background skills

[r05c03]

Okay, I understand that background skills give specific races a +2 in certain skills and that those skills become class skills. However, what about the additional bonuses listed in the races description. For example Southern islanders have profession (dance) as a back ground skill and then above that they also granted a +2 in profession (dance). Their are numerous other examples two. Thanks.

 

[spydacarnage]

I believe this has been answered before, and I believe the answer was that they do stack, as background skills give 2 free ranks, whereas the additional bonuses are just that, bonuses to skill rolls.

However, feel free to shoot me if I actually dreamt reading that...

 

[Arkobla Conn]

They go into different columns (ranks & bonuses) but the net result is a stacked adjustment to the d20 roll. A difference might be that you may need 4 ranks in dance to perform something, but using these numbers, you only have 2 ranks (at a total +4 d20 adjustment).

 

[argo]

Each character of a given race recieves two free ranks in each of his background skills at first level. These are ranks just as if they had been bought with skill points and act in all respects as normal skill ranks including applying towards the max ranks per level skill cap. Note that it does not matter weither or not the skill is a class skill for the character, he still gets two ranks.

Any other skill bonuses listed in the race description are racial bonuses and therefore stack with base skill ranks. If a character somehow managed to get another racial bonus from some other source the two racial bonuses would not stack because like named bonuses do not stack. Only the larger of the two bonuses would apply.

Finally it is important to note that a character's background skills do not become class skills. The character recieves two free ranks at first level and that's it. You are probably confusing background skills with the Hyborian racial feature Adaptability which lets the character choose two skills to become permant class skills and grants a +2 competence bonus with those skills. Note that because the Hyborian can also choose his background skills he could choose the same skill for both background and adaptability which would put him on equal footing with the other races which have a skill both as a background skill and recieve a racial bonus.

Hope that helps.

 

[spydacarnage]

Argo,

Thanks for confirming what I thought.

However, on what page is the rule about named bonus stacking? I couldn't find it, and wondered if this was another D&D vs. Conan difference...

 

[argo]

Your welcome. No I don't see that they reprinted the stacking rules anywhere in Conan. Then again I don't see anything in the book that recinds the rule either. Of course Conan is full of suprises, and I've missed things before, but I don't think that this is a rule they altered.