Skills

Skills are the primary means for characters to interact with the world and the people in it, solve problems, or understand important aspects of both.

By utilizing skills, a character can display their physical prowess, their memory for facts and lore they’ve learned, their deftness at picking pockets or locks, or even their social graces. They also help anyone play a character who has abilities and knowledge they might not possess or be comfortable exercising.

This chapter outlines each of the skills as well as how and why to use them.

Skill Ranks

A character’s learned capability when it comes to a skill is measured in ranks.

A single rank in a skill is bought during character creation or at level up with skill points based on the character’s class plus their INT modifier. The maximum number of ranks a character can have in a single skill is equal to their level.

Having a single rank in a skill grants a character a +3 untyped bonus to checks with that skill and that character is Trained in the skill.

Some uses of a skill, feats or other game elements require a character to be Trained in order to gain access to them.

Making Skill Checks

During the game, the DM may ask for skill checks to resolve situations where the skill is relevant and there is a consequence for success or failure. A player may also request to make a skill check whenever they wish to perform a task related to a skill, such as using Insight to search an area, or Athletics to climb a tree.

These checks might be independent rolls, such as when a character tries to jump the gap between two roofs, or as part of a Challenge or Social Encounter where multiple checks from multiple characters are required.

Unless otherwise noted, making a skill check is a Move Action.

To do so, a player rolls 1d20 and add that skill’s ranks and the relevant ability modifier as well as any other bonuses they may have. This number is either compared to the DC of the check, or the check is opposed by another actor in the situation making their own skill check with the higher result being the victor.

Rendering Aid

Teamwork can help characters overcome tasks more easily and in some cases that they never could have achieved on their own. This is known as the Aid action.

Whenever a character attempts a task that requires a skill check, other characters who are Trained in that skill can choose to Aid them. Aiding characters attempt a check with the relevant skill DC 15. Success grants the characters they are aiding a +2 circumstance bonus to their check +1 for every 10 by which they beat the DC. A result of 10 or less imposes a -1 circumstance penalty instead.

Once all aiding characters have made their checks, the character being aided then makes their check as normal, adding the bonuses and penalties from those aiding them.

Depending on the task, the DM may limit the number of characters who can aid in a given check. For example, a large number of people can fit around a heavy boulder to help lift it, but perhaps only one person can help pick a lock without crowding the area too much.

Skills List

Below is a list of skills, what they represent and some specific uses of said skills.

Each skill is matched to a the ability score or scores that is normally the most relevant to that skill. A DM might ask for or allow a skill to be made using a different ability score depending on the situation. In some cases, one may even roll a different skill than usual for a specialized use (For example, Jump is listed under Acrobatics, but one can easily use Athletics instead.).