Skills

Listed below are the modifications to Chapter 4: Skills. The Diplomacy skill is completely replaced with the entry below, and the Intimidate skill is significantly altered. All other modifications are to existing Pathfinder Core Rulebook text.

Craft (Int)

Special : To determine how much time it takes to make an item, use the item's book price or have the DM set the price for an item not listed.

Diplomacy (Cha)

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.

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 Target : The base DC for any Diplomacy check is equal to the 15 + 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.

The Relationship : Whether they love, hate, or have never met each other, the relationship between two people always influences any request.

  • -10 Intimate: Someone who with whom you have an implicit trust. Example: A lover or spouse.
  • -7 Friend: Someone with whom you have a regularly positive personal relationship. Example: A long-time buddy or a sibling.
  • -5 Ally: Someone on the same team, but with whom you have no personal relationship. Example: A cleric of the same religion or a knight serving the same king.
  • -2 Acquaintance (Positive): Someone you have met several times with no particularly negative experiences. Example: The blacksmith that buys your looted equipment regularly.
  • +0 Just Met: No relationship whatsoever. Example: A guard at a castle or a traveler on a road.
  • +2 Acquaintance (Negative): Someone you have met several times with no particularly positive experiences. Example: A town guard that has arrested you for drunkenness once or twice.
  • +5 Enemy: Someone on an opposed team, with whom you have no personal relationship. Example: A cleric of a philosophically-opposed religion or an orc bandit who is robbing you.
  • +7 Personal Foe: Someone with whom you have a regularly antagonistic personal relationship. Example: An evil warlord whom you are attempting to thwart, or a bounty hunter who is tracking you down for your crimes.
  • +10 Nemesis: Someone who has sworn to do you, personally, harm. Example: The brother of a man you murdered in cold blood.

Risk vs. Reward Judgement : 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 10 gp 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.

  • -10 Fantastic: The reward for accepting the deal is very worthwhile, and the risk is either acceptable or extremely unlikely. The best-case scenario is a virtual guarantee. Example: An offer to pay a lot of gold for something of no value to the subject, such as information that is not a secret.
  • -5 Favorable: The reward is good, and the risk is tolerable. If all goes according to plan, the deal will end up benefiting the subject. Example: A request to aid the party in battle against a weak goblin tribe in return for a cut of the money and first pick of the magic items.
  • +0 Even: The reward and risk are more or less even, or the deal involves neither reward nor risk. Example: A request for directions to someplace that is not a secret.
  • +5 Unfavorable: The reward is not enough compared to the risk involved; even if all goes according to plan, chances are it will end up badly for the subject. Example: A request to free a prisoner the subject is guarding (for which he or she will probably be fired) in return for a small amount of money.
  • +10 Horrible: There is no conceivable way the proposed plan could end up with the subject ahead, or the worst-case scenario is guaranteed to occur. Example: A offer to trade a bit of dirty string for a castle.

Success or Failure : 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 DM'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.

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.

Disable Device (Dex)

This is not a trained-only skill. If you have no ranks in Disable Device, increase the DC of all Disable Device checks by +10.

Any character (not just a rogue) who beats a trap's DC by 10 or more can study the trap, figure out how it works, and bypass it (along with her companions) without disarming it.

Characters can disarm magic traps. A magic trap generally has a DC of 25 + the spell level of the magic used to create it. The spells fire trap, glyph of warding, symbol, and teleportation circle also create traps that a character can disarm with a successful Disable Device check. Spike growth and spike stones, however, create magic traps against which Disable Device checks do not succeed. See the individual spell descriptions for details.

Handle Animal (Cha)

This is not a trained-only skill. If you have no ranks in Handle Animal, increase the DC of all Handle Animal checks to teach, rear, or train an animal by +10 (you can handle and push animals untrained without the penalty).

Intimidate (Cha)

A character can change others’ behavior with a successful Intimidate check. The Difficulty Class typically is 10 + the target’s Hit Dice, although the DM can modify it according to the situation. Some common skill check modifiers might include the following:

Intimidate Situation Modifier
Intimidating character is larger than target creature +2
Intimidating character is smaller than target creature –5
Target creature is below half its total hit points +2
Target creature is superior to intimidating creature –10
Intimidating creature is superior to target creature +2
Target creature could easily escape if it wished –5
Target creature could not escape (it’s bound or trapped) +2
Target creature is easily cowed (up to DM) +2
Target creature has a firm resolve (up to DM) –1 to –10
Change in behavior is antithetical to target creature –1 to –20

