So, it's widely thought that 2/level is far too low for anyone (except perhaps int-based casters). I don't want to bump up everyone, as rogues already have more than enough.
How does this look?
Wizards and witches increase to 3/level.
All other 2/level classes increase to 4/level.
All 4/level classes increase to 5/level.
All other classes are unchanged.
|
Ouch. Classes with low skills tend to get other things to make up for it. Your really penalising the high skill classes here, and encouraging intelligence as a dump stat for anything other than Wizards/Witches...
Human is the baseline race, so really its 3/level, or 4/level if a favoured class point goes into it. ^ This assumes intelligence 10 on a low skill class of course.
I'd recommend giving everyone a free skill focus instead, so your not rewarding some classes and not others.
For what it's worth, I'm in a game where the GM just bumped all the 2+ skills classes to 4+ because he feels that there should be a bit more room for roleplaying. The skills are being spent on appropriate Craft and/or Profession skills to explain what they did before they became adventurers and probably what they would do if they retired. In general, the GM feels that skills are not as big of a segment of combat and general gameplay as opposed to, say, feats or character options, so he allows for a little more leeway in this manner.
I really like the Pathfinder RPG skills system and consider it an improvement over DnD 3.0/3.5 However, one of the house rules I have kept from my days of running DnD 3.0/3.5 is that all classes receive a minimum of 4 skill points per level (low Int can of course reduce the number). I have just finished running a Pathfinder campaign that took characters from 1st level to 20th level and I am playing in another Pathfinder campaign (where we're currently 5th level) and having a minimum of 4 skill points per level hasn't caused any problems in any of the games. Both games were/are quite roleplay heavy and skills were/are used frequently.
Jikuu, I'd feel cheated if I played a rogue and everyone else/many other classes got an extra skill point. If the DM wants to award a free maxxed out craft or profession skill fine, but I don't see why the rogue, bard and ranger shouldn't get the same deal.
I actually play the rogue XD. I didn't really post it as a right or wrong, but just something thrown out there. Sorry if it was offensive.
Personally, I would bump everyone up +2 evenly. Sure, Rogues will now have more than they need, but that doesn't really change much. The low classes will bennefit more, and you will see some interesting things for the low skill point classes.
But I personally feel its not really needed with the +1 class skill bonus. Its really easy for Fighters to get 5 skills/lvl.
I've done variations on the OP's theme in my OGL & 3.5 campaigns.
I've done +1 to all classes across the board. For the 2/lvl classes, combined with the human skill point, it made a meaningful difference. The 3/lvl, not so much.
I've done +2 across the board. Better results than the +1-across-the-board, but if you have a high-Int combined with a high-skill character, they sometimes felt like they were throwing skill points into skills that didn't matter to them. In PF, without the synergy bonuses to impact things, this would be less of an issue. However, since you've got skill consolidation in some areas, it could be a factor since skill points go farther in certain cases.
Ultimately, I wish PF had adopted a standard skill progression of 4-6-8 like they did with d6-d8-d10 Hit Die. Exceptions can still be addressed within a class (like the barbarian's d12) if necessary.
Also, for those looking for arguably less subjective justification, Trailblazer, which is based off the PF skill system (+3 to class skills at 1st level) in part, has a mathematical analysis of the classes. While the Trailblazer class builds don't follow PF exactly, they do make a mathmatical case that bumping the 2pts/lvl classes to 4pts/level doesn't adversely affect the game.
With the Rogue getting so many new, cool class abilities, the removal of dead levels in general, and the many other class improvements made by PF, bumping the 2pts/level classes to 4 doesn't hurt the other classes (IMO).
Oh, and I think the Monk should be 6pts/level but that's another topic. :)
Personally, I would bump everyone up +2 evenly. Sure, Rogues will now have more than they need, but that doesn't really change much. The low classes will bennefit more, and you will see some interesting things for the low skill point classes.
But I personally feel its not really needed with the +1 class skill bonus. Its really easy for Fighters to get 5 skills/lvl.
I agree with the first part, and not the last part so much.
Just make a flat +2 sp's to ALL classes and call it a day. Nothing wrong w/skill monkey's becoming MORE skill-monkey-ish honestly. But if there is note of a skill/play gap in the 2+ types ... then bump 'em up.
Season it to taste and move along.
Honestly, IMO, one of the tamest changes to make is this small adjustment.
In my group, we went for a flat +2 skill points per level to the amount provided by all classes.
We found that it allowed the characters to actually develop a variety of skills to make them well-rounded. It hasn't affected play balance in our games, as there are numerous skills that everyone in the group needs to develop.
Also, as these extra points are subject to low Intelligence modifiers, it means that a fighter with Int 9 gains more skill points than a fighter with Int 5 (which is the way it should be). The old problem of "a fighter with Int 5 gets the same skill points as a fighter with Int 9" really irks me.
I hope that helps!
Kingmaker really brought this up for me. The Birthright system(2e) had skill additions like administration and leadership skill, etc. which worked really nice with their campaign. I wanted to import this by adding administration, tactics and strategy skills but the 2/level skills meant fighters didn't do well. So I upped everyone by 2 skills/level and altered aristocrat with some of the Birthright Noble class abilities. Seems to be working just fine.