Skill Points for Proficiencies

==The Nature of Feats and Skills==
Anybody ever wonder why it costs a precious feat to learn how to use a weapon, put on armor or pick up a shield?  How is it that this is an extraordinary thing?  Yes, the ability to use swords and shields with skill is indeed intricate as I myself can attest to having dabbled in such things, but I can hardly put the rudimentary art of such things on par with something extraordinary such as Whirlwind Attack or meta-magic feats suchs as Empower Spell.  Rather, the ability to gain a 'proficiency' is [as the name should indicate] more of a trained Skill rather than a Feat [which by definition is more like something beyond simple knowledge of usage].  So... why can't we use our skill points to buy Proficiency?  Isn't that what's for trained skills?  The answer is yes, my friend, it certainly is. 
==The Implementation of Proficiencies as Skills==
Obviously there are few balancing issues which one must take into account.  Namely, the fact that some classes are just horribly deprived of Skill points as a general rule.  This is chiefly attributed to the Fighter who is supposed to be the consummate master of weapons and armor but has very poor skill points with a base value of only 2 and with Intelligence regularly being assigned only average value [10 or 11] in many cases.  This can also be a headache for classes like the Paladin for the same reason.  However, assigning too low a point value in skill points makes it a less balanced choice towards Fighters as well as then all the high point/high Intelligence classes will be able to buy their Proficiencies too easily.  To solve this problem, it is easy to leave the option for a character simply use either a Feat slot OR a Skill point buy to purchase their Proficiencies.  That way Fighters may have the option to use their superior pool of Feats if they have not enough Intelligence bonus to acquire what they want without excessive Skill point hording.  For the Skill point costs of Proficiencies, this is what we have been trialing and it seems to solve the problem admirably overall.  Obviously, one must still pick the weapon and it applies only for the one weapon rather than the entire group.  Again, this is merely an optional choice for a character to use in place of spending a Feat.
Wepaon Proficiencies for Skill Points	Wepaon Proficiencies for Skill Points	Wepaon Proficiencies for Skill Points	Wepaon Proficiencies for Skill Points
 	Simple 	Martial 	Exotic
Skill Point Cost 	2 	4 	6
Armor Proficiencies for Skill Points	Armor Proficiencies for Skill Points	Armor Proficiencies for Skill Points	Armor Proficiencies for Skill Points
 	Light 	Medium 	Heavy
Skill Point Cost 	2 	4 	6
Shield Proficiencies for Skill Points	Shield Proficiencies for Skill Points	Shield Proficiencies for Skill Points
 	Shield 	Tower Shield
Skill Point Cost 	2 	4
Tatashi (talk) 03:28, November 24, 2013 (UTC)