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I am starting another campaign for some friends that are relatively new to roleplaying and am cobbling together the house rules for that game.
I had introduced them to the hobby with 13th Age since its relatively rules light but is similar to PF2 in some ways (like how level is added to things). As we transition to PF2, I want to make a few changes so that PCs remain as broadly capable as they seem in 13th Age. So these are the rules I am mulling over.
1. Intelligence Bonus: A PC's Intelligence modifier may be used to increase a skill from Trained to Expert INSTEAD of training a new skill (but not for taking an Expert skill to Master or beyond).
2. Lore Skills: At levels 1, 7 and 15, PCs get a special Skill Increase that can only be spent on Lore Skills. This will allow PCs to easily become legendary in a Lore skill (or Expert in several) while still advancing their other skills.
3. Untrained Skills: Add level to Untrained Skill Checks right from level 1.
There are a couple issues that jump out at me when I consider these house rules.
Issue 1: Some feats like Untrained Improvisation and Gnome Obsession are now useless or near that. Other feats based around getting expert skills seem less attractive. Problem? Or whatever?
Issue 2: PCs will reach Expert in a lore and possibly a couple skills at level 1. This is normally 2 for Rogues and 3 for everybody else. Would that be too much success early on?
Of the three house rules, I think the first is most possibly problematic but I do like that it makes Int attractive. Still I am likely to scratch that one. Anywho, any folks out there ever dabbled with any house rules similar to this? What was it like in play?
EDIT: I was also thinking of scrapping the Int house rule and adding a skill feat that lets you bump a skill from trained to expert or expert to master or even master to legendary. Each feat could be taken only once and would have some kind Int requirement. Hmm...
OK, I scrubbed House Rule 1 (the Int one) and I decided to go with these three General Feats:
Expert Skill: Requires 12+ Intelligence. You become Expert in a previously Trained skill. You also gain a Trained Skill Feat associated with that skill.
Masterful Skill: Requires 14+ Intelligence. You become Master in a previously Expert skill. You gain an Expert or Trained Skill Feat for this skill.
Legendary Skill: Requires 16+ Intelligence. You become Legendary in a previously Master skill. You gain an Master, Expert or Trained Skill Feat for this skill.
Each can be taken only once and they have progressively higher Intelligence requirements.
I like that. Though you should make the level requirements on them obvious.
Is it intended that you could get expert at level 1 as a human, etc?
Those feats are very good, so I think I'd like to see them with 2 higher an Int pre-requisite. Then you can justify their relative power by investment cost. Intimidating prowess is basically Intimidating Glare++ because of it's prerequisites. So there's precedent. And synergistic Str and Demoralize is strong.
The first rule would make int very attractive for 1st level characters, especially since there are so few ways of raising a skill to expert that early. I think a skill feat like "improved skill training" that had a high int requirement (16 maybe) and raised a skill to expert would offer a similar effect without being so impactful.
I like that. Though you should make the level requirements on them obvious.
Is it intended that you could get expert at level 1 as a human, etc?
Those feats are very good, so I think I'd like to see them with 2 higher an Int pre-requisite. Then you can justify their relative power by investment cost. Intimidating prowess is basically Intimidating Glare++ because of it's prerequisites. So there's precedent. And synergistic Str and Demoralize is strong.
If you make the INT reqs too high, then it only applies to a very small subset of characters. It's good that there are strong options gainable from decent INT. That's the whole point.
I can see making the first one have a level 3 req, the second could be 7 and the last one could be 15.
I like that. Though you should make the level requirements on them obvious.
Is it intended that you could get expert at level 1 as a human, etc?
Those feats are very good, so I think I'd like to see them with 2 higher an Int pre-requisite. Then you can justify their relative power by investment cost. Intimidating prowess is basically Intimidating Glare++ because of it's prerequisites. So there's precedent. And synergistic Str and Demoralize is strong.
If you make the INT reqs too high, then it only applies to a very small subset of characters. It's good that there are strong options gainable from decent INT. That's the whole point.
I can see making the first one have a level 3 req, the second could be 7 and the last one could be 15.
For sure. Personal taste means for me 14+ is decent Int, and these feats are a reward encouragement for having int be one of the four stats you increase as you level.
I think because Int 12 giving you skill training, then these bumps requiring +2 Int each time sits right with me personally.
I really like your second idea in your second post. I think I'll adapt this to my own games.