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View Full Version : Versatile...whatever?



JellyPooga
2008-02-29, 09:16 PM
A feat I very much like is Versatile Performer (Complete Adventurer), but I was thinking; what about a similar Feat for other Skills...nominally Craft, Profession and potentially Knowledge?

I came up with the idea whilst designing a character who is essentially a master craftsman of all disciplines (in a very Leonardo daVinci style)...I found that even taking classes that have 8+Int skill points/level with an insanely high Int, that there weren't enough skill points to go around all the Crafts that I wanted him to have and be a master of those Crafts (as opposed to being a JoAT, MoN). So many of the Crafts are similar and don't synergise to each other (e.g. Blacksmith/Weaponsmith/Armoursmith are all essentially forge-work), so I thought it not unreasonable to perhaps apply a Feat much like Versatile Performer to them.

Thoughts?

Bag_of_Holding
2008-02-29, 09:30 PM
Versatile Performer is all right (meaning 'not game-breaking') because the Perform skill's diversity itself is more fluff-based than effect-based. On the other hand, skills such as Craft and Knowledge skills all have different effects that are more than just fluff.

Being good at playing many different types of musical instruments doesn't change any real game-based values, but Knowledge and Craft skills do. Archivists and Artificers are the prime examples of how to abuse those two skills (Archivist for making Dark Knowledge checks and Artificer for crafting homunculus/various items with ranks in just one skill!). On the other hand, the effect of bardic music is just the same whether you play a trumpet or a lute.

Personally, I'd strongly object to applying similar feats to Craft and Knowledge checks. Profession skills may not be too game-breaking though.

nargbop
2008-03-01, 02:21 PM
As BoH mentioned, the different forms of Craft are much more independently powerful than the different forms of Perform. It all depends on how wide-ranging your game is. For instance, with a significant craft(metalworking) check you can make Clockroaches, which are very fun acid-spitting stupid guardians. With a significant craft(traps) you can lure your enemies into an almost-undetectable punji pit. With craft(sandwich) you can please the gods themselves.

I don't like the rules for wizards crafting magical weapons, armor, and other items. I haven't found a good solution besides "OK, it takes you a month and the daily help of Master Mangar the swordsmith, but you manage to bang out a sword of appropriate power to your caster level." Wizards DON'T GET ENOUGH SKILL POINTS to have the reasonable requirement of craft(metalworking) to make their magic weapons. Oh well. D&D is imperfect.

[EDIT] An appropriate homebrewed feat would be: Expert Craftsman. Requires 10 (any one craft) and 15 (total craft ranks). Benefit : add half of your highest craft ranks to any craft check in which you have ranks.
This way, your character who has obviously been in many factories and workshops, solved hundreds of different problems in different trades, and can converse in the guild-speak of several production types, can be generally competent at making stuff. Competent, not excellent.

Sstoopidtallkid
2008-03-02, 03:24 AM
[EDIT] An appropriate homebrewed feat would be: Expert Craftsman. Requires 10 (any one craft) and 15 (total craft ranks). Benefit : add half of your highest craft ranks to any craft check in which you have ranks.To a maximum total craft of your highest craft skill.

In simple terms, you can add half your highest craft to a check, but the check cannot have more craft ranks than your highest craft skill.