So, I've been reviewing the skills and the skill system of having a base skill, plus sub skill, plus specialty and have a few observations to offer:
Somehow you double-posted this. I removed the second copy of this post.
-Why not just eliminate Acrobatics and make it a specialty of Athletics? Skills are "unlocked: from stats: which means you could essentially lump Acrobatics in as a specialty of Athletics and that would be more efficient than having a separate single use skill.
Trying to remember why I had them seperated out in the first place. I think that it might have been something to do with the stats or possibly something to wanting to make sure that acrobatics could be Favored while the others were not.
However, in looking at this and thinking about it. I have come up with an alternative version of how to handle Specialty skills (and yes, Acrobatics would roll into Athletics.....). I will start a seperate thread laying out the idea.....
-For gameplay purposes I think it would be more player friendly to classify both Foraging & Survival as subskills based on environment, not region, then allow players to use their Home Region Lore skill to add to this. Characters are supposed to be travelers and explorers, basing the skills off of specific regions doesn't really reflect this IMO.
Well the intention was that "Home Region" meant more along the lines of like "temperate forests" as opposed to "sub-tropical swamps", not just the "ye olde forest where I grew up", so I already agree here. Perhaps my phrasing and terminology needs adjusting. I can easily see that if you took it in a much more narrow definition than I intended.
-Thievery: There is a bonus of +1 for every 4 ranks in skill to finding and building traps. Firstly, I think this should be +1/5 ranks if it's used.
every 5 ranks -- good catch.
Secondly, I like the idea of using a "crossover" bonus for related skills to encourage diversification: so, why not make it a standard GM option so that players/GMs have a base mechanics to rely on? I can see a bunch of reasonable and practical applications.....
- 5 Ranks of Search adding +1 Tracking or Influence
- 5 Ranks of Survival adding +1 to Foraging or Tracking
- 5 Ranks of Streetwise adding to Stealth (in a city)
This approach further expands on the idea of unlocking skills from stats and encourages creativity while removing a roll. We have skill ranks maximums in place that would regulate this already (1 per 20 CP). Any thoughts?
This idea can and actually does dove-tail nicely with the Bonus Roll (where Character A makes a skill roll in an attempt to help Character B do something)
And thinking about it even more, it occurs to me that this could also be handled in the same manner the the Non-Proficiency Bonus (i.e. this would be a Related Skill Bonus -- for most it would be +1/5ranks, but for some, who focus on such skills, it would be a+1/4 ranks).
Then, we could give each Training Path 2 or 3 Focus Skills, which would receive +1/4rnks for related skill....
Note: this idea DOES need a good bit more thought before implementation though....
