Skills

What are skills?
Skills determine how inclined your character is toward success at a given task.

For example, Gizmo the Penguin wants to hot-wire Clifford the big Redneck’s car. To successfully achieve ignition, Gizmo must first pass a Mechanics skill check. If he succeeds, the car starts; if he fails, it doesn’t; and if he epicly fails, it likely starts moving on its own before Gizmo can grab the steering wheel.

What is a skill check?
Skill checks are d20 dice rolls modified by skill scores and environmental factors used to determine success or failure at a given task.

And skill ranks and points?
Skill ranks represent how trained you are in a skill, as opposed to genetic ability. Depending on your class, what you already know will make it easier to learn more about certain subjects and train those skills. These “class skills” only require one skill point to advance in rank, whereas all other skills require two points. Your initial skill points are the sum of your class skill points, your species skill points, and your Intelligence modifier. For the specific formula, please refer to Chapter Four: Character Creation. When you level up, you may spend additional skill points equal to your class skill points stat.

Agility
Agility is the skill which governs a character’s fine motor control. Agility is used any time a character is attempting something which requires quick movements or a fine amount of bodily control.


 * Key Ability: Dexterity


 * Apply Armor Modifier: Yes


 * Requires Training: No


 * Check: You can perform any number of feats of  acrobatic prowess. A successful check lets you move quickly along narrow surfaces, perform a quick roll, or swap drinks at a table. Failure can result in anything from a nasty fall to someone noticing your deft movements.


 * Action: Varies, see below for details.


 * Try Again: Varies, see below for details.


 * Special: Agility is an omnibus skill, covering a wide range of situations. Rules covering some of the most common ones are presented below. If you have 5 or more ranks in Agility, you gain a +3 dodge bonus to AC when fighting defensively instead of the usual +2 dodge bonus to AC. If you have 5 or more ranks in Agility, you gain a +6 dodge bonus to AC when executing the total defense Standard Action instead of the usual +4 dodge bonus to AC. A character with the Agile feat gets a +2 feat modifier on Agility Checks.

Balancing


 * When trying to balance on a narrow surface, a successful check lets you move at half your speed along the surface for 1 round. Difficulty varies per the table below.

Table: Balance Difficulty *Add modifiers from Narrow Surface Modifiers, below, as appropriate.

**Only if running or charging. Failure by 4 or less means the character can’t run or charge, but may otherwise act normally.

Table: Narrow Surface Modifiers

Being Attacked while Balancing


 * You are considered flat-footed while balancing, since you can’t move to avoid a blow, and thus you lose your Dexterity bonus to AC (if any).


 * Action: Not a unique action. Made as part of a move or Standard Action. If multiple actions are taken in the same round, roll for each.


 * Try Again: Yes, although a failure by 5 or more means you fall, which may delay your next attempt.

Squeezing Through


 * Check: Agility can be used to contort through various restraints and other confined spaces. Most restraints will give a DC for the Agility check as part of their description. For those which do not, use a DC of 20. Agility may be used in place of an Uncommon Attack Check to gain control of a Grapple if and only if the character immediately ends the Grapple. When trying to squeeze through a space, determine what size a creature would need to be to fit through easily. The DC for the check is equal to 10 + (10 × the number of steps between your size and theirs). For example, an Imp trying to squeeze through a hole meant for a Rabbit would need to make a DC 30 Agility Check— Medium and Tiny are two steps distant; 2 times 10 is 20, plus 10 is 30.


 * Action: Making an Agility Check to escape from rope bindings, manacles, or other restraints (except a grappler) requires 1 minute of work. Escaping from a net or any sort of restraining spell is a full-round action. Escaping from a Grapple is a Standard Action. Squeezing through a hole takes half a minute per square.


 * Try Again: Yes. Although the guy grabbing you may object in some cases.

Sleight of Hand


 * Check: Agility is used to handle most parlor tricks, such as making a coin disappear or palming a card. To use Agility in this way, you must have 5 ranks in it. Simple tricks like these are a DC 10 Agility Check. Additionally, you can use Agility to take a fist-sized or smaller object from another person. This use does not require any ranks, but is DC 20 to perform successfully. Lastly, Agility can be used to attempt to conceal objects on you, such as a light weapon, a coin, or a ring. You get a +2 circumstance modifier to conceal daggers, and a +4 circumstance modifier to conceal a coin-sized object. Baggy clothes grant an additional +2 circumstance modifier. This use is DC 0. Whether or not you are successful, any observers are entitled to Awareness Checks to notice your actions. The DC for this check is equal to the result of your Agility Check, and has a -4 circumstance modifier if the observer is not actively trying to notice your activities. If an observer pats you down, they gain a +4 circumstance modifier to find any objects concealed on you.


 * Action: Using Agility for this purpose is always a Standard Action. In addition, pulling out an object concealed with this skill is a Standard Action.


 * Try Again: Yes, but after an initial failure, a second Agility Check against the same target (or while you are being watched by the same observer who noticed your previous attempt) increases the DC for the task by 10.

Tumbling


 * You can’t use this skill if your speed has been reduced by armor, excess equipment, or loot.


 * Check: You can land softly when you fall or tumble past opponents. The DCs for various tasks involving the Agility skill are given on the table below. When tumbling past an enemy, modify the DCs for terrain as per the rules for balancing above.


 * Action: Not a unique action. Made as part of a move or Standard Action. If multiple actions are taken in the same round, roll for each.


 * Try Again: Yes, but generally requires you to wait a round. You cannot attempt to soften a fall again, whether you succeed or fail.

Entertaining


 * Check: A character with 5 or more ranks in Agility can use it in the same way as the Perform skill to entertain a crowd. Please see the Perform skill for details.

Animals
While most characters have no real reason to work with animals, those who anticipate venturing into the more remote parts of the world recognize that few things handle off-roading better than a horse. The Animals skill covers not only riding mounts, but also caring for animals of all kinds.


 * Key Ability: Intelligence


 * Check: Animals is used any time your character deals with a creature of animal intelligence (1 or 2). The two major uses are handling and riding, covered below.


 * Action: Varies, see below.


 * Try Again: Varies, see below


 * Special: You can use this skill on a creature with an Intelligence score of 1 or 2 that is not an animal, but the DC of any such check increases by 5. Such creatures have the same limit on tricks known as animals do. If you have the Animal Affinity feat, you get a +2 feat modifier on Animals Checks.

