Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 blacksheepcannibal Feb 12, 2010 14:07:09	Problem: Many skills rely upon one of two stats (wis and cha). Broken down, 1 skill uses Str, 3 skills use Dex, 1 skill uses Con, 3 skills use int, 5 skills use Wis, and 4 skills use Cha. Wisdom and Charisma modify more skills than the other 4 abilities combined! You also run into the funny situation where a rogue needs a cleric to find the trap so they can disable it, and a cleric needs a wizard to tell the cleric about it's religion. Solution: Ability Synergy bonuses. Many abilities are given a Synergy Ability. If you have a higher ability score in a skills Synergy Ability than the ability that actually modifies the skill, you get a +2 Synergy bonus to that skill. For example: If your character has a higher Wis score than Int score, they recieve a +2 bonus to Religion. Acrobatics synergizes with Strength (gymnysts = strong); Athletics synergizes with Constitution (more endurance = climb, swim, or jump more); Endurance synergizes with Wisdom (self-control and willpower means you push further); Diplomacy synergizes with Wisdom (willpower and being stubborn makes you hard to argue with); Streetwise synergizes with Dexterity (this one is fishy; but juggling/slight of hand/dancing makes you easier to get along with?); Intimidate synergizes with Strength (big and muscular = scary); Nature synergizes with Constitution (an iron stomach means you can forage for worse foods); Religion synergizes with Wisdom (empathy and common sense bring enlightenment); Dungeoneering synergizes with Intellignce (sheer knowledge can tell you a rock formation might collapse); Heal synergizes with Dexterity (doctors needs good eye-hand co-ordination) This -shouldn't- improve already high skill checks (because you only get the synergy bonus if your Synergy ability is higher than the base skill ability); what it does do is make it so that more players feel effective with their skills. This means that players will have more options during a skill challenge, and players that might not have any good skills now will be more likely to participate. Unforseen Cirumstances: This results in a fair amount of odd situations - a higher con score means you know more about the beasts of nature (Nature/Monster Knowledge)? A high str score means you can give subtle threats better (Intimidate/Skill Challenge)? Fancy Footwork lets you find out more information from a city's populace (Streetwise/Gather Information)? The more crunchy worry is that for any given skill challenge, you have more players able to contribute high rolling skills to the challenge - effectively causing any given challenge to be easier. You could resolve this by increasing the difficulty of an encounter, but then why give bonuses in the first place? I think it's a much better idea to simply require an additional success or two during a skill challenge. This shouldn't make the challenge any easier, but it certainly keeps the challenge going - but more players can contribute.
#2 babyj Feb 12, 2010 16:22:14	For my synergies, I use a rule which calls back to 3.5e. The rule is this, for untrained skills you can actually attempt (those you cannot attempt w/o training wouldn't matter anyways), you get a +2 bonus from having training in the related skills. If you already have training in the skill, then the bonus from synergy (untyped, thus it stacks) from another related skill is only +1. If you gain a synergy bonus from multiple sources, then that bonus is also only +1 past the first +2. Ex: I give a +2 to Diplomacy checks if the character is untrained in Diplomacy, but is trained in Bluff. I also give a further +1 to Diplomacy checks if this same character is trained in Insight as well. This means the character would gain a +3 to Diplomacy checks at 1st level, even though she is untrained. Ex 2: I give a +1 to Diplomacy checks if the character is trained in Diplomacy and Bluff. I give a further +1 to Diplomacy checks if the character is trained in Diplomacy and Insight as well. This means this character would gain a +7 to Diplomacy checks at 1st level, due to training and synergy. I essentially took the Skill Synergy table from 3.5 Player's Handbook, and kept the ones I could, with the added rule of being applied less when you already have training in the skill gaining a bonus. This reflects that the training told you enough to reduce the effect of the synergy, and to keep things in check so synergies don't get out of hand.
#3 babyj Feb 12, 2010 16:32:03	On second thought... you seem to have set particular skill uses aside for gaining synergies, which are based on ability scores of similar use to a skill, rather based than skills of similar use to a skill. This is more like...skill synergy redefinition to "skill-attribute synergy". I posted about something a little different, the traditional application (from previous editions) of "skill-skill synergy".