I making a new base class the expert. he is the ultimate skill monkey and his schtick is skill tricks. Things he can do with skill above and beyond normal joe schmoe with a skill.
for example a Expert with a high enough Perception might be able to spot secret or hidden doors like and elf. Or one with a high enough Craft Alchemy might render himself immune to any poison below x Save dc (His skill ranks or something)
Anyway the Skill tricks are set apart in 3 Tiers.
Skill Trick (lower lvl stuff)
Advanced Skull trick (lv 10 ish)
Ultimate Skill trick (capstone Powers)
My problem is i cant think of much along the way of skill tricks. basically so far im emulating a bunch of class features from other classes. Trackless step as a stealth talent, Hide in plain sight.
Anyone have any ideas for this badboy to make him playable versatile and interesting?
Skull Trick huh?
Seems more like it should be a Rogue Archetype.
I have added a feature or two to NPC classes in the past. Keep it very simple. NPC classes should never compete with PC classes. Otherwise the NPC should have a PC class.
Sounds like the 3.5 factotum class.
Skull Trick huh?
Seems more like it should be a Rogue Archetype.
Except that they wont have ANY class abilities in common with a rogue except where a skill trick might be similar to a rogue trick.
Quite frankly, that's the Rogue's schtick.
No reason one class cant have a similar function to another. Fighters and barbarians are but kill you with weapon types. I dunno *Shrug*
I wrote up homebrewed PC class versions of the Aristocrat and Expert classes for 3.5. They were deliberately somewhat under-powered compared to other PC classes, but still better than the NPC versions.
I just pulled the notes for the 3.5 version of the class, and here's the gist...
The Expert PC class
Hit Dice: d6.
BAB progression: medium
Good Save: Will
Skill Points:(8 + Int mod)
Class Skills: All Knowledge skills, plus 10 additional skills chosen at first level.
Weapons and Aromr: proficient in simple weapons and light armor.
Class Features:
Bonus Feats: An Expert gains a bonus feat at first level, and at every third level beyond (1st, 4th, 7th, 10th, 13th, 16th, 19th.) The bonus feat must be chosen from the following list: Acrobatic, Agile, Alertness, Animal Affinity, Athletic, Deceitful, Deft Hands, Dilligent, Investigator, Iron Will, Magical Aptitude, Negotiator, Nimble Fingers, Persuasive, Self-Sufficient, Skill Focus, Stealthy.
Expert Knowledge (Ex): An Expert can add half his class level as a bonus to any one Knowledge check. The character can use this ability a number of times per day equal to half his class level plus his Intelligence modifier.
Grace Under Pressure (Ex): At 3rd level, an expert may take 10 on a skill check made under pressure. He can use this ability a number of times per day equal to one third his class level, plus his Wis modifier.
Encyclopedic Knowledge (Ex): At 5th level, an expert has picked up enough information to be able to make any untrained Knowledge skill check as if he was skilled. He still has no ranks in the Knowledge skill, but may use Expert Knowledge on the roll.
Hands of the Master (Ex): At 7th level, an expert can add half his class level as a bomus to any skill check. He can use this an additional time per day for every 5 class levels.
Jack of All Trades (Ex): At 9th level, an expert can use any Trained Only skills as if he were trained. He still has no ranks in the skill, but may use Hands of the Master with it.
Master Craftsman (Su): Starting at 11th level, an expert can take the feats Craft Magic Arms and Armor and Craft Wondrous Item without being a spellcaster. He does not need to supply any spellcasting when creating the items, but does need to supply any special materials. His Caster Level is equal to the number of ranks in an appropriate Craft skill. Items are otherwise created by the normal rules.
Masterwork (Ex): Starting at 15th level, as a full-round action, an Expert can take 20 on any skill check. While taking this action, the expert is considered flat-footed, and it also provokes an Attack of Opportunity. If damaged while taking this action, the damage received is counted as a penalty to the check. The expert may do this once per day, increasing to twice per day at 20th level.
Ok, interesting concept, but you've ran into a problem already. The name. Expert is the name of the NPC class, by using that name youmake people think you're trying to make a PC version of the NPC class resulting in confusion.
For the homebrew campaign world for which I redesigned the class, my version did replace the NPC class.
I wrote a similar redesign for the Aristocrat class in that campaign, but ended up not liking how it worked during actual play.