[3.5] Profession Skills

[Macchu Picchu]

My new D&D group would like clarification on Profession skills please. Such as, would Profession (herbalist) have any use? Or Profession (fisher)? And would fisher be good for my friends aquatic PC?

[SamsDisciple]

Mostly for knowledge of how to do things. In my campaigns we normally start with a non adventurer life and have professions to earn a living. I would give bonuses to someone with profession Fisher to things like spot, swim, and craft underwater basket weaving according to the points invested in the profession

[LibraryOgre]

Profession skills are kind of an iffy bit in the rules. Unlike Craft skills, they seldom have a defined benefit or use for an adventurer. As such, they tend to be either "lifestyle points" (things you spend to round out characters or meet PrC requirements) or, in my case, "synergy whoring".

That said, I would allow Profession (Herbalist) to add a +2 synergy bonus to Healing and Cooking, and probably also allow such a bonus to creating poisons with an herbal component. Profession (Fisherman) would give a bonus to Survival (Hey, you can fish!), knot tying, and even small boat sailing.

[Volos]

Profession (Sailor) is an absolute must if your going into Naval combat. It is one of the few cases that I can recall of a Profression skill actually being useful. It's limited to navagating ships in and out of combat, but if you know you're going to be on the waves alot then why make a land lover instead of an old sea dog?

[HalfDragonCube]

One thing that occurs to me is the Profession(siege engineer) skill.

DC 15 to operate a catapult.

Anyone got any uses for a catapult?

Also, Goliath with powerful build trait and a ballista.

Crunch!

[Thurbane]

From a list I complied a while back:

Feats:
{table]Attune Gem|Craft (gemcutting) X ranks|Mag
Craft Talisman|*|OA
Create Crystal Weapon|Craft (weaponsmithing) X ranks|?
Expert Siege Engineer|Profession (siege engineer) 8 ranks|HB
Extraordinary Trapsmith|Craft (trapmaking) 9 ranks|RDr
Great Captain|Profession (sailor) 8 ranks|Sto
Inscribe Rune|*|PG
Mad Alchemist|Craft (alchemy) 6 ranks|PH2
Old Salt|Profession (sailor) 5 ranks|Sto
Poison Expert|Craft (poison) 8 ranks|CS
Poison Master|Craft (poison) 8 ranks|CS
Runesmith|Craft (runes) 4 ranks|Rac
Sailor's Balance|Profession (sailor) 4 ranks|Sto
Ship's Mage |Profession (sailor) 2 ranks|Sto
Tattoo Magic|Craft (calligraphy) or Craft (painting)|Rac
Trophy Collector|Craft (taxidermy) 6 ranks|PH2[/table]

Prestige Classes:
{table]Alchemist Savant|Craft (alchemy) 8 ranks|MoE
Annointed Knight|Craft (alchemy) 5 ranks|BE
Battlesmith|Craft (armorsmithing or weaponsmithing) 10 ranks|RS
Dark Hunter|Craft (trapmaking) 5 ranks|CW
Dread Pirate|Profession (sailor) 8 ranks|CAd
Dungeon Delver|Craft (stonemasonry) 5 ranks|CAd
Effigy Master|Craft (leatherworking or metalworking or woodworking) 10 ranks|CAr
Exotic Weapon Master|Craft (weaponsmith) 3 ranks|CW
Fatespinner|Profession (gambler) 8 ranks|CAr
Hammer of Moradin|Craft (weaponsmith) 10 ranks|PG
Luckstealer|Profession (gambler) 9 ranks|RW
Maester|Craft (any) 8 ranks|CAd
Monk of the Long Death|Craft (alchemy) 5 ranks, Craft (poison) 7 ranks|PG
Morninglord of Lathander|Craft (any) 4 ranks|PG
Order of the Bow Initiate|Craft (bowmaking) 5 ranks|CW
Reforged|Craft or Profession 8 ranks|RE
Sublime Chord|Profession (astrologer) 6 ranks|CAr
War Weaver|Craft (weaving) 6 ranks|HB
[/table]

[Marnath]

One of the old 3.0 books, Arms & Equipment guide or Enemies & Allies(Friends & Enemies? I don't remember the exact title) has a big table of profession skills and a corresponding salary.

[BIGMamaSloth]

One of the old 3.0 books, Arms & Equipment guide or Enemies & Allies(Friends & Enemies? I don't remember the exact title) has a big table of profession skills and a corresponding salary.

I wouldn't mind seeing that table. Does anyone know the actual book?

[Salbazier]

Yes, that's Arms & Equipment guide. Don't have i with me right now, but I use the remember use that list for... something a while ago

[Thurbane]

The Profession (X) skills mentioned in A&EG are - architect, armorer, cartographer, cleaner, clerk, cook, embalmer, engineer, hairdresser, launderer, maid, masseuse, midwife, miner, nursemaid, pilot, sailor & scribe.

