This feat seems like a bad option for Half-Elves everywhere.
Your blood burns with the passion and unyielding quest
for self-improvement displayed so prominently by your
human relatives.
Prerequisite: Half-elf.
Benefit: You receive 1 bonus skill rank. Whenever
you gain another Hit Die, you gain an additional skill
rank. You cannot gain more than four skill ranks in
this way.
Special: You can only take this feat at 1st level. If you
take this feat, you cannot take the Elven Spirit feat.
Look at the last line in the Benefit section. This feat maxes out at 4th level, pretty much useless after that.
My Thoughts: I think(hope) a line saying you could take this feat up to four times got left out. Sure, four feats for four more skill points a level sucks Natural 1's, but that would make more sense, right? The problem with that thought though is the Special section, which says you can only take this feat at first level...
In 3.5 there was a feat that granted 1 skill rank per level. No cap.
If we take skill ranks to be equal to hit points (see the favoured class options), then if toughness is a reasonable feat, it seems reasonable that 1 skill per level, uncapped by HD, available to all races, would befine.
I think it would be fine too. Why didn't Paizo though? Given your example, it seems like it would be a pretty decent feat if it was +1 skill point per level.
In 3.5 there was a feat that granted 1 skill rank per level. No cap.
If we take skill ranks to be equal to hit points (see the favoured class options), then if toughness is a reasonable feat, it seems reasonable that 1 skill per level, uncapped by HD, available to all races, would befine.
Excellent example!
Clearly Paizo thinks that Skills are game breaking.
Skill focus grants +3-6 above rank caps. This grants up to 4 ranks that cannot exceed normal skill allocation.
And before you say this has the advantage that you can spread the ranks around, that's simply not true.
You get the same or better result by putting skill focus in a skill and not spending as many ranks on it, putting those ranks elsewhere. In the end, if you drop 4 ranks from a skill and put them in other places, then have skill focus in that skill, you're 2 points higher than if you'd taken this feat.
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Eh, a feat gives you +1 to hit with a specific type of weapon, +2 to a saving throw. I think some of you are over-valuing your feats a bit. Plus that's one of the only feats I've seen that just gives you skill points. Seen a few that let you pick class skills or traits that do the same thing, don't very often see anything that just gives you the points themselves.
Skill focus doesn't let you become proficient with a skill either. Some people will find this a useful feat.
Neither does this. If you want to make something a class skill using feats, you need additional traits or cosmopolitan.
The problem comes up when you realize that toughness does basically what this feat does (gives you one of the standard favored class bonuses at each level) but doesn't have the level cap, as Umbral Reaver pointed out earlier.
the open minded feat in dreamscarred presses psionics unleashed is much better.
Hobbyist from Open Design just lets you treat one skill as if you had a number of ranks in it equal to your level. You can take it more than once, but just once for each skill.
Umbral Reaver hit the nail on the head with the Toughness comparison.
I agree, I thought that a skill version of Toughness was long coming, but with this feat, apparently not.
I agree, I thought that a skill version of Toughness was long coming, but with this feat, apparently not.
dreamscarred press has one. it's called Open Minded, it can be found in psionics unleashed.
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My policy for P+P games typically goes something like "3rd party is the devil and should never be used" :)
I was expecting an official version of such a feat I mean, since it existed in 3.x and Paizo clearly values skill points equivalent to hp, via the favored class option already mentioned.
4 BONUS skill ranks.
Level 1. Take this feat and choose stealth. You put a rank in stealth and this feat grants a BONUS rank. You have two ranks in stealth.
Do the same each level after that until 4th (where the bonus' stop). You are level 4 with 8 RANKS in stealth (4 of which come from your own pool of skill points).
There are feats and prestige's you can qualify for much faster with this feat. You could write an entire optimization guide on where this would apply.
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Oh yeah, this is garbo. Like hardcore garbo. I honestly don't agree with the interpretation that it lets you go above your cap for skill ranks in a skill, but even if it did, most prestige classes in PF aren't worth it, so getting into one sooner is pretty meh. Most spellcasting ones require X spellcasting, martial ones tend to require BAB, so if you find a cornercase where this works, aces. Even DSP's feat which is better than this isn't great, but at least they tried, so good on ya DSP.
Feats should be better than this (please don't use weapon focus as a baseline when power attack/deadly aim/spell focus all exist), so yeah, unless you're playing E4...garbo.
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4 BONUS skill ranks.
Level 1. Take this feat and choose stealth. You put a rank in stealth and this feat grants a BONUS rank. You have two ranks in stealth.
Do the same each level after that until 4th (where the bonus' stop). You are level 4 with 8 RANKS in stealth (4 of which come from your own pool of skill points).
There are feats and prestige's you can qualify for much faster with this feat. You could write an entire optimization guide on where this would apply.
bonus skill ranks are still just that, skill ranks, i dont see anywhere defining bonus skill ranks as being different and bypassing the stanard skill rank rules for allocation
It is a crap feat.
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4 BONUS skill ranks.
Level 1. Take this feat and choose stealth. You put a rank in stealth and this feat grants a BONUS rank. You have two ranks in stealth.
Do the same each level after that until 4th (where the bonus' stop). You are level 4 with 8 RANKS in stealth (4 of which come from your own pool of skill points).
There are feats and prestige's you can qualify for much faster with this feat. You could write an entire optimization guide on where this would apply.
