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{{Project Completeness|4}}
 
{{Project Completeness|4}}
{{author
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{{author0
 
|author_name=Tarkisflux
 
|author_name=Tarkisflux
 
|date_created=Jan 22, 2008
 
|date_created=Jan 22, 2008
|status=Skills complete(ish). Cleaning up and filling in<br /> additional chapters.
+
|status=Edit pass 3 is a go.<br />Cleaning and unifying mechanics.
 
|balance=High
 
|balance=High
|contributors=Bigode, IGTN, MisterSinister, Parakee, LeadPal
+
|contributors=Bigode, IGTN, MisterSinister, Parakee, TheDarkWad, LeadPal
 
}}[[Summary::Skills for the mundane and the masterful. Skills that scale to all levels of the game and offer the skilled classes some of the utility previously only found within spells or items.| ]]__NOTOC__
 
}}[[Summary::Skills for the mundane and the masterful. Skills that scale to all levels of the game and offer the skilled classes some of the utility previously only found within spells or items.| ]]__NOTOC__
  
 
==Introduction: The Importance of Skills ==
 
==Introduction: The Importance of Skills ==
 +
[[File:Standard melee.jpg]]
 +
 
Welcome to the Tome of Prowess, Skills for the Mundane and the Masterful.
 
Welcome to the Tome of Prowess, Skills for the Mundane and the Masterful.
  
In the multiverse that D&D represents, people can begin their life as serfs and, through trials and challenges, end up as legendary heroes capable of amazing feats that rival the gods themselves. Some accomplish this by learning and exploiting the secrets ways of the multiverse, using magic to accomplish what some look on as miracles. Others train themselves extensively, and accomplish feats beyond lesser mortals through will and skill alone. Skill points represent that skill and training, and they are the primary method of utility ability advancement for those who put in hard work instead of cheating with magic.   
+
In the multiverse that D&D represents, people can begin their life as serfs and, through trials and challenges, end up as legendary heroes capable of amazing feats that rival the gods themselves. Some accomplish this by learning and exploiting the secret ways of the multiverse, using magic to accomplish what some look on as miracles. Others train themselves extensively, and accomplish feats beyond lesser mortals through will and skill alone. Skill points represent that skill and training, and they are the primary method of utility ability advancement for those who put in hard work instead of cheating with magic.   
  
Or at least this is what D&D would like you to think, given the weight the designers placed on skill points and skills themselves. In reality though, the skill totals required to do amazing things are only acquired up in the epic levels, and by that point spellcasters have been doing all of your fancy skill tricks for many levels and your neat trick just isn’t relevant. You’ve probably been doing it yourself with magic items and don’t even know or care that you can do it with that skill you’ve brought up with you.
+
Or at least this is what D&D would like you to think, given the weight the designers placed on skill points and skills themselves. In reality though, the skill totals required to do amazing things are only acquired up in the epic levels, and by that point, spellcasters have been doing all of your fancy skill tricks for many levels and your neat trick just isn’t relevant. You’ve probably been doing it yourself with magic items and don’t even know or care that you can do it with that skill you’ve brought up with you.
  
 
This supplement for the 3.5 D&D game presents skills to correct that, but it does so by sacrificing the simplicity (and with it the irrelevance) of skills at mid and high levels. There’s a lot more abilities for each skill to keep track of with this modification. And that’s ok, because that’s what the non-spellcasting classes really need.
 
This supplement for the 3.5 D&D game presents skills to correct that, but it does so by sacrificing the simplicity (and with it the irrelevance) of skills at mid and high levels. There’s a lot more abilities for each skill to keep track of with this modification. And that’s ok, because that’s what the non-spellcasting classes really need.
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:[[/Transformation|Transformation]]
 
:[[/Transformation|Transformation]]
  