[Marnath]

The Profession (X) skills mentioned in A&EG are - architect, armorer, cartographer, cleaner, clerk, cook, embalmer, engineer, hairdresser, launderer, maid, masseuse, midwife, miner, nursemaid, pilot, sailor & scribe.

Must be the other book then, because while I don't remember the whole list, I do remember it was like two pages long and goldsmith was on it.

[PetterTomBos]

In my campaigns I usually hand out profession skills as rewards for good backstory. So if the players want to have a detailed character with a history of making shoes, mechanically they can!

And profession sailer can be really useful for naval travel. Imagine the PCs rushing before an invading army by sailing trough a non-traversable underwater river, trough the mountains! (And imagine the monsters down there .)

[Thurbane]

BTW, the next time I take a character with skill points to spare, I am so taking Profession (masseuse)!

[SamsDisciple]

In my current campaign my dm let all of us take a free craft/perform/profession skill with ranks at our level so we have a Singer, a masseuse, a CEO of a now global corporation, a pianist, and a nondenominational funeral rites professional. The extra skills have added a fun extra something to the roleplaying

[hamishspence]

Must be the other book then, because while I don't remember the whole list, I do remember it was like two pages long and goldsmith was on it.

It was Arms and Equipment Guide (p62-63)

However- Goldsmith, and Silversmith, were Craft, not Profession:

Craft (goldsmithing) and Craft (silversmithing)

The full list of Profession skills in that section had:

Profession(architect)
Profession(butler)
Profession(clerk)
Profession(hairdresser)
Profession(cook)
Profession(embalmer)
Profession(engineer)
Profession(launderer)
Profession(maid)
Profession(masseuse)
Profession(midwife)
Profession(nursemaid)
Profession(sailor)
Profession(scribe)

But, it also said that "unless otherwise specified, assume that the hireling also has the Profession skill in his related field. So an armorer would have Craft (armorsmithing) as his primary skill, governing hs ability to manufacture armor, and Profession (armorer) for his knowledge of the field, types of armor, and so on.

Expanding the potential Profession list considerably.

(EDIT:- Profession (Pilot) was also mentioned in the vehicles section- but I'm not sure where Miner came from- maybe an item that granted a bonus to Profession (miner) checks?)

[Gamer Girl]

My new D&D group would like clarification on Profession skills please. Such as, would Profession (herbalist) have any use? Or Profession (fisher)? And would fisher be good for my friends aquatic PC?

In my groups we use the Profession skills all the time. The Profession skills show how much your character knows about things and how good they are at things.

Most of my players take hunting, fishing or farming so they can feed themselves. I don't keep a strict food notes, but it makes good flavor when a character fishes for a couple hours to stock up on food.

Profession covers huge areas of information, but not book information like the knowledge skills. For example, can a character tell two different types of cattle apart. They can if they have a rank on herder or farmhand.

A lot of times in the game things will come up and the question will be does the character know anything about it. A lot of DM's just wing it and assume the character is a genius or just go for a bland ability roll. But professions offer you a way to do what a character knows.

Samples:

*Cook-other then preparing food, they would know basic food information(like how to tell if a foodstuff is spoiled or still good DC10) and what types of food are poisonous or harmful(DC15).

*Lumberjack-can cut down a tree safely, plus they would know basic tree information and can identify different types of trees and know witch type of trees/wood are better for different things(all DC10s)

*Scribe-can write neatly, also can identify handwriting(DC12) make simple forgeries(DC15) and know how to spell.


And for adventures, Professions come in handy to notice strange things. such as when your in a mine shaft and it suddenly stops at a dead end, a mining profession check can tel you what is going on. Or if a mimic is a door, a lumberjack might get a clue about the 'odd wood' of the door.

[Narren]

From a list I complied a while back:

Feats:
{table]Attune Gem|Craft (gemcutting) X ranks|Mag
Craft Talisman|*|OA
Create Crystal Weapon|Craft (weaponsmithing) X ranks|?
Expert Siege Engineer|Profession (siege engineer) 8 ranks|HB
Extraordinary Trapsmith|Craft (trapmaking) 9 ranks|RDr
Great Captain|Profession (sailor) 8 ranks|Sto
Inscribe Rune|*|PG
Mad Alchemist|Craft (alchemy) 6 ranks|PH2
Old Salt|Profession (sailor) 5 ranks|Sto
Poison Expert|Craft (poison) 8 ranks|CS
Poison Master|Craft (poison) 8 ranks|CS
Runesmith|Craft (runes) 4 ranks|Rac
Sailor's Balance|Profession (sailor) 4 ranks|Sto
Ship's Mage |Profession (sailor) 2 ranks|Sto
Tattoo Magic|Craft (calligraphy) or Craft (painting)|Rac
Trophy Collector|Craft (taxidermy) 6 ranks|PH2[/table]