Any bonuses a target may have on saving throws against fear also increase the Difficulty Class of an Intimidate check.
To make a check, a character must be able to interact with the target creature for a full round, doing nothing else. If they do not share a language, a PC can only make the creature flee or cower, nothing else. Characters can try to intimidate more than one creature with a single attempt, but the Difficulty Class increases by an amount equal to the Hit Dice of each additional creature; any circumstance penalties the DM assigns are cumulative for each creature.
Basically, Intimidate can get a target to do something she normally would not do. This change in behavior lasts for 1 round. Subsequent Intimidate checks after one success carry a +2 circumstance bonus, and the change in behavior lasts up to 10 rounds following these later checks.
For example, a barbarian intimidates a 1 HD halfling to try to get it to run away. The halfling is one of a troop of six and feels somewhat confident. The DM assigns a +2 circumstance modifier to the Difficulty Class, for a total of 13 (10 + 1 HD + 2 circumstance). The barbarian succeeds, causing the halfling to retreat. After 1 round, the halfling returns, but the barbarian takes the time to intimidate it again, successfully. Now the halfling flees for 10 rounds, and the DM rules that he just keeps going, even after those 10 rounds are up.
If the barbarian so chose, he could have tried to get the creature to drop its weapon and surrender. The Difficulty Class would have been the same, but after 1 round, the halfling might have chosen to grab its weapon again if the circumstances hadn’t changed. If the barbarian had tried to get all six halflings to surrender, the Difficulty Class would have been 28 (10 + 3 for each hin). If the barbarian had attempted to get a halfling to switch sides, the DM would have assigned a much higher circumstance modifier to the Difficulty Class (say, about +10), and even then the creature would reconsider after 1 round.

Retry : Retries work only if the previous attempt succeeded. If the initial check failed, the target creature has become more firmly resolved to resist the intimidator, and a retry is futile.

Knowledge (Int)

Situational Advantage : You can attempt a Knowledge check to give yourself an advantage in a situation. You may attempt one such check per day for each Knowledge skill in which you have ranks. A basic check (DC 20) gains you a +1 competence bonus to AC, attack rolls, damage rolls, or the save DCs of your spells against one particular opponent , or a +2 competence bonus to one saving throw against a particular effect (a certain wizard's spells, poison, or to avoid traps, for example), or a +2 competence bonus to one skill check to accomplish a particular task. A DC (30) check increases these bonuses to +2/+4/+4 respectively. You must specify the opponent, effect or task upon making the check, and the bonuses last until the conditions are met or a day passes, whichever comes first. You must describe how your knowledge produces these results; a knowledge skill which is incompatible with a particular result increases the check DC by +10, at the DM’s discretion. If you fail the Knowledge check, you may not attempt to gain an advantage through that Knowledge skill for the rest of the day, though you may still use a different Knowledge skill.

Action : Usually none. In most cases, making a Knowledge check doesn’t take an action—you simply know the answer or you don’t. Making a Knowledge check to grant yourself a situational advantage is a free action.

Try Again : Not usually. 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. However, you may retry if your skill bonus has increased since your last attempt.

Untrained : This is not a trained-only skill. If you have no ranks in Knowledge, increase the DC of all Knowledge checks by +10. An untrained Knowledge check is simply an Intelligence check. Without actual training you cannot try and gain a situational advantage. If you have access to an extensive library that covers a specific skill, this penalty is removed. The time to make checks using a library, however, increases from 1 hour to 1d4 hours. Particularly complete libraries might even grant a bonus on Knowledge checks in the fields that they cover.

Linguistics (Int)

This is not a trained-only skill. If you have no ranks in Linguistics, increase the DC of all Linguistics checks by +10.

  • Literacy : You may choose to start with an illiterate character. You receive 3 extra skill points at character creation. If you wish for your character to learn to read, you must pay 3 skill points. Note that you may still buy ranks in Linguistics, you simply cannot read or write, and may not use any application of Linguistics that requires you to do so.

Perception (Wis)

There is no class or race-based restriction on using this skill (no uses of the skill are limited to rogues or dwarves).

Profession (Wis)

This is not a trained-only skill. If you have no ranks in Profession, modify the result of all Profession checks by -10.

Sleight Of Hand (Dex)

This is not a trained-only skill.

Spellcraft (Int)

This is not a trained-only skill. If you have no ranks in Spellcraft, increase the DC of all Spellcraft checks by +5.

Use Magic Device (Cha)

This is not a trained-only skill. If you have no ranks in Use Magic Device, increase the DC of all Use Magic Device checks by +5.

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