Handling Animals Table: Handling Animals Tasks and DC Handle an Animal

Train an Animal for a Purpose
 * This task involves commanding an animal to perform a task or trick that it knows. If the animal is wounded or has taken any nonlethal damage or ability score damage, the DC increases by 2. If your check succeeds, the animal performs the task or trick on its next action.
 * “Push” an Animal: To push an animal means to get it to perform a task or trick that it doesn’t know but is physically capable of performing. This category also covers making an animal perform a forced march or forcing it to hustle for more than 1 hour between sleep cycles. If the animal is wounded or has taken any nonlethal damage or ability score damage, the DC increases by 2. If your check succeeds, the animal performs the task or trick on its next action.
 * Teach an Animal a Trick: You can teach an animal a specific trick with one week of work and a successful Animals Check against the indicated DC. An animal with an Intelligence score of 1 can learn a maximum of three tricks, while an animal with an Intelligence score of 2 can learn a maximum of six tricks. Possible tricks (and their associated DCs) include, but are not necessarily limited to, the following:
 * Attack (DC 20): The animal attacks apparent enemies. You may point to a particular creature that you wish the animal to attack, and it will comply if able. Normally, an animal will attack only humanoids, monstrous humanoids, giants, or other animals. Teaching an animal to attack all creatures (including such unnatural creatures as undead and aberrations) counts as two tricks.
 * Come (DC 15): The animal comes to you, even if it normally would not do so.
 * Defend (DC 20): The animal defends you (or is ready to defend you if no threat is present), even without any command being given. Alternatively, you can command the animal to defend a specific other character.
 * Down (DC 15): The animal breaks off from combat or otherwise backs down. An animal that doesn’t know this trick continues to fight until it must flee (due to injury, a fear effect, or the like) or its opponent is defeated.
 * Fetch (DC 15): The animal goes and gets something. If you do not point out a specific item, the animal fetches some random object.
 * Guard (DC 20): The animal stays in place and prevents others from approaching.
 * Heel (DC 15): The animal follows you closely, even to places where it normally wouldn’t go.
 * Perform (DC 15): The animal performs a variety of simple tricks, such as sitting up, rolling over, roaring or barking, and so on.
 * Seek (DC 15): The animal moves into an area and looks around for anything that is obviously alive or animate.
 * Stay (DC 15): The animal stays in place, waiting for you to return. It does not challenge other creatures that come by, though it still defends itself if it needs to.
 * Track (DC 20): The animal tracks the scent presented to it. (This requires the animal to have the scent ability)
 * Work (DC 15): The animal pulls or pushes a medium or heavy load.


 * Rather than teaching an animal individual tricks, you can simply train it for a general purpose. Essentially, an animal’s purpose represents a preselected set of known tricks that fit into a common scheme, such as guarding or heavy labor. The animal must meet all the normal prerequisites for all tricks included in the training package. If the package includes more than three tricks, the animal must have an Intelligence score of 2. An animal can be trained for only one general purpose, though if the creature is capable of learning additional tricks (above and beyond those included in its general purpose), it may do so. Training an animal for a purpose requires fewer checks than teaching individual tricks does, but no less time.
 * Combat Riding (DC 20): An animal trained to bear a rider into combat knows the tricks attack, come, defend, down, guard, and heel. Training an animal for combat riding takes six weeks. You may also “upgrade” an animal trained for riding to one trained for combat riding by spending three weeks and making a successful DC 20 Handle Animal Check. The new general purpose and tricks completely replace the animal’s previous purpose and any tricks it once knew. Warhorses and riding dogs are already trained to bear riders into combat, and they don’t require any additional training for this purpose.
 * Fighting (DC 20): An animal trained to engage in combat knows the tricks attack, down, and stay. Training an animal for fighting takes three weeks.
 * Guarding (DC 20): An animal trained to guard knows the tricks attack, defend, down, and guard. Training an animal for guarding takes four weeks.
 * Heavy Labor (DC 15): An animal trained for heavy labor knows the tricks come and work. Training an animal for heavy labor takes two weeks.
 * Hunting (DC 20): An animal trained for hunting knows the tricks attack, down, fetch, heel, seek, and track. Training an animal for hunting takes six weeks.
 * Performance (DC 15): An animal trained for performance knows the tricks come, fetch, heel, perform, and stay. Training an animal for performance takes five weeks.
 * Riding (DC 15): An animal trained to bear a rider knows the tricks come, heel, and stay. Training an animal for riding takes three weeks.
 * Rear a Wild Animal: To rear an animal means to raise a wild creature from infancy so that it becomes domesticated. A handler can rear as many as three creatures of the same kind at once. A successfully domesticated animal can be taught tricks at the same time it’s being raised, or it can be taught as a domesticated animal later.
 * Action: Varies. Handling an animal is a move action, while pushing an animal is a full-round action. For tasks with specific time frames noted above, you must spend half this time (at the rate of 3 hours per day per animal being handled) working toward completion of the task before you attempt the Handle Animal Check. If the check fails, your attempt to teach, rear, or train the animal fails and you need not complete the teaching, rearing, or training time. If the check succeeds, you must invest the remainder of the time to complete the teaching, rearing, or training. If the time is interrupted or the task is not followed through to completion, the attempt to teach, rear, or train the animal automatically fails.


 * Try Again: Yes, except for rearing an animal.

Riding


 * If you attempt to ride a creature that is ill suited as a mount, you take a –5 penalty on your Ride Checks.
 * Check: Typical riding actions don’t require checks. You can saddle, mount, ride, and dismount from a mount without a problem.


 * Action: Varies. Mounting or dismounting normally is a move action. Other checks are a move action, a free action, or no action at all, as noted above.


 * Special: If you are riding bareback, you take a –5 circumstance modifier on Animals Checks.

Riding Checks


 * The Animals skill is a prerequisite for the feats Mounted Archery, Mounted Combat, Ride-By Attack, Spirited Charge, and Trample. The following tasks do require checks.
 * Guide with Knees (DC 5): You can react instantly to guide your mount with your knees so that you can use both hands in combat. Make your Ride Check at the start of your turn. If you fail, you can use only one hand this round because you need to use the other to control your mount.
 * Stay in Saddle (DC 5): You can react instantly to try to avoid falling when your mount rears or bolts unexpectedly or when you take damage. This usage does not take an action.
 * Fight with Warhorse (DC 10): If you direct your war-trained mount to attack in battle, you can still make your own attack or attacks normally. This usage is a free action.
 * Cover (DC 15): You can react instantly to drop down and hang alongside your mount, using it as cover. You can’t attack or cast spells while using your mount as cover. If you fail your Ride Check, you don’t get the cover benefit. This usage does not take an action.
 * Soft Fall (DC 15): You can react instantly to try to take no damage when you fall off a mount— when it is killed or when it falls, for example. If you fail your Ride Check, you take 1d6 points of falling damage. This usage does not take an action.
 * Leap (DC 15): You can get your mount to leap obstacles as part of its movement. Use your Ride modifier or the mount’s Jump modifier, whichever is lower, to see how far the creature can jump. If you fail your Ride Check, you fall off the mount when it leaps and take the appropriate falling damage (at least 1d6 points). This usage does not take an action, but is part of the mount’s movement.
 * Spur Mount (DC 15): You can spur your mount to greater speed with a move action. A successful Ride Check increases the mount’s speed by 10 feet for 1 round but deals 1 point of damage to the creature. You can use this ability every round, but each consecutive round of additional speed deals twice as much damage to the mount as the previous round (2 points, 4 points, 8 points, and so on).
 * Control Mount in Battle (DC 20): As a move action, you can attempt to control a light horse, pony, heavy horse, or other mount not trained for combat riding while in battle. If you fail the Ride Check, you can do nothing else in that round. You do not need to roll for warhorses or warponies.
 * Fast Mount or Dismount (DC 20 - Armor Modifier applies): You can attempt to mount or dismount from a mount of up to one size category larger than yourself as a free action, provided that you still have a move action available that round. If you fail the Ride Check, mounting or dismounting is a move action. You can’t use fast mount or dismount on a mount more than one size category larger than yourself.

Athletics
Athletics is used when a character needs to perform a feat of physical prowess, such as rock climbing, swimming, or leaping large pits.


 * Key Ability: Strength


 * Apply Armor Modifier: Yes


 * Check: A successful check allows you to overcome physical obstacles, such as walls or gaps. Failure often means falling or losing ground.


 * Action: Almost always part of a move action.


 * Try Again: Varies, see below for details.

Climbing
 * Special: If you have the Athletic feat, you get a +2 feat modifier on Athletics Checks.


 * Climbing is an interesting interaction between players and the environment. We hope you like it.

