Skill points per level with negative INT modifier


Rules Questions


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Hey all,

I've asked two of the more experience Pathfinder/d20 GMs at my PbP site and I've gotten two different answers to this question. I've also googled around and seen different people do the calculations a bit differently.

Scenario:
Class: Fighter
Level: 1
Int: 7 (-2)
Skill Points: 2 + INT Modifier

The Rules:
#1: "your character always gets at least 1 skill point per level" Pathfinder OGC
#2: Favored Class option of +1 skill per level
#3: Humans receive +1 skill per level

The characters:
1: Non-human
2: Non-human w/favored class skill point
3: Human
4: Human w/favored class skill point

*****************************
Option A: Doing class skill points first, then adding human bonus, then adding fav class bonus

A1) If non-human: 1 skill point per level
Math: 2 + (-2) = 0 = 1 min

A2) If non-human and uses favored class skill point: 2 skill points per level
Math: 2 + (-2) = 0 = 1 min + 1 favclass = 2

A3) If human: 2 skill points per level
Math: 2 + (-2) = 0 = 1 min + 1 human = 2

A4) If human and uses favored class skill point: 3 skill points per level
Math: 2 + (-2) = 0 = 1 min + 1 human + 1 favclass = 3

*****************************
Option B: Doing all calculations at same time

B1) If non-human: 1 skill point per level
Math: 2 + (-2) = 0 = 1 min

B2) If non-human and uses favored class skill point: 1 skill points per level
Math: 2 + (-2) + 1 favclass = 1

B3) If human: 1 skill points per level
Math: 2 + (-2) + 1 human = 1

B4) If human and uses favored class skill point: 2 skill points per level
Math: 2 + (-2) + 1 human + 1 favclass = 2

*****************************

Is there a definite ruling on this other than home/local rules? I've searched everywhere, but I can't find out if the racial bonus and favored class skill point are added after the class skill calculation or during the calculation.


INT 7 gives you a -2 modifier, not -4!

Otherwise: Its one point from class & INT, and two points from favoured class and human, so three points.

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Quick nitpick: a 7 Int is only a -2 modifier. It doesn't actually change any of your math.

I believe that bonus points are applied after the Int penalty, so your option A is correct, but I don't have a citation on that near to hand.

edit: completely ninja'd!


Apply negative modifiers as normal, but if you had a character who's int modifier brought him lower than 1, you still get a minimum of one skill point per level before adding favored class if you wanted.


I've updated the math. I had used -4 instead of -2 for INT modifier, so now the numbers are updated.

Dark Archive

It's been ruled. Basically you just take the class + int, minimum 1, and add bonuses. It can be a bit of a cheat for those with 2 skill points, as dropping to 7 affords no larger penalties than a 9 (as you probably don't take int skills with this guy anyway and most int skills can't be used untrained).

So, regular 1 (even if you somehow had 3 int), +1 if you are human, +1 if you use favored class. So a human with 7 int and favored class gets 3 skill points per level.


Thalin wrote:

It's been ruled. Basically you just take the class + int, minimum 1, and add bonuses. It can be a bit of a cheat for those with 2 skill points, as dropping to 7 affords no larger penalties than a 9 (as you probably don't take int skills with this guy anyway and most int skills can't be used untrained).

So, regular 1 (even if you somehow had 3 int), +1 if you are human, +1 if you use favored class. So a human with 7 int and favored class gets 3 skill points per level.

Do you know if that rule is documented in errata?

Dark Archive

It's not; basically James Jacob has just come on the forums and told the order of operations. It's the most intuitive way, but the fact that it has been brought up enough times indicates it should be clarified somewhere "official". Someone may be able to find one of the threads James has come on and talked about this.


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Thalin wrote:
It's not; basically James Jacob has just come on the forums and told the order of operations. It's the most intuitive way, but the fact that it has been brought up enough times indicates it should be clarified somewhere "official". Someone may be able to find one of the threads James has come on and talked about this.

Thanks. After quite a bit of searching, I found his response to a similar question.

http://paizo.com/forums/dmtz2b8s&sort=0?Dumb-Humans-and-skills#10

I agree that it should be added to the errata or FAQ. Order of operations is important when doing calculations like this which has a minimum value implemented.


The formula for figuring skill points is Class Skill Points + Int Mod per level (minimum 1).

The Human bonus and the Favored class bonus are not part of this formula. The are additional abilities/adders.


Excellent! That makes Int dumpstatted fighters, paladins, clerics & sorcerers even more attractive.

Dark Archive

Cha-dumping is even better; at least int dump costs something :).

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Axl wrote:

Excellent! That makes Int dumpstatted fighters, paladins, clerics & sorcerers even more attractive.

Careful on the clerics! People will expect you to be able to make those Knowledge(Religion) checks!

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