Changing feats

[vasilidor]

I want to change feats so that instead of getting a +2 to two different skills, they open up new ways of using the skills.
A few starting ideas:
Acrobatic: Stand from prone without taking an attack of opportunity by making a skill check against an enemies CMD.
Self Sufficient: May now use the Heal skill on ones self.
Deft Hands: enables a person to steal larger items, possibly even worn items, at a penalty to be determined by the item size.
Athletic: Gain a climb or swim speed based on ranks in the respective skills

[Maat Mons]

So, skill unlocks then (https://legacy.aonprd.com/unchained/skillsAndOptions/skillUnlocks.html)?

[vasilidor]

Skill unlocks are things you get for having so many ranks in them, which are a nice needed thing for skills I guess. But really, the +bonus to skill feats really need to be more than +bonus to skills in order to be more than a waste of a feat slot.

[Maat Mons]

I mean, skill unlocks are things you get for having the Signature Skill feat. The feat also has additional scaling benefits, which is nice, but doesn’t really change that it’s spending a feat to gain extra benefits related to a skill. Reworking other feats so you have another, different, list of benefits related to skills that you can get for the cost of a feat feels like it’s too much overlap in the design space.

The +2/+2 feats are terrible, yes, but I don’t see why you wouldn’t just houserule them to not exist. Remove them as prerequisites wherever they show up, and talk some sense into any players that try to take them. Really, Pathfinder has a problem with way too many feats, and another problem with having many, many bad feats. The two-birds-with-one-stone solution is to remove the bad feats.

[Kurald Galain]

I want to change feats so that instead of getting a +2 to two different skills, they open up new ways of using the skills.
I like that idea, I generally prefer getting new abilities instead of getting small bonuses to things I can already do.

That said, do compare your ideas to existing feats to see if they are worth a feat slot (edit: bearing in mind that "skill unlocks" are very weak overall). Considering most of the game is played at levels 1 thru 10 (YMMV), most characters will have about three to six feats available, and a lot of competition for those slots. Like, using the Heal skill to heal yourself isn't needed while magical healing is available; and the Steal maneuver is rare enough that I wouldn't want to sink feats into that.

And keep things simple. A feat like "don't provoke when standing up from prone" or "gain a 20' climb speed" is better than adding a roll or a calculation based on skill ranks (and I don't see anything overpowered about those two examples, either). HTH.