[4e] Skill powers

[Blackdrop]

Skill Powers

Another reason I can't wait for PHB 3. These look pretty sweet.

Crosspost from the Wizard Community forums

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Essentially, you can take these powers in place of any utility power from your class, so as long as you are trained in its corresponding skill. For example:


Agile Recovery, Acrobatics Utility 2
With a quick leap, you are back on your feet and ready to act.
At-Will, Minor Action, Personal
Effect: You stand up.

Welp, there go those Acrobat Boots.


Arcane Mutterings, Arcana Utility 2
You launch into a recitation of obscure lore on a subject to impress, cow, or trick your audience.
Encounter, Free Action, Personal
Trigger: You would make a Bluff, a Diplomacy, or an Intimidate check
Effect: You make an Arcana check in place of the Bluff, Diplomacy, or Intimidate check.

Hooray for those boosting Arcana for Sage of Ages and whatnot.


Perfect Recall, History Utility 2
At-Will, Free Action, Personal
Trigger: You would make an Intelligence check
Effect: You make a History check in place of the Intelligence check.

Well, I guess you can combine this with Bracers of Mental Might to bust down a wall with the sheer power of history...


Anticipate Maneuver, Insight Utility 2
You read your opponent like an open book and outsmart it.
Encounter, Minor Action, Melee 1, Target: One creature
Effect: You make an Insight check opposed by a Bluff check that the target makes as a free action. If your check succeeds, the target grants combat advantage to you until the end of your next turn.

Reverse feinting. Free combat advantage for a melee character with high Wisdom isn't bad for a level 2 encounter utility.


Fast Hands, Thievery Utility 2
Your fingers blur as you manipulate objects faster than the eye can follow.
At-Will, Free Action (Special), Personal
Effect: You draw or sheathe a weapon, pick up an item in your space or adjacent to it, or retrieve or stow an item.
Special: You can use this power only once per round.

Too bad Disembodied Hands and Rakshasa Claws beat it.


Insightful Comment, Insight Utility 10
You assess the situation and offer words of advice that guide the conversation in a fruitful direction.
Encounter, Minor Action, Close burst 5
Target: You and each ally in burst
Effect: Until the end of your next turn, each target gains a bonus to Bluff checks, Diplomacy checks, and Intimidate checks equal to your Wisdom modifier.

This is an untyped bonus. This is an untyped bonus.


Snap Out of It, Intimidate Utility 10
A smack across the face brings your ally back to his or her senses.
Encounter, Minor Action, Melee touch
Target: One ally subject to a dazing, dominating, or stunning effect that a save can end
Effect: The target makes a saving throw against the effect.

Hilarious and actually pretty decent for a level 10 utility.


Conviction, Religion Utility 10
You whisper a prayer for aid to overcome hardship.
Encounter, Minor Action, Personal
Effect: You gain a +5 bonus to the next saving throw you make before the start of your next turn.

Fine enough.

What do y'all think?

[loopy]

The "bust down a wall with the sheer power of history" crack had me laughing. I got odd looks from the other people in my uni lecture.

[T.G. Oskar]

First thing it crossed my mind?

"Wait, don't they look like Exalted charms for non-combat abilities?"

Second thought?

"Oh look, yet another thing taken from White Wolf!"

First, the skill challenges. While they are a bit more varied, they use the success/failure rate in a very d20 way. However, you can be sure that uses of Diplomacy turn into social combat, and those rules are quite close to WW rules.

Now, skill powers. You replace utility powers for these powers, which have less strength but can be used a bit more often (so far, they're either at-will or encounter). The feel of some of these powers act like Exalted charms, if only because you can do such charms outside of combat, and at times in a limited way. Not to mention what the powers actually do.

Now, I'm not very experienced in Exalted and I've only read these, but it's reasonable to point that out. Not exactly as I said (I was just joking about how similar they seem, but the powers work in a very different way that's akin to the new rules), but it gives that idea.

Say...is there any other RPG system that uses the same concept as skill powers? Be it tabletop or even MMO?

[Draz74]

... This should have been in the PHB1. That's all I've got to say.

[Doc Roc]

Oh. My God.

This is beautiful! Why in heaven's name wasn't this in core? This is ridiculous. I can't believe we're on PHB3 and these are just coming into being. I'm going to go weep. Weep tears of fury and frustration.

[Burley]

I have mixed feelings about this. Some of them are really lame, and some are really great.
Lame: There's one that lets you roll a History check instead of an Intelligence check. I can't remember a single time ever in the history of 4e that I have rolled a straight Intelligence check. (I mean, there's the DM saying "You're gonna throw a fireball at the enemies when you're all surrounded my lighter fluid and blasting powder? Roll an Int check, DC 2.")
Really Great: There is one for being trained in Heal. As an encounter power, you can recharge your or an allies second wind. I read this and was like... WHAT? I can't even tell you how bombastically awesome that would have been on so freakin' many occasions.

So, you take the good, you the bad, you take them both and there you have the Facts of Skill Powers.

[Kurald Galain]

I have mixed feelings about this. Some of them are really lame, and some are really great.

Yep.

