Appraise skill in organized play

[deusvult]

Should the appraise skill be taken by a PFS character? You get the loot/gold that you're gonna get with or without having someone to seperate the gems from the turds. (figuratively, or perhaps literally)

Having only ever played one session, I have no idea how often it might come up as useful in the middle of play, perhaps in faction missions. Looking for advice.. should I keep it or is it just way down the priority pole on the skill list behind other skills like perception or such?

PS- assuming Appraise IS useless/next-to-useless in organized play, are there other skills that a longtime D&D/d20er-but-new to PFS might fall into a trap of taking?

[hogarth]

I can't think of one off the top of my head, but I bet there's at least one faction mission out there that uses Appraise.

[Kyle Baird]

I can think of three instances were appraise was a key skill in a scenario.

[deusvult]

Thanks for the thoughts guys. Sounds like it's not totally worthless as I might have feared.. if it's a class skill put a point in at some point but that's pretty much the extent of it?

Sounds like it comes up often enough to keep it from being worthless, but definately not something you want to make your character's forte?

[Ozymandeus]

deusvult wrote:

Thanks for the thoughts guys. Sounds like it's not totally worthless as I might have feared.. if it's a class skill put a point in at some point but that's pretty much the extent of it?

Sounds like it comes up often enough to keep it from being worthless, but definately not something you want to make your character's forte?

Qadira faction members are able to purchase the ability to use appraise for your day job rolls for 5 prestige. Since appraise isn't really a "powergamey" type skill, you might be able to find traits/items that would give a significant bonus to this skill (and thus your day job roll). I was considering it myself...but I figured that since craft already uses your INT modifier it probably wasn't worth it.

Otherwise I'm sure it can come up in game, just nowhere near as much as say, perception. I personally wouldn't sink more than the 1 point in it.

[Alexander_Damocles]

As a GM, I often let appraise work to aid another skill check. For example, using it to determine the worth of an NPC's clothes to guess how much to bribe, evaluating how wealthy a noble is, etc. Ask your GM if you can use it in a few more situations, you'd be surprised how helpful it is to know the cash value of things.

[hogarth]

deusvult wrote:

Thanks for the thoughts guys. Sounds like it's not totally worthless as I might have feared..

[rant]It's still useless, but some scenario writers ham-fistedly try to squeeze it in just to say "See? Appraise is useful!"

It's something supposedly useful that nobody really likes. Same goes for Sleight of Hand. And restroom attendants.[/rant]

[Deussu]

Appraise could be a very important skill if people (GMs and players alike) would choose so.

GM: "You find a longsword!"
Player: "Is it masterwork?"
GM: "Roll appraise to find out!"

Of course this is pointless anyway, as every item gets auto-identified at the end of the scenario. Magic items are determined with everlasting detect magic and spellcraft checks. Appraise would allow you to determine whether an object has magical properties to it, but at DC 25 it's simply idiotic.

So really, appraise is useless. Since everything is auto-identified and you get exact the same gold for every piece regardless of your appraise roll (you could appraise a gem's worth falsely). And never do you really need to pick one object from a treasure hoard; you simply get it all.

[Kyle Baird]

Deussu wrote:

So really, appraise is useless.

In at least one scenario it's used to overcome a puzzle/trap.

[Thraxital]

There are a lot of skills and feats that are more important in a house game, then in a PFS game. Though sometimes a PFS scenario will throw in a random skill or feat that if you and/or your party do not have, things can really suck for you. So I would not totally ignore any skill, but I would not plan on using a lot of them.

[Chris Mortika]

A reminder that the Pathfinder version of appraise is much more poserful than its 3.5 analogue. For example, in PFS, let's say you want to find a priceless scepter mixed in among a large treasure hoard, including a half-dozen scepters, in a large cave that looks to collapse in a couple of rounds. Appaise lets you do that.

You're facing off against a serious fighter. Appraise, as a standard action, lets you know whether his weapon is magical before he closes with you. If you take another round, you can check his armor or shield.

[Callarek]

Deussu wrote:

Appraise could be a very important skill if people (GMs and players alike) would choose so.

GM: "You find a longsword!"
Player: "Is it masterwork?"
GM: "Roll appraise to find out!"

Of course this is pointless anyway, as every item gets auto-identified at the end of the scenario. Magic items are determined with everlasting detect magic and spellcraft checks. Appraise would allow you to determine whether an object has magical properties to it, but at DC 25 it's simply idiotic.

So really, appraise is useless. Since everything is auto-identified and you get exact the same gold for every piece regardless of your appraise roll (you could appraise a gem's worth falsely). And never do you really need to pick one object from a treasure hoard; you simply get it all.

Sure, at the end of the scenario, things are auto-identified, but that doesn't mean that knowing that those potions you picked up are CLW or poison, or what that magic weapon does, so it can be used during the scenario, isn't useful.