Skill-Monkey Help

[wookietek]

I'm playing the lore bard/at rogue/knowledge cleric v. human skill monkey with fun results. I have prof in all but 1 skill through feats and expertise in 9. My stat roll were friendly and we started at t3 play so they're actually a fun but useful support character who really shines out of combat while also not being a slouch in combat.

They just leveled up and get an asi/feat. I could even out their str and cha scores to help a few skills along (both being odd numbers), but was wondering what feat option would do better to round out their skill-monkeyness. They already have prodigy, skilled, and observant. I almost took mobile to make them less squishy on the battlefield, but their play style is combat as a second thought, while being the jack of all trades is their addiction.

[solidork]

Lucky seems good at generally being better at everything. Martial Adept can give you a d6 per short rest to add to a small selection of skills, but Lucky just seems better. Skulker is situationally as good at boosting perception as Observant, though actually being in that situation as someone without darkvision is rare.

Personally, I'd consider branching out into other forms of utility like Ritual Caster or picking up more Cantrips or Eldritch Adept. The invocation that gives you Detect Magic is low key one of my favorites - it was one of the most defining abilities of my Fighter/Warlock investigator.

[Khrysaes]

You mentioned Prodigy, Skilled, and Observant,

Why not Skill Expert.

Proficiency in the last skill

1 more expertise,

+1 for that Cha or STR you mentioned.


You would probably get more benefit out of something like Ritual Caster Wizard
Chef
Fey Touched
Lucky
or Inspiring Leader,


But Skill Expert compounds on the Jack of All Trades Character you are building.

[XmonkTad]

You mentioned Prodigy, Skilled, and Observant,

Why not Skill Expert.

Proficiency in the last skill

1 more expertise,

+1 for that Cha or STR you mentioned.
I came to ask this. Skill expert is the perfect half-feat. Also, which skill are you missing? And is proficiency/expertise in all the knowledge skills working out well?

[Willie the Duck]

Skill expert to boost the strength, and then next ASI Fey Touched (+1 Cha; Misty Step; Bless) would be solid support options.

[meandean]

Are you trying to fill in as many circles in the "Skills" section of your character sheet as possible? I mean, it's fine if you are, but understand that that's what you're doing, rather than maximizing your actual usefulness to your party. Your team is scarcely going to notice whether you're an expert rather than proficient at the skill you've deemed the 10th most significant, nor whether you're proficient at the skill you've literally deemed the least significant. Especially when you're already a Knowledge Cleric who can instantly become temporarily proficient at any skill in the game.

Admittedly, you're clearly having fun. But unless it just drives you totally nuts not to have those circles filled in, I think it will actually be more fun to add abilities that will come up more often and be more important. I'll rule out what's probably the most optimized choice, Fey Touched, because to me it doesn't carry the implication of someone who's skilled/a "dabbler"/etc. The Adept feats do fit that though, IMO, and they're well-suited for a character in your situation, a spellcaster who has access to a lot of spells but who lacks Sorcerer/Warlock class features. Extend aura of vitality so it becomes a crazy out-of-combat healing option! Snatch up a Warlock invocation, be it Devil's Sight or one of the at-will castings! etc.

There are also some feats that almost sound like professions: Actor, Healer, Chef, Poisoner. Unlike how skills usually work, you can initiate your own use of them, so they can keep coming up. And they're rarely taken, despite the fact that they're not bad, because they're not the most obvious ways to improve combat ability. At the least, your party might appreciate the variety of a feat that's seldom seen. Hell, if you think you can really get something out of a tool proficiency, perhaps you can become the first person ever to take Artificer Initiate. (Maybe make healing potions with a herbalism kit?)

[Corlindale]

I second what meandean said. There's a point where getting more proficiencies really hits diminishing returns, because your final skills are probably something that hardy ever comes up. And you even have Knowledge of the Ages to handle those cases.

On my own knowledge cleric/divination wizard I have deliberately chosen not to get more skill proficiencies, instead focusing my feats on other fun options or adjustments (Res: Dex, Alert and Metamagic Adept). I already have proficiences in 7 solid skills from race, class and background (well, 6 solid skills and Medicine...) and expertise in two of them, and I figured that getting more would just make Knowledge of the Ages more and more redundant, even though I think of it as one of the cool, defining abilities of my domain. It's actually a similar story with bards and jack of all trades. The more proficiencies you have, the less JoaT is helping you. So in a way, additional proficiences are only ½ as valuable for a bard as for other classes, while very situational proficiencies are not neccessary to take with a knowledge cleric.