Table: Climb DC examples Table: Climb DC Modifier Examples Making Your Own Handholds and Footholds
 * Check: With a successful Athletics Check, you can advance up, down, or across a slope, a wall, or some other steep incline (or even a ceiling with handholds) at one-quarter your normal speed. A slope is considered to be any incline at an angle measuring less than 60 degrees; a wall is any incline at an angle measuring 60 degrees or more. The DC of the check depends on the conditions of the climb. Compare the task with those on the following table to determine an appropriate DC. You need both hands free to climb, but you may cling to a wall with one hand while you cast a spell or take some other action that requires only one hand. While climbing, you can’t move to avoid a blow, so you lose your Dexterity bonus to AC (if any). You also can’t use a shield while climbing.

Catching Yourself When Falling
 * You can make your own handholds and footholds by pounding pitons into a wall. Doing so takes 1 minute per piton, and one piton is needed per 3 feet of distance. As with any surface that offers handholds and footholds, a wall with pitons in it has a DC of 15. In the same way, a climber with a handaxe or similar implement can cut handholds in an ice wall.

Catching a Falling Character While Climbing
 * It’s practically impossible to catch yourself on a wall while falling. Make an Athletics Check (DC = wall’s DC + 20) to do so. It’s much easier to catch yourself on a slope (DC = slope’s DC + 10).


 * If someone climbing above you or adjacent to you falls, you can attempt to catch the falling character if he is within your reach. Doing so requires a successful melee touch attack against the falling character (though he can voluntarily forgo any Dexterity bonus to AC if desired). If you hit, you must immediately attempt an Athletics Check (DC = wall’s DC + 10). Success indicates that you catch the falling character, but his total weight, including equipment, cannot exceed your heavy load limit or you automatically fall. If you fail your Athletics Check by 4 or less, you fail to stop the character’s fall but don’t lose your grip on the wall. If you fail by 5 or more, you fail to stop the character’s fall and begin falling as well.


 * Action: Climbing is part of movement, so it’s generally part of a move action (and may be combined with other types of movement in a move action). Each move action that includes any climbing requires a separate Athletics Check. Catching yourself or another falling character doesn’t take an action.


 * Try Again: Yes. However, if you fail an Athletics Check by 5 or more, you fall and will lose all progress, as well as taking damage.

Jumping
 * Special: You can use a rope to haul a character upward (or lower a character) through sheer strength. You can lift double your Strength score × 10 in this manner. A creature with a climb speed has a +8 species bonus on all climb-related Athletics Checks. The creature must make an Athletics Check to climb any wall or slope with a DC higher than 0, but it always can choose to take 10, even if rushed or threatened while climbing. If a creature with a climb speed chooses an accelerated climb (see above), it moves at double its climb speed (or at its land speed, whichever is slower) and makes a single Athletics Check at a –5 penalty. Such a creature retains its Dexterity bonus to Armor Class (if any) while climbing, and opponents get no special bonus to their attacks against it. It cannot, however, use the run action while climbing.

Vertical Reach
 * Check: The DC and the distance you can cover vary according to the type of jump you are attempting. When attempting a horizontal jump, the DC is equal to the distance in feet you are trying to cover. For a vertical jump, the DC is equal to 4 times the height in feet you are trying to attain. Your Athletics Check is modified by your movement prior to the jump. A standing jump has a -10 circumstance modifier to the Athletics Check. For every 10 feet of movement you get before making the jump, adjust the modifier by +5 (meaning, if you get 10 feet of running before the jump, you are at only a -5 on the check). Distance moved by jumping is counted against your normal maximum movement in a round. If you do not have enough movement, you cannot attempt the jump. You may take more than one move action in attempting a jump, such as using one to build speed, and the second to cover the actual jump. You may even use a second move action to complete a jump arc started in the first action, or to finish moving before attempting a jump. Under no circumstances may you end a round in mid-jump. If you have ranks in Athletics and you succeed on a check to jump, you land on your feet (when appropriate). If you attempt an Athletics Check untrained, you land prone unless you beat the DC by 5 or more, or are simply jumping straight up and down. When attempting a horizontal jump, if you fail the check by less than 5, you do not clear the distance, but you can make a DC 15 Reflex Save to grab the far edge of the gap. You end your movement grasping the far edge. If that leaves you dangling over a chasm or gap, getting up requires a move action and a DC 15 Athletics Check. A similar maneuver can be used to lift yourself after doing a vertical jump.

There are a few other special cases when attempting to jump.
 * Obviously, the difficulty of reaching a given height varies according to the size of the character or creature. The maximum vertical reach (height the creature can reach without jumping) for an average creature of a given size is shown on the table below. (As a Medium creature, a typical human can reach 8 feet without jumping.) Quadrupedal creatures don’t have the same vertical reach as a bipedal creature; treat them as being one size category smaller.


 * Hop Up: You can jump up onto an object as tall as your waist, such as a table or small boulder, with a DC 10 Athletics Check. Doing so counts as 10 feet of movement, so if your speed is 30 feet, you could move 20 feet, then hop up onto a counter. You do not need to get a running start to hop up, so disregard any modifiers from movement less than 0 when attempting this.
 * Jumping Down: If you intentionally jump from a height, you take less damage than you would if you just fell. The DC to jump down from a height is 15. You do not have to get a running start to jump down, so disregard any modifiers from movement less than 0 when attempting this. If you succeed on the check, you take falling damage as if you had dropped 10 fewer feet than you actually did. This can be combined with a successful Agility Check to reduce effective fall distance by 20 feet.


 * Action: Part of movement. A jump must be ended on the turn it was started.


 * Try Again: Not until you manage to get back to where you started.

Swimming
 * Special: If you have the Run feat, you get a +4 bonus on Athletics Checks for any jumps made after a running start.


 * Check: Make an Athletics Check once per round while you are in the water. Success means you may swim at up to one-half your speed (as a fullround action) or at one-quarter your speed (as a move action). If you are underwater, either because you failed an Athletics Check or because you are swimming underwater intentionally, you must hold your breath. You can hold your breath for a number of rounds equal to your Constitution score, but only if you do nothing other than take move actions or free actions. If you take a Standard Action or a full-round action (such as making an attack), the remainder of the duration for which you can hold your breath is reduced by 1 round. (Effectively, a character in combat can hold his breath only half as long as normal.) After that period of time, you must make a DC 10 Constitution Check every round to continue holding your breath. Each round, the DC for that check increases by 1. If you fail the Constitution Check, you begin to drown. The DC for swimming Athletics Checks depends on the water, as given on the table below. Each hour that you swim, you must make a DC 20 Athletics Check or take 1d6 points of nonlethal damage from fatigue.

Table: Water Swim DC


 * Action: A successful Athletics Check allows you to swim one-quarter of your speed as a move action or one-half your speed as a full-round action.


 * Try Again: Yes. If you fail an Athletics Check to swim by more than 5, you must spend a fullround action to surface. Otherwise, you simply stall in the water.


 * Special: Swimming Athletics Checks are subject to double the normal armor modifier. If you have the Endurance feat, you get a +4 feat modifier on Athletics Checks made to avoid taking nonlethal damage from fatigue. A creature with a swim speed can move through water at its indicated speed without making swimming Athletics Checks. It gains a +8 species bonus on any swimming Athletics Check to perform a special action or avoid a hazard. The creature always can choose to take 10 on a swimming Athletics Check, even if distracted or endangered when swimming. Such a creature can use the run action while swimming, provided that it swims in a straight line.

Awareness
Awareness is used to detect unusual circumstances in the environment around you.


