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INT increases/decreases and Skill Points...
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<blockquote data-quote="The Sigil" data-source="post: 212230" data-attributes="member: 2013"><p>IMC, a headband of intellect does NOT increase your skill points. Why not? Well, suppose you take the headband off. Do those skills suddenly disappear? If they do, what happens if you put the headband back on? Do you suddenly have a pool of skill points with which to learn totally different skills? Yikes! Potential for abuse there!</p><p></p><p>On a related note, how do you handle INT increases? Is the skill point boost retroactive to first level (similar to CON increases)? IOW, if I have a 3rd-level character with an INT of 11 and raise it to 12 at 4th level, do I get 4 extra skill points (+1 per level) or 1 extra skill point (+1 at 4th level)?</p><p></p><p>What happens when you LOSE intelligence (through ability score drain)? Do you lose skills?</p><p></p><p>Perhaps this belongs in House Rules, but I have used the following and want to know if it's consistent with the "real" rules - or at least folks' interpretation of them <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" /></p><p></p><p>1 - Skill points do not increase (nor decrease) retroactively with Int increases. (This is mostly to prevent bookkeeping problems)</p><p></p><p>2 - Skill points are not gained from magic items that boost intelligence unless that intelligence boost is an "innate" boost (or whatever the descriptor is on ability-raising tomes). IOW, a headband of Intellect +6 gives you NO bonus skill points when you level. If you read a Tome of Braininess (don't remember the real name) +4, you DO get 2 bonus skill points when you level... but you don't get them retroactively.</p><p></p><p>3-Level Loss (permanent negative levels or raise effects) - Skill points are not decreased, but no new points are gained until you surpass your previous level (i.e., if you die at level 3, when you are raised you are level 2 - you get no new skill points when you level to 3 - you have to wait until level 4).</p><p></p><p>Rationale: This reduces bookkeeping significantly, and that is of course a consideration. In terms of realism, I feel it's valid as well since in my mind Intelligence is the abstraction of your ABILITY/CAPACITY to learn, not the learning itself. The learning itself is represented in Skill Points, Languages Known, and (if applicable) Arcane Spells using Int as their key ability. Losing the ability/capacity to learn does not diminish what has already been learned. Similarly, increasing the ability/capacity does not suddenly grant you extra learning - only time and work can do that. Headbands and the like are part-time boosts and therefore not effective (I know, I know, you wear your headband all the time just like you wear your armor all the time) and that's why you don't get the benefits IMC. Tomes, on the other hand, with innate (inherent?) bonuses, actually literally expand your mind on a full-time basis which is why you DO receive skill points (when you level of course) due to these kinds of bonuses.</p><p></p><p>What do you folks think? Official rulings, errata, and critique of my rulings welcome. Again, I don't know if this is House Rules or not because I haven't seen anything in the official rules that suggests it should go one way or the other (admittedly, I haven't looked for it and it was the quote from another thread that stimulated it).</p><p></p><p>--The Sigil</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="The Sigil, post: 212230, member: 2013"] IMC, a headband of intellect does NOT increase your skill points. Why not? Well, suppose you take the headband off. Do those skills suddenly disappear? If they do, what happens if you put the headband back on? Do you suddenly have a pool of skill points with which to learn totally different skills? Yikes! Potential for abuse there! On a related note, how do you handle INT increases? Is the skill point boost retroactive to first level (similar to CON increases)? IOW, if I have a 3rd-level character with an INT of 11 and raise it to 12 at 4th level, do I get 4 extra skill points (+1 per level) or 1 extra skill point (+1 at 4th level)? What happens when you LOSE intelligence (through ability score drain)? Do you lose skills? Perhaps this belongs in House Rules, but I have used the following and want to know if it's consistent with the "real" rules - or at least folks' interpretation of them ;) 1 - Skill points do not increase (nor decrease) retroactively with Int increases. (This is mostly to prevent bookkeeping problems) 2 - Skill points are not gained from magic items that boost intelligence unless that intelligence boost is an "innate" boost (or whatever the descriptor is on ability-raising tomes). IOW, a headband of Intellect +6 gives you NO bonus skill points when you level. If you read a Tome of Braininess (don't remember the real name) +4, you DO get 2 bonus skill points when you level... but you don't get them retroactively. 3-Level Loss (permanent negative levels or raise effects) - Skill points are not decreased, but no new points are gained until you surpass your previous level (i.e., if you die at level 3, when you are raised you are level 2 - you get no new skill points when you level to 3 - you have to wait until level 4). Rationale: This reduces bookkeeping significantly, and that is of course a consideration. In terms of realism, I feel it's valid as well since in my mind Intelligence is the abstraction of your ABILITY/CAPACITY to learn, not the learning itself. The learning itself is represented in Skill Points, Languages Known, and (if applicable) Arcane Spells using Int as their key ability. Losing the ability/capacity to learn does not diminish what has already been learned. Similarly, increasing the ability/capacity does not suddenly grant you extra learning - only time and work can do that. Headbands and the like are part-time boosts and therefore not effective (I know, I know, you wear your headband all the time just like you wear your armor all the time) and that's why you don't get the benefits IMC. Tomes, on the other hand, with innate (inherent?) bonuses, actually literally expand your mind on a full-time basis which is why you DO receive skill points (when you level of course) due to these kinds of bonuses. What do you folks think? Official rulings, errata, and critique of my rulings welcome. Again, I don't know if this is House Rules or not because I haven't seen anything in the official rules that suggests it should go one way or the other (admittedly, I haven't looked for it and it was the quote from another thread that stimulated it). --The Sigil [/QUOTE]
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