Sure, RNG may not be the best way to go. Perhaps you're prompted to select from a fixed list that grows as you make discoveries in each biome and you *keep* them even if your skill drops below the threshold.

I dig some people don't like it, but what could be changed about the idea to make it more appealing?

I like the *secret perks* idea... don't even communicate them to the player at all. Suddenly the player starts performing differently, or labels the perk but doesn't explain what it does, perhaps?