 * Key Ability: Wisdom Apply Armor Modifier: No


 * Requires Training: No


 * Check: A successful check indicates if something is anomalous in the environment or characters around you. The DC for this check varies depending on what senses are being used, what you are looking for, and how much effort is being made to conceal activity.


 * Action: Most Awareness Checks are reactions to others’ actions, and thus take no action. Searching a 1 square area takes a full-round action, while attempting to discern a character’s nature takes a minute of interaction.


 * Try Again: Yes, although attempting to read a person requires 10 minutes the second time, and cannot be attempted a third time. Detecting a lie does not allow a retry, since the provoking action will have ended at that point.

Spotting and Listening
 * Special: If you have the Alertness feat, you get a +2 feat modifier on Awareness Checks.

Table: Awareness DC Modifiers
 * Check: An Awareness Check is made any time your character is within range to detect something happening. You may also deliberately make such a check, if you are suspicious that something is occurring. The DC for an Awareness Check to see or hear something unusual is dictated by distance, obstructions, and the effort being made to conceal activities.  The Awareness skill is primarily used in this manner to detect characters who are hiding. Typically, your Awareness Check is opposed by the Stealth Check of the creature trying not to be seen. Sometimes a creature isn’t intentionally hiding but is still difficult to see, so a successful Awareness Check is necessary to notice it (use a base DC of 10 and modify based on Species and other applicable modifiers). If you are within 30 feet of a speaker you can see, a DC 15 Awareness Check will allow you to read their lips. If successful, you can understand the general content of a minute’s worth of speaking, but you usually still miss certain details. If the check fails by 4 or less, you can’t read the speaker’s lips. If the check fails by 5 or more, you draw some incorrect conclusion about the speech. The check is rolled secretly in this case, so that you don’t know whether you succeeded or missed by 5.

Searching
 * Special: A fascinated creature takes a –4 penalty on Awareness Checks made as reactions. A sleeping character may make Awareness Checks at a –10 penalty to hear activities. A successful check awakens the sleeper.


 * Check: You generally must be within 10 feet of the object or surface to be searched. The DC for an Awareness Check to search an area is usually 10 to find an object that has not been intentionally concealed. An active effort to conceal something results in an opposed check between your Awareness and whatever skill was used in the concealment (usually Agility, Survival, or Stealth). Traps and other concealed obstacles will also have their own DCs. The Trapfinding class ability is necessary in order to find any traps above DC 20.

Sensing Lies and Reading Others
 * Action: It takes a full-round action to search a 5-foot-by-5-foot area or a volume of goods 5 feet on a side.


 * Check: A successful Awareness Check lets you avoid being bluffed. You can also use this skill to determine when “something is up” (that is, something odd is going on) or to assess someone’s trustworthiness.

Table: Awareness to sense motive DC Hunch

Sense Enchantment
 * This use of the skill involves making a gut assessment of the social situation. You can get the feeling from another’s behavior that something is wrong, such as when you’re talking to an impostor. Alternatively, you can get the feeling that someone is trustworthy.

Discern Secret Message
 * You can tell that someone’s behavior is being influenced by an enchantment effect (by definition, a mind-affecting effect), even if that person isn’t aware of it. The usual DC is 25, but if the target is dominated (see dominate person), the DC is only 15 because of the limited range of the target’s activities.

See through Disguise
 * You may use Awareness to detect that a hidden message is being transmitted via the Bluff skill. In this case, your Awareness Check is opposed by the Bluff Check of the character transmitting the message. For each piece of information relating to the message that you are missing, you take a –2 penalty on your Awareness Check. If you succeed by 4 or less, you know that something hidden is being communicated, but you can’t learn anything specific about its content. If you beat the DC by 5 or more, you intercept and understand the message. If you fail by 4 or less, you don’t detect any hidden communication. If you fail by 5 or more, you infer some false information.

Gathering Information
 * This use of the skill allows you to pick up that someone is in disguise, opposed by their Bluff Check to craft the disguise. Success by 4 or less only tells you that they are disguised, but provides no clues about the character under the disguise. A success by 5 or more reveals the species and apparent sex of the disguised character. If you can recognize them by sight, you do.


 * Check: An evening’s time, a few Snow Dollars for buying drinks and making friends, and a DC 10 Awareness Check will get you a general idea of a city’s major news items, assuming there are no obvious reasons why the information would be withheld. The higher your check result, the better the information. If you want to find out about a specific rumor, or a specific item, or obtain a map, or do something else along those lines, the DC for the check is 15 to 25, or even higher.


 * Action: A typical Awareness Check to gather information takes 1d4+1 hours.


 * Try Again: Yes, but it takes time for each check. Furthermore, you may draw attention to yourself if you repeatedly pursue a certain type of information.

Bluff
The hallmark of liars, thieves, conmen, actors, and Shapeshifters, Bluff is used any time your character is attempting to promote a truth that varies from reality.


 * Key Ability: Charisma


 * Apply Armor Modifier: No


 * Requires Training: No

Creating a Disguise
 * Check: A Bluff Check is opposed by the target’s Awareness Check. See the accompanying table for examples of different kinds of bluffs and the modifier to the target’s Awareness Check for each one. You use Bluff whether you are speaking or writing. When trying to see through a spoken Bluff, use Awareness. Written Bluffs can be outright lies or forgeries. Written lies are treated as though spoken, but forgeries are opposed by either Awareness (to detect the forgery) or Knowledge (Linguistics) (to trace the source). Favorable and unfavorable circumstances weigh heavily on the outcome of a bluff. Two circumstances can weigh against you: The bluff is hard to believe, or the action that the target is asked to take goes against its self-interest, nature, personality, orders, or the like. If it’s important, you can distinguish between a bluff that fails because the target doesn’t believe it and one that fails because it just asks too much of the target. For instance, if the target gets a +10 bonus on its Awareness Check because the bluff demands something risky, and the Awareness Check succeeds by 10 or less, then the target didn’t so much see through the bluff as prove reluctant to go along with it. A target that succeeds by 11 or more has seen through the bluff. A successful Bluff Check indicates that the target reacts as you wish, at least for a short time (usually 1 round or less) or believes something that you want it to believe. A bluff, however, is not a Mind spell, and will only last as long as you can keep up pretenses. A bluff requires interaction between you and the target. Creatures unaware of you cannot be bluffed.

Table: Bluff Examples Table: Familiarity and Awareness Feinting in Combat
 * Your Bluff Check result determines how good the disguise is, and it is opposed by others’ Awareness Check results. If you don’t draw any attention to yourself, others do not get to make Awareness Checks. If you come to the attention of people who are suspicious (such as a guard who is watching commoners walking through a city gate), it can be assumed that such observers are taking 10 on their Awareness Checks, unless they have reason to suspect someone is in disguise. You get only one Bluff Check per this use of the skill, even if several people are making Awareness Checks against it. The Bluff Check is made secretly, so that you can’t be sure how good the result is. The effectiveness of your disguise depends in part on how much you’re attempting to change your appearance. Superficial changes, such as hair or clothes are generally believable. More radical changes, such as to your build, are a little harder to accept. Disguises that attempt to pass you off as a member of another species, or as a different sex, tend to be hard to believe. In addition, if you are attempting to disguise yourself as someone in particular, individuals who know whoever you are posing as get additional modifiers to their Awareness rolls (see table). Note that disguises do not have to be used solely for infiltration. Actors and costumers also use this skill as part of their trade. For characters who make full outfits, see the Craft skill.

