Shortening it up, these are the points I disliked about the game and what I think should be done:
1) Universal Wizards getting Wish 1x day at 18th level. I think this is a bit overpowered, this kind of use for wish is too much, the spell should be more restricted on its use, not the contrary.
2) Caught Off-Guard feat. This is a bit cheap, an improvised weapon ends up being better than a normal weapon for most characters (except characters like the fighter who specializes in a few weapons). So you could get a piece of steel, sharpen it and say its an improvised sword, you´d get the same damage, no penalties and an advantage against your opponent.
3) Weapon Swap Feat. Needless to say it´s broken. It allows you to make attacks with only your best weapon while gaining the advantages of only having a light weapon on the off-hand. Whats the point of being "two-weapon" then? One could use any small stick on the off-hand and call it a weapon and never have to use it.
4) Search merged with Perception. Aside from any kind of argument of whether it makes sense or not, the point is that it makes the skill too powerful, it´s like a must-take, one-of-the-most-important-skills-of-the-game; it allows you to notice strange happenings in a room, hear someone sneak up on you, find secret passages, spot someone hiding, find hidden treasures, find traps, etc. It should stand alone or merged with something else.
5) 2 skill points is not enough. Ok, this is very personal, but I always found that 2 skill points is not enough for any class to have something interesting for skills, you end up getting the most necessary basic and that´s it. The sorcerer for example, has to maximize his Spellcraft and Concentration, leaving nothing else for some customization. Personally, i think the minimum for any class should be 3 or 4.
Insights?
For #2, the feat Caught Off Guard is quite weak -- it's only good if the opponent is unarmed (so it doesn't help if the enemy has weapons, manufactured or natural) and usually a magic weapon is beter than anything you can improvise.
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1) Universal Wizards getting Wish 1x day at 18th level. I think this is a bit overpowered, this kind of use for wish is too much, the spell should be more restricted on its use, not the contrary.
I think it's fine. The Paizo version of Wish is just a level 9 Any Spell. It doesn't allow you to create items so that's fine by me.
5) 2 skill points is not enough. Ok, this is very personal, but I always found that 2 skill points is not enough for any class to have something interesting for skills, you end up getting the most necessary basic and that´s it. The sorcerer for example, has to maximize his Spellcraft and Concentration, leaving nothing else for some customization. Personally, i think the minimum for any class should be 3 or 4.
I'd say don't put a 0 score in your Int then. You can only put 1 rank in each skill, each level anyway, so you really can't "maximize" much. Aside from spellcraft, there's no other MUST have class skills anymore for sorcerer. That leaves you with 1 rank if you have an int bonus of 0. Not to mention perception now covers the 3 ranks you would have needed for listen, spot, and search and stealth now covers 2 ranks. I don't see the need for more skillpoints. You actually need LESS skillpoints in 3P then you needed in 3/3.5.
4) Search merged with Perception. Aside from any kind of argument of whether it makes sense or not, the point is that it makes the skill too powerful, it´s like a must-take, one-of-the-most-important-skills-of-the-game; it allows you to notice strange happenings in a room, hear someone sneak up on you, find secret passages, spot someone hiding, find hidden treasures, find traps, etc. It should stand alone or merged with something else.
On the plus side:
- It helps with skill point shortage (your point 5).- It makes the character sheet smaller. Though trivial, that's a big plus for me.
- It takes away the weird distinction between Spot and Search. I never really got why looking for big things uses Spot, and looking for little things uses Search, except when the big thing was a secret door. Is noticing a coin lying on the street a Search or Spot check? Does it change when you actively go looking for it?
As soon as you moved aways from the clearly stated examples (traps vs. hidden creatures), it got strange and confusing.
- The Perception skill IS very powerful, powerful enough even for everyone to consider buying it. If find that's a good thing. It always appeared a bit stupid to me that the 10th level veteran soldier, who has survived two dozen ambushes, travelled half the world, was betrayed by close allies more often than not, got attacked by mimics, shambling mounts, cloakers and drow, at best had a 50/50-chance of spotting that hiding goblin.
Putting search into Disable Device and restricting it to purely mechanical analysis (traps, opening mechanism for secret door) would also have made sense. But some kind of merge is very good.
Shortening it up, these are the points I disliked about the game and what I think should be done:
1) Universal Wizards getting Wish 1x day at 18th level. I think this is a bit overpowered, this kind of use for wish is too much, the spell should be more restricted on its use, not the contrary.
