[3.5] Floating Skills

[Thurbane]

So, there's couple of ways to get "floating feats" (i.e. feats that can be swapped out on a daily basis), most notably the Chameleon prestige class.

Just wondering if there are ways to get "floating skill ranks", where you can reassign a number of skill ranks on a daily basis?

The most obvious would be using the Chameleon floating feat for Open Minded, but I'm sure the Playground can come up with more options?

Cheers - T

[One Step Two]

Would this include things like the Factorum's Cunning Knowledge? They can spend an Inspiration point to add their class levels to any skill that have 1 rank in 1/day per skill.

[Anthrowhale]

Psychic Reformation plausibly works.

[Maat Mons]

Well, I mean, skill ranks have several benefits. There's the fact that they directly add you your check result, yes. There's also, for some skills, being allowed to make the check in the first place. Or for Knowledge skills, being able to benefit from check results above 10. And then there's prerequisites. Possibly relevant if you're trying to use floating feats on something with such a prerequisite. Finally (I think), there's the very minor benefit of synergy bonuses.

[sreservoir]

There are also a few feats (e.g. all the [Ceremony] feats), class features (e.g. bardic music stuff), and spells (e.g. the Lorecall spells, Battlemagic Perception, Magic Savant) that count your ranks to enable certain effects.

I don't think it's quite what you're looking for, but Combined Talent (CM 100) lets one ally "make use of" another's ranks. Only lasts for one use of the skill, max 10 minutes, but no word on how that interacts with effects that count your ranks without making checks.

[Zarvistic]

There is a monk sub level for I think illumians that get skill mastery at level 6 and you can swap it every day. With a bunch of other acf or variant an illumian monk would make a cool entry into chameleon I feel too.

[Particle_Man]

A lot of soul melds can give bonuses to skills, so class levels in either incarnate or totemist (or a floating feat piggyback using shape soulmeld, if you can snag essentia somehow) could do it.

Heck an incarnate with enough soulmelds and essentia could move skill bonuses as a swift action every round!

[Thurbane]

Just to be clear, looking specifically at skill ranks, not skill bonuses.

Various bonuses are very easy to come by.

[PoeticallyPsyco]

Not the most practical example, but the guest of a Symbiotic Creature detaching and reattaching. Gains all of the host's skill ranks but loses its own while attached, and the reverse upon detaching.

[Maat Mons]

Void Disciple can very briefly grant someone a very small number of skill ranks using the Moment of Clarity ability.

[AnimeTheCat]

A lot of soul melds can give bonuses to skills, so class levels in either incarnate or totemist (or a floating feat piggyback using shape soulmeld, if you can snag essentia somehow) could do it.

Heck an incarnate with enough soulmelds and essentia could move skill bonuses as a swift action every round!

Came here to say this but...


Just to be clear, looking specifically at skill ranks, not skill bonuses.

Various bonuses are very easy to come by.

The bonuses granted by soulmelds are definitely not actual skill ranks, even if they do keep pace pretty readily. I suspect you're looking for a way to qualify for different prestige classes, feats, or other skill-based prerequisites aren't you.

[Kaleph]

The retraining rules of the PHB2 come to mind; the problem is that you cannot be so fast as to change skill ranks on a daily basis: IIRC there is a limit on how many ranks per level you may retrain, and the replacement doesn't happen instantly. Besides having some suggested duration for the process, the handbook leaves explicitly to the DM the arbitrary decision on the amount of time necessary to complete the retrain.

[Thurbane]

The bonuses granted by soulmelds are definitely not actual skill ranks, even if they do keep pace pretty readily. I suspect you're looking for a way to qualify for different prestige classes, feats, or other skill-based prerequisites aren't you.

In essence, yes, but not specifically.

Really just a thought experiment.

[AnimeTheCat]

In essence, yes, but not specifically.

Really just a thought experiment.

I didn't think this was for anything specific, or else you probably would have applied a question to the specific scenario and then expanded it to the general topic. At least, that's what I suspect you would have done.

[ciopo]

floating feat primary contact
floating feat apprentice? that's a bit wonky because of the "1st level only" limitation

[Doctor Despair]

My Horselord build gets the skill ranks of its horse animal companion familiar, and that can be traded out for a new one daily

[daremetoidareyo]

There’s a class in dragon lance that adds concentration ranks to int and wis skills

[Rebel7284]

Heartfire Fanner + Open Minded

[remetagross]

Failing a level against your pet Wight + Restoration to pick again the skill points from your last level?

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Alter Self gives you the racial skill bonuses and bonus feats of the form you take. So a non-Human who uses Alter Self to become a Human gets enough bonus skill points to put max ranks in one skill, and can also take Skill Focus or a feat that makes it a class skill as that bonus feat. If you need a different skill, just Alter Self into a different Human.

[Zanos]

I dunno how helpful this is, but Leech Ghost Skill lets you stick a ghost to you for days/level and use any of its skill ranks. Ghosts float, right?

[bean illus]

Alter Self gives you the racial skill bonuses and bonus feats of the form you take. So a non-Human who uses Alter Self to become a Human gets enough bonus skill points to put max ranks in one skill, and can also take Skill Focus or a feat that makes it a class skill as that bonus feat. If you need a different skill, just Alter Self into a different Human.

Nice.
So a changeling rogue chameleon can alter self, gain a bonus feat, have a floating feat, take apprentice to add a class skill, gain max ranks in it, take skill focus, and add a +3 ability bonus.

Max ranks +6 in almost any skill, for the cost of a 2nd level spell.