Creating a Diversion to Hide
 * You can also use Bluff to mislead an opponent in melee combat (so that it can’t dodge your next attack effectively). To feint, make a Bluff Check opposed by your target’s Awareness Check, but in this case, the target may add its BAM to the roll along with any other applicable modifiers. If your Bluff Check result exceeds this special Awareness Check result, your target is denied its Dexterity bonus to AC (if any) for the next melee attack you make against it. This attack must be made on or before your next turn. Feinting in this way against a non-humanoid is difficult because it’s harder to read a strange creature’s body language; you take a –4 penalty on your Bluff Check. Against a creature of animal Intelligence (1 or 2) it’s even harder; you take a –8 penalty. Against a non-intelligent creature, it’s impossible.

Delivering a Secret Message
 * You can use the Bluff skill to help you hide. A successful Bluff Check gives you the momentary diversion you need to attempt a Stealth Check while people are aware of you. Note that you must succeed against all parties in order for this to work.


 * You can use Bluff to get a message across to another character without others understanding it. The DC is 15 for simple messages, or 20 for complex messages, especially those that rely on getting across new information. Failure by 4 or less means you can’t get the message across. Failure by 5 or more means that some false information has been implied or inferred. Anyone listening to the exchange can make an Awareness Check opposed by the Bluff Check you made to transmit in order to intercept your message (see Awareness).


 * Action: Varies. A Bluff Check made as part of general interaction always takes at least 1 round (and is at least a full-round action), but it can take much longer if you try something elaborate. A Bluff Check made to feint in combat or create a diversion to hide is a Standard Action. A Bluff Check made to deliver a secret message doesn’t take an action; it is part of normal communication. A Bluff Check to create a disguise requires 1d3×10 minutes of work.


 * Try Again: Varies. Generally, a failed Bluff Check in social interaction makes the target too suspicious for you to try again in the same circumstances, but you may retry freely on Bluff Checks made to feint in combat. Retries are also allowed when you are trying to send a message, but you may attempt such a retry only once per round. You may try to redo a failed disguise, but once others know that a disguise was attempted, they’ll be more suspicious. Each retry carries the same chance of miscommunication.


 * Special: If you have the Deceitful feat, you get a +2 feat modifier on Bluff Checks. Magic that alters your form, such as alter self, grants you a +10 circumstantial modifier on Bluff Checks to create a disguise (see the individual spell descriptions). Abilities and spells that allow people to see through illusions (such as See Truth, or a Mind specialist’s ability to see through illusions) do not penetrate a mundane disguise, but it can negate the magical component of a magically enhanced one. Doppelgangers and other Shapeshifters do not get any special modifiers to their Bluff Checks, outside of what they gain from species and class features. However, they may disregard the time given above for putting on a disguise, and instead use the rules of their class or species. Expert Swordsmen gain additional uses for this skill. See their Class description for details.

Concentration
If the Concentration Check succeeds, you may continue with the action as normal. If the check fails, the action automatically fails and is wasted. If you were in the process of casting a spell, the spell is lost as though you had failed your check by 5. If you were concentrating on an active spell, the spell ends as if you had ceased concentrating on it. If you were directing a spell, the direction fails but the spell remains active. If you were using a Cameraman ability, the effect ends immediately.


 * Key Ability: Constitution


 * Check: You must make a Concentration Check whenever you might potentially be distracted (by taking damage, by harsh weather, and so on) while engaged in some action that requires your full attention. The most common instance of this is when casting a spell or using a Cameraman ability. The table below summarizes various types of distractions that cause you to make a Concentration Check. If the distraction occurs while you are trying to cast a spell, you must add the Tier of the spell you are trying to cast to the appropriate Concentration DC. If more than one type of distraction is present, make a check for each one; any failed Concentration Check indicates that the task is not completed.


 * Action: None. Making a Concentration Check doesn’t take an action; it is either a free action (when attempted reactively) or part of another action (when attempted actively).


 * Try Again: Yes, though a success doesn’t cancel the effect of a previous failure, such as the loss of a spell you were casting or the disruption of a spell you were concentrating on.

Craft
Like Knowledge, Perform, and Profession, Craft is actually a number of separate skills. You could have several Craft skills, each with its own ranks, each purchased as a separate skill. A Craft skill is specifically focused on creating something. If nothing is created by the endeavor, it probably falls under the heading of a Profession skill.


 * Key Ability: Intelligence
 * Apply Armor Modifier: No

Progress by the Day
 * Requires Training: No
 * Check: You can practice your trade and make a decent living, earning about 5 times your check result in Snow Dollars per week of dedicated work. You know how to use the tools of your trade, how to perform the craft’s daily tasks, how to supervise untrained helpers, and how to handle common problems. (Untrained laborers and assistants earn an average of S$20 per day.) The basic function of the Craft skill, however, is to allow you to make an item of the appropriate type. The DC depends on the complexity of the item to be created. The DC, your check results, and the price of the item determine how long it takes to make a particular item. The item’s finished price also determines the cost of raw materials. If you choose to sell items made in this way, you do not get the normal wages for your work, but instead get 80% of the market value for your item. The rest is lost to taxes and other fees. All crafts require artisan’s tools to give the best chance of success. If improvised tools are used, the check is made with a –2 circumstance modifier. On the other hand, masterwork artisan’s tools provide a +2 circumstance modifier on the check. To determine how much time and money it takes to make an item, follow these steps.
 * 1) Find the item’s price. Put the price in Snow Cents.
 * 2) Find the DC from the table below.
 * 3) Pay one-third of the item’s price for the cost of raw materials.
 * 4) Make an appropriate Craft Check representing one week’s work. If the check succeeds, multiply your check result by the DC, and multiply by 10.
 * If the result equals the price of the item in Snow Cents, then you have completed the item. If the result equals double or triple the price of the item, then you’ve completed the task in one-half or one-third of the time. Other multiples of the DC reduce the time in the same manner. If the result doesn’t equal the price, then it represents the progress you’ve made this week. Record the result and make a new Craft Check for the next week. Each week, you make more progress until your total reaches the price of the item in Snow Dollars. If you fail a check by 4 or less, you make no progress this week. If you fail by 5 or more, you ruin half the raw materials and have to pay half the original raw material cost again.

Creating Masterwork Items
 * You can make checks by the day instead of by the week. In this case your progress is calculated as check result × DC, although it is still measured in Snow Cents. Use the same rules as above for determine how quickly you complete your work.

Repairing Items
 * You can make a masterwork item—a weapon, suit of armor, shield, or tool that conveys a bonus on its use through its exceptional craftsmanship, not through being magical. To create a masterwork item, you create the masterwork component as if it were a separate item in addition to the standard item. The masterwork component has its own price and a Craft DC of 20. Once both the standard component and the masterwork component are completed, the masterwork item is finished. Note: The cost you pay for the masterwork component is one-third of the given amount, just as it is for the cost in raw materials.


 * Generally, you can repair an item by making checks against the same DC that it took to make the item in the first place. The cost of repairing an item is one-fifth of the item’s price. When you use the Craft skill to make a particular sort of item, the DC for checks involving the creation of that item are typically as given on the following table.
 * Action: Does not apply. Craft Checks are made by the day or week (see above).


 * Try Again: Yes, but each time you miss by 5 or more, you ruin half the raw materials and have to pay half the original raw material cost again.

Table: Repairing Items Skill and DC
 * Special: You may voluntarily add +10 to the indicated DC to craft an item. This allows you to create the item more quickly (since you’ll be multiplying this higher DC by your Craft Check result to determine progress). You must decide whether to increase the DC before you make each weekly or daily check.

