[Wids]

Hey, look what I found! :)

http://nwn.wikia.com/wiki/Category_talk:...ive_skills

It turns out that, with a little .2da editing, those exclusive Skills (Animal Empathy, Perform and Use Magic Device) can be made available to all Classes (or most Classes, or some, or none at all).

Of course, I could see issues with game balance cropping up if any character could take ranks in Animal Empathy or Use Magic Device; a Fighter leading a dire bear around and blasting people with a Wand of Lightning Bolts could be quite the force to be reckoned with. But as NWN stands, Perform is only useable by Bards and is only used for Bardic Music and Curse Song, Feats which no other class has. So if Perform were made available to classes besides Bard, I don't see how that would make a character more powerful; all it would do is add another facet to roleplay, which could be a good thing. If your Tempuran Fighter is a poetic soul who writes a new poem or a new song every time he survives a major battle, one would expect him to have at least a few ranks in Perform to back up his habit. Sinking points into Perform wouldn't make him a better Fighter, but it could make him a better character.

But I'm wondering how editing that .2da can differentiate between Class Skills and Cross-Class Skills. Would it be possible to follow the tabletop books and make Perform a Class Skill for Bards, Rogues and Monks while making it a Cross-Class Skill for everyone else?

I might have to back up my own skills.2da file, edit it and see what I come up with. :-/

(Also, it's good to see our own server represented on the Wikia, but what was this other Thay of which the Wikia speaks?)