Blatantly "newbie" question: Skill points

[Tim Mercado]

Ehh...hate to ask this....but need to.

Each class has a listing of "skill points at first level", with obvious varying formulas....such as:

(barbarian)
Skill points at first level: (4+Int modifier)x4

However, the first page of the "Skills" section, Conan AE edition, page 74, 3rd paragraph, states a crazy amount of skill points. 16 class skill points and 12 bonus skill points, to be exact. How did these numbers come into being?? Even with a rediculously high Intelligence score, these numbers seem rather large. Consider the aforementioned (barbarian) skill point formula for a 1st level Barbarian with an Intelligence of 12 (+1). The numbers, according to the above formula, would be 20, with up to 4 points available to any skill on a one-for-one basis from (Int modifer(+1))x4=4. If a player wanted to go that route, that would leave 16 class skill points available.

Am I doing this correctly, or is there something I am missing that the description in the Conan AE is illustrating? Just a question of clarification, really; I'm still fairly new to D20-style rules systems and am not in an environment that allows for actual game-time learning. Thanks everyone.

Happy gaming!!!

 

[Deadpool]

Each class has a listing of "skill points at first level", with obvious varying formulas....such as:

(barbarian)
Skill points at first level: (4+Int modifier)x4

The Conan rules made the skill point system a little more complicated than D20 to allow for more "flexibility" on how you spend them. Here is the breakdown from what I read:

1st Level (Barbarian):
Class: 4 x 4 = 16 Skill Points (Class Skills = 1:1 Ratio / 2:1 cross class)
Intelligence: Int bonus x 4 = ?? Skill Points (But can be used on ANY skills)
Racial Background Skills: Under each race there are usually 3 (sometimes 4) background skills that each get 2 points to start with automaticly.

So for this example if you had a Barbarian with a 14 intelligence and he was a Cimmerian, the total number of skill points are:

Class: 16
Intelligence: 8
Racial: Climb-2, Move Silently-2, Survival-2

For a grand total of: 30 skill points[/quote]

 

[Tristan]

Sounds about right to me. Just don't forget about maximum rank, which can be circumvented somewhat by racial characteristiscs, synergy and the like.

 

[Tim Mercado]

Hmm, looks good to me too. Thanks everybody, that example in the book was (and is still) confusing. But I like the way you broke it down. Cheers!

 

[urdinaran]

I particularly like the idea of being able to spend bonus skill points anywhere. I think it can make for very interesting characters.