How Skills Work

Skills Summary

A character’s skills represent a variety of abilities. As a character advances in level, they get better at using some or all of their skills.

Getting Skills

A character gets a base allotment of 4, 6, or 8 skill points for each new level, depending on the class to which that level was added. A first level character gains four times this allotment. A character's intelligence modifier applies to this allotment as well (and gets multiplied at 1st level).

If you buy a class skill (such as Perception for a rogue or Spellcraft for a mage), your character gets 1 rank (equal to a +1 bonus on checks with that skill) for each skill point. If you buy other classes’ skills (cross-class skills), you get 1/2 rank per skill point. Your maximum rank in a class skill is your character level + 3. Your maximum rank in a cross-class skill is one-half of this number (do not round up or down).

Using Skills

To make a skill check, roll: 1d20 + skill modifier (Skill modifier = skill rank + ability modifier + miscellaneous modifiers)

This roll works just like an attack roll or a saving throw—the higher the roll, the better. Either you’re trying to match or exceed a certain Difficulty Class (DC), or you’re trying to beat another character’s check result. For instance, to sneak quietly past a guard, your character needs to beat the guard’s Listen check result with their own Move Silently check result.

Skill Ranks

A character’s number of ranks in a skill is based on how many skill points a character has invested in a skill. Many skills can be used even if the character has no ranks in them; doing this is called making an untrained skill check.

Ability Modifier

The ability modifier used in a skill check is the modifier for the skill’s key ability (the ability associated with the skill’s use). The key ability of each skill is noted in its description and on Table ???: Skills.

This key ability is only the default; an extended Climb check might rely more on constitution than strength, for example.

Miscellaneous Modifiers

Miscellaneous modifiers include racial bonuses, armor check penalties, and bonuses provided by feats, among others.

Acquiring Skill Ranks

Ranks indicate how much training or experience your character has with a given skill. Each of their skills has a rank, from 0 (for a skill in which your character has
no training at all) to a number equal to 3 + character level (for a character who has increased a skill to its maximum rank). When making a skill check, you add your skill ranks to the roll as part of the skill modifier, so the more ranks you have, the higher your skill check result will be.

Ranks tell you how proficient your are and reflect your training in a given skill. In general, while anyone can get a lucky roll, a character with, say, 10 ranks in a given skill has a higher degree of training and expertise in that skill than a character with 9 ranks or fewer.

Skill Points at Epic Level

Once a character achieves epic level, they no longer gain skill points as rapidly. Epic characters gain one skill point per level, and each epic level increases the maximum ranks in a skill by .5 (whether or not it is a class skill).

Skill Points per Level

Class	1st level Skill Points	Normal Skill Points	Epic Skill Points
Aristocrat	(6 + Int Modifier) * 4	6 + Int Modifier	1
Barbarian	(4 + Int Modifier) * 4	4 + Int Modifier	1
Fighter	(4 + Int Modifier) * 4	4 + Int Modifier	1
Mage	(4 + Int Modifier) * 4	4 + Int Modifier	1
Ranger	(6 + Int Modifier) * 4	6 + Int Modifier	1
Rogue	(8 + Int Modifier) * 4	8 + Int Modifier	1

Using Skills

When your character uses a skill, you make a skill check to see how well they do. The higher the result of the skill check, the better. Based on the circumstances, your result must match or beat a particular number (a DC or the result of an opposed skill check) for the check to be successful. The harder the task, the higher the number you need to roll.

Circumstances can affect your check. A character who is free to work without distractions can make a careful attempt and avoid simple mistakes. A character who has lots of time can try over and over again, thereby assuring the best outcome. If others help, the character may succeed where otherwise they would fail.

Skill Checks

A skill check takes into account a character’s training (skill rank), natural talent (ability modifier), and luck (the die roll). It may also take into account their race’s knack for doing certain things (racial bonus) or what armor they are wearing (armor check penalty), or a certain feat the character possesses, among other things. For instance, a character who has the Skill Focus feat related to a certain skill gets a +3 bonus on all checks involving that skill.