===[[/Supporting Changes|'''Chapter 3: Supporting Changes''']]===
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===[[/Background Abilities|'''Chapter 3: Background Abilities''']]===
 +
:[[/Background Abilities#Overview|Overview]]
 +
:[[/Background Abilities#Types|Types]]
 +
::[[/Background Abilities#Craft|Craft]]
 +
::[[/Background Abilities#Language|Language]]
 +
::[[/Background Abilities#Occupation|Occupation]]
 +
::[[/Background Abilities#Proficiency|Proficiency]]
 +
::[[/Background Abilities#Study|Study]]
 +
:[[/Background Abilities#Grades|Grades]]
 +
:[[/Background Abilities#Checks|Checks]]
 +
:[[/Background Abilities#Starting Characters|Starting Characters]]
 +
:[[/Background Abilities#Advancement by Skill Point|Advancement by Skill Point]]
 +
 
 +
| valign=top width="50%"|
 +
 
 +
===[[/Supporting Changes|'''Chapter 4: Supporting Changes''']]===
 
:[[/Supporting Changes#Updated Class Features|Updated Class Features]]
 
:[[/Supporting Changes#Updated Class Features|Updated Class Features]]
:[[/Supporting Changes#Character Knowledge and Skills|Character Knowledge and Skills]]
 
 
:[[/Supporting Changes#Saving Throw Adjustments|Saving Throw Adjustments]]
 
:[[/Supporting Changes#Saving Throw Adjustments|Saving Throw Adjustments]]
::[[/Supporting Changes#Some Instantaneous Spells Aren't...|Some Instantaneous Spells Aren't...]]
+
:[[/Supporting Changes#Revised Animal Training Rules|Revised Animal Training Rules]]
::[[/Supporting Changes#Optional Rule: Alternate Saving Throw Modifiers|Optional Rule: Alternate Saving Throw Modifiers]]
+
:[[/Supporting Changes#Revised Movement and Fatigue Rules|Revised Movement and Fatigue Rules]]
:Revised Rules
+
:[[/Supporting Changes#Revised Pickpocketing Rules|Revised Pickpocketing Rules]]
::[[/Supporting Changes#Revised Animal Training Rules|Animal Training Rules]]
+
:[[/Supporting Changes#Revised Riding Rules|Revised Riding Rules]]
::[[/Supporting Changes#Revised Movement and Fatigue Rules|Movement and Fatigue Rules]]
+
:[[/Supporting Changes#Revised Spellcasting Interruption|Revised Spellcasting Interruption]]
::[[/Supporting Changes#Revised Pickpocketing Rules|Pickpocketing Rules]]
+
:[[/Supporting Changes#Revised Tracking Rules|Revised Tracking Rules]]
::[[/Supporting Changes#Revised Riding Rules|Riding Rules]]
 
::[[/Supporting Changes#Revised Spellcasting Interruption|Spellcasting Interruption]]
 
::[[/Supporting Changes#Revised Tracking Rules|Tracking Rules]]
 
| valign=top width="50%"|
 
===[[/Playing the Skills Game|'''Chapter 4: Playing the Skills Game''']]===
 
:[[/Playing the Skills Game#The Combat Game|The Combat Game]]
 
::[[/Playing the Skills Game#Skills as Mobility|Skills as Mobility]]
 
::[[/Playing the Skills Game#Skills as Offense|Skills as Offense]]
 
::[[/Playing the Skills Game#Skills as Defenses|Skills as Defenses]]
 
:[[/Playing the Skills Game#The Infiltration Game|The Infiltration Game]]
 
::[[/Playing the Skills Game#The Stealth Mini-Game|The Stealth Mini-Game]]
 
::[[/Playing the Skills Game#The "Walk Right In" Mini-Game|The "Walk Right In" Mini-Game]]
 
:[[/Playing the Skills Game#Combining Skills|Combining Skills]]
 
  
 
===[[/Characters in a Skilled Game|'''Chapter 5: Characters in a Skilled Game''']]===
 
===[[/Characters in a Skilled Game|'''Chapter 5: Characters in a Skilled Game''']]===
 
:[[/Characters in a Skilled Game#Feats for the Skilled|Feats for the Skilled]]
 
:[[/Characters in a Skilled Game#Feats for the Skilled|Feats for the Skilled]]
::[[/Characters in a Skilled Game#Standard Feat Descriptions|Standard Feat Descriptions]]
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::[[/Characters in a Skilled Game#Feat Descriptions|Feat Descriptions]]
::[[/Characters in a Skilled Game#Tome Style Scaling Feats|Tome Style Scaling Feats]]
 
