Dang Fool's page

Sometimes you look at something you've seen before one hundred times, but it just looks wrong today. I've seen plenty of feats, but I was looking at the Academy Graduate from the Savage Tide Player's Guide today and something struck me this time: You rarely see a Feat that makes some skill always a class skill in future. But why not?

Well, when you're taking a new different class there's an explanation why an old skill is now cross-class or prohibited that runs something like you need to practice related skills, not tinker around and improve some old unrelated skill.

So the logic behind Academy Graduate implies, Yes, but thanks to your superior education, you can continue studying old skills (provided those were among the Charisma- or Intelligence-based skills you selected).

Are there game balance issues I'm missing should there be new feats like:

Back Alley Child
You were raised in the back alleys and this School of Hard Knocks leaves you adept at learning urban survival skills.
Benefits: You gain a +2 bonus on either Gather Information or Sense Motive checks. In addition, these two skills are always considered class skills for you.

Back Woods Rockhopper
You were raised in the back of beyond hopping around the crags and this experience leaves you adept at improving such skills.
Benefits: You gain a +2 bonus on either Climbing or Jumping checks. In addition, these two skills are always considered class skills for you.

A Feat that grants two +2 skill improvements plus class skill status seems too much and without at least one, seems too strict for 1st level selection. Perhaps they should be restricted to First Level selection only? I'm deliberating pushing the difference between Intelligence-based skills and something else with Rockhopper. Can this be justified in game-balance terms? What do others think?

The next morning found the adventurers asking questions of the Headmistress of the orphanage. The most obvious lead from their questions was based that all locks at the orphanage coming from the same locksmith, Keygan Ghelve.

When they returned, they pressured the locksmith into allowing them in past the curtain behind him. They weren’t passed it very long before the fight broke out. Ghelve conjured a flash of colors that stunned a pair of the adventurers. Some dark creature dropped from the balcony into combat with those still standing. By the time the interloper was slain, the locksmith had disappeared. A search found things of value, but not answers. The entire shop and living quarters above were given a deeper search, with only a map turned up, one supposedly describing the lost Gnome city of Jzadirune, and a hidden, secret door.

The team was very confused how the locksmith managed to disappear. It took an extended search to find the secret door he must have used. This put them in mind to search for secret doors more often.

Since the locksmith still hadn’t returned, it was decided to explore the stairs behind the secret door. A long staircase with two turns at landings led to a large room with giggling masks. Instead of exploring any of the exits from the room, the adventurers returned back to the last landing where a well hidden secret room had been passed by. The hidden room had a pit trap, which was discouraging, but with their perseverance, the team discovered another secret door.

They had found the secret door, but wanted to see the first room at the bottom of the stairs, before backing up.

This time when the adventurers opened a secret door, they were the ones surprised from the other side. Two hobgoblins threw spears and wore armor that turned many of their attacks, but in the end the hobgoblins were killed and one of the church’s potions had been used to heal. A handful of coins were taken, but later the adventurers returned with the idea of recovering the armor, and found the bodies gone.

Inexperience shows. It's a lesson they can learn from.

The room the hobgoblins had been guarding turned out to be an elevator, a wooden platform and chains that could be lowered deeper into the earth. When the platform reached its bottom, the team had learned to spend extra time searching for more secret doors, and another was found. This room held the controls for returning to the upper levels. It was reassuring to know that should they need to retreat quickly, they already knew how to raise the elevator.

The obvious exit led to large room with empty cages and a strange sculpture. As they approached the possible statute, they were surprised to discovered it to be a monster, ready to fight. Their attacks seemed to have little effect. After only a short time, another creature emerged from a side door to join the battle, a huge, filthy Ogre. With solid teamwork, the party defeated the monsters. Beneath the garbage strewn about the Ogre’s room was found an iron chest. It was the rogue that unlocked the chest to reveal over 80 pounds of coins. As the party was out of spells and needed to carry the chest, it was decided to return to the surface and come back to explore again, refreshed in the morning.

It was a good place to stop and allow them to finish leveling up, sell loot and restock. The Rogue really needed to worry less about combat, so he selected a level of Fighter, which also qualified him for the Weapon Finesse feat and greatly improved his combat ability. Meanwhile the Paladin decided his 2nd level would be as Sorceror. The Barbarian and the 9 year old Fighter's just picked up a second level in their same level.