To make a skill check, roll 1d20 and add your character’s skill modifier for that skill. The skill modifier incorporates the character’s ranks in that skill and the ability modifier for that skill’s key ability, plus any other miscellaneous modifiers that may apply, including racial bonuses and armor check penalties. The higher the result, the better. Unlike with attack rolls and saving throws, a natural roll of 20 on the d20 is not an automatic success, and a natural roll of 1 is not an automatic failure.

Difficulty Class
Most checks are made against a Difficulty Class (DC). The DC is a number set by the GM (using the skill rules as a guideline) that you must score as a result on your skill check in order to succeed. For example, climbing the outer wall of a ruined tower may have a DC of 15. For your character to climb the wall, you must get a result of 15 or better on a Climb check. A Climb check is 1d20 + Climb ranks (if any) + Strength modifier + any other modifiers that apply. 

Difficulty (DC)	Example (Skill Used)
Very Easy (0)	Track a giant across a muddy field (Search)
Easy (5)	Climb a knotted rope (Climb)
Average (10)	Hear an approaching guard (Perception)
Tough (15)	Rig a wagon wheel to fall off (Tamper)
Challenging (20)	Swim in stormy water (Swim)
Formidable (25)	Open an average lock (Tamper)
Heroic (30)	Notice a very well hidden secret door (Perception)

Opposed Checks
An opposed check is a check whose success or failure is determined by comparing the check result to another character’s check result. In an opposed check, the higher result succeeds, while the lower result fails. In case of a tie, the higher skill modifier wins. If these scores are the same, roll again to break the tie.

For example, to sneak up on someone, you make a Move Silently check. Anyone who might hear you can make a Listen check to react to your presence. For the opponent to hear you, his or her Listen check result must equal or exceed your Move Silently check result.

Task	Skill	Opposing Skill
Con someone	Bluff	Sense Motive
Pretend to be someone else	Disguise	Perception
Create a false map	Forgery	Forgery
Hide from someone	Stealth	Perception
Steal a coin pouch	Sleight of Hand	Perception

Untrained Skill Checks
Generally, if your character attempts to use a skill he or she does not possess, you make a skill check as normal. The skill modifier doesn’t have a skill rank added in because the character has no ranks in the skill. Any other applicable modifiers, such as the modifier for the skill’s key ability, are applied to the check.

Many skills can be used only by someone who is trained in them. If you don’t have Spellcraft, for example, you just don’t know enough about magic even to attempt to identify a spell, regardless of your class, ability scores, or experience level. Skills that cannot be used untrained are indicated by a “No” in the Untrained column on Table ???: Skills.

For example, any character can try to climb a wall (though a trained climber will have much better chances), but a character who has never before touched a fiddle doesn't have the slightest chance of playing well.

Favorable and Unfavorable Conditions
Some situations may make a skill easier or harder to use, resulting in a bonus or penalty to the skill modifier for a skill check or a change to the DC of the skill check. It’s one thing to hunt down enough food to eat while you're camping for the day in the middle of a lush forest, but foraging for food while travelling across a barren desert is an entirely different matter.

Similarly, sometimes your skills in one area can be helpful in another---if your Bluff skills could be helpful when making a Diplomacy check, for example. When one of your skills could be helpful on a different skill check, you gain a +2 bonus on the roll. You need at least 5 ranks in a skill to gain this benefit.

Checks without Rolls
A skill check represents an attempt to accomplish some goal, usually while under some sort of time pressure or distraction. Sometimes, though, a character can use a skill under more favorable conditions and eliminate the luck factor.

