Hi,
Having Headbands of int be tied to a particular skill and not just give extra skill points like Belts of Con give HP seems a bit unnecessary.
In my experience, any character that would want an int headband is a medium to high skilled character that has been investing skill points in their most critical skills through their career anyway and so when they get their mental bump item they're stuck with either wasting the maximum number of points they could get or picking a random skill that they don't use very much and maximizing it forevermore.
Is there some reason I'm missing to do it this way? If the worry is free retraining shenanigans by just removing the ring and putting it on again to redistribute skill points then preventing that could be just recording and freezing how the bonus skillpoints were spent when the ring was first put on and removing those points if the ring is taken off or lost.
That's pretty much the worry. Freezing how the skill points are spent by the wearer doesn't stop the party from passing it around to max out whatever Knowledge skill (say) they suddenly need. Also, this rule may seem complex, but it makes it easier for the players and GM to deal with than if each wearer gets their own bonuses from it.
The only reason they're not tied to specific languages as well is that the writers overlooked that. IIRC devs have stated that they ought to be.
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There is always another skill you want. Much less book keeping than giving skill points. Found headbands probably wont have your preference. If you get the ideal one just retrain the skills, but watch out for anti magic, dispel, other tricks that make the headband turn off. I would take it for secondary skills not my main ones.
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Additionally, it just makes sense in-universe. The headband makes you smarter, better at processing information and coming up with solutions. The only way it would also magically make you know more is just that-magic. Each headband comes equipped with a skill associated with it because that's the only way an int boost would suddenly make you know more about. . . say geography. It is a way to reconcile game mechanics with the flavor of the item. (And yes, I house rule that languages are set too).
Remember, if you buy one, you can set the skill (essentially custom-ordering it). GMs will also usually be pretty generous and give you ones that you want if you find it, unless it is on a dude.
As for skills I usually put in my headbands, I usually choose skills that are useful to my class but not required. My alchemist took fly because she had just gotten the wings evolution when she got her headband. My Lore oracle took perception because he didn't have it before, my arcanist took profession-sailor because he had just bought a shipping vessel. Stuff that is useful but I didn't get beforehand.
On characters that I know will want to buy an int headband, I take that in account when leveling my character. For example, I may not put in points into Sense Motive or Linguistics and then acquire skill points in the skills via the headband. Its a great way to bump middle use skills.
I guess the simplest way for me to houserule it (If I ever GM lol) would be to have the headband tied to a specific skill/language but I'd then let the player redistribute any 'lost' points however they want for free.
A bit of a double edged sword as if they tie the headband to a primary skill (and train up other things) then if they lose the use of the headband then suddenly they have Perception 0!
Thanks for the feedback guys.
1) A player can always just not put points into a skill, and wait until he can afford the headband. There are no problems here, the character just wont be any good at that skill until they get the headband. This is what most people do I think, because most people understand that it's more valuable to have maximum ranks in the skills you have, rather than to spread those ranks around and have "a little bit of everything".
2) There are retraining rules. You can always retrain your skill points out of one skill into another.
Skill Ranks
You can retrain skill ranks you have assigned to skills. Retraining skill ranks takes 5 days. When the training period ends, reassign a number of skill ranks up to your Intelligence bonus (minimum 1), removing them from your existing skill (or skills) and adding them to a different skill (or skills).
If retraining skill ranks means you no longer qualify for a feat or other ability you have, you can't use that feat or ability until you meet the qualifications again. (Or you can retrain that feat or other ability.)
I generally plan what skills for the headband. My first skill is almost always Escape Artist since that is a skill that 1. I can get by without the first few levels 2. Want at max ranks in order to be useful 3. Generally have a poor CMD on any character looking to pump Int. Sense Motive can also be a good choice for many of the same reasons.
Fly (if you don't have natural wings) and UMD are good because if you lose them due to an anti-magic field, you don't care.
Getting Linguistics through the headband is a little weird though. Would the headband's linguistics skill come pre-loaded with which languages you get? Could someone take the headband off and on again to repick what languages they need for a campaign? If languages are locked on creation, what happens when something like a gnome or tengu with gifted linguist puts it on?