Revision as of 11:35, 5 November 2017

In general, in discussion about t20, we don't like normal d20 skill systems. The end goal of t20 is to replace the skill system with a variety of classes that you can take Job feats into to gain access to skill-like abilities.

However, that process is taking a lot longer than I'd like, and it may lead to a bunch of weird complexity issues that will need to be toned down over time. In the interim, we can't really go without a skill system - because, ultimately, there are a bunch of actions and things that interact with skill systems in published adventures that make it significantly harder for the game to run smoothly.

So we're going to go with a very simple skill system for the time being.

Overview

Skills do things. They're generally small things that are either useful to a wide variety of character archetypes or are small enough in scope that they aren't justifiable as elements of a class. They're also intended as "generic" actions that even NPCs who don't necessarily have classes (don't think about that too much) can do.

To make a skill check, you roll 1d20, add your level bonus, and the ability modifier of the skill's key ability.

If you are trained in a skill, you get a +5 class bonus to the skill.

When you create a character, your class determines what skills you are trained in. Typically you will, by default, you will have two predetermined skills trained, and then can select some number from a list for that particular class.

Once you've selected your skills, that's it, you're good. No tracking skill points or what-not over levels.

If you're an adventurer... I'll deal with your skill selection when someone plays one.

Skills

This section describes skills.

Acrobatics

Armor Check Penalty

Acrobatics is a skill linked to Dexterity.

You can perform an acrobatic stunt, keep your balance while walking on narrow or unstable surfaces, slip free of a grab or restraints, or take less damage from a fall.

Acrobatic Stunt

Make an Acrobatics check to swing from a chandelier, somersault over an opponent, slide down a staircase on your shield, or attempt any other acrobatic stunt that you can imagine and that your DM agrees to let you try. The DM sets the DC based on the complexity of the stunt and the danger of the situation. If the stunt fails, you fall prone in the square where you began the stunt (the DM might change where you land, depending on the specific stunt and situation). Your DM always has the right to say that a stunt won’t work in a particular situation or to set a high DC.

• Acrobatic Stunt: Standard action or move action, depending on the stunt.
  • DC: 15.
  • Success: You perform an acrobatic stunt.
  • Failure: You fail to pull off the stunt and might fall or suffer some other consequence.

Balance

Make an Acrobatics check to move across a surface less than 1 foot wide (such as a ledge or a tightrope) or across an unstable surface(such as a wind-tossed rope bridge or a rocking log).

• Balance: Part of a move action.
  • DC: See the table.
  • Success: You can move one-half your speed across a narrow or unstable surface.
  • Fail by 4 or Less: You stay in the square you started in and lose the rest of your move action, but you don’t fall. You can try again as part of a move action.
  • Fail by 5 or More: You fall off the surface and lose the rest of your move action. If you are trying to move across an unstable surface that isn’t narrow, you instead fall prone in the square you started in. You can try again as part of a move action if you’re still on the surface.
  • Grant Combat Advantage: While you are balancing, enemies have combat advantage against you.
  • Taking Damage: If you take damage, you must make a new Acrobatics check to remain standing.

Escape from a Grab

Make an Acrobatics check to remove the grabbed condition. You can also make escape attempts to get away from other immobilizing effects, as directed by your DM.

Escape from Restraints

Make an Acrobatics check to slip free of restraints.

• Escape from Restraints: 1 hand. Alternatively, the creature can attempt to make the check as a standard action but this increases the DC by +10.
  • DC: 20.
  • Success: You slip free of a physical restraint.
  • Failure: The creature can try again only if someone else provides assistance (such as through the aid another action).

Hop Down

An acrobatics check can be used to avoid damage from a 10 foot fall.

• Action: Part of the move action, but can also be part of any of the creature's actions that involve movement.
  • DC: 15.
  • Success: The creature hops down, lands standing and takes no falling damage. The downward movement uses no movement from the action.
  • Failure: The creature falls.

Reduce Falling Damage (Trained Only)

If you fall or jump down from a height, you can make an Acrobatics check to reduce the amount of falling damage you take.

• Reduce Falling Damage: Free action, as it is a response to falling.
  • Damage Reduced: Make an Acrobatics check, and reduce the amount of falling damage you take by one-half your check result (round down). If the damage is reduced to 0, you land standing; otherwise, you land and fall prone.

