[3.5] Skill Points

[Thurbane]

Hey all,

Need some optmization advice - besides the obvious ways (high INT, class with lots of points, feat [Open Minded etc.]), what are some ways to nab some skill points?

Is there any item or location based way to get an injection of skill points at a given level (I'm looking to net some skill points to make reqs)?

Assume race, class, feats and ability scores are already locked in.

Can this be done, or am I dreaming?

Alternatively, are there any neat ways (again, not dependent on race, class or feats) to make Bluff and/or Spellcraft class skills?

Cheers - T

[Âmesang]

The potion of glibness is an item that exists yet shouldn't (due to the rules behind potion brewing), but it'll nab you a temporary +30 to Bluff. Not skill ranks, but it's something…

Also this is a total houserule, but if a character received a permanent boost to Intelligence I wouldn't be against wishing for retroactive skill points; or even some sort of extensive training to unlock the "full potential of the mind" or some such thing.

[Troacctid]

A casting of Embrace the Dark Chaos will allow you to replace one of your feats with Keeper of the Forbidden Lore, which makes Spellcraft (and Knowledge: Planes) a class skill for all your classes.

It's also possible to retrain skill points via Psychic Reformation, or the retraining rules from PH2.

[daremetoidareyo]

This is the most comprehensive list I've seen

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?451088-Alternative-ways-to-get-new-Class-skills

[MaxiDuRaritry]

If you don't want to change your race, mind switch with another creature, double-cast polymorph any object on yourself to turn you into a creature with a ridiculously high Intelligence (such as a sarrukh), and make sure it's done as a (Su) ability to prevent dispels, then allow mind switch to run out. Use bestow curse to increase your age category to venerable for another +3 Int. Now use contingency + greater restoration on yourself for when you say "the magic word." Now level drain yourself down to level 1, allow those negative levels to become permanent, and say "the magic word." Now re-level with your new, higher Int score. I'm not sure if breaking the aging curse will reduce your skill points or not...

if you want, you can do the above with a thought bottle, instead.

[Bronk]

The potion of glibness is an item that exists yet shouldn't (due to the rules behind potion brewing), but it'll nab you a temporary +30 to Bluff. Not skill ranks, but it's something…

Also this is a total houserule, but if a character received a permanent boost to Intelligence I wouldn't be against wishing for retroactive skill points; or even some sort of extensive training to unlock the "full potential of the mind" or some such thing.

There's also 'guidance of the avatar', which temporarily gives you +20 in any skill.

[Ruethgar]

They are artifacts, but the Archmage Apparel from Dragon #314 has on the hat +Int*2 skill points per set piece you can apply as a free action for one use before they disappear. The pool is refreshed daily and the ranks can specifically exceed the HD limit. If you don't actually use the skill, the ranks would stay until you do.

[Troacctid]

Becoming afflicted with lycanthropy (or entomanothropy) would also technically give you additional skill points.

[MaxiDuRaritry]

Becoming afflicted with lycanthropy (or entomanothropy) would also technically give you additional skill points.It's too bad the developers were morons and kept rewriting curse of lycanthropy, especially the dumb one that literally creates sapient life from blood. Seriously, that's the equivalent of an epic spell, and they wrote it to be level 6. But they're two entirely different spells that happen to have the same name, so of course the dumb one overrides the good one because it was the last one printed.

Anyway, go after the good one, from Complete Divine.

Also, Inspire Greatness gives you 2 HD.

[Thurbane]

Thanks for the suggestions, some good stuff in there!

[DrMartin]

If you turn into a greater barghest using metamorphosis and use its feed ability three times via metamorphic transfer you gain one hit dice, presumably as if you were a Barghest. Barghest have, among other skills, Bluff in their stat block, so they treat it as a class skill.

[nedz]

A casting of Embrace the Dark Chaos will allow you to replace one of your feats with Keeper of the Forbidden Lore, which makes Spellcraft (and Knowledge: Planes) a class skill for all your classes.

It's also possible to retrain skill points via Psychic Reformation, or the retraining rules from PH2.

If we are going down the DCS route then just swap out your weapon proficiencies for multiple copies of Open Minded (Complete Adventurer p111), which gives you 5 skill points each time.

[Ruethgar]

If we are going down the DCS route then just swap out your weapon proficiencies for multiple copies of Open Minded (Complete Adventurer p111), which gives you 5 skill points each time.

