Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Grynneman 06-20-07, 08:37 PM	My problem is that my DM doesn't have much experience as one. As a result, we don't get alot of oportunities to use our skills (all we do is hack and slash stuff, then travel to another city). A play as a Thug(a craftier fighter variant for Unearth Arcana, who gives up some armor and weapon proficiencies for 4+int skill per level and a flurry of class skills)and I feel that the more skill oriented character (rogue and me) got the shaft in such a game. How can we use the skills we got? Also, can we make good use of them during a fight? Does anyone have an idea how I can use skills such as bluff and sleight of hand? What is urban tracking(a feat) worth and how can I use it.
Dalthbar 06-20-07, 09:24 PM	One of the obligations of a DM is to ensure that they're giving encounters to the players so they can showcase their abilities. Nothing sucks more than building up a huge feat chain (such as whirlwind attack) and then only facing single opponents. Unfortunately, this requires a DM that's aware of the player's abilities and how to properly exploit those. The only real thing you can do is talk to your DM and let them know what you want to do and offer to give some generic examples (as to not write the plot for him). But if you are simply given no chance to use your skills or class features, it's hard to really interject them into a game without your DM at least setting up those opportunities.
BroadStreetBully 06-21-07, 12:51 AM	there are rules under the individual skill descriptions on how different skills can be used in combat. the most prominent examples i can think of are: Tumble- you can make a tumble check to avoid provoking attacks of opportunity from opponent(s) you move by. Bluff- you can attempt an opposed bluff check to render an opponent flat-footed until your next attack. Intimidate- you can attempt an intimidate check to render an opponent shaken for 1 round.
zelf_gale 06-21-07, 11:07 AM	In addition... 5 ranks of Balance plus a caster who can cast grease is a potent combination. Hide and Move Silently can setup great surprise rounds. Jump and Climb can be useful if combat is done on varying heights of terrain. Search and Dwarven Stonecunning can detect stone traps that are in a combat encounter without slowing down.
Mentar 06-21-07, 08:16 PM	Next combat, attempt a diplomacy check to calm the enemy. Or after the next group of green skinned enemies get killed begin an investigation to determine why they were there, or why they were causing problems. This could help your new DM in the future. Everything has a cause, perhaps your DM already had something in mind. If not it could help with future games if the DM spends an hour or two at home thinking of why these things would be there causing trouble.
Kalarus 06-21-07, 09:26 PM	Is your DM new to the game in general, or does he have player experience? If it is the latter you might want to relate to him how, when he was a player, the DM let him use skills and such while playing, instead of just hitrolls. Also keep in mind that the skills you have are *your* skills, he does not constantly need to call for skill use. Just initiate skill attempts, ask the DM if the use of a skill is appropriate in a certain situation so he'll *have* to think about it. Bluff your way past the opponent, intimidate to scare them off, sleight of hand can be used with feats like flick of the wrist (if I recall correctly), alternatively just annoy fellow players by pickpocketing ;) Generally though skills aren't worth a whole lot in combat, some have specific uses but most are used for out of combat problemsolving. I hope things like spot and listen checks are called for regularly, search checks is something you should initiate yourself when looting bodies. Best bit of advice to give you though, is give it a bit of time. Someone new to DMing usually finds that there is much more to do (such as keeping track of player's skills/strengths/weaknesses) as a DM than just picking new monsters to fight. Such things improve gradually, it is possible that when your new DM got his bearings a bit, things will improve. If nothing helps, perhaps it might be wise to let someone else be DM who has some more experience. I don't know how much D&D experience your DM has in general or what kind of games he's used to, but generally speaking, it doesn't work very well if the DM is the least experienced D&Der of the group. Good luck!