Arcana

Arcana is a knowledge type skill linked to Intelligence. It can be used to gather knowledge on magical related topics.

Arcane Knowledge

Make an Arcana check to recall a useful bit of magic related knowledge or to recognize a magic-related clue.

Detect Magic (Trained Only)

You can use your knowledge of arcane to identify magical effects and sense the presence of magic.

• Identify Spell: Swift action.
  • DC: 10 + 5 per grade of the spell.
  • Success: The creature identifies the spell.
  • Failure: The creature can't try to identify the effect again until after a short rest.

• Identify Magical Phenomenon: Standard action. You must be able to perceive the phenomenon.
  • DC: Varies (but at least 20)
  • Success: The creature identifies the phenomenon’s power source and other keywords, if any, as well as the phenomenon’s basic purpose if it’s not obvious.
  • Failure: The creature can’t try to identify the phenomenon again until after an extended rest.

• Sense the Presence of Magic: Standard action. The creature attempts to detect each source of magical energy within 30 feet, ignoring all barriers.
  • DC: 20
  • Area of Detection: You can detect magic within 30 feet in every direction, and you can ignore any sources of magical energy you’re already aware of. Ignore all barriers; you can detect magic through walls, doors, and such.
  • Success: You detect each source of magical energy whose DC you meet. You learn the magic’s power source, if any. If the source of magical energy is within line of sight, you pinpoint its location. If it’s not within line of sight, you know the direction from which the magical energy emanates, but you don’t know the distance to it.
  • Failure: The creature detects nothing, or nothing is within range to detect. The creature can’t try again until after a short rest.

Athletics

Armor Check Penalty

Athletics is linked to Strength.

Make an Athletics check to attempt physical activities that rely on muscular strength, including climbing, escaping from a grab, jumping, and swimming.

Climb

Make an Athletics check to climb up or down a surface. Different circumstances and surfaces make climbing easier or harder.

• Climb: Part of a move action.
  • DC: See the table. If you use a climber’s kit, you get a +2 bonus to your Athletics check. If you can brace yourself between two surfaces, you get a +5 bonus to your check.
  • Success: You climb at one-half your speed. When you climb to reach the top of a surface, such as when you climb out of a pit, the distance to reach the top includes allowing you to arrive in the square adjacent to the surface. The last square of movement places you on that square.
  • Fail by 4 or Less: You stay where you started and lose the rest of your move action, but you don’t fall. You can try again as part of a move action.
  • Fail by 5 or More: You fall and lose the rest of your move action.
  • Grant Combat Advantage: While you are climbing, all enemies have combat advantage against you.
  • Uses Movement: Count the number of squares you climb as part of your move.
  • Taking Damage: If you take damage while climbing, you must make a Climb check using the DC for the surface you’re climbing. If that damage makes you bloodied, increase the DC by 5. If you fail the check, you fall from your current height. If you try to catch hold when you fall, add the damage you take to the DC to catch yourself.
  • Catch Hold: If you fall while climbing, you can make an Athletics check as a free action to catch hold of something to stop your fall. The base DC to catch hold of something is the DC of the surface you were climbing plus 5, modified by circumstances. You can make one check to catch hold. If you fail, you can’t try again unless the DM rules otherwise.
  • Climb Speed: While climbing, creatures that have a climb speed (such as monstrous spiders) use that speed, ignore difficult terrain, do not grant combat advantage because of climbing, and do not make Athletics checks to climb.

Escape from a Grab

Make an Athletics check to muscle out of the grabbed condition. You can also make escape attempts to get away from other immobilizing effects, as directed by your DM.

Jump

Make an Athletics check to jump vertically to reach a dangling rope or a high ledge or to jump horizontally to leap across a pit, a patch of difficult terrain, a low wall, or some other obstacle.

• High Jump: Part of a move action.
  • Distance Jumped Vertically: Make an Athletics check and divide your check result by 10 (round down). This is the number of feet you can leap up. The result determines the height that your feet clear with a jump. To determine if you can reach something while leaping, add your character’s height plus one-third rounded down (a 6-foot-tall character would add 8 feet to the final distance, and a 4-foottall character would add 5 feet).
  • Running Start: If you move at least 10 feet before making the jump, divide your check result by 5, not 10.
  • Uses Movement: Count the number of squares you jump as part of your move. If you run out of movement, you fall. You can end your first move in midair if you double move.

