Fuzzy Skills Substitutions

[darth_borehd]

I have been allowing players to substitute some skills for others in some situations if they can have a plausible reason why it might apply. This is especially useful for the Craft and Profession skills.

For example, a Profession (Fisherman) could be used substituted for a Knowledge (Nature) if it is related to fish. A successful check could reveal something like the presence of a large unnatural predator in the lake. Later, the same character uses the Profession (Fisherman) skill as a substitute for survival to provide food for the party camped by the lake.

Another character uses Craft (Painting) as a substitute for Knowledge (Local) to find information about a local artist.

[Kadus]

This system is awesome for roleplay potential and immersion. It also allows purple to use their back stories more extensively as what they've done in the past can be useful later. The biggest balancing factor in skill substitution is that a skill like Profession or Craft is a narrower and possibly deeper pool than skills like Knowledge. Characters without an academic knowledge of natural history may be able to tell that a dangerous thing is in the water and may be able to pass Knowledge checks about speed, but unless they've had direct contact with it before their Knowledge about it's weaknesses should be inaccurate to showcase it's second-hand nature.