Hello !
I have played with ToP as the skill engine of my current Tome campaign for some months now. I'm not a rule wizard or some high-level TGD member, and I speak only from my experience, and do not have extensive knowledge of Diplomacy alternatives.
I find it great. The Perception / Stealth is a godsend for me, the Skill Abilities make things far clearer than what we had before, I adore the BG Abilities for its ability to make Characters and NPCs alike be "experienced" in domains not pertainingto their level (craftmen can be level 0-1, languages don't cost Skill Points and can be learned out of levelling, downtime can be used to learn, etc.), the whole Affability / Bluff / Intimidation / Psychology play very nicely, and giving precise abilities for such and such Skill Rank total allow the players to have a clearer view of what they can and cannot do, how much to investo for what, etc.
I have no problem on the Affability DCs linked to CR thing. There may be, but not for us - "it's not a bug, it's a feature", as the saying goes.
We are far from having extensively used much of it, though ...
Tome of Prowess
Moderator: Moderators