This is a general thread, based on the more specific "Sleight of Hand and Appraise" one I just started.
I love skills, and there's so many options for their use- from using Handle Animal to raise a dinosaur from birth, to using Profession (Architect) to design your dream fortress, to using Profession (Butler) to get a job in the evil overlord's castle to aid in sneaking in.
The problem is, while all these options are available, few players I've seen try them, and fewer GMs know how to implement these skills into their games if a player decides to use them.
I just wanted to know- what's the best use of obscure skills you've ever seen in a game? I'm looking more for actual practice than theory. In theory I could create an entire military campaign based off of Profession (soldier), or a whole travelling game based on a trade caravan and Profession (merchant), but I'd like to see what actual things people have used at their tables.
My favorite one? The players all start belonging to the same barbarian tribe, which uses Perform (Singing) and Perform (Dance) in their festivals and courtship rituals. Player Characters have the chance to gain friends, contacts, cohorts, and even get married if they choose, but only if their perform skills are high enough and used regularly.
I've used Profession (investigator) as a way to ensure my players (who were playing investigators) would both know what to do when investigating a crime as well as having a fallback skill to ensure they didn't miss very important clues.
It let me help them out with an admittedly different way of playing (not just killing everything in every room) as sort of a combination knowledge: investigating, knowledge: being a cop, perception, sense motive, hint delivery system, and so on.
I helped someone with a system that changed the crafting rules into teaching rules to make money with profession (riding instructor), though I don't know how well that worked out.
I would have to say I agree, the least used for me are the Profession skills. With so many of my characters there is always more skills I want then points to spend. So unless a particular character concept requires a Profession for their background, I often do not take them.
One of my favorite exceptions was a character who took Profession (Cartographer). He was always slowing the party down to measure something. But they learned to deal with him because he helped the party out several times with his maps.
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Some rather odd uses I've allowed my players to use in my campaigns:
-Spellcraft followed by Perception (Scent back then) for a player who wanted to determine how spells smelled. Eventually he found a practical use for it, as he became able to detect the presence of magic with his nose.
-This one barbarian character with high INT who used Craft [Basketweaving] to tie down prisoners, build makeshift bridges, and tie down the jaws of a giant alligator while it slept. He also sold actual baskets.
-A warrior addicted to coffee who took Craft [Coffeemaking]. He used the help of the druid to find coffee beans and ended up carrying a small potted plant on his trips.
-Once I had a player take Knowledge [Noses]. Not [Anatomy], not [Medicine], but [Noses].
-Had this monk character running away from a minotaur, when confronted with a lake. He got such a high Acrobatics roll, that I ended up allowing him to run on water for a while.
-Perhaps the oddest use was when the party got itself trapped in a capsized ship that was sailing just off the edge of the world. The dwarf warrior fell off into the endless void and after all attempts to help him failed, he asked me, quite seriously "If I spend all my remaining Action Points, can I use Fly to use my cape like Mario?". I liked it so much that I allowed it. The paladin kept throwing coins at him from the ship for some reason.
I find it varies from campaign to campaign. Usually the only use slight of hand sees at our table is the guy who always plays a rogue pocketing silverware. In our current campaign however, we all live and were born in a gulag, and weapons are illegal. My Gunslinger has slight of hand to be able to carry.
It is my intention to use Knowledge (Arcana) to magically smelt two metals into an impossible alloy.
I haven't gotten it on the table yet (next game for sure!) but I have a Haunt using an idea borrowed from another thread; the haunt builds over time. So by round 3 it actually begins to threaten damage. Its based around the restless spirit of a child hunted to death by a hag and the animated hedgerow has his teddy bear still at its heart.
One of the solutions written into the Haunt is to remove the bear. Just grabbing it provokes and the grabber will take damage. Sneak it out with sleight of hand however and the Haunt may not notice in the throes of its "tantrum"...
Honestly I've been trying to encourage creative skill use for years now and haven't gotten anyone to really do it. I literally say at the outset of each new campaign "try anything" and give some examples. One I love was a monk with such high acrobatics he dove off a cliff, and ran vertically down the wall and then into the heart of a chasm, using differing air currents and updrafts to bounce off of.
This is a general thread, based on the more specific "Sleight of Hand and Appraise" one I just started.
I love skills, and there's so many options for their use- from using Handle Animal to raise a dinosaur from birth, to using Profession (Architect) to design your dream fortress, to using Profession (Butler) to get a job in the evil overlord's castle to aid in sneaking in.
The problem is, while all these options are available, few players I've seen try them, and fewer GMs know how to implement these skills into their games if a player decides to use them.
My players/group I am a player in (both) very often use Appraise to not only determine the value of an item, but recognize things like maker's marks and designs and thus determine the age of an object, where it's from, who made it, etc. This can be useful for resale value or returning an item to a previous owner (who usually rewards them generously of course). Can also be helpful figuring out who is supplying the bad guys, etc. If all their swords are made by one forge in the north city, that's useful information.