By the unholy power of Necro...
Good job, sir.
Oh yeah, this is garbo. Like hardcore garbo. I honestly don't agree with the interpretation that it lets you go above your cap for skill ranks in a skill, but even if it did, most prestige classes in PF aren't worth it, so getting into one sooner is pretty meh. Most spellcasting ones require X spellcasting, martial ones tend to require BAB, so if you find a cornercase where this works, aces. Even DSP's feat which is better than this isn't great, but at least they tried, so good on ya DSP.
Feats should be better than this (please don't use weapon focus as a baseline when power attack/deadly aim/spell focus all exist), so yeah, unless you're playing E4...garbo.
There are traits better then weapon foucs for some a lot of builds....
There are traits better then weapon foucs forOh yeah, this is garbo. Like hardcore garbo. I honestly don't agree with the interpretation that it lets you go above your cap for skill ranks in a skill, but even if it did, most prestige classes in PF aren't worth it, so getting into one sooner is pretty meh. Most spellcasting ones require X spellcasting, martial ones tend to require BAB, so if you find a cornercase where this works, aces. Even DSP's feat which is better than this isn't great, but at least they tried, so good on ya DSP.
Feats should be better than this (please don't use weapon focus as a baseline when power attack/deadly aim/spell focus all exist), so yeah, unless you're playing E4...garbo.
somea lot of builds....
When i do the math weapon focus always seem to be worth the Pick if i plan to hit things. Boring but better than most. Of cause the traits that gives +1 to hit is just as good but they are also often to find in ill concived soft cover booklets.
But yes if you dont plan to hit stuff or dont expect to ever miss on anything but 1 then weapon focus is no good.
There are traits better then weapon foucs forOh yeah, this is garbo. Like hardcore garbo. I honestly don't agree with the interpretation that it lets you go above your cap for skill ranks in a skill, but even if it did, most prestige classes in PF aren't worth it, so getting into one sooner is pretty meh. Most spellcasting ones require X spellcasting, martial ones tend to require BAB, so if you find a cornercase where this works, aces. Even DSP's feat which is better than this isn't great, but at least they tried, so good on ya DSP.
Feats should be better than this (please don't use weapon focus as a baseline when power attack/deadly aim/spell focus all exist), so yeah, unless you're playing E4...garbo.
somea lot of builds....When i do the math weapon focus always seem to be worth the Pick if i plan to hit things. Boring but better than most. Of cause the traits that gives +1 to hit is just as good but they are also often to find in ill concived soft cover booklets.
But yes if you dont plan to hit stuff or dont expect to ever miss on anything but 1 then weapon focus is no good.
Even then, it's pathetic compared to a ton of other feats.
There are traits better then weapon foucs forOh yeah, this is garbo. Like hardcore garbo. I honestly don't agree with the interpretation that it lets you go above your cap for skill ranks in a skill, but even if it did, most prestige classes in PF aren't worth it, so getting into one sooner is pretty meh. Most spellcasting ones require X spellcasting, martial ones tend to require BAB, so if you find a cornercase where this works, aces. Even DSP's feat which is better than this isn't great, but at least they tried, so good on ya DSP.
Feats should be better than this (please don't use weapon focus as a baseline when power attack/deadly aim/spell focus all exist), so yeah, unless you're playing E4...garbo.
somea lot of builds....When i do the math weapon focus always seem to be worth the Pick if i plan to hit things. Boring but better than most. Of cause the traits that gives +1 to hit is just as good but they are also often to find in ill concived soft cover booklets.
But yes if you dont plan to hit stuff or dont expect to ever miss on anything but 1 then weapon focus is no good.Even then, it's pathetic compared to a ton of other feats.
Would you mind explaining? Because i am about to take it on my brawler:)
It's a matter of opinion. Weapon Focus is a quality feat you take after you take all the other feats you need for whatever strategy you're building towards.
Nothing to get hung up on.
As for Human Spirit, it either grants 4 skill points over 4 levels or it grants bonus skill RANKS which would imply exceeding the hard limit of skill ranks no higher than your hit dice.
If you really need 4 skill points then I guess this is your thing, but otherwise, yeah, poorly made.
Unless it breaks the hard rule and lets you jack your max ranks up with a skill. Which would be cool, but still not great.
That(implausible) interpretation would be better than what it currently is. Sadly, that's not how it(probably) works.
And now we've got "Cunning", which further invalidates "Human Spirit".
4 BONUS skill ranks.
Level 1. Take this feat and choose stealth. You put a rank in stealth and this feat grants a BONUS rank. You have two ranks in stealth.
Do the same each level after that until 4th (where the bonus' stop). You are level 4 with 8 RANKS in stealth (4 of which come from your own pool of skill points).
There are feats and prestige's you can qualify for much faster with this feat. You could write an entire optimization guide on where this would apply.
Sorry, but no.
SRDEach level, your character gains a number of skill ranks dependent upon your class plus your Intelligence modifier. Investing a rank in a skill represents a measure of training in that skill. You can never have more ranks in a skill than your total number of Hit Dice.
Here is the feat:
Benefit: You receive 1 bonus skill rank. Whenever you gain another Hit Die, you gain an additional skill rank. You cannot gain more than four skill ranks in this way.
Nothing here removes the cap.
/cevah