As you say, int checks never come up, really. Spending a power for essentially +5 on them is unimpressive. On the other hand, social checks come up all the time, and I think pretty much every wizard, artificer or swordmage will want that power that lets them use arcana instead.

As to second wind, other than dwarves, people only very rarely ever use second wind in our local games (it's nearly all cases, it's simply not worth giving up your attack for), so I would find recharging it pretty underpowered.

[Yakk]

Lame: There's one that lets you roll a History check instead of an Intelligence check. I can't remember a single time ever in the history of 4e that I have rolled a straight Intelligence check.

I think this lets you substitute your History skill for any other Intelligence skill.
Or an Intelligence attack roll.
Because attack rolls are intelligence checks, as are skill rolls.

I might be missing a clause that makes this not work.

Really Great: There is one for being trained in Heal. As an encounter power, you can recharge your or an allies second wind. I read this and was like... WHAT? I can't even tell you how bombastically awesome that would have been on so freakin' many occasions.

Time Out only works on an adjacent ally. It doesn't work on yourself.

[Artanis]

A couple random comments:

Invigorating Presence could be nice for a Warden and/or Dwarf, since they're likely to actually use their Second Wind every now and then.

My current party would love Uncanny Instincts when combined with my Ranger's stupidly high passive perception

[Rockphed]

Any barbarian I ever play will have the "Snap out of it" power. Dealing a fist to the skull whenever my allies get dominated by nymphs will definitely be worth it.

[Mando Knight]

Any barbarian I ever play will have the "Snap out of it" power. Dealing a fist to the skull whenever my allies get dominated by nymphs will definitely be worth it.

In that case, I think a pull by the ear would work better.

[Yakk]

Invigorating Presence could be nice for a Warden and/or Dwarf, since they're likely to actually use their Second Wind every now and then.

It is actually poor for a dwarf. Note that it is a standard action to use your second wind.

[Artanis]

*facepalm*

I somehow managed to miss that the power itself was a standard action. Still not bad for a Warden though.

[Sipex]

I like these, I think I'd houserule that the int->history check works when making KNOWLEDGE checks, not just plain INT checks.

That way it makes sense.

[Kurald Galain]

I think this lets you substitute your History skill for any other Intelligence skill.
Or an Intelligence attack roll.
Because attack rolls are intelligence checks, as are skill rolls.

No, they're not. A skill check is not an intelligence check, and attacks are consistently titled "rolls", not checks.

[DarknessLord]

Bright Slap is now an official DnD power.

That is awesome.

[tbarrie]

I think this lets you substitute your History skill for any other Intelligence skill.
Or an Intelligence attack roll.
Because attack rolls are intelligence checks, as are skill rolls.

I might be missing a clause that makes this not work.

Well, there's the common sense argument that they're not going to print a level 2 at-will utility power that gives low-level Wizards a +5 to hit with all spells.

The only time I can think of when a flat Intelligence check is likely is if you want to see whether your character remembers some detail that the player has forgotten (or that didn't seem important enough at the time for the DM to mention). And given the name ("Perfect Recall") and flavour text of this power, I wouldn't be surprised if this was what the developers had in mind.

[cdrcjsn]

This is beautiful! Why in heaven's name wasn't this in core? This is ridiculous. I can't believe we're on PHB3 and these are just coming into being. I'm going to go weep. Weep tears of fury and frustration.

True. Then again, what would you want to drop out of PHB1 or PHB2 to add these in?

[Dublock]

True. Then again, what would you want to drop out of PHB1 or PHB2 to add these in?

They could have just added it, PHB2 was pretty small.

[Yakk]

Isn't it an encounter power?

So once per encounter, you get a +5 bonus to a single attack roll or int-based skill check (or +8 for 2 feats) as a level 2 utility power.

D&DI is down. Sigh.

[Kurald Galain]

Isn't it an encounter power?

Yes, but +5 to one attack roll once per encounter is massively overpowered compared to other heroic-level utility powers, feats, or items.

(it's also +8 for one feat, not two; the power doesn't take a feat to obtain)

[TheEmerged]

Hmm, guess they finally listened to the complaint about utility powers being lackluster for some classes/concepts.

And skill/ability checks come up as often as the DM wants them too

[Fixer]

Say...is there any other RPG system that uses the same concept as skill powers? Be it tabletop or even MMO?

Actually, this looks VERY similar to the Force Powers in Saga. When I was first reading it, that is what it looked like to me.

As Use the Force is a skill in that game.

[Colmarr]

I like these a lot conceptually. Not so sure mechanically.

Conceptually, I love the fact that they allow you to break out of class roles that 4e is otherwise pretty strict on. They go a long way to address the "edition war" argument that 4e only allows for cookie-cutter characters.

A fighter with a few of the Heal skill powers actually makes a pretty decent backup healer.

[FoE]

I think "Snap out of It" is the most impressive. Especially with the discussion we had the other day about the prevalence of stunning in the game.

Also, makes for a great Airplane reference.

They definitely could have gotten this in PHB II. I barely skimmed that portion on background-related skills.

[tbarrie]

Isn't [Perfect Recall] an encounter power?

No. It's At-Will.

And honestly, if it worked on Int attacks, it would still be too strong even as an encounter power.