Is Profession (Fashion Model) A Good Skill To Have?

[Bartmanhomer]

Hey everybody. I have a question to ask you. Is Profession (Fashion Model) a good skill to have? Because I'm playing a Neutral Good Lesser Drow Wizard in an upcoming game and I just thought if that skill was useful.

[Zaq]

Mechanically, most Profession skills will almost never make your character stronger. In that sense, it is not a "good skill."

If it makes you have more fun, godspeed. It's okay to make a suboptimal choice now and again as long as you're doing it intentionally.

[ThatMoonGuy]

It may not be the most useful skill in your standard dungeon delving game but in a more urban and social campaign, I could see it being good for a social type character. You know, get in the party like it was a catwalk, get all the eyes on you while the rogue sneaks to steal the important files? That sort of thing.

[zlefin]

a useful question from a mechanical perspective, is how flexible your DM will be about letting a profession skill help out in-game situations where it could be plausibly used. there's quite a bit of variance in DM on how accommodating they'd be of such.

[heavyfuel]

Personally I'd say that it's more Perform (Modeling) than Profession, but sure, go for it.

[Aetis]

Have you considered Profession (Consulting Detective)?

As you can see from the Sherlock Holmes movie, it is several useful skills rolled into one.

[TheYell]

Is Profession (Fashion Model) a good skill to have?

Girrrrl, the DRAMA!!

[gkathellar]

a useful question from a mechanical perspective, is how flexible your DM will be about letting a profession skill help out in-game situations where it could be plausibly used. there's quite a bit of variance in DM on how accommodating they'd be of such.

Assuming there's not a joke here that we're missing, here's your answer. Profession's only "built-in" use, as it were, is making money at a spectacularly inefficient rate. But in the right game, with a DM who will allow you to use the skill creatively, it can mean a lot more.

You might want to consider whether Fashion Model would be better modeled (no pun intended) with Perform, though.

[Bartmanhomer]

Girrrrl, the DRAMA!!

You do realized that I'm a guy, right? :confused:

[DeTess]

The text in the PHB is a bit more flexible for professions than the version in the SRD. It provides some examples for things people with the relevant profession would know (a Sailor would know basic knots, how to do basic ship maintenance and how to stand watch, for example), and suggests the DM can set the DC for specialized tasks (so not just for earning money in downtime).

However, this skill is far less clear-cut then the other skills, so you should definitely talk to your DM to determine what exactly you can do with a profession skill.

[Edenbeast]

However, this skill is far less clear-cut then the other skills, so you should definitely talk to your DM to determine what exactly you can do with a profession skill.

A court wizard could be fashion model as a side job. I remember some hero in Skyrim modelling clothes for Radiant Raiment at the court of Jarl Elisif the Fair. You could offer local tailors, for example, to model some of their clothes while you visit the king's court or the market square.

[Feantar]

Hey everybody. I have a question to ask you. Is Profession (Fashion Model) a good skill to have? Because I'm playing a Neutral Good Lesser Drow Wizard in an upcoming game and I just thought if that skill was useful.

Our adventuring party is Arthur Penteghast the Noble Paladin, Sammy Grimm Thief Extraoidinaire, Ignis Mortus Shadowy Necromancer and Karlie Kloss Victoria's Secret Angel.

Might sound ridiculous, but one tiny part of me wants to watch those characters grow.

On a more serious note, are you playing d20 modern (or d20 in a modern setting)? If so, this might be useful in utilising it as a status symbol. Otherwise, I don't know what to tell you without understanding what exactly a fashion model's societal place is in, for example, a fantasy world (or whatever type of world you are playing in).


You do realized that I'm a guy, right? :confused:

I think that was more of a refferential humour joke than an assumption of your gender.

[wilphe]

I'm too sexy for Menzoberranzan.

[Spore]

The good thing about Perform, Profession and Craft as a skill is that depending on the player creativity, it could be used to gap a few otherwise unavailable or non-connected skill checks. An old classic is Profession (Soldier).

It can give you information about famous military people like Knowledge (Local) or (History.
It can give you information about the strength of an enemy force instead of a good Perception/Stealth scouting.
It can even substitute for a Diplomacy or Bluff check when dealing with ranking officers.


Is Profession (Fashion Model) a good skill to have? Because I'm playing a Neutral Good Lesser Drow Wizard

I feel for a Drow Wizard that profession is a weird pick without obvious uses. Yes Drow can be superficial but as a Wizard I feel Craft is more helpful since it is Int based. Also Craft (Jewelry) feels like a nice skill to finally go into Craft Magic Ring when you're higher level. You can do something nice besides adventuring, you captured the "pretty" side of drow, and it naturally leads into crafting feats (which are honestly a lot of fun if your DM is up to a bit of homebrewery).

[Particle_Man]

If it is good enough for Zoolander, then it is good enough for D&D. :smallsmile:

But seriously, it depends on the setting and DM. If there is going to be a fashion show in the game, the skill could become handy. Mainly though, it is nice for fluff and background (and possibly contacts) and things that aren't strictly covered by the rulebook, but could be by the DM (with some suggestions from the party).

[Bartmanhomer]

I guess I could use Perform (Modeling) instead of Profession.

[Saintheart]

Whatever you do, make sure you take Skill Focus: Turn Left.

[Bartmanhomer]

Whatever you do, make sure you take Skill Focus: Turn Left.