3) Weapon Swap Feat. Needless to say it´s broken. It allows you to make attacks with only your best weapon while gaining the advantages of only having a light weapon on the off-hand. Whats the point of being "two-weapon" then? One could use any small stick on the off-hand and call it a weapon and never have to use it.
It seems to me a wizard could always just learn and prepare Wish anyway. So handing it out as a spell like ability isn't really that big of a deal. We're talkin' 18th level here.
3) Weapon Swap Feat. Needless to say it´s broken. It allows you to make attacks with only your best weapon while gaining the advantages of only having a light weapon on the off-hand. Whats the point of being "two-weapon" then? One could use any small stick on the off-hand and call it a weapon and never have to use it.
I interpreted this as you don't even need the stick. You can attack with one weapon and make all your attacks with one hand and then the other.
One word: Nunchuku
Oh hell yeah, that would totally rock!
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Shortening it up, these are the points I disliked about the game and what I think should be done:
1) Universal Wizards getting Wish 1x day at 18th level. I think this is a bit overpowered, this kind of use for wish is too much, the spell should be more restricted on its use, not the contrary.
2) Caught Off-Guard feat. This is a bit cheap, an improvised weapon ends up being better than a normal weapon for most characters (except characters like the fighter who specializes in a few weapons). So you could get a piece of steel, sharpen it and say its an improvised sword, you´d get the same damage, no penalties and an advantage against your opponent.
3) Weapon Swap Feat. Needless to say it´s broken. It allows you to make attacks with only your best weapon while gaining the advantages of only having a light weapon on the off-hand. Whats the point of being "two-weapon" then? One could use any small stick on the off-hand and call it a weapon and never have to use it.
4) Search merged with Perception. Aside from any kind of argument of whether it makes sense or not, the point is that it makes the skill too powerful, it´s like a must-take, one-of-the-most-important-skills-of-the-game; it allows you to notice strange happenings in a room, hear someone sneak up on you, find secret passages, spot someone hiding, find hidden treasures, find traps, etc. It should stand alone or merged with something else.
5) 2 skill points is not enough. Ok, this is very personal, but I always found that 2 skill points is not enough for any class to have something interesting for skills, you end up getting the most necessary basic and that´s it. The sorcerer for example, has to maximize his Spellcraft and Concentration, leaving nothing else for some customization. Personally, i think the minimum for any class should be 3 or 4.
Insights?
Weapon swap to me always seemed like it would be good for fighting opponents with different DR types. Hold a silver sword in one hand and a cold iron one in the other for those times when you're fighting an evil fey lord and his pet werebeast at the same time.
For #2, the feat Caught Off Guard is quite weak -- it's only good if the opponent is unarmed (so it doesn't help if the enemy has weapons, manufactured or natural) and usually a magic weapon is beter than anything you can improvise.
Ok, this I believe might make sense, when you think about it, the opponent is unarmed, so you get an advantage; ok, it bothers me less now. And for opponents that are trained at fighting unarmed, the rules consider them armed for that matter.
But the Magic Weapon thing didnt help, you could still enchant your improvised weapon, it would be weird, but possible.For the others, I still think Perception should be divided, c´mon, Search+Spot+Listen, it´s the mother of all skills. Like I said before, it´s not even the fact that Search is Int based, or that it is too different from the other two, the point is that it makes the skill too powerful. Citing the fighter as said, he gets 2 skill points, enough for Perception (Spot+Listen) and Search if you want.
Wish as a special ability is too much, what is the wiz like, a Genie now?
The biggest problem for my group and I is search being rolled into perception, especially since wisdom is the key ability for perception while intelligence is the key ability for search. We had to make them separate so our rogue could actually find traps. It's difficult to have good ability scores in Dex, Int, AND Wis. Of course, Cha can also be important for a rogue (bluff, use magic device), so things get even worse.
Another thing one of my players noticed is the rules do not address taking time to search an area over a period of time. For instance, what if a party needs to search to look for clues at a crime scene, uncover secrets in an ancient tomb, find a needle in a haystack, etc. From our point of view, perception is about observation and awareness, while search is about looking close at something for details. For instance, I can walk into a room and not notice anything is wrong even if it right in front of me, but if I take the time to look closely and study the details, I can put things together.