Sleight of Hand is great for concealing weapons and I've seen it used as such. I had a character who used it a lot for parlor tricks--distractions--as well.
Other lesser used skills -- my dwarven fighter-ranger is an ex-miner and has ranks in Knowledge (Engineering), despite that seeming useless. She used it to amazing effect when we were playing through the module City of Golden Death. I won't spoil the module, but she basically saved the party's life in the long run. I've also had players use that to analyze weak points in a structure they wanted to attack (or to reinforce a structure they wanted to defend).
Stuff I'd like to see more uses for:
Escape Artist. IMO the most unused skill in the game. I know it's supposed to be an alternative for avoiding grappling but especially as there's no more Use Rope to oppose it, most people seem to do fine with CMD and other things. I've never seen a campaign where someone needed to wriggle out of bonds or squeeze through tight spaces, even though it seems like that would come into play. Although rather than see it used more, I always wanted to see that folded into Balance and Tumble to make Acrobatics and keep Jump its own thing or combine it with Climb and Swim for a Strength based Athletics/Marathon skill.
Linguistics: I have seen it used but it's very circumstantial
Most of the Professions as noted. I did have a player try to get use out of Profession: Mortician though. :)
Do people actually succeed in using Escape Artist to get out of grapples? It just looks like it doesn't work, like using Acrobatics to Tumble. Especially against the things that really want to grapple you.
I would love to see Professions come up more. There's always the obligatory, once-a-campaign, "Make a Profession (Sailor) check!", which almost makes me think it should be a seperate skill for some reason. (I guess because... Profession can't have nice things?)
I hate Appraise, though. As it's played in my games, it's basically a skill tax to make sure NPCs don't cheat you. If we were to use it to notice cool things, I'm sure it would be more fun.
What would you say is the Craft skill to make rope?
My players/group I am a player in (both) very often use Appraise to not only determine the value of an item, but recognize things like maker's marks and designs and thus determine the age of an object, where it's from, who made it, etc. This can be useful for resale value or returning an item to a previous owner (who usually rewards them generously of course). Can also be helpful figuring out who is supplying the bad guys, etc. If all their swords are made by one forge in the north city, that's useful information.
In my group we use Appraise for all things related to economy, from exemples like this to how to make the numbers of a realm.
What would you say is the Craft skill to make rope?
Craft Ropemaking in all likelihood.
You might also tie it to something broader like "fiber working" or "hemp craft" or what have you.
In my group we use Appraise for all things related to economy, from exemples like this to how to make the numbers of a realm.My players/group I am a player in (both) very often use Appraise to not only determine the value of an item, but recognize things like maker's marks and designs and thus determine the age of an object, where it's from, who made it, etc. This can be useful for resale value or returning an item to a previous owner (who usually rewards them generously of course). Can also be helpful figuring out who is supplying the bad guys, etc. If all their swords are made by one forge in the north city, that's useful information.
In some revision of PF in the future I want Appraise (possibly with a new skill name) to cover all of these things, and more. A character still wouldn't need it, but one who spend skill points in it would get a variety of situational abilities, instead of one.
What would you say is the Craft skill to make rope?
Craft (Weaving). No sense in complicating it.
The problem is when you have to spend skill points in profession (researcher) to study spells and craft (spells) to make them (and your dm doesn't give you spells at level up).
What kind of jerk DM does that?
What kind of jerk DM does that?
The same one that makes you roll Perform(sex) and a constitution roll for your bedroom performance...
I wonder if he started out playing FATAL or something.
For my games, Knowledge and Survival skills play a big part in my campaign. Whether it's for tracking people or just knowing things, it gets put through the paces a lot. That includes lesser used ones like Dungeoneering, Engineering, and Nobility.
I also have players use Appraise. None of this "You identify the magic item/gem value immediately" bull I see a lot.
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I encourage my players to take professions for character backgrounds. If a skill check arises (say bluff) and the have profession gambler I will let them take synergy bonuses for their primary skills.
I have one player who player who is a self obsessed character and recently took Profession beautician. She has started to gain fame as a hair stylist in one of the large cities in our game and will begin using that for contacts and social skill bonuses.
Skill synergy seemed to be more popular back in 3.5e and less so in Pathfinder.
Well, skill synergies disappeared from the ruleset-as-written in Pathfinder. (Circumstance bonuses certainly didn't!)
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I had a thread on another site about using little known skills for the 3.5 PrC Exemplar. The idea that being very quiet could get you people fanatical to die for you, or just making some REALLY good stew...well it was quite amusing.
The best part was that someone wrote an amazing paragraph about using Listen to get people ready to die for you.
The problem is when you have to spend skill points in profession (researcher) to study spells and craft (spells) to make them (and your dm doesn't give you spells at level up).
Wow, that's terrible. My GM lets me invent spells for free if I take them *as* my level up spells (and of course he's okayed them.)