So, I am playing around with a bard concept for Serpent Skull, and I am getting rather annoyed with the Versatile Performance ability.
I plan for my character to be an orator and wise-ass (comedy), but if I am to get the benefit of versatile performance on the relevant skills, I would be foolish to have ANY social skills at level 1, since I am effectively throwing skill-points into the void. Not to mention the silliness of being completely hopeless in bluff and intimidate on lv5, but a master at lv6.
*sigh*
Still good though, I could just have a single/few ranks in bluff/intimidate until I get the versatile performance, and cut my losses.
Can we have retraining of skills back in core plz?
Is it for PFS? I've also thought about this, and come to the conclusion that if any of my players want to play a bard, I'd allow her to add one-third her ranks in the performance to the skill check in those areas instead, should she want to.
Can we have retraining of skills back in core plz?
Or just ask your DM. It's perfectly reasonable and I allow bards to freely remove skill ranks from the appropriate skills each time they get it.
Is it for PFS? I've also thought about this, and come to the conclusion that if any of my players want to play a bard, I'd allow her to add one-third her ranks in the performance to the skill check in those areas instead, should she want to.
Ditto that! Though I wouldn't let versatile performances stack. Most of the bard archetypes on the APG remove versatile performance, which I think is the wonkiest ability in the Core Rulebook.
Yeah, I think James Jacobs was the one talking about doing that...
Found it:
One thing I'm gonna try to get into the Advanced player's Guide is some sort of mechanic that allows a bard to "cash out" any skill ranks he spent on skills that, later on, get "replaced" by a versatile performance.
Similar to how a sorcerer can unlearn a spell, really.
Not sure if anything showed up in the APG about this though.. anyone have one handy?
In my games, when a player gets to apply their versatile performance, I just let them reassign the useless points elsewhere. It makes just as much sense that your performance ability gave you 10 ranks in something, as it does to place those 10 ranks "instantly" into something else.
Plus, I'm not in favour of mechanics that can screw over your character. The point of the ability is to give you something, not make previous choices foolish.
I'd hate that this ability makes for characters that intend to have decent diplomacy skills have a dearth in those skills until they reach certain levels, all to avoid waste. It goes against the idea of the ability (james jacobs specifically said at one point:
Many thanks for the replies. This basically saves my character concept. Iacobus "Smooth Jabob" Sarini now can live up to his nickname without me losing out on a ton of ranks.
With lingering performance from the APG, I think I have managed to create the perfect image of the bard I had in mind when making him.
Looking forward to starting to play Serpent's Skull. Been ages since I last actually played.