DMs, Provide Options For Characters With "Useless" Skills (in Pathfinder)

Skill checks are some of the most common rolls we make in our games, and generally speaking if a player invests points into a skill it means they intend to use it as part of their character. However, too often DMs will just ignore the variety of options, and ask for the same basic checks over and over again. With a bit of creativity, though, you can bring some of the oddball abilities people don't typically think about into the game, and make the players who invested in them feel vindicated in their choices.

Well, the message seems clear, but the double meaning could be the key to this whole thing...

Appraise, Linguistics, Sense Motive, and More!

There are some skills that get all of the attention when it comes to a Pathfinder game. Perception checks are legion, for example, and Bluff, Diplomacy, Stealth, and Acrobatics checks tend to be made pretty often as well. Intimidate checks, too, if you're sassy or have class features that rely on demoralizing opponents in combat.

But when was the last time you heard a DM call for an Appraise check? Or a Linguistics check? Or when someone actually used Sense Motive for something other than giving the rogue the hairy eyeball?

I'm watching you, knife boy.

However, all of these skills have rather specific uses that can be incorporated into a game, if you read the fine print on what you can do with them. The difficulty is that many of us who sit in the big chair tend to skim this section, and it's a real missed opportunity for our players.

As an example, it's possible for someone who has a solid Appraise skill to tell you the approximate value of an item, sure, but you can also discern if the item is magical or not. It won't tell you a magic item's properties, but if the dwarven craftsman and the half-elf sorcerer put their heads together, suddenly you've turned what was a boring bit of bookkeeping into a team effort to yield some impressive results. You could treat the successful Appraise check as granting a small bonus to the caster who's trying to figure out what the item does through Spellcraft, as well, as it's something of a clue as to the potency of the magic when you know what it might go for on the open market.

Or if you'd prefer someone roll a Knowledge (History) check on an item, perhaps the person with Appraise could get some of the information. They may not know precisely why this style of weapon is so valuable, but that maker's mark, unique crossguard, and the pattern of waves in the steel always goes far above market price. Maybe they've heard it was the product of a dead master smith, or because the blade never needs to be sharpened, and it can cut through steel like butter.

Can't say for sure, but I know a guy would give us half his year's take for that thing.

Similarly overlooked skills could come into play in interesting ways just by reading their alternative uses, and asking how that might play into your plot. Because yes, Sense Motive helps you tell when someone is lying, and it's used to activate certain potent feats, but it can also be used to intercept secret messages being passed with the Bluff skill. So whether the players are having a meeting with the local thieves' guild rep who's trying to tell his second-in-command to poison the party's tea, or the party is trying to figure out who the assassins at the duke's party are, this could give them a clue as to what's happening.

As with most skill checks, it shouldn't be the only way for the party to get clued-in to the plot, but if the monk who took this skill solely because it's necessary for his fighting style feats gets a chance to shine with it out of combat, so much the better!

Linguistics is a skill most players only take to speak more languages, but it can also be used to create and spot forged documents, as well as to translate hidden meanings in old or cryptic writing. So if you've got a puzzle that needs to be deciphered, or the bard really needs the proper passes with notarized seals to pull off the lie that he's a knight errant in the city on official business with his retinue, then whoever invested in this skill can make sure the party has all the props and information it needs. Those with ranks in the Profession skill know all the basic things about their profession, and they can answer questions without even making a roll... which is why they would be the first to notice if the "soldiers" at the door, or the supposed "sailors" on the diplomat's boat are sending up red flags. Use Magic Device can be used to activate wands and scrolls, sure, but it can also be used to trick an item into believing you have a certain stat, a particular alignment, or even that you're a member of a particular race, which might allow the overly curious rogue to dope out what the enchanted robe responds to so the party can figure out what it's for.

Know What Your Party Can Do (And Include It)

While you have a lot to balance as a DM, it's important to know what your party is actually capable of when you're setting them their challenges. Otherwise you're liable to get blind-sided when your big bad bosses get creamed in two shots because you forgot how smite worked, or when the supposedly simple encounter ends up crippling the party because you overlooked the fact that they can't repair ability damage.

Crap... ugh... walk it off?

The same is true for their skills. While you don't need to have your players' sheets memorized, you should know roughly which skills are at your table, and which ones aren't.

The other thing I would recommend is that you show your players how these skills can be used; either by asking for checks in these lesser-used skills at lower levels when the DCs aren't as tough, or showing how they could be beneficial through NPC interactions. Because if a player knows that their slightly oddball choice of Profession: Chef or Linguistics might be an important addition to the party, they'll be a lot more likely to put it on their sheet.

And, even more importantly, they'll remember your table for being a game where they were asked to roll something other than Perception, Initiative, and saving throws.