Diplomacy

 * Use this skill to ask the local baron for assistance, to convince a band of thugs not to attack you, or to talk your way into someplace you aren’t supposed to be.


 * Key Ability: Charisma


 * Apply Armor Modifier: No


 * Requires Training: No

The Target
 * Check: You can propose a trade or agreement to another creature with your words; a Diplomacy Check can then persuade them that accepting it is a good idea. Either side of the deal may involve physical goods, money, services, promises, or abstract concepts like “satisfaction.” The DC for the Diplomacy Check is based on three factors: who the target is, the relationship between the target and the character making the check, and the risk vs. reward factor of the deal proposed.

The Relationship
 * The base DC for any Diplomacy Check is equal to 15 + the level of the highest-level character in the group that you are trying to influence + the Wisdom modifier of the character in the group with the highest Wisdom. High-level characters are more committed to their views and are less likely to be swayed; high Wisdom characters are more likely to perceive the speaker’s real motives and aims. By applying the highest modifiers in any group, a powerful king (for example) might gain benefit from a very wise advisor who listens in court and counsels him accordingly. For this purpose, a number of characters is only a “group” if they are committed to all following the same course of action. Either one NPC is in charge, or they agree to act by consensus. If each member is going to make up their mind on their own, roll separate Diplomacy Checks against each.

Risk vs. Reward Judgment
 * Whether they love, hate, or have never met each other, the relationship between two people always influences any request.

Table: Relationship Modifiers
 * The amount of personal benefit must always be weighed against the potential risks for any deal proposed. It is important to remember to consider this adjustment from the point of view of the NPC themselves and what they might value; while S$10 might be chump change to an adventurer, it may represent several months’ earnings for a poor farmer. Likewise, a heroic paladin is unlikely to be persuaded from his tenets for any amount of gold, though he might be convinced that a greater good is served by the proposed deal. When dealing with multiple people at once, always consider the benefits to the person who is in clear command, if any hierarchy exists within the group. After weighing all three factors, if the Diplomacy Check beats the DC, the subject accepts the proposal with no changes or with minor (mostly idiosyncratic) changes. If the check fails by 5 or less, the subject does not accept the deal but may, at the PM’s option, present a counter-offer that would push the deal up one place on the risk vs. reward list. For example, a counter-offer might make an Even deal Favorable for the subject. The character who made the Diplomacy Check can simply accept the counter-offer, if they choose; no further check will be required. If the check fails by 10 or more, the Diplomacy is over; the subject will entertain no further deals, and may become hostile or take other steps to end the conversation.

Table: Risk vs. Reward


 * Action: Making a request or proposing a deal generally requires at least 1 full minute. In many situations, this time requirement may greatly increase.


 * Try Again: If you alter the parameters of the deal you are proposing, you may try to convince the subject that this new deal is even better than the last one. This is essentially how people haggle. As long as you never roll 10 or less than the DC on your Diplomacy Check, you can continue to offer deals.

Heal

 * Key Ability: Wisdom


 * Apply Armor Modifier: No


 * Requires Training: No


 * Check: The DC and effect depend on the task you attempt.


 * Action: Providing first aid, treating a wound, or treating poison is a Standard Action. Treating a disease or providing long-term care requires 8 hours of light activity.


 * Try Again: Varies. Generally speaking, you can’t try a Heal Check again without proof of the original check’s failure. You can always retry a check to provide first aid, assuming the target of the previous attempt is still alive.


 * Special: A character with the Healer feat gets a +2 feat modifier on Heal Checks.

First Aid


 * You usually use first aid to save a dying character. If a character has negative hit points and is losing hit points (at the rate of 1 per round, 1 per hour, or 1 per day), you can make him stable. A stable character regains no hit points but stops losing them. First Aid may also be used to treat the effects of stepping on a caltrop, restoring the character’s movement speed (although the damage must be healed normally). Either use of First Aid is a DC 15 Heal Check.

Long-Term Care


 * Providing long-term care means treating a wounded person for a day or more. If your Heal Check is successful, the patient recovers hit points or ability score points (lost to ability damage) at twice the normal rate: 2 hit points per level for a full 8 hours of rest in a day, or 4 hit points per level for each full day of complete rest; 2 ability score points for a full 8 hours of rest in a day, or 4 ability score points for each full day of complete rest. You can tend as many as six patients at a time. You need a few items and supplies (bandages, salves, and so on) that are easy to come by in settled lands. Giving long-term care counts as light activity for the healer. You cannot give long-term care to yourself. Providing long-term care is a DC 15 Heal Check.

Treat Poison or Disease


 * Treating either poisoning or a disease means to tend to a single character who has been subjected to one of these conditions and who is continuing to suffer the ongoing effects. Every time the afflicted character makes a saving throw against the condition, you make a Heal Check. The character uses your check result or his saving throw, whichever is higher.

Intimidate

 * Key Ability: Charisma


 * Apply Armor Modifier: No


 * Requires Training: No


 * Check: You can change another’s behavior with a successful check. Your Intimidate Check is opposed by the target’s modified level check (1d20 + character level or Hit Dice + target’s Wisdom bonus [if any] + target’s modifiers on saves against fear). If you beat your target’s check result, you may treat the target as if you successfully persuaded them using the Diplomacy skill, but only for the purpose of actions taken while it remains intimidated. That is, the target retains its normal attitude, but will chat, advise, offer limited help, or advocate on your behalf while intimidated. The effect lasts as long as the target remains in your presence, and for 1d6×10 minutes afterward. After this time, the target’s relationship with you (as per the Diplomacy skill) shifts to Acquaintance (Negative). If the target already regarded you as such, they are instead treated as an Enemy in future negotiations. If you fail the check by 5 or more, the target provides you with incorrect or useless information, or otherwise frustrates your efforts.

Demoralize Opponent


 * You can also use Intimidate to weaken an opponent’s resolve in combat. To do so, make an Intimidate Check opposed by the target’s modified level check (see above). If you win, the target becomes shaken for 1 round. A shaken character takes a –2 penalty on attack rolls, ability checks, and saving throws. You can intimidate only an opponent that you threaten in melee combat and that can see you.


 * Action: Varies. Changing another’s behavior requires 1 minute of interaction. Intimidating an opponent in combat is a Standard Action.


 * Try Again: Optional, but not recommended because retries usually do not work. Even if the initial check succeeds, the other character can be intimidated only so far, and a retry doesn’t help. If the initial check fails, the other character has probably become more firmly resolved to resist the intimidator, and a retry is futile.


 * Special: You gain a +4 bonus on your Intimidate Check for every size category that you are larger than your target. Conversely, you take a –4 penalty on your Intimidate Check for every size category that you are smaller than your target. A character immune to fear can’t be intimidated, nor can non-intelligent creatures. Expert Swordsmen gain additional uses for this skill. See their class description for details.

Knowledge

 * Key Ability: Intelligence


 * Apply Armor Modifier: No


 * Requires Training: Yes


 * Check: Answering a question within your field of study has a DC of 10 (for really easy questions), 15 (for basic questions), or 20 to 30 (for really tough questions). In many cases, you can use this skill to identify monsters and their special powers or vulnerabilities. In general, the DC of such a check equals 10 + the monster’s HD. A successful check allows you to remember a bit of useful information about that monster. For every 5 points by which your check result exceeds the DC, you recall another piece of useful information. You may attempt a Knowledge Check untrained. However, you will not know the answer to any question with a DC higher than 10.


 * Action: Usually none. In most cases, making a Knowledge Check doesn’t take an action—you simply know the answer or you don’t.

