Fimir's page

First of all a question: What was the problem with Manyshot in D&D 3.5 to rewrite it completely in Pathfinder? Forgive me if I missed previous discussions on that.

The Manyshot feat as it is now gives too much power to Archer archetypes too soon, especially when combined with the new feat Deadly Aim.

At level 6, by combining Manyshot with Rapid shot, an archer can shoot 4 arrows with a minimum of feats. Only a -2 penalty from rapid shot applies. Only disadvantage with manyshot added is that the extra arrow can have no sneak or crit damage. It seems that 4 arrows a round is very strong compared to a melee fighter who takes much higher risk in close combat and has to get by with 2 attacks. The alternative being a heavy investment in 2 weapon feats with higher prereqs and penalties.

I would propose to at least put prereqs on Manyshot so that it can not be taken before level 11-15. Then it would still be very powerfull, but as it is written now, I think it is not very balanced.

I think the swift action is too heavy a requirement for Dodge as it stands now. There are a lot of better uses for a swift action, especially if players have access to items out of Magic Item Compendium, than to get a +1 or +2 bonus to AC.

I would either remove the swift action or improve the Dodge bonus a bit.

I studied the new skill system a bit.
First of all, I'm a big fan of how the new system works, and the combination of skills results in them being more used, which is good in my opinian.

But for some classes the advantage is much higher than for others, and at the same time, some skill combinations have unexpected results for some classes.

I will give an overview of all classes for comparison with a few numbers:
1. How many class skills does the class have in d&d3.5? I excluded Craft, Profession, Knowledges and Perform because they are of lesser importance or have multiple uses.
2. How many class skills does the class have in Pathfinder? I also excluded Craft, Profession, Knowledges and Perform for the same reason.
3. How many ‘class combination’ gains are there. This number represents the number of class skills from D&D 3.5 you don’t have to put skills points into in PF because they were rolled up into a combination skill.
4. Finally a list of the D&D 3.5 skills which have become class skills in PF either by adding them or because they are part of a combination skill in PF which is a class skill. I also excluded Craft, Profession, Knowledges and Perform.

Barbarian 8 / 8 / 0 / Spot, Search, Tumble, Balance
Bard 21 / 14 / 7 / Forgery, Search
Cleric 4 / 6 / 1 / Gather info, Appraise, Speak lang, Forgery, Decipher, Sense Motive
Druid 10 / 9 / 2 / Fly, Search
Fighter 6 / 6 / 0 /
Paladin 6 / 6 / 0 / Gather info
Ranger 14 / 10 / 3 / Intimidate, (- Jump)
Rogue 25 / 16 / 8 / Speak lang
Monk 13 / 9 / 4 / Gather info, Search
Sorcerer 3 / 6 / 1 / Appraise, Fly, Intimidate, Use magic device
Wizard 3 / 4 / 1 / Appraise, Fly, Speak language, Forgery

Comparing column 1 and 2 we see the difference in number of class skills between D&D 3.5 and Pathfinder. A lot of classes have less class skills in which to invest skill points, with serious gains for Rogue, Bard, Ranger and Monk. Also note that the melee classes fighter and paladin have no advantage at all. They already have the least amount of skill points and for them there is no synergy.

Further, the rolling up of Jump into Acrobatics has some strange results: The barbarian can now all of a sudden Tumble through enemy ranks like the best of them. Not exactly what you’d expect Conan to do. But he must be able to make a large jump because he is so strong, that’s for sure. On the other hand the Ranger loses Jump, which is really weird considering that these guys move in wild lands where there is many a creek or crevasse to be jumped.

But I have a proposal to solve the above 3 issues all in one go: A new skill

Athletics (Str) = Swim + Climb + Jump. Class skill for Barbarian, Bard, Druid, Fighter, Mond, Ranger, Rogue.

This would remove Jump from Acrobatics off course. I would add Escape Artist instead. If you are lithe and agile enough to tumble, getting out of bonds or someone else’s grip should be easy as well. And it fits the same classes.

Acrobatics (Dex) = Balance + Escape Artist + Tumble. Class skill for Bard, Monk, Rogue.

The last change I would propose is to roll up Ride with Handle Animal. If the most useful skills Listen, Spot and Search get combined, then why not combine Ride and Handle Animal. All classes which have one of those as class skill also have the other, with the exception of the Monk, and I have no idea why the Monk should have Ride. The only difficulty is finding the correct ability for the combination. I would propose this to remain Charisma, which would be a small bonus for the Paladin, the class most associated with mounted combat.

Handle Animal (Cha) = Handle Animal + Ride. Class skill for Barbarian, Druid, Fighter, Paladin, Ranger.

The above combinations would be very beneficial to the Fighter and Paladin. This would also be a solution for quite a few people who have been voicing that those classes should have more skill points.

To conclude, I would also propose to make Knowledge (Nobility) a class skill for the Fighter. The Fighter is a formally trained warrior, as opposed to the Warrior NPC class. As part of that training, he would need to know about who’s in charge of a nation, and what the colors of the different hireling companies and regular armies are. I find it strange that the cleric would know this and the Fighter not.

Jason, I hope my effort to compile this is of use to you.

And to the community on this board: Please comment and discuss.