I see what you did here. LOL! :smile:

[Buufreak]

In general, unless you are playing in a game with significant down time, with a majority of that time focusing on toiling away at a job, most all profession skills are not only a bad choice, but a complete waste of points.

[Knaight]

Profession skills in general can be good for characterization - but they only really work if you use professions that will exist within the setting. Fashion modeling as an actual profession is relatively modern, and will only really make sense in the context of a setting with more modern elements, or even a futuristic one.

[Saintheart]

Profession skills in general can be good for characterization - but they only really work if you use professions that will exist within the setting. Fashion modeling as an actual profession is relatively modern, and will only really make sense in the context of a setting with more modern elements, or even a futuristic one.

If only they'd granted enough skill points to make a player anything less than brutally frugal on what he spends it on. Even with skill points you're barely able to git gud at anything other than a bare minimum of survival-necessary stuff, unless of course you happen to be a Rogue or Cloistered Cleric ... and even then you haven't got spare points to drop on professions. Or crafts.

[Malphegor]

to be honest, mechanically, it doesn't give much. At most, maybe you can suggest to your DM you can roll your Profession to know something about the business... Yeah, I can see that working.

So, you might know what clothing is likely to be good for persuading X person. As it's kind of an entertainment business, you could probably use the profession roll at a penalty to be a perform check.

You'd likely know your knots, and know the difference between different kinds of material by touching it. You can maybe sew.

Doesn't seem too outlandish.

[Eldan]

Jokes aside, what I'd wonder is... is there even a fashion industry in this setting? If yes, are there large enough fashion companies to have their own fashion shows?

For most settings, I'd answer no on that. In which case, as a DM, I wouldn't allow the skill. Just as I wouldn't allow, say Profession: Computer Programmer (with exceptions for, say, a character from Mechanus), Perform: Theremin or Knowledge: biochemistry.

[Knaight]

If only they'd granted enough skill points to make a player anything less than brutally frugal on what he spends it on. Even with skill points you're barely able to git gud at anything other than a bare minimum of survival-necessary stuff, unless of course you happen to be a Rogue or Cloistered Cleric ... and even then you haven't got spare points to drop on professions. Or crafts.

They really were stingy with them. 2+int is barely acceptable on a wizard, for classes that aren't int focused it's just nonsense, especially given the size of the skill list. If you're going to have seperate climb, jump, and swim skills, split spot off from listen, and cut stealth in half then you really should be handing out significantly more skill points than we see in systems with more compact skill lists.

[Bartmanhomer]

Well I ask my DM about and he said there won't be any fashion show as all unfortunately. :frown:

[ezekielraiden]

Well I ask my DM about and he said there won't be any fashion show as all unfortunately. :frown:

Perhaps Knowledge (Nobility and Royalty) is an acceptable substitute? Fashion modeling might not have been A Thing in medieval times, but fashions certainly were, and this kind of knowledge would be useful for a court wizard (about clothes, but also names, titles, etiquette, etc.) This could be a signal to your DM that you want to hobnob with nobility.

[Bartmanhomer]

Perhaps Knowledge (Nobility and Royalty) is an acceptable substitute? Fashion modeling might not have been A Thing in medieval times, but fashions certainly were, and this kind of knowledge would be useful for a court wizard (about clothes, but also names, titles, etiquette, etc.) This could be a signal to your DM that you want to hobnob with nobility.

Ok. I guess I could do that.

[PaucaTerrorem]

In my favorite campaign ever, we were trying to get an audience with the local Duke. Our melee DPS player wasn’t the biggest on the political side of things. So while we were in the city he just started smithing jewelry for something to do. Rolled very well every day to the point that word got around to the Duke about this new Master Jeweler. He inadvertently got us the meet and greet.

So it CAN be extremely useful. But not always.

[Recherché]

Perhaps Knowledge (Nobility and Royalty) is an acceptable substitute? Fashion modeling might not have been A Thing in medieval times, but fashions certainly were, and this kind of knowledge would be useful for a court wizard (about clothes, but also names, titles, etiquette, etc.) This could be a signal to your DM that you want to hobnob with nobility.

Fashion modeling was decidedly not a thing in medieval times. Early to mid medieval clothing styles changed at a glacial pace; the dress your grandmother wore to her wedding would still be current when you died. There basically was no such thing as fashion as we think of it today.

Its not until the end of medieval/beginning of renaissance that fashion even comes into existence and nobody is modeling clothing for a living. Mass manufacturing of cloth and garments are not a thing so everything is handmade and custom. Because cloth is incredibly expensive nobody wants to make garments that will not actually be worn*

Garment makers do still need to show off what they can do though and make samples. However to save money their models are not people. They're small dolls wearing miniature versions of outfits made from the scraps of manufacturing the full sized versions.

The first human clothing models in recorded history are in the 1860's after weaving is automated and the price of fabric went way down. Also models don't take off as a common practice until clothing manufacturing is mass manufactured in factories on sewing machines rather than hand made. It's much more useful to have pictures of a person wearing a garment when you have 500 near identical shirts to sell than it is when every single shirt is customized and no two shirts look alike.

Tldr; there's a multitude of reasons why medieval people did not have fashion modeling as a profession starting with fashion not yet existing.

*We've done the calculations and the cloth for a renaissance cloak disregarding all sewing/tailoring work would have cost around $3000 in today's money