I was reading the section on ability drain and I noticed something that I thought might be odd. It says "Ability Drain: Ability Drain actually reduces the relevant ability score. Modify all skills and statistics related to that ability. This might cause you to lose skill points, hit points, and other bonuses. ..."
Does this mean that if my intelligence bonus drops that I have to then change my skills by losing ranks. I thought one of the reasons for the change to negative levels was that you wouldn't have to un-build your character, which I found was a pain as well. But this seems to go against that idea. Does this also mean that if my intelligence goes up I get to gain ranks for the levels I already have?
I believe that in 3.5 it only affected skill points in the future not retroactive. Is this how it's meant to be read in PFRPG?
You do not change the skill points of past levels when intelligence changes. This works when going up or down. When a wizard manages to get his Intelligence up to 28 you do not award him extra skill points for previous levels.
This will only affect the stat bonus for skills using int as a bonus stat like apraise.
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Dulsin, your answer makes sense in D&D 3.5, but Jason explicitly changed that rule when he wrote the Pathfinder RPG. A ranger reaches 8th Level and boosts his Intelligence from 15 to 16: he gets skill ranks as if he had always had an Intelligence of 16. (So, in this case, as well as the skill ranks he'd gain at 8th Level, he retroactively gains an additional 8 skill ranks.)
Two weeks later, our ranger finds a headband of vast intelligence +4 and dons it. After 24 hours, he gains another 16 skill ranks and another two languages known, as if he had always had an intelligence of 20. (Those skills and languages are hard-wired into the headband, so every character wearing the headband for 24 hours gains the same skill ranks and the same languages. Wizards gain access to the same bonus spells for high intelligence.)
Jason's design goal was to be able to stat up mid- to high-level NPCs without necessarily walking them through all their history. The skills for every 8th Level Ranger with an Intelligence of 20 look the same: it doesn't matter how the NPCs got the Intelligence of 20. (We presume that no NPC ever uses a headband of vast intelligence which hard-wire any particular skills the NPC has already taken to the max.)
In that light, our answer to the OP would be: yes, if your rogue were to suffer an Intelligence drain, she'd lose commensurate skill ranks and languages known. If the condition were to be lifted, and her Intelligence were to rise again, she'd presumably take those skill ranks and languages back. (As opposed to, say, being able to assign the returning skill ranks as you please, and being able to choose a new language known.)
This will be painful.
So my level 8 rogue needs to pick up some skill at Knowledge Gladiators. He gets a headband of +2 int wears it for a day and suddenly he knows every gladiator that ever died on the sands. Next week he stops wearing it in favor of a hat of disguise and looses that gladiator knowledge.
Now he starts wearing the headband again does he have to take knowledge gladiator as his skill points or can he change to something else? What if the cleric started using it?
I would rule this like negative energy drain. If you have just lost your Int then you gain a negative number of skills. You may not take any new ranks in any skills until you make up that debt.
I understand the situations with the headbands, as they are written quite well, and the design seems to have corrected the increase in stats situation. My question is more along the lines of other ways of affecting intelligence. What about when the character suffers intelligence drain? What about attribute bonus for reaching level 4? Do all effects that cause "permenant" intelligence adjustments, up or down, cause you to retro-actively gain or lose skill points?
Affects that cause permanent changes to a character's Intelligence modifier will change their skills.
For increasing Intelligence, this is fairly straightforward. Just assign your new skill points, and you're off.
I'm completely not sure how effects that decrease intelligence work - my guess would be something similar to the way Level Drain works in PRPG. Some clarification here would be nice.
Do all effects that cause "permenant" intelligence adjustments, up or down, cause you to retro-actively gain or lose skill points?
Yes.
For Int going up from Tome's or level increases, you get the extra skill points and spend as you like. For Int going up from headband, it's a fixed skill(s) that is granted at max ranks (continually) - and the bonus skill points the next level go into those same skills.
For Int going down due to loss of headband, you just lose the skills the headband gave (but retain any points you put in before you put on the headband).
For Int going down due to Drain, since it's "permanent" you do have to lose the skill points, but would get them back if you're "fixed". I'm sure some player will be a jerkwad and say they can reassign them when they get them back b/c it's a separate "permanent" increase. Using the "negative skill points" idea above makes a lot of sense for this, but the point is that your effective *ranks* actually go down, not just modifiers like with Int damage.
It's all pretty simple, just a different mechanic than before.