• Long Jump: Part of a move action.
  • Distance Jumped Horizontally: Make an Athletics check and divide your check result by 10 (don’t round the result). This is the number of squares you can leap across. You land in the square determined by your result. If you end up over a pit or a chasm, you fall and lose the rest of your move action.
  • Distance Cleared Vertically: The vertical distance you clear is equal to one-quarter of the distance you jumped horizontally. If you could not clear the vertical distance of an obstacle along the way, you hit the obstacle, fall prone, and lose the rest of your move action.
  • Running Start: If you move at least 2 squares before making the jump, divide your check result by 5, not 10.
  • Uses Movement: Count the number of squares you jump as part of your move. If you run out of movement, you fall. You can end your first move in midair if you double move.

Swim

Make an Athletics check to swim or to tread water. Different conditions make swimming harder. See the Endurance skill for information on swimming or treading water for an hour or more.

• Swim or Tread Water: Part of a move action.
  • DC: See the table.
  • Success: You swim at one-half your speed, or you stay afloat and tread water.
  • Fail by 4 or Less: Stay where you are and lose the rest of your move action. You can try again as part of a move action.
  • Fail by 5 or More: Sink 1 square and risk suffocation by drowning.
  • Uses Movement: Count the number of squares you swim as part of your move.
  • Swim Speed: While swimming, creatures that have a swim speed use that speed and do not make Athletics checks to swim.

Bluff

Bluff is linked with Bravery.

You can make what’s false appear to be true, what’s outrageous seem plausible, and what’s suspicious seem ordinary. You make a Bluff check to fast-talk a guard, con a merchant, gamble, pass off a disguise or fake documentation, and otherwise tell lies.

Your Bluff check is opposed by an observer’s Insight check. Your check might be opposed by multiple Insight checks, depending on how many observers can see and hear you and care about what’s going on.

Bluff

• Bluff: Standard action in combat or part of a skill challenge.
  • Opposed Check: Bluff vs. Insight.
  • Gain Combat Advantage: You can try to gain combat advantage against an adjacent enemy by feinting. As a standard action, make a Bluff check opposed by the enemy’s Insight check. If you succeed, you gain combat advantage against the enemy until the end of your next turn.
  • Create a Diversion to Hide: Once per combat encounter, you can create a diversion to hide. As a standard action, make a Bluff check opposed by the passive Insight check of any enemy that can see you. If you succeed, make a Stealth check opposed by the passive Notice check of any enemy present. If the Stealth check succeeds against an enemy, you are hidden from that enemy until the end of your turn or until you attack.

Chronology

Chronology is a knowledge type skill linked to Intelligence. It can be used to gather knowledge on time-related topics.

Temporal Knowledge

Make an Chronology check to recall a useful bit of time-related knowledge or to recognize a time-related clue.

Detect Time (Trained Only)

You can use your knowledge of time to identify temporal effects and sense the presence of jikuu.

• Identify Jikuu: Swift action.
  • DC: 10 + 5 per grade of the jikuu.
  • Success: The creature identifies the jikuu.
  • Failure: The creature can't try to identify the effect again until after a short rest.

• Identify Temporal Phenomenon: Standard action. You must be able to perceive the phenomenon.
  • DC: Varies (but at least 20)
  • Success: The creature identifies the phenomenon’s power source and other keywords, if any, as well as the phenomenon’s basic purpose if it’s not obvious.
  • Failure: The creature can’t try to identify the phenomenon again until after an extended rest.

• Sense the Presence of Time: Standard action. The creature attempts to detect each source of temporal energy within 30 feet, ignoring all barriers.
  • DC: 20
  • Area of Detection: You can detect temporal effects within 30 feet in every direction, and you can ignore any sources of temporal energy you’re already aware of. Ignore all barriers; you can detect temporal effects through walls, doors, and such.
  • Success: You detect each source of temporal energy whose DC you meet. You learn the magic’s power source, if any. If the source of temporal energy is within line of sight, you pinpoint its location. If it’s not within line of sight, you know the direction from which the temporal energy emanates, but you don’t know the distance to it.
  • Failure: The creature detects nothing, or nothing is within range to detect. The creature can’t try again until after a short rest.

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