 
::[[/Characters in a Skilled Game#Scaling Feat Descriptions|Scaling Feat Descriptions]]
 
::[[/Characters in a Skilled Game#Scaling Feat Descriptions|Scaling Feat Descriptions]]
 
:[[/Characters in a Skilled Game#Gear for the Skilled|Gear for the Skilled]]
 
:[[/Characters in a Skilled Game#Gear for the Skilled|Gear for the Skilled]]
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::[[/Characters in a Skilled Game#Rewritten Spell Descriptions|Rewritten Spell Descriptions]]
 
::[[/Characters in a Skilled Game#Rewritten Spell Descriptions|Rewritten Spell Descriptions]]
  
===[[/Running a Skilled Game|'''Chapter 6: Running a Skilled Game''']]===
+
===[[/Playing the Skills Game|'''Chapter 6: Playing the Skills Game''']]===
 +
:[[/Playing the Skills Game#The Combat Game|The Combat Game]]
 +
::[[/Playing the Skills Game#Skills as Mobility|Skills as Mobility]]
 +
::[[/Playing the Skills Game#Skills as Offense|Skills as Offense]]
 +
::[[/Playing the Skills Game#Skills as Defenses|Skills as Defenses]]
 +
:[[/Playing the Skills Game#The Infiltration Game|The Infiltration Game]]
 +
::[[/Playing the Skills Game#The Perception Mini-Game|The Perception Mini-Game]]
 +
::[[/Playing the Skills Game#The Stealth Mini-Game|The Stealth Mini-Game]]
 +
::[[/Playing the Skills Game#The Legerdemain Mini-Game|The Legerdemain Mini-Game]]
 +
::[[/Playing the Skills Game#Other Infiltration Options|Other Infiltration Options]]
 +
:[[/Playing the Skills Game#The Social Game|The Social Game]]
 +
::[[/Playing the Skills Game#Making People Like You|Making People Like You]]
 +
::[[/Playing the Skills Game#Making People Do What You Want|Making People Do What You Want]]
 +
:[[/Playing the Skills Game#Combining Skills|Combining Skills]]
 +
 
 +
===[[/Running a Skilled Game|'''Chapter 7: Running a Skilled Game''']]===
 
:[[/Running a Skilled Game#Skillful Monsters|Skillful Monsters]]
 
:[[/Running a Skilled Game#Skillful Monsters|Skillful Monsters]]
 
::[[/Running a Skilled Game#Skill Abilities Available to Monsters|Skill Abilities Available to Monsters]]
 
::[[/Running a Skilled Game#Skill Abilities Available to Monsters|Skill Abilities Available to Monsters]]
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:[[/Running a Skilled Game#Running a Skilled Society|Running a Skilled Society]]
 
:[[/Running a Skilled Game#Running a Skilled Society|Running a Skilled Society]]
  
===[[/Going Further|'''Chapter 7: Going Further''']]===
+
===[[/Going Further|'''Chapter 8: Going Further''']]===
 
:[[/Going Further#Using Tome of Prowess with...|Using Tome of Prowess with...]]
 
:[[/Going Further#Using Tome of Prowess with...|Using Tome of Prowess with...]]
 
::[[/Going Further#Lycanthropy|Lycanthropy]]
 
::[[/Going Further#Lycanthropy|Lycanthropy]]
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While this work is largely my own, there are people who contributed material or other support and should be recognized.
 
While this work is largely my own, there are people who contributed material or other support and should be recognized.
 
*[[User:Bigode|Bigode]] assisted with a rather thorough editing pass of the skills while I was posting them to the wiki in the second phase. Typos, incorrect references, junk abilities, and actual nonsense were all corrected or pulled as a result of his work.
 
