Skills

An overview of skills, regarding how they work in Trinity.

Overview

Skills represent some of the most basic and yet most fundamental abilities your character possesses. As your character advances in level, he can gain new skills and improve his existing skills dramatically. This section describes each skill, including common uses and typical modifiers. Characters can sometimes use skills for purposes other than those noted here, at the GM's discretion.

Acquiring Skills

Each level, your character gains a number of skill ranks dependent upon your class plus your Intelligence modifier. Investing a rank in a skill represents a measure of training in that skill. You can never have more ranks in a skill than your total number of Hit Dice.

Class Skills

In addition, each class has a number of favored skills, called class skills. It is easier for your character to become more proficient in these skills, as they represent part of his professional training and constant practice. You gain a +3 bonus on all class skills that you put ranks into. If you have more than one class and both grant you a class skill bonus, these bonuses do not stack.

The number of skill ranks you gain when taking a level in one of the base classes is dependent upon the class in question. Characters who take a level in a favored class have the option of gaining 1 additional skill rank or an additional hit point. If you select a level in a new class, all of its class skills are automatically added to your list of class skills, and you gain a +3 bonus on these skills if you have ranks in them.

Jobs can also potentially grant you class skills, if you spend JP on them. See the Jobs section for more details.

Skill Checks

When your character uses a skill, he isn't guaranteed success. In order to determine success, whenever you attempt to use a skill, you must make a skill check.

Skill Check Bonuses
Level	BAB
Untrained	1d20 + ability modifier + racial modifier
Trained	1d20 + skill ranks + ability modifier + racial modifier
Trained Class Skill	1d20 + 3 + skill ranks + ability modifier + racial modifier

Each skill rank grants a +1 bonus on checks made using that skill. When you make a skill check, you roll 1d20 and then add your ranks and the appropriate ability score modifier to the result of this check. If the skill you're using is a class skill (and you have invested ranks into that skill), you gain a +3 bonus on the check. If you are not trained in the skill (and if the skill may be used untrained), you may still attempt the skill, but you use only the bonus (or penalty) provided by the associated ability score modifier to modify the check. Skills can be further modified by a wide variety of sources—by your race, by a class ability, by equipment, by spell effects or magic items, and so on. See the table on the right for how to make a skill check.

If the result of your skill check is equal to or greater than the difficulty class (or DC) of the task you are attempting to accomplish, you succeed. If it is less than the DC, you fail. Some tasks have varying levels of success and failure depending on how much your check is above or below the required DC. Some skill checks are opposed by the target's skill check. When making an opposed skill check, the attempt is successful if your check result exceeds the result of the target.

Skill List

Trinity Skill List
Skill	Key Ability	Alt Ability	Untrained	ACP
Agility	Dex		No	No
Appraise	Int		Yes	No
Autohypnosis	Int		No	No
Avaocraft	Int		No	No
Balance	Dex		Yes	Yes
Bluff	Cha		Yes	No
Brawn	Str		Yes	No
Climb	Str		Yes	Yes
Concentration	Con		Yes	No
Craft	Int	Edu	Yes	No
Decipher Script	Int	Edu	No	No
Demolitions	Int		No	No
Diplomacy	Cha		Yes	No
Disguise	Cha		Yes	No
Engine Use	Int	Edu	Yes	No
Escape Artist	Dex		Yes	Yes
Fly	Dex		No	Yes
Forgery	Int		Yes	No
Gather Information	Cha		Yes	No
Giftcraft	Int		No	No
Handle Animal	Cha		No	No
Heal	Wis		Yes	No
Hide	Dex		Yes	Yes
Initiative	Dex	Int	No	No
Insight	Wis		Yes	No
Intimidate	Cha		Yes	No
Investigate	Int		No	No
Jikuucraft	Int		No	No
Jump	Str		Yes	Yes
Knowledge	Int	Edu	No	Yes
Listen	Per		Yes	No
Martial Lore	Int		No	No
Memecraft	Int		No	No
Move Silently	Dex		Yes	Yes
Nihilcraft	Int		No	No
Notice	Per		Yes	No
Open Lock	Dex		No	No
Perform	Cha		Yes	No
Pilot	Dex	Int	No	No
Prayercraft	Int		No	No
Presence	Cha		Yes	No
Profession	Wis	Edu	No	No
Psicraft	Int		No	No
Reason	Int		Yes	No
Repair	Int		No	No
Research	Edu		Yes	No
Ride	Dex		Yes	No
Search	Per		Yes	No
Sense Motive	Wis		Yes	No
Sleight of Hand	Dex		No	Yes
Speak Language			No	No
Spellcraft	Int		No	No
Spot	Per		Yes	No
Survival	Wis		Yes	No
Swim	Str		Yes	Yes
Techcraft	Int		No	No
Tumble	Dex		No	Yes
Use Force Item	Cha		No	No
Use Rope	Dex		Yes	No
Vitality	Con		Yes	No

 

Skill Descriptions

This section will detail the new skills added to Trinity, or as an overview of skills that have been modified.

 

AGILITY
Key Ability: Dexterity
Untrained: Yes.
ACP: No.
You are particularly agile, despite what your innate abilities might otherwise suggest.
Check
Whenever you would make a Dexterity check, as opposed to using a specific skill or saving throw, you may make an Agility check instead.
An Agility check can only be made if a Dexterity check is called for. You cannot choose to use Agility in place of another skill, saving throw, or any other type of roll.
Action: Making an Agility check is not an action, but is usually made as part of another or as a reaction to an event.
Try Again: No.