Taking 10: When your character is not being threatened or distracted, you may choose to take 10. Instead of rolling 1d20 for the skill check, calculate your result as if you had rolled a 10. For many routine tasks, taking 10 makes them automatically successful. Distractions or threats (such as combat) make it impossible for a character to take 10. In most cases, taking 10 is purely a safety measure —you know (or expect) that an average roll will succeed but fear that a poor roll might fail, so you elect to settle for the average roll (a 10). Taking 10 is especially useful in situations where a particularly high roll wouldn’t help (such as using Climb to ascend a knotted rope, or using Heal to give a wounded PC long-term care). 

Taking 20: When you have plenty of time (generally 2 minutes for a skill that can normally be checked in 1 round, one full-round action, or one standard action), you are faced with no threats or distractions, and the skill being attempted carries no penalties for failure, you can take 20. In other words, eventually you will get a 20 on 1d20 if you roll enough times. Instead of rolling 1d20 for the skill check, just calculate your result as if you had rolled a 20. Taking 20 means you are trying until you get it right, and it assumes that you fail many times before succeeding. Taking 20 takes twenty times as long as making a single check would take. Since taking 20 assumes that the character will fail many times before succeeding, if you did attempt to take 20 on a skill that carries penalties for failure (for instance, a Tamper check to disarm a trap), your character would automatically incur those penalties before he or she could complete the task (in this case, the character would most likely set off the trap). Common “take 20” skills include Escape Artist, Search, and Tamper.

Combining Skill Attempts

Aid another
You can help another character achieve success on their skill check by making the same kind of skill check in a cooperative effort. If you roll a 10 or higher on your check, the character you are helping gets a +2 bonus to their check. You can’t take 10 on a skill check to aid another. In many cases, a character’s help won’t be beneficial, or only a limited number of characters can help at once. 

Ability Checks

Sometimes a character tries to do something to which no specific skill really applies. In these cases, you make an ability check. An ability check is a roll of 1d20 plus the appropriate ability modifier. Essentially, you’re making an untrained skill check. The GM assigns a Difficulty Class, or sets up an opposed check when two characters are engaged in a contest using one ability score or another.

In some cases, an action is a straight test of one’s ability with no luck involved. Just as you wouldn’t make a height check to see who is taller, you don’t make a Strength check to see who is stronger. When two characters arm wrestle, for example, the stringer character simply wins. In the case of identical scores, roll a die.

Example Ability Checks

Task	Key Ability
Breaking open a jammed or locked door (see Breaking and Entering)	Strength
Catch a fragile object before it hits the ground	Dexterity
Holding one's breath	Constitution
Navigating a maze	Intelligence
Recognizing a stranger you've seen before	Wisdom
Getting oneself singled out in a crowd	Charisma

Jump
Jumping is one of the most common applications for an ability check, and it has its own special rules. A jump check is a strength or dexterity check, and armor check penalty applies. Your speed also affects how far you can jump: you gain a +2 bonus on jump checks for every 5' beyond 30'. If your speed is below 30', you take a -3 penalty for every 5' you are slower than average. If you have 5 or more ranks in Acrobatics, you gain a +2 bonus on jump checks (see Favorable Conditions).

All Jump DCs given here assume that you get a running start, which requires that you move at least 20 feet in a straight line before attempting the jump. If you do not get a running start, the DC for the jump is doubled.

At the midpoint of a jump, you attain a vertical height equal to one-quarter of the horizontal distance. The DC for the jump is equal to the distance jumped (in feet). For example, a 10-foot-wide pit requires a DC 10 Jump check to cross. If your check succeeds, you land on your feet at the far end. If you fail the check by less than 5, you don’t clear the distance, but you can make a Climb (dex) check to grab the far edge of the gap. 

Jump Distance	Jump DC
5 feet	5
10 feet	10
15 feet	15
20 feet	20
25 feet	25

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 the DC is not doubled if you do not get a running start.

If you succeed on the check, you take falling damage as if you had dropped 10 fewer feet than you actually did. Thus, if you jump down from a height of just 10 feet, you take no damage. If you jump down from a height of 20 feet, you take damage as if you had fallen 10 feet.