Except that elves are the only ones to get weapon proficiency feats, however everyone except monks, sorcerers, and wizards get at least one armor proficiency feat

[Hiro Quester]

Players Handbook II has rules for retraining your existing skill points on p. 194.

As long as the new skill is in-class, you can move up to 4points from one skill to another. They suggest a cost of 25gp, and a week's retraining per skill point would be a reasonable cost to retraining.

That can help with meeting prerequisites for a feat or PrC.

[Jowgen]

Dungeon magazine 88 p. 104 features "Yenejg Togan's Planar Syllabus", which grants actual ranks in Knowledge (the planes). In fact, anyone who has read the book and has sufficient knowledge (the planes) ranks, the scrybe scroll feat, and the ability to cast Contact Other Plane and Legend Lore can just make one of these. Reading one takes 3 days, consumes the writing, and then grants half as many ranks as the creator had. Cost is 500 gp per rank conferred.

The existence of this thing is arguably the biggest insult to the skill-rank system in game.

[MaxiDuRaritry]

They're not skill ranks, but there are skill shards in the Expanded Psionic Handbook. Normally, these are cheap one-use items that grant a bonus to one attuned skill. But in Hyperconscious, there's an item called the synaptic mask. It takes up the face slot, and you can insert a skill shard to gain the shard's bonus as an always-on effect.

Also not skill ranks, but item familiars grant a sizeable bonus to skills if you store your skill points in them.

And you can DCFS out your classes' armor/shield proficiencies for Open Minded. This is especially useful if you're multiclassing with overlapping proficiencies. Check the Armor and Shield Proficiency feats for details.

[Hiro Quester]

An item familiar can help you spread skill ranks you invest further. For every 3 ranks you assign to the item familiar, you get a +1 bonus to any single skill.

It won't get you extra ranks, but it can compensate for skills you skimp on, to invest in the ones you need for prerequisites.

[nedz]

Except that elves are the only ones to get weapon proficiency feats, however everyone except monks, sorcerers, and wizards get at least one armor proficiency feat

Most classes get things like are proficient with all simple weapons - which is a boat load of weapon proficiencies, most of which you will never need.

[Troacctid]

Most classes get things like are proficient with all simple weapons - which is a boat load of weapon proficiencies, most of which you will never need.

Those aren't feats.

[Bullet06320]

Dungeon magazine 88 p. 104 features "Yenejg Togan's Planar Syllabus", which grants actual ranks in Knowledge (the planes). In fact, anyone who has read the book and has sufficient knowledge (the planes) ranks, the scrybe scroll feat, and the ability to cast Contact Other Plane and Legend Lore can just make one of these. Reading one takes 3 days, consumes the writing, and then grants half as many ranks as the creator had. Cost is 500 gp per rank conferred.

The existence of this thing is arguably the biggest insult to the skill-rank system in game.


This is the most comprehensive list I've seen

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?451088-Alternative-ways-to-get-new-Class-skills

thanks Jowgen, I added that and a couple more to that list a couple mins ago, thanks

[Ruethgar]

Most classes get things like are proficient with all simple weapons - which is a boat load of weapon proficiencies, most of which you will never need.


Those aren't feats.

As Troacctid states, those are not feats, they are simply flat out proficiency class features. The Light Armor Proficiency Feat is on ALL classes except Monk, Wizard, and Sorcerer in addition to whatever armor proficiency class feature they have. That is ALL alternate base classes and splat book classes with special extras for PHB base classes. For example, Fighters get Light, Medium, Heavy, Shield, and Tower proficiency from the Weapons and Armor Proficiency class feature. They also get those same feats from the feats themselves. So given one level of fighter you could shuffle all 5 away to say, Combat Expertise, Combat Reflexes, Allied Defense, Deadly Defense, and Power Attack and still be proficient in all non-exotic armor and shields and still have you Bonus Feat to spare. If you went instead with an Alternate Base Class Fighter, such as the Bodyguard(Dragon #310), you would only get Light Armor Proficiency as a shuffleable feat despite having the same proficiency class feature as the fighter. Similarly, the Crusader only gets the Light Armor Proficiency feat despite their more extensive proficiency class feature. And the Death Walker alternate base class wizard would also get Light Armor Proficiency as a feat despite having no proficiency class feature and being based off of the Wizard.