Post/Author/DateTime	Post
oxybe 09-30-05, 01:58 PM	Able Learner vs Jack Of All Trades: which feat is better and why? i tend to lean towards good'ol Jack, but i am often wrong.
00_Whupass 09-30-05, 02:15 PM	Able learner is from RoD, but I don't recall having ever seen Jack of All trades, where can I find it? Personally I find feats like able learner to be disdainful, I mean from a CO standpoint its a golden calf of a feat and we should all bow down in Idoletry before it, which is presicely what tips my game balence alarm into the realm of the lolipop guild: home of the munchkins. There's a reason CC skills cost 2 ranks, for a feat to throw away a central concept like that is abhorrent. Then agian this isn't the board for such a rant, if you can point me towards a source for Jack of All Trades, I will come back and offer some mechanical commentary on which is superior.
pyro_cat 09-30-05, 02:20 PM	song and silence its a 3.0 feat
J-A-R-N-O 09-30-05, 02:23 PM	Jack of all trades is also in Complete adventurer. Able learner. Period. Why do you even ask? You do know that Jack of all trades gives you virtual 1/2 rank in all skills, not 1/2 max ranks? Able learner makes all skills cost only one point, which is very, very good and much, much better. Though good'ol Jack might be better at some builds, ie those that for some reason get technically no skill points. None of the skills that can't be used without ranks in them get that much better if you can have a half rank in them.
00_Whupass 09-30-05, 02:25 PM	Ah good I have Song and Silence. I'll check it out when I get back to the books. However seeing as it is a 3.0 feat, I think this question is purely academic, unless you have a very permisive DM.
Thievingrouge 09-30-05, 03:08 PM	It is also in Complete Adventurer. I'd have to say Able learner is better, because it allows you to safely hit more PrC requirements. If you are optimizing a skill monkey it is also great, so you can toss in a level of Exemplar for max (possible) ranks in all skills.
oxybe 09-30-05, 04:49 PM	i though it gave half full ranks. i guess i misread. yeah im making a skill-monkey marshall/examplar and i wanted another opinion.
DavidWL 10-01-05, 03:08 AM	Able Learner is definitely better. That said, Jack of All Trades is nice in that it lets you use all knowledge skills as if trained (and there are a practically infinite number of them) -- if you have a high intelligence this is pretty good -- even better if you are a Jordan Vizier 5.
Lorimo the Disbeliever 10-01-05, 04:55 AM	If you're human -> Able learner If not... poor you. Jack of all trades, Elf dilettante etc is all what you got.
oxybe 10-01-05, 12:11 PM	well, currently my character is marshall 9 and has a 16 int, but his charisma is 20 (24 with a cloak of charisma) when he uses his motivate intelligence, he gets another +7 competence bonus to his intelligence skills(or wisdom, charisma or dex... either way he can add the bonuses)... thats why i wanted to know if able learner was better then jack of all trades. that 1/2 point may not seem like much, but when i add my auras, i get a minimum of +8 to any skill check. but if you guys think that i sould take able learner instead, ill take your word. the character isnt set in stone, so i guess that i can do a little feat switching
catharz 10-01-05, 12:19 PM	It totally depends on how many skill points you have. If you can afford to plop 1/2 rank into every single skill, then go for Able Learner. If, on the other hand, doing so would take every skill point you have for 20 levels...Go with Jack.
jedrious 10-01-05, 01:16 PM	add in the fact that able learner is a 1st level only feat
oxybe 10-01-05, 03:32 PM	jack it is then. although he does have a fair amount of sp, he does use them for his social + observation skills