Profession skills providing bonuses to other skills


New Rules Suggestions

RPG Superstar 2009 Top 8

I wanted to try to set up some quick house rule to grant more benefits for having Profession skills. There are points when you are expected to be able to do the things related to your job. Being an expert sailor, who still can’t maintain his balance when a ship rocks or a librarian who knows nothing about the books she manages and so on. The character can spend some ranks on those skills, but I think while characters who train at a profession should have some automatic skill with things associated with their job.

So this is just a quick and dirty rule to define about where the bonuses to those skills would be. When it says that a profession mimics a skill I mean that when making that other skill check you use either the number of ranks in that skill or the number of ranks you have in that profession minus ( 1 - 2 times number of skills that profession is mimicking ), whichever is higher, for number of ranks in that skill. Also you get a single minor ability when you put your first rank into any profession ( You get only one minor ability no matter how many profession skills you are trained in ).

The minor abilities are meant to be worth about a single skill point.

Mariner:
Mimics: Acrobatics and Climb.
Minor Ability: +1 to Acrobatics and Climb while on boat.

Service Industry:
Mimics: Diplomacy.
Minor Ability: Grants one commonly used language.

Food Gathering/Preparation:
Mimics: Perception.
Minor Ability: When you successfully forage for food you find enough food and water an additional person.

Buying and Selling:
Mimics: Appraise.
Minor Ability: Grants one commonly used language.

Research/Librarian:
Mimics: Any number of knowledge skills.
Minor Ability: Grants one non-secret language.

Con-Artist:
Mimics: Bluff and Sense Motive.
Minor Ability: Grants one commonly used language.

Bouncer:
Mimics: Intimidate and Sense Motive.
Minor Ability: +1 to your CMB to defend against maneuvers used against you.

So if there was a character with 10 ranks profession (fisherman) might get a +1 bonus to Acrobatics and Climb and would be treated as having 5 ranks in Acrobatics, Climb, and Perception. Alternatively they could get the bonus to foraging for food and act as if they had 9 ranks in Perception if they didn’t fish from a boat. This rule is not attempting to define every bonus you might get from a profession, but instead provide generic rules for setting up the bonuses.

I don’t think that this is good for PRPG, but I think it might work out as a house rule. What do other people think about this?


Zynete wrote:

I wanted to try to set up some quick house rule to grant more benefits for having Profession skills. There are points when you are expected to be able to do the things related to your job. Being an expert sailor, who still can’t maintain his balance when a ship rocks or a librarian who knows nothing about the books she manages and so on. The character can spend some ranks on those skills, but I think while characters who train at a profession should have some automatic skill with things associated with their job.

So this is just a quick and dirty rule to define about where the bonuses to those skills would be. When it says that a profession mimics a skill I mean that when making that other skill check you use either the number of ranks in that skill or the number of ranks you have in that profession minus ( 1 - 2 times number of skills that profession is mimicking ), whichever is higher, for number of ranks in that skill. Also you get a single minor ability when you put your first rank into any profession ( You get only one minor ability no matter how many profession skills you are trained in ).

The minor abilities are meant to be worth about a single skill point.

Mariner:
Mimics: Acrobatics and Climb.
Minor Ability: +1 to Acrobatics and Climb while on boat.

Service Industry:
Mimics: Diplomacy.
Minor Ability: Grants one commonly used language.

Food Gathering/Preparation:
Mimics: Perception.
Minor Ability: When you successfully forage for food you find enough food and water an additional person.

Buying and Selling:
Mimics: Appraise.
Minor Ability: Grants one commonly used language.

Research/Librarian:
Mimics: Any number of knowledge skills.
Minor Ability: Grants one non-secret language.

Con-Artist:
Mimics: Bluff and Sense Motive.
Minor Ability: Grants one commonly used language.

Bouncer:
Mimics: Intimidate and Sense Motive.
Minor Ability: +1 to your CMB to defend against maneuvers used against you.

So if...

I agree with you Profession (specify) should do more than allow you to work at a regular job.

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