Skill Groups DnD 3.5 [PEACH]

[Tehnar]

First off I would like to apologize to anyone who thought of this before me. My google-fu and search-fu failed me.

Prelude
The maximum bonus from one source you can get to a skill check is equal to the number of ranks you have in that skill. Racial and bonuses from class levels are exempt from this. If you have 0 or 1 rank in a skill you can get a bonus from having a high ability score tied to that skill, but maxed at +2.

Concept
The idea behind this that all skills (with a few exceptions) are considered class skills for all classes. To diffenrate classes each class will have a list of Skill Groups. That is similar skills that can be bought as a package at a reduced cost. When taking a level in a class, you can only buy skill groups associated with that class. For example the Athletics skill group includes the skills Climb, Jump and Swim and costs 2 skill points per rank. Some skills belong to more then one Skill group. If a character takes both groups his skill rank in that skill will be the added value of the skill group ranks.

Characters can still purchase skills individually. So a character with Athletics 3 and Jump 4 will have Climb rank 3, Jump rank 7, and swim rank 3. In the old system he would spend 13 skill points for that (assuming all were class skills), while in the new he would spend 10 skill points (6 for the group and 4 for a additional 4 ranks in jump). The total rank in a skill still cannot exceed the characters level +3.

Skills and Skill Groups

Except for Speak Languages and Use Magic device, all skills are class skills for all classes. Some skills will not be part of any skill group (such as Perform). Use Magic device is considered a class skill for bards, rogues and sorcerers. Speak language is considered a class skill for bards.

Skill groups are detailed below. The syntax is:

Skill Group Name (number of skill points required to purchase 1 rank) [list of skills belonging to the group]

Acrobatics (3) [balance, jump, escape artist, tumble]
Arcane (3) [concentration, spellcraft, knowledge (arcana), knowledge (the planes)]
Athletics (2) [climb, jump, swim]
Animal Husbandry (2) [handle animal, heal, ride]
Caligraphy (2) [appraise, decipher script, forgery]
Courtier (2) [diplomacy, knowledge (nobility), sense motive]
Deception (2) [bluff, disguise, sleight of hand]
Infiltration (3) [disguise, hide, move silently, use rope]
Military Smith (2) [craft (blacksmithing), craft(weaponsmith), craft(armorsmith), craft (fletcher)]
Nature (3) [concentration, knowledge (nature), spellcraft, survival]
Religion (3) [concentration, heal, knowledge (religion), spellcraft]
Sage (2) [knowledge (history), knowledge (architecture), knowledge (nobility)]
Social (4) [bluff, diplomacy, intimidate, gather information, sense motive]
Streetwise (2) [intimidate, gather information, knowledge(local)]
Survivor (3) [hide, move silently, knowledge(nature), survival]
Traps (3) [craft (trapmaking), disable device, open lock, search]
Traveler (3) [knowledge (nature), knowledge (geography), knowledge (dungeoneering), survival]
Thievery (4) [hide, move silently, open lock, sleight of hand, use rope]

Classes and Skill Groups:

Barbarian: Athletics, Animal Husbandry, Streetwise, Survivor
Bard: Acrobatics, Arcane, Caligraphy, Courtier, Deception, Infiltration, Sage, Social, Traveler + Use Magic Device and Speak Language
Cleric: Religion, Nature (Animal or Plant domain), Sage (Knowledge domain), Traveler (Travel domain), Deception (Trickery domain)
Druid: Animal Husbandry, Nature
Fighter: Athletics, Animal Husbandry, Military Smith, Streetwise
Monk: Acrobatics, Athletics, Courtier, Infiltration, Sage
Paladin: Athletics, Animal Husbandry, Courtier, Religion
Ranger: Athletics, Animal Husbandry, Infiltration, Nature, Survivor, Traveler
Rogue: Acrobatics, Caligraphy, Deception, Infiltration, Social, Streetwise, Traps,Thievery + Use Magic Device
Sorcerer: Arcana, Deception + Use Magic Device
Wizard: Arcana, Sage


============================
This is the first draft. Further changes I am contemplating:

- modifying the number of skill points each class gets (usually lowering them)
- adding spot and listen to be only class skills for certain classes
- adding more skill groups, or expanding existing ones

Thank you for reading through that, any comments would be appreciated.

[jokey665]

Fax is doing something like this for d20r.

[Tehnar]

Hmm, was not aware of that. I like the synergies Fax included.

Still I think this system is sufficiently different that merits discussion on its own.