Still Not Done With PF1: Better Appraise-Based Feats (Patreon)

The free "Periodical PF1" entry this week is a continuation of the "Better Skill Feats" concept I originally pitched in "Better Bluff-Based Feats for Pathfinder 1st edition," but covering the Appraise skill. I'm also creating a Better Skill Feat Index as an exclusive benefit for paying Patrons. It has links to all the Better Skill Feat articles, and an alphabetized list of all the skill feats released so far. I'll update it each time there's a new Better Skill Feat article.

Compared to the Acrobatics or Bluff skill, Appraise has just a tiny number of feats related to it... and there's good reason for that. It's simply not used in as many situations. This isn't even a matter of combat use vs exploration or social use. The fact is that all Appraise does (without skill unlocks) is let you know how much things are, whether they have magic properties, and what the most valuable item in a pile is. Not only does that list not come up often in combat, it just doesn't come up often at all. But Appraise is no easier to master than Acrobatics or Diplomacy, Heal, Intimidate, or Survival, all of which are much more useful skills in all but the most specialized of campaigns.

(Ever notice piles of treasure never tarnish? Art by mikesilent.)

So, it makes sense to devise feats to expand its use. But even what we have of those are often iffy. Feats that allow you to buy permanent boosts to a character more cheaply, or sell things for more money, can imbalance gameplay by allowing a character (or even an entire party) to have much more wealth than the game expects for their level. A GM can adjust rewards to fix such issues, but that has proven tricky when done to fix issues from characters having Item Creation feats in games that give them plenty of time to craft new items. If only one character has a wealth imbalance, choking back rewards for everyone can create new imbalances for other characters. If the entire party has too much wealth, choking back rewards can seem punitive on the GM's part--after all, what's the point of a PC taking a feat that gives them an advantage if the GM is going to adjust play to remove the advantage?

That said, you can already use Bluff to claim things are worth more or less than their true value, and getting cheaper spell components is actually a way to make it easier for a GM to keep all the characters at a similar wealth-per-level. I also feel like there's a reasonable link between Appraise and some other skills -- how can you determine the value of antiques if you don't know something of their history? Sure, I might be letting my love of Antiques Roadshow color my view of the Appraise skill, but it IS an iconic example of professionals telling people what things are worth.

So, I have combined most of the existing Appraise-based feats with some new thoughts of my own and created a single Trade Master feat you can select benefits from.

Trade MasterYour knowledge of the value of objects assists you in making money, among other things.Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus to Appraise checks, and to any one Profession skill of your choice. You are considered trained in that Profession. You can use your Appraise check to make money the way you normally do with Profession skills. You can also select one of the following additional benefits. Once that choice is made, it cannot be changed.

When you select a Trade Master option that allows you to use some fraction of your Appraise bonus in place of some other skill, such checks otherwise follow all the rules for the skill your are emulating. For example, if you select the option to use 1/3 of your Appraise bonus to make a Use Magic Device check, even if you have Skill Mastery in Appraise and can normally take 10 with an Appraise check, you cannot Take 10 when using the skill as Use Magic Device.

You are considered trained in the Bluff skill. You can use your total Appraise bonus in place of your Bluff bonus when bluffing about the value of an item or service. When trying to determine if someone else is bluffing about the value of an item or service, you can use your total Appraise bonus in place of your Sense Motive bonus. This option counts as the Babble-Peddler feat for purposes of prerequisites.

You are considered trained in the Knowledge (arcane), Knowledge (history), and Knowledge (local) skill. You can use half of your total Appraise bonus in place of a Knowledge (arcane) check to learn information about arcane symbols and constructs you have successfully appraised, in place of a Knowledge (history) check to learn about the history of an object you have successfully Appraised, or in place of a Knowledge (local) check to learn about the creator of an object you have successfully Appraised.

You are considered trained in the Use Magic Device skill. You can use one third of your total Appraise bonus in place of a Use Magic Device check.

You gain a +4 bonus on Perception checks to notice natural deposits of precious metals or minerals, and a +4 bonus on Appraise checks to determine their worth. By spending 5 minutes scrutinizing a discovered vein of metals or minerals, you can determine the worth of the full vein to within 1,000 gp, to a maximum of 50,000 gp. This option counts as the Sense Metals and Materials feat for purposes of prerequisites.

You may determine the most valuable item in a hoard as a standard action and gain an additional +2 bonus on the Appraise check to do so. In addition, if you fail an Appraise check by 5 or more, you treat the check as if you had failed by less than 5. This option counts as the Scavenger's Eye feat for purposes of prerequisites.

You are considered trained in Spellcraft. You can use your full Appraise bonus in place of your Spellcraft bonus to determine an item’s magic properties. For every 5 points by which you exceed the DC, you can determine additional details about the item at the GM’s discretion, such as its country of origin, the crafter’s race, techniques employed in its creation, or whether it has any historical significance. This option counts as the Relic Familiarity feat for purposes of prerequisites.

A successful DC 20 Appraise check reveals whether an item is magical, and a second check (DC = 25 + the item’s caster level) unveils its properties. You can use Appraise to detect non-written forgeries and counterfeits. When qualifying for Appraise skill unlocks, you are treated as having 5 more ranks of Appraise than your true total and already possessing the first skill unlock. When you actually have 20 ranks of Appraise, you qualify for the following skill unlock: 25 Ranks: If you have successfully Appraised a hand-held or word item, you do not provoke attacks of opportunity when attempting to disarm, steal, or sunder it, and when dealing damage to it with a sunder can ignore up to 1- points of its hardness.

When in a large city or larger settlement, you can search the markets carefully for 4 hours in order to purchase material components for spells (yours or someone else's) at a 10% discount. You can purchase up to 1,000 gp worth of material components (which costs you 900 gp) each day. These cheaper components work perfectly well for their spells, but their resale value is also 10% less. This option counts as the Eye for Ingredients feat for purposes of prerequisites.

Special: You can select this feat more than once. It's benefits do not stack. The second and third time you take the feat, you gain two more benefits of your choice. If you select the feat a fourth time, you gain the remaining three benefits.

Next Week: I could move on to Better Climb Skill feats, go back to do more Better Bluff Skill feats, or post another PF1 class... I haven't decided. So this is a great time to let me know what you are enjoying most!