception (Wis)
Performance (Var)
Persuasion (Cha)
Profession (Var) (Trained Only)
Religious Lore (Int) (Trained Only)
Riding (Dex)
Spellcraft (Int) (Trained Only)
Stealth (Dex) (Armor Check Penalty)
Survival (Wis)
Use Magical Device (Cha) (Trained Only)
Now I will go into each skill that got removed or changed and my thoughts behind the process.
Appraise: At first I took Appraise and folded it into a new skill called Mercantile, but as I went along I felt maybe it didn't call for its own individual skill and could just as easily be handled by Profession: Appraiser or Merchant. Would be willing to relook at this one based on feedback.
Bluff and Disguise: Rolled into a single Deception skill.
Climb and Swim: Rolled into a single Athletics skill along with partially taking jumping from Acrobatics, whether a specific jump is Athletics or Acrobatics will depend on the individual circumstances.
Diplomacy: Renamed to Persuasion.
Escape Artist: Folded into Acrobatics. Can attempt either an Acrobatics or Athletics check to escape bonds, depending on whether you are trying to slip free or brute force it.
Fly: To be honest, this skill doesn't come up very often in our games, we kinda lean somewhat old school and all kinda scratched our heads when we saw it added to the game. We generally handle flying as it was in 3E and earlier.
Knowledge Dungeoneering: This is described as covering "aberrations, caverns, oozes, and spelunking". Aberrations and oozes are moved to Arcane Lore, caverns to Natural Lore, and spelunking to Survival.
Knowledge Engineering: For a while I kept this, just calling it Engineering, until like Mercantile I realized it might not call for its own skill and is easily covered by Profession: Engineer.
Knowledge Geography: Covers "lands, terrain, climate, people", this is divided between Natural Lore and Survival, expect for "people" which goes to Cultural Lore.
Knowledge Local: Renamed Cultural Lore with the intention of broadening its aspects and uses.
Knowledge Nobility: Renamed Heraldry. I have thought about folding this into Cultural Lore also, but have left it as it for now.
Knowledge Planes: For quite a while in the process of doing this revision I had this as Planar Lore, until I decided to fold it into Religious Lore. This is one of the ones I am most open to reverting and would love to hear some discussion on that front.
Sense Motive: Renamed to Insight.
Sleight of Hand: Renamed Legerdemain (thoughts on that name?)
Other notes:
Crafting, Profession, and Performance are all list as "Var" which means it Varies on which is its governing stat. Each one will be based on the individual chosen subskill. For example smithing will be Str based, painting and other forms of artistry will be Dex based, alchemy will be Int based, etc. Same goes for profession, sage will be Int based, shopkeeper will be Wis based, courtesan will be Cha based, etc. As for Performance, singing, acting, comedy, and oratory will all be Cha based, whereas the instrument ones will be Dex based.
At one point I had Riding folded into Animal Handling but ultimately decided to reseparate the two as they had very difference primary purposes and were distinct enough to merit it.
I have considered combining Spellcraft and Use Magic Device into a single skill, or rolling both Spellcraft and/or Use Magic Device into Arcane Lore, but I felt this could make these too potent. I have also considered changing the stat powering Use Magic Device (I honestly could see it being any of Int, Wis, or Cha). I've left it all as is for now but would like feedback in this area.
I am also seriously considering changing Intimidation from Cha to Str.
Do you like "Natural Lore" or "Nature Lore" better? I went back and forth on this.
A friend of mine has advocated combining Disable Device and Legerdemain, but I dont feel thats necessary and like them as separate skills.
I think thats about it, looking forward to hearing what you guys have to say.