I am brewing up my own class, and I was looking through some other classes for reference on how powerful I should make them. Against my common sense I skimmed through the oriential adventures book, and a thought struck me.
If the Blade dancers get a plus 10 to tumble, jump, and something else at level one, (along with all those other goodies, like double movement speed.) could my caster~esque class get somewhere along the lines of a plus 5 to spot and listen? Would it be balanced? Would it be fair? I will be coming back here to ask other questions concerning if and how broken the abilties would be. I will post the finished class when I am finished balancing it.
Please don't get me wrong but I would never include a fixed skill bonus in a class progression (except for minors and heavily skill-dependant Characters). It often gives a Huge bonus when you gain it but it fades over time as magic Items and Spells grow in power.
But if you still want to increase the senses of the class, think about other forms of seeing and hearing, such as Blindsight or Darkvision, althought it's alright to give it variable skill Boosts.
You could for example allow the class to gain their Intelligence Modificator in Addition to the Wisdom Mod, as thinking quickly improves the analysis of seen or heard things.
That really sounds like an Interesting Idea, so I hope you will soon finish the class.
Well, look at those bonuses. +30 by 10th level, am I remembering it correctly? That's pretty damn crazy.
Also, 3.0. I've never seen static skill bonuses like that in 3.5. (Am I missing something?)
I wouldn't hesitate to give a prestige class a +10 to a skill or two, if they are meant to be supreme with that skill.
A +5 to spot and listen for a full casting class? If they have a limited spell list, a la warmage or beguiler, then sure. If the Sorc/Wiz list, no. Probably not. Unless that's what the theme is and they're pretty focused on that. For instance, a Divination-focused class. But I would be sparing with other bonuses. Remember, Wiz 20 is still earth-shakingly powerful, and all it gets is a couple of bonus feats.