[tbone]

I like the idea, and by chance had even started writing a short post (for my site) on the same topic. You beat me to it.

The issue at hand is well-known: Skill B's -3 default from Skill A is one of the cool things about GURPS. But it is unfortunate that there's no incentive to put 4 points into Skill B (once it's at a moderate level), when putting the same 4 points into Skill A gets you +1 in both skills.

Letting characters raise Skill B from default as a technique (no higher than Skill A, I assume!) creates incentive to either put 4 points into Skill A (raising both skills) or put 1 point into Skill B (costs less, but only raises B). Better!

Although... as long as Skill B is lower than Skill A, there's now no incentive to raise any technique of Skill B. Why spend 1 point on a technique of B, when the same 1 point will raise all of B? It's not a big deal, but is unfortunate.

Which is why I was thinking this: Allow Skill B to be raised from default (up to Skill A) for 2 points per level. That retains the decision of whether to raise both A and B for 4 points, or raise just B for 2 points. It also creates the decision of whether to raise B for 2 points, or raise just a technique of B for 1 point.

Just a recent thought I had. Any pitfalls in there?