Prestige Classes:
{table]Alchemist Savant|Craft (alchemy) 8 ranks|MoE
Annointed Knight|Craft (alchemy) 5 ranks|BE
Battlesmith|Craft (armorsmithing or weaponsmithing) 10 ranks|RS
Dark Hunter|Craft (trapmaking) 5 ranks|CW
Dread Pirate|Profession (sailor) 8 ranks|CAd
Dungeon Delver|Craft (stonemasonry) 5 ranks|CAd
Effigy Master|Craft (leatherworking or metalworking or woodworking) 10 ranks|CAr
Exotic Weapon Master|Craft (weaponsmith) 3 ranks|CW
Fatespinner|Profession (gambler) 8 ranks|CAr
Hammer of Moradin|Craft (weaponsmith) 10 ranks|PG
Luckstealer|Profession (gambler) 9 ranks|RW
Maester|Craft (any) 8 ranks|CAd
Monk of the Long Death|Craft (alchemy) 5 ranks, Craft (poison) 7 ranks|PG
Morninglord of Lathander|Craft (any) 4 ranks|PG
Reforged|Craft or Profession 8 ranks|RE
Sublime Chord|Profession (astrologer) 6 ranks|CAr
War Weaver|Craft (weaving) 6 ranks|HB
[/table]

Does Order of the Bow Initiate have a Craft (bowyer) requirement?

[Thurbane]

Does Order of the Bow Initiate has a Craft (bowyer) requirement?

Yes indeed - good catch.

[Talbot]

My current character has many ranks in Profession: Detective. I don't think I ever go more than a session or two without using it for something. It also makes a wonderful plothook for the DM, as NPCs frequently come to me (as well they should; I'm a detective) with missing persons and such. The higher my ranks get, the better my cases/leads seem to be.

In terms of mechanical benefits, I dunno exactly what my DM is applying it to, but if *I* were the DM I'd apply it situationally to certain Gather Info, Spot, Search, and possibly Bluff or Diplomacy checks that seem particularly in-line with what a detective would do (looking for clues, figuring out who the major players in a given criminal subculture are, etc.)

[ericgrau]

Ya that's the thing with profession. It makes you pay for backstory or it overlaps with other skills or it applies to something useless. The "overlaps with other skills" is probably your best bet. Otherwise if it has little use except for backstory I'd give it for free without involving skills.

[Thurbane]

I've houserules synergies for Profession before. FOr instance, Profession (hunter) 5 ranks might get you a +2 bonus to tracking checks.

[Narren]

Ya that's the thing with profession. It makes you pay for backstory or it overlaps with other skills or it applies to something useless. The "overlaps with other skills" is probably your best bet. Otherwise if it has little use except for backstory I'd give it for free without involving skills.

I used to give my players 4 points at character creation for any profession or craft skill to represent a hobby or previous occupation.

[Curmudgeon]

Profession is all about earning money when you're not out adventuring. That's pretty much it.

[kaiguy]

Profession is all about earning money when you're not out adventuring. That's pretty much it.

I disagree just slightly - profession, in the core rules, is all about earning money. What the skill can be, in the hands of a creative group, is a lot more.

[CAHaugen]

One thing that occurs to me is the Profession(siege engineer) skill.

With +4 Ranks in Profession(Siege Engineer), you can also gain the Feat; Destructive.

It allows you to make Critical Hits and Precision Damage on both constructs and inanimate objects. So you can sunder down a reinforced steel gate and if you happen to roll a 20, you deal Critical. Or, if you are the Rogue type, you can deal Sneak Attack Damage on a construct. Pretty awesome if you are going to be up against a lot of them in your campaign.

It's from the NBoF, so certain DMs may not allow it.

[AlienOverlord]

I just use the Profession skill *unspecified.* For my campaigns, it is JUST a way for players to make money using the skills they have. It equates to "Business Sense."

[oxybe]

I disagree just slightly - profession, in the core rules, is all about earning money. What the skill can be, in the hands of a creative group, is a lot more.

yes but the same could be said about any rule though. in the hands of a creative group the not-drowning swimming skill could be much more, but by the books the profession skill is a way for PCs to make a pittance in a week when not adventuring, synergy or as a prereq.

I've tripped over more gold by accident in an adventure for level 1 PCs.

I take it if I have some leftover skill points, but that's it. Most characters tend to have better use for their few skill points, like the aforementionned not drowning skill, the not-get-jumped-by-goblins skill or the oh-crud-hope-they-can't-find-me-behind-this-adventurer-shaped-lamp skill.

It has it's place but unlike most skills it has to actively work to make it's place.

[tadkins]

I picture having someone with Profession: Miner would be pretty handy in the event of a rockslide or cave-in.

[Greenish]

Someone has been putting points in Profession (Thread Necromancer).