Skills in the Game

[Jamie]

I noticed that there are many places throughout the books where a characters ranks in a skill seem to make a difference to outcomes of domain actions and battles. Here is my question with this. Why is it only ranks and not total bonus?

Don't the rulers’ natural abilities count for something?

Shouldn't a magical bonus to warcraft help in battle?

How about synergy bonuses to Lead from Diplomacy?

Is there a reason these aren't included in all the situations in the game? It seems strange to me that they were left out of the equations.

Thanks,
Jamie

[irdeggman]

That was something that was talked about (and voted on I beleive) a while ago. When the ruling a domain chapter is revised the checks will be based on total mods (IIRC +1/5) to checks. This was reflected in the revised Ch 1 to be consistent.

[Jamie]

Cool. That makes much more sense.

[Benjamin]

I have a question about stacking.

Master Diplomat [General]
You are a master of diplomacy.
Regions: Anuire, Brechtür, Khinasi
Prerequisites: Diplomacy 9 ranks
Benefits: You gain a +2 bonus to Diplomacy skill checks, and to all Diplomacy-based domain actions. These include Diplomacy, Create Trade Route, Contest Trade Route, and Create, Contest, and Rule Temple Holdings.

Now let's say I am a rogue 8 with 11 ranks of Diplomacy and a stat modifier of +2, for a total of +13 in Diplomacy skill.

I take Master Diplomat, which makes my Diplomacy skill +15.

I want to contest a trade route. I get a bonus of (15/5) +2 (master diplomat) = +5 to my check.

The Master Diplomat feat seems to provide a double bonus.

First it gives me +2 to Diplomacy skill, which allows me to achieve a +3 bonus to the Contest action.

Then it provides a +2 to the Contest action, making it a total of +5.

That's a big increase! Was this intentional? It also happens for a lot of the other feats that provide both skill and action bonuses.

[irdeggman]

First of all the prerequisite of 9 ranks to take the feat makes the +2 to the skill check rather a small contributor.


The real intent was to provide the +2 to the domain level checks, the others were added on to make it more of a master level feel.

Basically even though the double contribution on the surface seems a little bit high, after the minimum rank prerequisite is factored in the net benefit at the domain level is the +2 to the checks - so I'd go with the +2 to the skill check (which contributes to the over bonus to the domain action) and then an additional +2 to the domain action check.

Let's see the +2 to the skill check itself only translates into a +2/5 (i.e., less than a +1) to the overall domain level bonus and since everything is rounded down, unless otherwise specified. . .

[Benjamin]

OK, I just wanted to make sure that the doubling up procedure was intended. I agree that once you get to high enough ranks to warrant the feat, it doesn't really matter much anymore.

[ausrick]

so how will the updates to the handling of skills affect the calculation for Chapter 5 key regent skills and regency collection? What will the new rules look like?

[Question]

Wait.Just to clarify stat bonuses are considered direct skill bonuses?

As in if i have +4 from cha its considered +4 to diplomacy skill,and hence adds to domain level actions?

[Benjamin]

Question: sort of. If you have +4 to Cha, it adds to the ranks of Diplomacy you have. Take the total modifier for diplomacy / 5 (rounded down to whole number). This adds to the domain check as a bonus.

Ex: Rogue 4, 7 ranks diplomacy +3 wis bonus = 10 modifier for diplomacy skill. Diplomacy domain action receives a 10/5 = +2 bonus to success.

The skill listed next to the domain action name is the skill used to provide the bonus to the action. Certain skills (administration!) are used for a lot of the actions.

[irdeggman]

And only if you personally oversee the action.

[Question]

You can opt to use lietenants to do any character action though,yes?Including standard actions?

[irdeggman]

You can opt to use lietenants to do any character action though,yes?Including standard actions?

A standard action is not a character action.


Character action: Regents, like other characters, have personal tasks that they may wish to accomplish. This could include attending a festival, doing research, adventuring, crafting items, or any other normal non-domain activity.Character actionsinvolve only the character or a small group of characters, not the actions of an entire court. The main difference between a character action and a standard domain action is the scale of resources invested and involved; a character action generally involves strictly personal resources.

Court domain action: The regent initiates a Court action but members of the regent's court handle the details of the matter almost entirely. Court domain actions are similar to Free actions in combat, although they may be important, they require very little time or other resources and do not require the focus of the regent or the entire court. The level of the domain's court determines the number of Court domain actions that a domain can take per domain round. A domain with a very small court may not be eligible to take any Court actions and must therefore rely on standard domain actions to accomplish even the smallest of domain-level tasks.

Standard domain action: Each domain normally is allowed one standard domain action per domain round. A regent's standard domain action represents the primary focus or goal of the regent's court and agents for the domain round. The regent need not be physically present for his domain to take a standard action; only routine communication is required. If the regent is unable to communicate to his realm, the character's player should still be allowed to select a reasonable domain action for the domain that represents the court's attempts to maintain the realm in the regent's absence. A regent's court can be reasonably expected to perform the same actions as the regent would; a regent's courtiers make it their business to have a fair idea of the regent's opinions on important matters. A regent can spend regency to support his domain's standard domain actions, regardless of his personal involvement.

Full domain action: Some standard domain actions are so important that the regent chooses to (or must) personally oversee the action. A full domain action consists of both the standard domain action that is the focus of the regent's mechanism of governance and the regent's character action. A regent can spend regency to support full domain actions. A regent that personally oversees the affairs of his realm is eligible to gain bonuses to domain action checks due to skill synergies.


Every character (including Lts) gets a character action per domain round.

If a character combines his character action with his domain action (i.e., a full domain action) he gets to use his skill modifiers to influence the domain action.

A Lt may be used to perform a domain action instead of the regent (i.e., in his place) - then the Lt gets to use his skill modifiers to influence the domain action.

But note there is a limit to the number of domain actions per turn (3) and no more than a sigle domain action per realm may occur in a round. So that you can't assign a Lt to perform a domain action and you perform one in parallel.