Background Skill question

[bampf]

I have a question about racial skill bonus and background skills... it s not in the FAQ and I don t recall it being mentioned in a discussion (I may be wrong).

Anyway, for many races in the Character section it states players get a racial circumstance bonus for certain skills and then in addition mentions skills as Background Skills. Often these are the same skills.

So for instance a Pelishtim Shemite gets a +2 circumstance bonus to Knowledge arcana, AND has Knowledge arcana as a background skill, which according to the definition of BG Skill grants a bonus +2 ranks. So is this an accidental redundancy or should a Level 1 character have a +4 in the skill before ever spending a skill point... that doesn t sound right (although for the "Larger than Life" REH style character that may be what they were shooting for).

I don t have my book in front of me so hopefully I m not mis-stating, but I recall many races having these double skill bonues. Comments?

 

[Hyena]

I'd have to check the book, but I dont' see a reason not to stack both bonuses. Remember though that circumstancial bonus <> free ranks. This is very important for maximum skill ranks considerations or prerequisites of particular spells.

So you pelishtim has two free ranks in knowledge (arcana) and has a +2 bonus when rolling this skill.

 

[MightyCthulhu]

So is this an accidental redundancy or should a Level 1 character have a +4 in the skill before ever spending a skill point... that doesn t sound right (although for the "Larger than Life" REH style character that may be what they were shooting for).

First off, IIRC the cap for skill ranks is level+3 and AFAIK the background skill ranks do not override that rule, so you can still only have 4 ranks @ 1st level.

Secondly, a character with an 18 in an attribute will have many skills @ +4 without spending any skill points! And there are several feats which grant a +2 bonus to 2 skills.

So Even without this particular rule, you can have a charcter with a +10 @ 1st. (4 ranks, +4 Attribute bonus and +2 from appropriate feat.) These racial abilities raises that to +12 (IF it stacks with the +2 bonus from the feat.)

 

[bampf]

Part of the issue is there s +2 circumstance bonus and then 2 free ranks from BG Skill. So the bonus would be exempt from the max ranks limitation and the BG skill ranks (presumably) would not.

Based on the editing issues we ve all grown to love so much my fear is that they iniatally meant to give a rank bonus, realized that the Max ranks per level would limit BG Skill advancement and so changed to Circumstance bonuses instead and then forgot to remove the BG Skill +2 blurb.

I really don t have a problem with charcters excelling at a skill (potentially > +10 at Lv 1) because of the aforementioned larger than life clause, I just wanna make sure I m doing it right.

 

[Yuan-Ti]

bampf, I think you are doing it right. Those background skill ranks are simply 2 free ranks in those skills. They do not not override the Level +3 Ranks limit placed on skills. The character simply does not have to pay for them.

Bonuses are, just as always, bonuses and therefore are not affected by Rank limits imposed by level.

So, yeah, I built a Tauran Borderer who had +11 Hide and Move Silently in Forests at 1st level (4 ranks, +3 for DEX 16, +1 for Race, +1 for Class Favored Terrain, +2 for Adaptability -- Hyborian racial feature)... if I had given him the Stealthy Feat he would have been +13 in forests. :shock:

 

[Ravager_of_Worlds]

aye, but a player still "pays" for those background skills by their racial selection. nothing is ever free-> just cleverly balanced between choices. For instance, say you wanted to make a Stygian Soldier. Those background ranks in traditionally magic complentary skills might not be as valuable as say, a player who wanted to find a race more complimentary for his character's chosen Soldier profession (like a Hyborian or a Hyrkanian). (If i just named a background not available for Stygians, don't shoot me, I don't have my book at work).

Anyway, for a min-maxer such as myself, the Conan game is a land of plenty. I got a +10 Craft (weaponsmith) at first level with 1 feat, an Int 16 and the Nordheimer racial background- so I got 2 "free" ranks, skill emphasis (+3), an attribute mod (+3) and spent 2 of my "bonus intelligence skills" since Craft (weaponsmith) is not a Barbarian class skill. +10- voila, I can make a greatsword if I had 2 months of game time by taking a 10.

 

[Mongoose Bob]

I have a question about racial skill bonus and background skills... it s not in the FAQ and I don t recall it being mentioned in a discussion (I may be wrong).

Anyway, for many races in the Character section it states players get a racial circumstance bonus for certain skills and then in addition mentions skills as Background Skills. Often these are the same skills.

So for instance a Pelishtim Shemite gets a +2 circumstance bonus to Knowledge arcana, AND has Knowledge arcana as a background skill, which according to the definition of BG Skill grants a bonus +2 ranks. So is this an accidental redundancy or should a Level 1 character have a +4 in the skill before ever spending a skill point... that doesn t sound right (although for the "Larger than Life" REH style character that may be what they were shooting for).

I don t have my book in front of me so hopefully I m not mis-stating, but I recall many races having these double skill bonues. Comments?

The two should stack because the background skills are a starting 2 ranks and the racial circumstance bonuses are bonuses to the skill and not ranks in the skill. The character will have +4 in some skills, made up of +2 ranks and +2 bonus. This is not the same as having 4 ranks.

 

[GhostWolf69]

The two should stack because the background skills are a starting 2 ranks and the racial circumstance bonuses are bonuses to the skill and not ranks in the skill. The character will have +4 in some skills, made up of +2 ranks and +2 bonus. This is not the same as having 4 ranks.

Word!

/wolf

 

[bampf]

That s all I needed to hear. Cool.

Thanks!