[3.5] House Rule: Combining Concentration and Autohypnosis

[Thurbane]

Hey, just looking for some advice on a house-rule I'm considering.

I'm thinking about just letting Concentration and Autohypnosis be combined as one skill, and any class that has access to either has the new skill.

I'd probably just leave it under the name Concentration, but let it meet all reqs that require either skill. Essentially, Autohypnosis would just get subsumed by Concentration.

The new Concentration skill would include all the normal Concentration uses, plus the Ignore caltrop wound, Memorize, Resist dying, Resist fear, Tolerate poison and Willpower uses of Autohypnosis.

Can anyone see any potential issues with this?

Also, should it be Con based, or Wis based? It always bothered me that there was literally only one skill based on Con, so I'm leaning towards Wis.

Sorry if this should be in homebrew.

Cheers - T

[Dalmosh]

That's mostly how I use it, although resist dying/poison and caltrops I still restrict to autohyp.

Generally I don't like Monks not having an inherent ability to smash this kind of challenge, and Conc seems like the logical avenue for it.
In my campaign either skill can also be used to help resist illusions/enchantment in place of a will save, navigate dreamscapes, resist Confusion and mind-affecting poisons and so forth.

[YellowJohn]

I hadn't considered combining Concentration with Autohypnosis (re. the monks thing: I agree, I just added Autohypnosis to the Monk list). Will be doing it in future. I'd potentially let the player decide which stat they use in the same way I let players choose if they want to Intimidate off their Strength or Charisma.

I also combine Hide and Move Silently into Stealth, Spot and Listen into Perception (which also gives you an obvious skill to notice eg. unusual smells), and Open Lock gets lumped into Disable Device.

[Beni-Kujaku]

The two skills are already among the most powerful ones there is. If you do combine them, you may want to combine others so as to keep a kind of equity.

As said above, Stealth=Move Silently+Hide and Perception=Spot+Listen are good.

Balance+Climb+Jump+Tumble=Acrobatics (like in 5e)
Gather Information+Diplomacy+Sense Motive=Social
Disguise+Forgery=Disguise
Appraise+Decipher Script=Appraise

[Inevitability]

The two skills are already among the most powerful ones there is. If you do combine them, you may want to combine others so as to keep a kind of equity.

As said above, Stealth=Move Silently+Hide and Perception=Spot+Listen are good.

Balance+Climb+Jump+Tumble=Acrobatics (like in 5e)
Gather Information+Diplomacy+Sense Motive=Social
Disguise+Forgery=Disguise
Appraise+Decipher Script=Appraise

Isn't 5e Acrobatics more like Tumble+Balance+Escape Artist, while 5e Athletics is Jump+Climb+Swim (+grapple checks).

[Beni-Kujaku]

Isn't 5e Acrobatics more like Tumble+Balance+Escape Artist, while 5e Athletics is Jump+Climb+Swim (+grapple checks).

... Maybe? I don't really play 5e, so I'll trust your expertise and simply say "5e has good skills, use those".

[lylsyly]

I could easily see combining the two.

At our table we already conbine
swin, run, jump (str) into athletics
listen, spot (wis) into perception
hide & move silently (dex) into stealth
tumble & balance (dex) into acrobatics
open locks & disable device (dex) into disable device

it's lliterally pathfinder but it works and isn't going to break your game.

neither will combining concentration and autohypnosis.

[Dalmosh]

Another thing to note is that Concentration is Untrained, which makes sense.

I don't think Autohypnosis should be though. I'd rule that you need to take ranks in the skill before you can use the Autohyp aspects. I might even gate it behind a set number of ranks.

[lylsyly]

I think they are based on willpower. how many stories are out there abou a mom lifting a car off her kid, or my favorite a mom in the miidle of a raging river held her kid above the water for hours until someone rescued them both. sheer willpower, obviously WIS based.

[Thurbane]

The two skills are already among the most powerful ones there is. If you do combine them, you may want to combine others so as to keep a kind of equity.

I get Autohypnosis, but what's so powerful about Concentration? Is it casting? Isn't it just a skill tax for casters?

The only other thing I am aware of is a handful of martial maneuvers?


Another thing to note is that Concentration is Untrained, which makes sense.

I don't think Autohypnosis should be though. I'd rule that you need to take ranks in the skill before you can use the Autohyp aspects. I might even gate it behind a set number of ranks.

Interesting point(s).



Side note: as a general rule, I am against mashing too many skills together. IMHO, PF1 did far too much of this.

For instance, I think it should be entirely possible for a character to have keen hearing (high Listen), but poor eyesight (low Spot), or vice-versa.

[Chronos]

As it is, almost all casters take Concentration, and almost no non-casters even have it as a class skill. So this is basically just a straight power upgrade for casters. They don't need the help.

I guess it could be a boon for monks and Tome of Battle classes, but if that's the goal, then just give them Autohypnosis as a class skill. Or make a new skill called Martial Concentration or whatever, which does combine the two, but make it a class skill only for those classes.