Runelords Skill Rules

Our DM, partially inspired by the Star Wars: Saga Edition skill rules and partially just sick of the complex 3.5e skill rules, set down these alternate skill rules for this campaign.  So far, they’ve worked out just fine, and my character Valgrim is probably the mostdifficult case because he needed lots of different skills to qualify for his various prestige classes.

Quoth the DM 

Skills are primary, secondary, and cross-class as follows:

• Secondary: all skills that are classes skills for any class your character has OR any cross-class skill you spend one skill point on. Skill rank equals “character levels divided by two (round down) plus attribute modifier”.
• Primary: any skill that was a Secondary skill that you spent one skill point on. Skill rank equals “character level plus three plus attribute modifier”.
• Cross-class: all other skills. Skill rank equals “attribute modifier”.
  Skill points: Base skill points (based off of your class with best base skill points) plus INT modifier plus human (+1)(if applicable) plus one per even level.

Knowledge skills: For most classes, whatever knowledge skills are listed as class skills become free secondary skills for the PC. For wizards and bards, all knowledge skills are free secondary skills, meaning they know a little bit about everything. They can promote those to primary skills on a one-by-one basis for 1 skill point each.

Craft and Profession skills: if craft or profession are class skills for your class, you them as free secondary skills, but you must specify the specific craft or profession. For example, wizards get craft and profession, so a specific wizard PC may select Craft (alchemy) and profession (apothecary) as his free secondary skills. If he wants to make one of those a primary skill, he must pay a skill point as normal.

Skill tricks cost 1 skill point (this actually makes them much more expensive than they previously were, but I thought they were too cheap anyway).

For purposes of qualifying for prestige classes, skill tricks, and feats, all your primary skills have (character level + 3) ranks, and all secondary skills have (character level / 2) ranks. This should give you the ability to qualify for any prestige class with the new system at the same level as you could in the old system.

Oh, one other thing. I’m doing away with synergy bonuses entirely.