Fields of Knowledge
 * Try Again: No. The check represents what you know, and thinking about a topic a second time doesn’t let you know something that you never learned in the first place. You may, however, make another attempt the next time your gain a rank in the relevant Knowledge.


 * Like the Craft and Profession skills, Knowledge actually encompasses a number of unrelated skills. Knowledge represents a study of some body of lore, possibly an academic or even scientific discipline. Below are listed typical fields of study. This list is by no means exhaustive, and players are encouraged to put at least a rank or two into fields of study beyond these.
 * Architecture and engineering (buildings, aqueducts, bridges, fortifications)
 * Cinematography (film techniques, storyboarding, casting, important films)
 * Dungeoneering (aberrations, caverns, oozes, spelunking, ruins)
 * Geography (lands, terrain, climate, people)
 * History (royalty, wars, colonies, migrations, founding of cities)
 * Linguistics (deciphering ancient texts, interpreting foreign languages, analyzing documents)
 * Local (legends, personalities, inhabitants, laws, customs, traditions, humanoids, local radio stations, best places to eat)
 * Magic (ancient mysteries, magic traditions, arcane symbols, cryptic phrases, constructs, dragons, magical beasts) — Also used for casting and identifying spells, and disabling magical traps
 * Nature (animals, fey, giants, monstrous humanoids, plants, seasons and cycles, weather, vermin)
 * Nobility and royalty (lineages, heraldry, family trees, mottoes, personalities)
 * Pop Culture (recent movies, important celebrities, popular shows, Internet memes)
 * Religion (gods and goddesses, mythic history, ecclesiastic tradition, holy symbols, undead)
 * Science (current theories, notable scientists, identifying weapons)
 * Wraslin’ (major promotions, tag teams, movesets, individual wrestlers, classic and recent feuds)

Mechanics

 * Key Ability: Intelligence


 * Apply Armor Modifier: No


 * Requires Training: Yes


 * Check: Mechanics Checks are made any time a character is interacting with a complex system, such as a trap or lock. The difficulty of this check depends on what the character wishes to do.

Disable Device


 * This check is made secretly, so that you don’t know whether or not you have succeeded. The DC depends on the complexity of the device. The more intricate and complex, the higher the DC. The complexity also affects the amount of time it takes to perform the Mechanics Check. See the accompanying table for more information. Characters without the Trapfinding class ability cannot attempt to break a trap with a DC higher than 20. This does not restrict the ability to work with other devices.

Table: Mechanics Check to disable devices Opening a Lock


 * The DC for opening a lock varies from 20 to 40, depending on the quality of the lock. Used when the goal is to open the lock without damaging later functioning. Attempting an Mechanics Check to pick a lock without a set of thieves’ tools imposes a –2 circumstance modifier on the check, even if a simple tool is employed. If you use masterwork thieves’ tools, you gain a +2 circumstance modifier on the check.

Repair Device

Sabotage
 * Hands that can break are often hands that can mend. This use of the Mechanics skill has the same DCs as if you were disabling the device. You can only repair a device that has all its working components, or is only missing a couple of easily replaced parts. Multiply the time in the table by 5 when using Mechanics in this way. To repair a device that is more broken than that, see the Craft skill.


 * When disabling a device, you may instead rig it to break the next time it is used. Add +5 to the DC of the check when attempting this use of Mechanics. If you also attempt to leave no trace of your activities, the two stack. In addition, double the time needed to disable the device. If you succeed, the next time this device is used, it will work normally for 1d4 minutes before breaking down. If you fail, you believe the device is broken, but it is not.


 * Action: The amount of time needed to disable, repair, or sabotage a device depends on the task, as noted above. Opening a lock is a full-round action.


 * Try Again: Yes, although you must have some reason to believe you have failed when dealing with devices. You may retry opening a lock as many times as you are at liberty to do so.


 * Special: If you have the Nimble Fingers feat, you get a +2 bonus on Mechanics Checks. Scientists gain additional uses for this skill. See their class description for details.


 * Untrained: You cannot pick locks untrained, but you might successfully force them open.

Perform
Like Craft, Knowledge, and Profession, Perform is actually a number of separate skills. You could have several Perform skills, each with its own ranks, each purchased as a separate skill.


 * Key Ability: Charisma


 * Apply Armor Modifier: No


 * Requires Training: Yes


 * Check: You can impress audiences with your talent and skill. A masterwork musical instrument gives you a +2 circumstance modifier on Perform Checks that involve its use.


 * Action: Varies. Trying to earn money by playing in public requires anywhere from an evening’s work to a full day’s performance.


 * Try Again: Yes. Retries are allowed, but they don’t negate previous failures, and an audience that has been unimpressed in the past is likely to be prejudiced against future performances. (Increase the DC by 2 for each previous failure.)

Performance Categories:  Each of the nine categories of the Perform skill includes a variety of methods, instruments, or techniques, a small list of which is provided for each category below.
 * Special: In addition to using the Perform skill, you can entertain people with sleight of hand, tumbling, tightrope walking, and spells (especially illusions).
 * Act (comedy, drama, mime)
 * Comedy (buffoonery, limericks, joke-telling)
 * Dance (ballet, waltz, jig)
 * Keyboard instruments (harpsichord, piano, pipe organ)
 * Oratory (epic, ode, storytelling) • Percussion instruments (bells, chimes, drums, gong)
 * String instruments (fiddle, harp, lute, mandolin)
 * Wind instruments (flute, pan pipes, recorder, shawm, trumpet)
 * Sing (ballad, chant, melody)

Table: Performance DC

Profession

 * Like Craft, Knowledge, and Perform, Profession is actually a number of separate skills. You could have several Profession skills, each with its own ranks, each purchased as a separate skill. While a Craft skill represents ability in creating or making an item, a Profession skill represents an aptitude in a vocation requiring a broader range of less specific knowledge.


 * Key Ability: Wisdom


 * Apply Armor Modifier: No


 * Requires Training: Yes


 * Check: You can practice your trade and make a decent living, earning about 10 times your Profession Check result in Snow Dollars per week of dedicated work. You know how to use the tools of your trade, how to perform the profession’s daily tasks, how to supervise helpers, and how to handle common problems.


 * Action: Not applicable. A single check generally represents a week of work.


 * Try Again: Varies. An attempt to use a Profession skill to earn an income cannot be retried. You are stuck with whatever weekly wage your check result brought you. Another check may be made after a week to determine a new income for the next period of time. An attempt to accomplish some specific task can usually be retried.


 * Untrained: Untrained laborers and assistants (that is, characters without any ranks in Profession) earn an average of S$20 per day.


 * Easy money
 * Craft, Perform, and Profession provide players a low-risk way to earn a respectable amount of money between adventures, or while the Scientist finishes a new chainsaw, and the Cataloguer is retraining spells. It may be tempting to players to hand wave the passage of a year to accumulate an excessive amount of money, but we recommend the Pitfall Master instead offer adventuring opportunities toward obtaining expensive gear.

Stealth
Used for infiltration and situations where one does not wish to be observed, Stealth is often used in conjunction with Bluff and Mechanics.