 

BRAWN
Key Ability: Strength
Untrained: Yes.
ACP: No.
You are particularly strong, despite what your innate abilities might otherwise suggest.
Check
Whenever you would make a Strength check, as opposed to using a specific skill or saving throw, you may make a Brawn check instead.
A Brawn check can only be made if a Strength check is called for. You cannot choose to use Brawn in place of another skill, saving throw, or any other type of roll.
Action: Making a Brawn check is not an action, but is usually made as part of another or as a reaction to an event.
Try Again: No.

 

INSIGHT
Key Ability: Wisdom
Untrained: Yes.
ACP: No.
You are particularly insightful, despite what your innate abilities might otherwise suggest.
Check
Whenever you would make a Wisdom check, as opposed to using a specific skill or saving throw, you may make an Insight check instead.
An Insight check can only be made if a Wisdom check is called for. You cannot choose to use Insight in place of another skill, saving throw, or any other type of roll.
Action: Making an Insight check is not an action, but is usually made as part of another or as a reaction to an event.
Try Again: No.

 

KNOWLEDGE
Key Ability: Intelligence (Alt Ability: Education)
Untrained: No.
ACP: No.
You are educated in a field of study and can answer both simple and complex questions. Like the Craft, Perform, and Profession skills, Knowledge actually encompasses a number of different specialties.
Below are listed typical fields of study.
Anatomy (physical bodies, forensic science) Arcana (ancient mysteries, magic traditions, arcane symbols, dragons, magical beasts) Art (fine arts and graphic arts, including art history and artistic techniques. Antiques, modern art, photography, and performance art forms such as music and dance, among others) Business (business procedures, investment strategies, and corporate structures. Bureaucratic procedures and how to navigate them) Chaos Theory (chaos, the nature of avaos, chance, probability) Civics (law, legislation, litigation, and legal rights and obligations. Political and governmental institutions and processes) Current Events (recent happenings in the news, sports, politics, entertainment, and foreign affairs) Dungeoneering (aberrations, caverns, oozes, spelunking) Engineering (buildings, aqueducts, bridges, fortifications) Epistemology (the study of knowledge, theories of knowledge) Forces (the nature of the nine Forces, how they interact) Geography (lands, terrain, climate, people); Used for astronomy. History (wars, colonies, migrations, founding of cities) Local (legends, personalities, inhabitants, laws, customs, traditions, humanoids) Memetic Theory (how information travels, how memes spread and function) Nature (animals, fey, monstrous humanoids, plants, seasons and cycles, weather, vermin) Nobility (lineages, heraldry, personalities, royalty) Planes (the Inner Planes, the Outer Planes, the Astral Plane, the Ethereal Plane, outsiders, planar effects) Psychology (the study of how the mind works, psionics in general) Quantum Mechanics (how time works, how temporal manipulation works, time-error, paradox theory, how alternate timelines work) Religion (saints and lucavi, mythic history, ecclesiastic tradition, holy symbols, undead) Tactics (techniques and strategies for disposing and maneuvering forces in combat) Technology (constructs, vehicles, space travel) Void (the nature of the Void, how nihils work, the Tenebrium and related planes) Xenobiology (biology as it pertains to creatures not native to Adnez)
This list is not comprehensive; other fields of study are certainly possible.
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).
Action: Making a Knowledge check is not an action.
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.

 

NOTICE
Key Ability: Perception
Untrained: Yes.
ACP: No.
You have particularly keen senses, despite what your innate abilities might otherwise suggest.
Check
Whenever you would make a Perception check, as opposed to using a specific skill or saving throw, you may make a Notice check instead.
A Notice check can only be made if a Perception check is called for. You cannot choose to use Notice in place of another skill, saving throw, or any other type of roll.
Action: Making a Notice check is not an action, but is usually made as part of another or as a reaction to an event.
Try Again: No.

 

PRESENCE
Key Ability: Charisma
Untrained: Yes.
ACP: No.
You have a particularly strong personality, despite what your innate abilities might otherwise suggest.
Check
Whenever you would make a Charisma check, as opposed to using a specific skill or saving throw, you may make a Presence check instead.
A Presence check can only be made if a Charisma check is called for. You cannot choose to use Presence in place of another skill, saving throw, or any other type of roll.
Action: Making a Presence check is not an action, but is usually made as part of another or as a reaction to an event.
Try Again: No.

 

REASON
Key Ability: Intelligence
Untrained: Yes.
ACP: No.
You are particularly logical, despite what your innate abilities might otherwise suggest.
Check
Whenever you would make an Intelligence check, as opposed to using a specific skill or saving throw, you may make a Reason check instead.
A Reason check can only be made if an Intelligence check is called for. You cannot choose to use Reason in place of another skill, saving throw, or any other type of roll.
Action: Making a Reason check is not an action, but is usually made as part of another or as a reaction to an event.
Try Again: No.

 

RESEARCH
Key Ability: Education
Untrained: Yes.
ACP: No.
You are particularly adept at finding information, despite what your innate abilities might otherwise suggest.
Check
Whenever you would make an Education check, as opposed to using a specific skill or saving throw, you may make a Research check instead.
A Research check can only be made if an Education check is called for. You cannot choose to use Research in place of another skill, saving throw, or any other type of roll.
Action: Making a Research check is not an action, but is usually made as part of another or as a reaction to an event.
Try Again: No.

 

VITALITY
Key Ability: Constitution
Untrained: Yes.
ACP: No.
You are particularly tough, despite what your innate abilities might otherwise suggest.
Check
Whenever you would make a Constitution check, as opposed to using a specific skill or saving throw, you may make a Vitality check instead.
A Vitality check can only be made if a Constitution check is called for. You cannot choose to use Vitality in place of another skill, saving throw, or any other type of roll.
Action: Making a Vitality check is not an action, but is usually made as part of another or as a reaction to an event.
Try Again: No.