Need More Resources?

It's not easy being a DM. If you've been looking for some resources that will do some of the heavy lifting for you, then the following might be useful for you.

- 100 Random Oracular Pronouncements: Coming up with mystical-sounding pseudo-prophecies on the fly is a feat that can sprain your creativity. Best to have a few picked out beforehand!

- 100 Encounters in a Fey Forest: Speaking of encounters that are more than just combat, this list of oddball, strange, and potentially dangerous encounters is full of strange creatures, weird riddles, and moving clearings. There's also a 100 Random Encounters For On The Road Or In The Wilderness, if you need something to shake up the status quo. Both of these are written for Pathfinder, but there are 5th Edition versions, too.

- 100 Merchants to Encounter: The folks most likely to demonstrate the uses of Appraise, or even Use Magic Device, merchants sometimes become samey background characters. This collection has 100 strange, unique, and unusual folks, from fey peddlers on the road, the black market poison dealers, to those odd wizards who deal in lightly cursed goods.

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

That's all for this week's Moon Pope Monday. Hopefully you enjoyed, and if you've used run these kinds of games before, leave us a comment to let us know what worked for you!

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Get ALL The Skill Points in Pathfinder With This Handy Trick

One of the most common complaints heard round any Pathfinder table is that characters never have enough skill points to go around. Even classes like the rogue, the bard, and the investigator, which were built for the skill monkey role in the game world, never seem to offer enough points for everything a player wants to do. And if you're playing a fighter? Or a sorcerer? Forget it... you're good at, like, two things. Three, tops.

Being an asshole is something any class can do, though.

It makes sense, though, from a game balance perspective. After all, skill points are a resource, and they have to be spent to achieve certain results. The classes that get fewer skill points, well, they get other resources to make up for it. Fighters get full BAB, proficiency in most weapons and armors, and more feats than a mutant centipede. Sorcerers? They get bloodline powers, bonus feats, and, in case you forgot, SPELLS! So limiting the skill points these classes get can be seen as a way to prevent any one character from getting a bigger piece of the resource pie.

If you want to widen your slice a little, though, try this tip on for size.

Humans, Traits, and Feats

Now, the easiest way to get more skill points is to play a human. After all, that bonus feat at creation, and the bonus skill point every level, is one of the reasons so many games are human dominated. If you combine that with the bonus skill point option for taking a level in your favored class, then that's two extra skill points per level, on top of your class plus your Intelligence modifier.

But who needs a bonus skill point instead of a bonus hit point from your favored class? After all, if you're dead, it doesn't matter how skilled you are. If you're rolling for hit points, then that bonus one can be the literal difference between life and death.

Though some characters are squishier than others.

Don't worry, though, because Improved Initiative has you covered. What you need to do is take a look at the trait Finding Your Kin, and the feat Fast Learner. The trait lets you select a favored class, and gain +1 hit point as well as +1 skill point when you gain a new level. The feat does the same thing.

What's great about these two is that they both provide untyped bonuses, which are one of the only varieties that stack. So as long as you're playing a human with both of these items on your sheet, and you're taking levels in your favored class, you gain +2 hit points, and +3 skill points every level (that's with your human bonus). That's not bad.

It's also important to remember that half-elves count as human for any effect related to race, and that they can pick two favored classes. So adding Fast Learner on top of that will ensure you always get a bonus skill point and a bonus hit point. Finding Your Kin only allows you to pick a single class, so if you're going to make use of it, make sure your favored class is the one you have the most levels in.

EDIT: Due to arguments, I felt I should add an additional warning here. This trait, originally titled "Finding Helene" comes from the Legacy of Fire adventure path. This path was released during the awkward transition from DND 3.5 to Pathfinder, and it is also a campaign trait. For these reasons, many DMs may ban its use outside of that campaign, and when playing with the rules from that time.

Even Small Numbers Add Up

A +1 here, and a +1 there doesn't seem like very much, but those are the things powerful character concepts are built from. Ask yourself what you would do if you have 30 bonus skill points and 20 bonus hit points by level 10. How would you spend them? More to the point, would you be able to achieve your concept without those bonus resources to spend?

Not every character concept needs them. But if you have a concept that does need a slightly larger slice of the pie, well, I won't tell if you don't.

That's all for this week's Crunch topic. Hopefully there are some folks out there who find it helpful when they next sit down to build a character, and they want a few more skill points to throw around. If you'd like to support Improved Initiative so I can keep making posts just like this one, go to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page, and become a patron today. All it takes is $1 a month to buy my everlasting gratitude, and to get yourself some sweet swag as a thank you from me. Lastly, if you haven't followed me on Facebook, Tumblr, or Twitter yet, well, today's a great day to start!