 * Key Ability: Dexterity Apply Armor Modifier: Yes


 * Requires Training: No


 * Check: Your Stealth Check is almost always opposed by the Awareness of anyone who may be able to see or hear you. You can move up to one-half your normal speed at no penalty. When moving at greater than half your normal speed— but still slower than normal speed—you take a -5 circumstantial modifier. Attempting to move at full speed is a -10 circumstantial modifier, and any faster is a -20 circumstantial modifier. Noisy surfaces, such as bogs or undergrowth, are tough to move silently across. When you try to sneak across such a surface, take a -2 circumstantial modifier. When dealing with thick undergrowth or other such surfaces, such as fresh snow, increase this modifier to -5. Note that these penalties only apply if you are trying to remain silent while moving. Note that someone who can hear, but not see you, gains a +5 circumstantial modifier on the check to locate you if you are not invisible. If you are attempting to remain concealed, note that your size applies a modifier to Stealth as follows:


 * To be properly concealed, you must have cover or concealment appropriate to your size—attempting to “hide” out in the open is impossible without some form of camouflage. You cannot hide if you are being observed by any member of the group you are attempting to hide from, unless the observer is unable to communicate your position to others. The observer still can keep track of you, however, unless you manage to distract him long enough to change position. See the Bluff skill for more on distracting opponents. You may attempt to attack from hiding. As a Standard Action, you may pop up and make a single ranged attack. You must then use your move action to duck back into position, although this Stealth Check has a -20 circumstantial modifier. You may not return to cover if an enemy is standing withing melee range of you.


 * Action: None. A Stealth Check is included in your movement or other activity, so it is part of another action. Try Again: Yes, although you must first lose the attention of any observers.


 * Special: If you have the Stealthy feat, you get a +2 bonus on Stealth Checks.

Survival
Survival does not allow you to follow difficult tracks unless you are a Redneck or have the Track feat (see the Restriction section below).


 * Key Ability: Wisdom


 * Apply Armor Modifier: No


 * Requires Training: No


 * Check: You can keep yourself and others safe and fed in the wild. The table below gives the DCs for various tasks that require Survival Checks.


 * Action: Varies. A single Survival Check may represent activity over the course of hours or a full day. A Survival Check made to find tracks is at least a full-round action, and it may take even longer.


 * Try Again: Varies. For getting along in the wild or for gaining the Fortitude Save bonus noted in the table above, you make a Survival Check once every 24 hours. The result of that check applies until the next check is made. To avoid getting lost or avoid natural hazards, you make a Survival Check whenever the situation calls for one. Retries to avoid getting lost in a specific situation or to avoid a specific natural hazard are not allowed. For finding tracks, you can retry a failed check after 1 hour (outdoors) or 10 minutes(indoors) of searching.


 * Restriction: While anyone can use Survival to find tracks (regardless of the DC), or to follow tracks when the DC for the task is 10 or lower, only a Redneck (or a character with the Track feat) can use Survival to follow tracks when the task has a higher DC.

Table: Survival DC for Example Tasks
 * Special: If you have the Self-Sufficient feat, you get a +2 feat modifier on Survival Checks.

Use Magic Item
Use this skill to activate magic items.


 * Key Ability: Charisma


 * Apply Armor Modifier: No


 * Requires Training: Yes


 * Check: You can use this skill to read a spell or to activate a magic item. Use Magic Item lets you use a magic item as if you had the spell ability or class features of another class, as if you were a different species, or as if you were of a different alignment. You make a Use Magic Item Check each time you activate a device such as a wand. If you are using the check to emulate an alignment or some other quality in an ongoing manner, you need to make the relevant Use Magic Item Check once per hour. You must consciously choose which requirement to emulate. That is, you must know what you are trying to emulate when you make a Use Magic Item Check for that purpose. The DCs for various tasks involving Use Magic Item Checks are summarized on the table below.

Table: Example Use Magic Item DC

Activate Blindly


 * Some magic items are activated by special words, thoughts, or actions. You can activate such an item as if you were using the activation word, thought, or action, even when you’re not and even if you don’t know it. You do have to perform some equivalent activity in order to make the check. That is, you must speak, wave the item around, or otherwise attempt to get it to activate. You get a special +2 bonus on your Use Magic Item Check if you’ve activated the item in question at least once before. If you fail by 9 or less, you can’t activate the device. If you fail by 10 or more, you suffer a mishap. A mishap means that magical energy gets released but it doesn’t do what you wanted it to do. The default mishaps are that the item affects the wrong target or that uncontrolled magical energy is released, dealing 2d6 points of damage to you. This mishap is in addition to the chance for a mishap that you normally run when you cast a spell from a scroll that you could not otherwise cast yourself.

Decipher a Written Spell


 * This usage works just like deciphering a written spell with the Knowledge (Magic) skill, except that the DC is 5 points higher. Deciphering a written spell requires 1 minute of concentration.

Emulate a Class Feature


 * Sometimes you need to use a class feature to activate a magic item. In this case, your effective level in the emulated class equals your Use Magic Item Check result minus 20. This skill does not let you actually use the class feature of another class. It just lets you activate items as if you had that class feature. If the class whose feature you are emulating has an alignment requirement, you must meet it, either honestly or by emulating an appropriate alignment with a separate Use Magic Item Check (see above).

Emulate a Species


 * Some magic items work only for members of certain species, or work better for members of those species. You can use such an item as if you were a species of your choice. You can emulate only one species at a time.

Use a Scroll


 * If you are casting a spell from a scroll, you have to decipher it first. Normally, to cast a spell from a scroll, you must have the scroll’s spell on your class spell list. Use Magic Item allows you to use a scroll as if you had a particular spell on your class spell list. The DC is equal to 20 + the caster level of the spell you are trying to cast from the scroll. In addition, casting a spell from a scroll requires a minimum score (10 + spell level) in the appropriate ability. If you don’t have a sufficient score in that ability, you must emulate the ability score with a separate Use Magic Item Check (see above). This use of the skill also applies to other spell completion magic items.

Use a Wand


 * Normally, to use a wand, you must have the wand’s spell on your class spell list. This use of the skill allows you to use a wand as if you had a particular spell on your class spell list. This use of the skill also applies to other spell trigger magic items, such as staffs.
 * Action: None. The Use Magic Item Check is made as part of the action (if any) required to activate the magic item.


 * Try Again: Yes, so long as you don’t accidentally blow yourself up.


 * Special: You cannot take 10 with this skill. You can’t aid another on Use Magic Item Checks. Only the user of the item may attempt such a check. If you have the Magical Aptitude feat, you get a +2 feat modifier on Use Magic Item Checks.

Use Rope

 * Key Ability: Dexterity


 * Apply Armor Modifier: No


 * Requires Training: See below.


 * Check: Most tasks with a rope are relatively simple. The DCs for various tasks utilizing this skill are summarized on the table below.

Table: Use Rope DC Secure a Grappling Hook


 * Securing a grappling hook requires a Use Rope Check (DC 10, +2 for every 10 feet of distance the grappling hook is thrown, to a maximum DC of 20 at 50 feet). Failure by 4 or less indicates that the hook fails to catch and falls, allowing you to try again. Failure by 5 or more indicates that the grappling hook initially holds, but comes loose after 1d4 rounds of supporting weight. This check is made secretly, so that you don’t know whether the rope will hold your weight.

Bind a Character


 * When you bind another character with a rope, any Agility Check that the bound character makes is opposed by your Use Rope Check. You get a +10 circumstantial modifier on this check because it is easier to bind someone than to escape from bonds. You don’t even make your Use Rope Check until someone tries to escape.


 * Action: Varies. Throwing a grappling hook is a Standard Action. Tying a knot, tying a special knot, or tying a rope around yourself one-handed is a full-round action. Splicing two ropes together takes 5 minutes. Binding a character takes 1 minute.


 * Special: If you have the Deft Hands feat, you get a +2 feat modifier on Use Rope Checks.