*[[User:Bigode|Bigode]] assisted with a rather thorough editing pass of the skills while I was posting them to the wiki in the second phase. Typos, incorrect references, junk abilities, and actual nonsense were all corrected or pulled as a result of his work.
*[[User:IGTN|IGTN]] is responsible in large part for the [[Tome of Prowess (3.5e Sourcebook)/Jump|jump skill]]. His work to make a non-linear scaling jump was taken as the starting point, with his permission, for what eventually wound up in the book. It's posting to TGD also convinced me to put up some initial work I had been sitting on for a while to get some feedback. He was the first user to incorporate it into another complete wiki sourcebook, his [[Book of Elements (3.5e Sourcebook)|Book of Elements]] sourcebook, despite that work being complete and this one still in process.
+
*[[User:IGTN|IGTN]] is responsible in large part for the [[Tome of Prowess (3.5e Sourcebook)/Jump|jump skill]]. His work to make a non-linear scaling jump was taken as the starting point, with his permission, for what eventually wound up in the book. Its posting to TGD also convinced me to put up some initial work I had been sitting on for a while to get some feedback. He was the first user to incorporate it into another complete wiki sourcebook, his [[Book of Elements (3.5e Sourcebook)|Book of Elements]] sourcebook, despite that work being complete and this one still in progress.
*[[User:MisterSinister|MisterSinister]] was an early adopter and source of continued motivation to finish things up. He also contributed the following skill feats: {{#ask: [[author::MisterSinister]] [[Category:Feat||Scaling Feat]] [[Category:Tome of Prowess]]}}.
+
*[[User:MisterSinister|MisterSinister]] was an early adopter and source of continued motivation to finish things up. He also contributed the following feats: {{#ask: [[author::MisterSinister]] [[Category:Feat||Scaling Feat]] [[Category:Tome of Prowess]]}}.
*[[User:Parakee|Parakee]] contributed the following skill feats: {{#ask: [[author::Parakee]] [[Category:Feat||Scaling Feat]] [[Category:Tome of Prowess]]}}.
+
*[[User:Parakee|Parakee]] contributed the following feats: {{#ask: [[author::Parakee]] [[Category:Feat||Scaling Feat]] [[Category:Tome of Prowess]]}}.
 +
*[[User:TheDarkWad|TheDarkWad]] contributed the following feats: {{#ask: [[author::TheDarkWad]] [[Category:Feat||Scaling Feat]] [[Category:Tome of Prowess]]}}.
 
*[[User:LeadPal|LeadPal]] contributed to the "Playing the X Game" sections, including almost all of the Perception entry (minor edits were made from his version, which can be found [http://www.tgdmb.com/viewtopic.php?t=53127&start=24 here].
 
*[[User:LeadPal|LeadPal]] contributed to the "Playing the X Game" sections, including almost all of the Perception entry (minor edits were made from his version, which can be found [http://www.tgdmb.com/viewtopic.php?t=53127&start=24 here].
 
*A special mention also goes out to [[User:Ghostwheel|Ghostwheel]]. While he hasn't contributed work to the project, he has served as a sounding board for abilities on several occasions and his interest in adapting this work to his other projects has helped me tighten things up where appropriate.
 
*A special mention also goes out to [[User:Ghostwheel|Ghostwheel]]. While he hasn't contributed work to the project, he has served as a sounding board for abilities on several occasions and his interest in adapting this work to his other projects has helped me tighten things up where appropriate.
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[[Category:User]]
 
[[Category:User]]
 
[[Category:Sourcebook]]
 
[[Category:Sourcebook]]
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{{Navboxes}}

Latest revision as of 06:16, 3 March 2017

Project Completeness:
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Author: Tarkisflux (talk)
Contributors: Bigode,
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MisterSinister,
Parakee,
TheDarkWad,
LeadPal
Date Created: Jan 22, 2008
Status: Edit pass 3 is a go.
Cleaning and unifying mechanics.
Editing: Clarity edits only please
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Introduction: The Importance of Skills[edit]

Standard melee.jpg

Welcome to the Tome of Prowess, Skills for the Mundane and the Masterful.

