Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Threefists 08-15-07, 06:47 AM	I'm the new DM (tremble with fear, my bitc....friends...) of my group, and due to continous complaining about cross-class skills, I created a Feat that can be taken only at 1st level, to a maximum of 4 times (I allow Traits and Flaws into character creation...for both PCs and NPCs. The Blackguard is more memorable when he has a hang-up about attacking women, or the incredibly obese Halfling Cook can only move 10 foot per round instead of 20...) VERSATILE[General] Choose two skills that are cross-class skills to your class. You may increase skill ranks in these two classes by expending only 1 skill point instead of two, but you may not exceed the limit normally applied to cross-class skills. Thus, a Human Barbarian might decided that Knowledge (Nature) and Heal are useful skills for him to have. At 7th level, assuming the Barbarian put 2 points into each skill at 1st level and puts 1 point into each of these skills every odd level, he will have Knowledge (Nature) 5 ranks and Heal 5 ranks, not as much as a Ranger or Druid would have, but enough so that the Barbarian can do more than just bash things to pieces. The same Barbarian might also decide to spend the bonus feat a human gains to also gain Hide and Move Silently, under the same restraints as the other two skills, and put 2 points into each at first level, putting 1 point into each of these skills at every even level, he will have Hide 5 ranks and Move Silently 5 ranks. Alternatively, the Sorcerer could choose to gain Diplomacy and Sense Motive to become the party spokesperson, or a Fighter could choose Perform (Weapon Drill) and Balance for flavour reasons. Just putting the feat out so that if anyone else has had this problem with/in their game, they have yet another alternative.
Ornum 08-15-07, 08:06 AM	Question: If you can only take it at 1st level, how can you possibly get it up to four times? The whole "traits and flaws" thing might explain it, but that is something I am not familiar with. Also, with all the uproar over cross-classed skills that I've read, this is something I like to see. Instead of demanding a fix that is not necessary, someone created their own fix. I like it, but I'll probably use a different form. Something along the lines of adding in more skill points to distribute, or something.
Threefists 08-16-07, 09:20 AM	Sorry Ornum, I'll explain it to you in a way that won't make the "Unearthed Arcana" seem confusing... Traits are a combination of negative and positive traits. For example, the Aggressive Trait means that your character is quick to fight, and is full of enthusiasm for combat, but leaves himself open to counterattacks, translating game-wise into a +2 bonus on Initiative Checks, but a -1 penalty to Armor Class. Flaws are sort of a anti-feat. They can only be taken at 1st level, and you can only have two Flaws per character. To gain 4 Versatile feats, the above-mentioned Barbarian would have to take the maximum 2 flaws, we'll use Frail (subtracting 1 hit-point per level) and Shaky (-2 penalty on all ranged attack rolls) as the Flaws, meaning the Human Barbarian starts out with the ability to choose 4 Feats.
Asurya 08-16-07, 09:36 AM	except that a Human whatever could choose the able learner feat and so have all the cross-class skills cost him 1 SP per rank... just nitpicking, your feat is just a nerf of this human-only feat (in Races of Destiny if you ask)
Threefists 08-16-07, 10:35 AM	True, but that still leaves the other 98% of the races WotC has created scratching their balls (or whatevers) when it comes to cross-class skills. This feat isn't supposed to be a cure-all for Cross-Class Skills Blues, but a stepping stone towards fixing the problem. IMHO, I believe that the Able Learner Feat is just rubbing salt into the wound, but it is a handy Feat, assuming you are Human/Half-Elf/Half-Orc/Half-Ogre/Half-Dragon(Human)/Mongrelfolk/Sharakim/Skulk/Sea Folk. Again, that's 2% of the races WotC has created covered for the Cross-Class Skills Blues.