For my group, we will play Pathfinder RPG, but we will always have search as a seperate skill from perception.
The biggest problem for my group and I is search being rolled into perception, especially since wisdom is the key ability for perception while intelligence is the key ability for search. We had to make them separate so our rogue could actually find traps. It's difficult to have good ability scores in Dex, Int, AND Wis. Of course, Cha can also be important for a rogue (bluff, use magic device), so things get even worse.
Another thing one of my players noticed is the rules do not address taking time to search an area over a period of time. For instance, what if a party needs to search to look for clues at a crime scene, uncover secrets in an ancient tomb, find a needle in a haystack, etc. From our point of view, perception is about observation and awareness, while search is about looking close at something for details. For instance, I can walk into a room and not notice anything is wrong even if it right in front of me, but if I take the time to look closely and study the details, I can put things together.
For my group, we will play Pathfinder RPG, but we will always have search as a seperate skill from perception.
I guess my biggest problem is merging 3 skills into one skill; period. It makes it too automatic to take that skill over a straight up skill that only provides a very limited focus.
A possible answer to your dilemma of the unwise rogue being unable to search would be to allow INT or WIS to determine Perception.
See, I must be strange. Only about half the characters I've ever made put points into Spot or Listen, even when said characters had a dozen or more skill points per level. Of the two characters I've made under the PRPG rules, the Bard not only has no ranks in Perception, he actually took a flaw that gives -4 to it; the Rogue took Perception, of course, but that's because it's required for a class ability.
I've never seen that Search, Spot, OR Listen were so incredibly vitally important before, and now that they're a 3-in-1 skill ... I still don't see how they're so incredibly vitally important. Most of the times Spot or Listen just give you a small idea about what you're facing - they don't usually let you avoid facing it. Search can be useful, yes, but only one person in the party really needs it, and in most cases you have the time to take 20 when using it.
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See, I must be strange. Only about half the characters I've ever made put points into Spot or Listen, even when said characters had a dozen or more skill points per level. Of the two characters I've made under the PRPG rules, the Bard not only has no ranks in Perception, he actually took a flaw that gives -4 to it; the Rogue took Perception, of course, but that's because it's required for a class ability.
I've never seen that Search, Spot, OR Listen were so incredibly vitally important before, and now that they're a 3-in-1 skill ... I still don't see how they're so incredibly vitally important. Most of the times Spot or Listen just give you a small idea about what you're facing - they don't usually let you avoid facing it. Search can be useful, yes, but only one person in the party really needs it, and in most cases you have the time to take 20 when using it.
You've never been stabbed in the spleen by a stealthy rogue, have you?
I've never seen that Search, Spot, OR Listen were so incredibly vitally important before, and now that they're a 3-in-1 skill ... I still don't see how they're so incredibly vitally important. Most of the times Spot or Listen just give you a small idea about what you're facing - they don't usually let you avoid facing it.
What?
Search can be useful, yes, but only one person in the party really needs it, and in most cases you have the time to take 20 when using it.
If you have an "all-righty default" group where everyone is always together all the time, then yes, it´s true. If players like to go their own ways sometimes, then things get different.
i wasnt fond of having the 3-in-1 skill either in Perception, so i kept Search separate from Perception (which, IMC is actually Notice from M&M).
Thus far the biggest "gripe" ive got is the Scorpion Style tree. I play with a larger group and inevitably someone plays a monk, i allowed the Scorpion Style for ONE game. As is i keep it as a general rule never to only throw one creature at my group, but it just seems that particular group of feats is a beat overpowered without allowing for a Fort save similar to what Stunning Fist allows. Trust me, after watching one player reduce an enemy to a 5ft movement or dazing him for a round, its scary to watch the rest of the group fall upon that one foe like a pack of wild dogs. *shudder*
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For the others, I still think Perception should be divided, c´mon, Search+Spot+Listen, it´s the mother of all skills. Like I said before, it´s not even the fact that Search is Int based, or that it is too different from the other two, the point is that it makes the skill too powerful. Citing the fighter as said, he gets 2 skill points, enough for Perception (Spot+Listen) and Search if you want.
Really, so the fighters choices are to be able to notice things, and do nothing else, or to do other things but never notice anything?
I honestly think its a good thing to roll them together. That way a fighter at least can have perception and one other ability or god forbid in the fighter with a neg mod, have the ability to be on guard.