Topic: Level bonus to skill that don't follow regular skill ranks

[JUNKdeLUXE]

so... I've been wondering how level bonusses worked for skills that falls outside the regular 5,2,1,½ skill rank bonus.

Take Ambush. As a Nightblade I only get 1 group with 3 ranks/lvl. This is the "Deadly" group with only 3 skills in it. If the 3/lvl skill ranks don't work on Ambush, then we're down to only getting +3/lvl to two skills.

So how does level bonusses work for Ambush? or for Tumbling Evasion? Linguistics? Adrenal Defense? etc.

I hope you can help me shed some light on this as I havn't been able to find any rules regarding this..

We're using RM2.

[MrApollinax]

RoCo IV suggests (5.13, p 36) that you can apply level bonuses to Ambush. You divide your total level bonus by two and that gives you your bonus ranks (I'd round down, because it is a powerful option). I wouldn't use that option myself, as your 10th level Nightblade would have fifteen extra ranks in Ambush, as compared to a +3/lvl bonus to Silent Kill which would give the equivalent of 6 ranks at the same level. I suppose, given that level of equivalency you could divide your level bonus by five instead for a more balanced result.
 
A better way make those level bonuses count might be to go the RMFRP route, giving a standard 5.2.1.1. etc progression for Ambush, make the character roll for success using that bonus and then, if successful, apply the skill ranks (not the bonus) as per the standard rule. This would work for the other skills you mentioned, too.

[OLF, i.e. Olf Le Fol]

RoCo IV suggests (5.13, p 36) that you can apply level bonuses to Ambush. You divide your total level bonus by two and that gives you your bonus ranks (I'd round down, because it is a powerful option). I wouldn't use that option myself, as your 10th level Nightblade would have fifteen extra ranks in Ambush, as compared to a +3/lvl bonus to Silent Kill which would give the equivalent of 6 ranks at the same level. I suppose, given that level of equivalency you could divide your level bonus by five instead for a more balanced result.

RoCo IV suggests a divider of five, not two...

[MrApollinax]

Well, dang. So it does. That's what I get for posting on minimal sleep.

[Spectre771]

We saw that 'quirk' for Ambush and we decided to make Ambush double as an active skill as in "Setting up a successful ambush so as not to be detected."  We calculated the points as we would any other skill (Riding, General Perception, etc,.) adding the rank bonuses, level bonuses, item bonuses whatever and coming up with a final score. 

The GM then had a few options available and the player didn't feel jilted out of Level bonuses of feel as if he picked a class with 'dead' skills of bonuses.  +3 to Body Development?  Once the HP max out, that +3 bonus is lost.

Ex. 1)  The players are in the desert dunes.  Setting up a successful ambush would be "Near Impossible" to do.  The player rolls open-ended and adds Ambush score, the GM cross references the MM Chart for % of success.  If the result is a number value such as 35.  I give a 35% chance of success.  Payer rolls again. 1-35  Ambush was set successfully.  36 and above, Ambush was never set.

Ex. 2)  The bad guys are coming down the alleyway and the party wants to set up an Ambush.  Challenged RR.  Player rolls open-ended, adds Ambush score.  Target rolls Sense Ambush/Assassin.  High roll wins or use the RR table.  Ambush succeeds or fails.  If it succeeds, then any crit roll is modified by the Ambush RANKS not the score as it normally would for any crits.

We tried to find a way to allow skills to be used as fully as possible.  Having Ambush and Body Development were two such skills we tried to use a little more in depth.

[Malim]

We use ambush as a skill that needs to be rolled for to be able to use the ranks for a crit.
A roll of 101+ needs to be achived for success!

[Spectre771]

We use ambush as a skill that needs to be rolled for to be able to use the ranks for a crit.
A roll of 101+ needs to be achived for success!

Yes to this as well.  We've also used this method when the opportunity rose.

[MrApollinax]

We use ambush as a skill that needs to be rolled for to be able to use the ranks for a crit.
A roll of 101+ needs to be achived for success!

This, I think, is the best solution. Easy and elegant.

[OLF, i.e. Olf Le Fol]

+3 to Body Development?  Once the HP max out, that +3 bonus is lost.

Or not. Only the base HPs can max out, so you can merely consider the Body Development bonus not to be a part of the base HPs... which would leave the base HPs to only be the result of the ranks in Body Development, which does seem coherent to me.

[Spectre771]

+3 to Body Development?  Once the HP max out, that +3 bonus is lost.

Or not. Only the base HPs can max out, so you can merely consider the Body Development bonus not to be a part of the base HPs... which would leave the base HPs to only be the result of the ranks in Body Development, which does seem coherent to me.

RM2 character creation sets the max HP for a PC as the racial max + CO bonus. (Maybe this is something that was house-ruled when I first started playing and never knew?  I'll double check tonight)  The PC simply cannot have more than this amount of HP.  Once the HP max is reached, Body Dev is unused Skill.  We tried to find ways to make use of the extra +3 per level of Body Dev for the players who had the Body Dev level bonus.

That was overcome once by one of my PC's when he received a gift of +9 to Temp/Pot Constitution stat which allowed him to pick a bonus on the Innate State Bonus table and his max HP is an insane 212 HP and another PC who was cursed on the Geas Table.

I don't follow what you are saying.  You say I can consider Body Dev bonus ranks to NOT be part of Base HP.  OK. 

That means the base HP are only derived from purchased skills in Body Dev.  OK.  I got that too.

What do I do with the +3 per level in Body Dev if I'm not calculating it into my BHP?

[OLF, i.e. Olf Le Fol]

RM2 character creation sets the max HP for a PC as the racial max + CO bonus.

Book and page for this rule? AFAIK, the racial max. is for the BHP, not the total HP. Also, the only part where I can find this limitation is in Ch.&CL, which was written before there was a level bonus to Body Dev, so I'd say you should not apply it exactly as written...

What do I do with the +3 per level in Body Dev if I'm not calculating it into my BHP?

You add it later? Total HP = BHP + (BHP x CON bonus / 100) + level bonus.

[Spectre771]

Book and page for this rule? AFAIK, the racial max. is for the BHP, not the total HP. Also, the only part where I can find this limitation is in Ch.&CL, which was written before there was a level bonus to Body Dev, so I'd say you should not apply it exactly as written...

Perhaps this is where we derived it from.  I don't recall anything telling us to change racial max in subsequent companions, so we kept it as written with racial max.  It gave a decent baseline for the races and the PC's with higher CO benefitted and were representative of a heartier member of their race.

Perhaps I'll delve into the Max HP this weekend if I can find some time.