In the multiverse that D&D represents, people can begin their life as serfs and, through trials and challenges, end up as legendary heroes capable of amazing feats that rival the gods themselves. Some accomplish this by learning and exploiting the secret ways of the multiverse, using magic to accomplish what some look on as miracles. Others train themselves extensively, and accomplish feats beyond lesser mortals through will and skill alone. Skill points represent that skill and training, and they are the primary method of utility ability advancement for those who put in hard work instead of cheating with magic.

Or at least this is what D&D would like you to think, given the weight the designers placed on skill points and skills themselves. In reality though, the skill totals required to do amazing things are only acquired up in the epic levels, and by that point, spellcasters have been doing all of your fancy skill tricks for many levels and your neat trick just isn’t relevant. You’ve probably been doing it yourself with magic items and don’t even know or care that you can do it with that skill you’ve brought up with you.

This supplement for the 3.5 D&D game presents skills to correct that, but it does so by sacrificing the simplicity (and with it the irrelevance) of skills at mid and high levels. There’s a lot more abilities for each skill to keep track of with this modification. And that’s ok, because that’s what the non-spellcasting classes really need.

Contents[edit]

Chapter 1: Rules[edit]

General Rules
Retraining
Skill Bonus Changes
Converting to the Tome of Prowess

Chapter 2: The Revised Skills[edit]

Skill Summaries
Acrobatics
Affability
Appraisal
Arcana
Athletics
Bluff
Ciphers
Concentration
Creature Handling
Cultures
Devices
Dowsing
Endurance
Escape Artistry
Geomancy
Healing
Intimidation
Jump
Legerdemain
Perception
Psychology
Stealth
Survival
Thaumaturgy
Transformation

Chapter 3: Background Abilities[edit]

Overview
Types
Craft
Language
Occupation
Proficiency
Study
Grades
Checks
Starting Characters
Advancement by Skill Point

Chapter 4: Supporting Changes[edit]

Updated Class Features
Saving Throw Adjustments
Revised Animal Training Rules
Revised Movement and Fatigue Rules
Revised Pickpocketing Rules
Revised Riding Rules
Revised Spellcasting Interruption
Revised Tracking Rules

Chapter 5: Characters in a Skilled Game[edit]

Feats for the Skilled
Feat Descriptions
Scaling Feat Descriptions
Gear for the Skilled
Example Skill Items
Creating Magical Skill Gear
Magic for the Unskilled
Removed Spells
Rewritten Spell Descriptions

Chapter 6: Playing the Skills Game[edit]

The Combat Game
Skills as Mobility
Skills as Offense
Skills as Defenses
The Infiltration Game
The Perception Mini-Game
The Stealth Mini-Game
The Legerdemain Mini-Game
Other Infiltration Options
The Social Game
Making People Like You
Making People Do What You Want
Combining Skills

Chapter 7: Running a Skilled Game[edit]

Skillful Monsters
Skill Abilities Available to Monsters
Setting the DCs for Abilities Used Against Monsters
Running a Skilled Society

Chapter 8: Going Further[edit]

Using Tome of Prowess with...
Lycanthropy
Psionics
Tome of Battle
A Note on Balance
This modification, on its own, will add substantial power to the poor non-casters in the game, and a bit of power to the half casters. If completely utilized, it should bring the monk and fighter level classes up to or above rogue level, and allow all characters to contribute to the game longer than their chassis would normally allow. Keep in mind that if you prefer a lower power game, or your games don’t run past 9th level, this may not be something you should consider implementing. If your games often run into the high levels and you’re tired of fighters depending on magic items or casters to remain useful in the party, this is absolutely something you should consider thoroughly.

Credits[edit]

While this work is largely my own, there are people who contributed material or other support and should be recognized.



Back to Main Page3.5e HomebrewSourcebooks

Article BalanceHigh +
AuthorTarkisflux +
Completeness4 +
Identifier3.5e Sourcebook +
Rated ByLeziad +, Undead Knave +, MisterSinister +, Wildmage +, TK-Squared +, Foxwarrior +, Surgo + and DanielDraco +
RatingRated 3.8 / 4 +
SummarySkills for the mundane and the masterful. Skills that scale to all levels of the game and offer the skilled classes some of the utility previously only found within spells or items. +
TitleTome of Prowess +