…And we’re back with another exciting design day! Today is Thursday and this week is House Rule Week. Today, we’ll be talking a little bit about Skills and Feats. Two major parts of the game.
Skills
Now, I’ve already displayed the two skills I added to my game, so I won’t spend much time on them, but here’s a short description:
Athletics (Str): This skill is essentially Climb, Swim, and the jumping bit of Acrobatics all rolled into one. It’s a method of simplifying some skills that needed to be simplified, and so far it works like a DREAM.
Endurance (Con): The first constitution-based skill, since concentration was dropped from Pathfinder, essentially covers the Endurance and Diehard feats, along with another few rules such as governing how long you can perform strenuous activity. It was essentially built because nobody EVER chooses Endurance as a feat any more unless they want diehard.
Both skills were stolen from Kirth Gersen’s house rules, which can be found HERE.
And here’s a LINK to my compiled version.
Up next, let’s look at a couple extra uses of other skills that I utilize.
Disable Device: This is probably my favorite one, and that’s because I totally flip the flavor around. See, I don’t think of Disable Device as being just that—disabling devices. It’s much more to me. To me, it seems like the perfect candidate for the ultimate Tinkering skill (might actually change it to that name). And as such, I allow the following extra use.
Jury-Rig: As a full-round action, you can repair an object with the broken condition to limited use by jury-rigging a solution. The DC to repair an item is equal to the DC required to craft it. A repaired item functions as if it does not possess the broken condition for one use, plus one extra use for every 5 points by which you exceed the DC, at which point it once again is considered broken. Using disable device in this way requires that you immediately pay an amount equal to ½ the item’s cost, representing random items used to repair the broken item.
A “use” is defined by the item itself. For weapons, a single attack with the weapon counts as a “use.” For armors or shields, a “use” is considered a single attack against the creature wearing the armor or shield (regardless of whether the attack hits). In regards to other items, a “use” is much more vague, and should be left up to GM discretion. For example, a repaired wagon wheel might consider a “use” one round of carrying the wagon in question; similarly, a set of thieves’ tools might consider a “use” a single lock picked or trap disabled.
Fun, right? Also, I’ve got…
Sleight of Hand: Only one bonus use here, and it’s a small one. But I REALLY like it.
Quick Draw: A DC 20 sleight of hand check allows you to draw a single weapon as a swift action, as if you had the Quick Draw feat.
Simple and easy, and it allows rogues and other up-front-but-not-fighter classes to draw their weapons quickly even without wasting a feat. Nice, and not game-breaking.
Now, onto feats…
Feats
First up are a few feats that I altered to…you know, give a little more power. I think it was a necessary change, and I hope you enjoy them.
Weapon Finesse (Combat)
You are trained in using your agility in combat, as opposed to brute strength.
Prerequisites: Dexterity 13
Benefit: With a light weapon, ranged weapon, or a weapon compatible with this feat, you may use your Dexterity modifier instead of your Strength modifier on attack rolls.
If your base attack bonus is +6 or higher, you may use your Dexterity modifier instead of your Strength modifier on damage rolls with these weapons. Ranged weapons only gain this damage bonus if they would normally gain a damage bonus from your strength modifier (such as with composite bows that possess a strength bonus)
Special: Natural weapons are considered light weapons. Two-handed melee weapons compatible with this feat do not add 1 ½ dexterity bonus on damage, only their dexterity bonus.
So here we see that Weapon Finesse is now the definitive “finesse” feat. Not only does it represent training with finesse-based melee weapons, but with my house rules it also allows a character to use ranged weapons with their dexterity. Essentially, it was a method of getting dexterity back to the god score it was before, but you’re just required to take a feat first.
You’ll also note that it adds dexterity on damage at BAB +6. This was intentional, since I hate the Dervish Dance feat presented in the Inner Sea World Guide (it’s too limiting) and really questioned why someone wouldn’t be able to use their dexterity on damage with a rapier or a short sword when they could do it with a scimitar.
Dodge (Combat)
Your training and reflexes allow you to act swiftly to avoid enemies’ attacks.
Prerequisites: Dexterity 13
Benefit: You gain a +1 dodge bonus to your AC. When your Base Attack Bonus reaches +11, you gain an additional +1 dodge bonus to your AC. A condition that makes you lose your dexterity bonus to AC also makes you lose the benefit of this feat.
This one, I felt, was a long time coming. Paizo did a good thing, boosting the effectiveness of dodge. But I thought it needed just a little more, so at BAB +11 it now gives an additional bonus. That’s only a +2 bonus over the course of 11-15 levels, so I think it’s hardly overpowering.
Weapon Focus
I’m not going to give a full description of this one. There’s only one major difference. Instead of selecting a single weapon, select a fighter weapon group. You gain the bonuses with all weapons in that group.
Martial Weapon Proficiency
Same rules apply here as with Weapon Focus. Select a weapon group. You gain proficiency with all martial weapons of that group.
Of course, there’s got to be more, right? Of course there’s more. With the house rules presented on Tuesday, I also created a nice little feat to go along with the Canny Defense rules. Tell me what you think.
Altered Defense (Combat)
You are skilled at using your awareness or bravado to avoid attacks, rather than your intellect.
Prerequisites: Wisdom or Charisma 13, Canny Defense
Benefit: You may add either your Wisdom or your Charisma bonus to your AC instead of your intelligence bonus when determining the dodge bonus gained from Canny Defense. The ability score used must be selected at the time this feat is taken, and cannot be changed.
I like it. It really allows for some nice characters, like the guy who is so aware of his surroundings that he can sense when attacks are coming his way, or the witty warrior who taunts his enemies to distract them, allowing him to parry and strike back.
And…well, that’s all I have for now. Remember that tomorrow’s Flavor Friday!
-Chris
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