Proficiency Descriptions (POSP)

The proficiencies are arranged alphabetically. Each description suggests tasks of varying difficulty that characters can accomplish with that skill, as well as an overview of materials and time required.
Tasks that are automatically successful are suggested, but these are not complete lists. They are intended to give players and DMs an accurate idea about a skill's area of expertise.
The AD&D Player's Handbook includes descriptions of many of these proficiencies. The Skills and Powers entries are designed to complement the Player's Handbook, adding details and rules that have been modified by the character point system.
==Agriculture==
This skill includes automatic success at planting, harvesting, storing crops, using an existing irrigation system, tending animals, and butchering. Tasks that require proficiency checks include designing or making an irrigation system, and weed and pest control. The animal empathy and climate sense traits each provide +2 bonuses to relevant agriculture proficiency checks.
==Ancient History==
Characters with this proficiency are familiar with the legends, rulers, and writings of a specific historical period in the campaign world. They will recognize, without a proficiency check, items, scrolls, artwork, etc. of that period. They will know the main historical figures, such as kings and powerful villains, and the major circumstances of those individuals' lives and deaths. With a successful proficiency check they will recall lesser figures, such as lords, knights, and heroes, and recall legendary tales, important sigils, and perhaps be able to decipher a small bit of text, symbols, or hieroglyphics. The obscure knowledge trait provides a +3 to this character's proficiency rating.
==Ancient Languages==
Adventurers with this proficiency are familiar with at least one ancient language—i.e. they have the reading/writing proficiency with the chosen languages. If confronted with an example of a historically-related language, they can decipher about a paragraph of that tongue with a successful proficiency check. For each character point spent on this proficiency (after initially acquiring it) add one additional ancient language to the list of languages a character knows fluently. The precise memory trait provides a +2 to this proficiency rating.
==Animal Handling==
This proficiency allows characters to automatically steer carts, plow horses, etc. With a successful proficiency check, they can soothe domesticated animals and beasts of burden which become agitated or frightened. The characters receive a +1 bonus to proficiency checks made with any of the animal-riding proficiencies, and they receive a +2 bonus to their proficiency rating if they have the animal empathy trait.
==Animal Lore==
Adventurers with animal lore have a store of knowledge about animal behavior, and without any proficiency check will know the basic feeding and social habits (i.e. herding, nesting, etc.) of animals with which they have past experience.
With a proficiency check, a character can determine whether an observed animal is intending to attack or to flee, or predict that animals will come along a trail at a certain time of day. This character gets a +2 bonus to checks made using the set snares proficiency.
The character can imitate the calls of wild animals (except for very large creatures). A successful check means that the imitation is virtually perfect, and even fools animals of the same type. A failed check might fool other characters, but will not deceive the animals.
==Animal Training==
When players choose this proficiency, they must declare what type of creature their characters will learn to train. Suggestions include dogs, falcons, parrots, horses, pigeons, elephants, and ferrets. More exotic animals can be chosen at the DM's option. Monsters with animal intelligence are another possibility, though they can be difficult to control—in effect, requiring more frequent proficiency checks.
Training of an animal requires a rather lengthy period of time—a matter of weeks, at least, for even the most basic tasks. A character who spends this amount of time will succeed at the training (no check necessary). Such tasks include dogs being trained to stay, come when summoned, and guard a specific location; pigeons returning to the roost; falcons hunting and killing game; and horses bearing saddles and obeying simple riding commands.
More elaborate tasks also take time to teach, and these require proficiency checks: dogs patrolling a circuit, or retrieving specific objects; and horses performing the maneuvers of a knightly charger are examples.
A character with the animal empathy trait gains a +1 bonus to this proficiency rating.
==Appraising==
This skill allows the character to make generally accurate (+ or –10%) assessments of common objects, including items made of precious metals and gemstones. The character can also assess, to + or –25%, the value of objects of art, tapestries, furniture, weapons, etc.—provided a variety of these items are present in the game world. These assessments require no proficiency checks, and the DM can roll (d20 or d100) to determine the accuracy of the appraisal.
A character who passes a proficiency check will be able to identify a forgery of a valuable object, to make a very accurate assessment of the value of a common item (within 5%), or to make a general assessment of the worth of an uncommon item, including artifacts. The DM may wish to roll this check, and on a roll of 20 the character makes a wildly inaccurate assessment.
==Armorer==
A character with this proficiency can make the types of armor typically available in the campaign world. The armorer requires the proper raw materials (plate metal, tough leather, etc.) and enough time to do the job properly. Time ranges from about two weeks for a shield to 20 weeks for a suit of plate mail armor. No proficiency check is required generally, though if the armorer tries to rush the job or work with less than adequate materials a proficiency check should be rolled to determine if the character is successful.
The armorer can also make field repairs to armor that has been damaged through use. These repairs always require proficiency checks, and if the check fails the armor or shield is lost.
==Astrology==
This character has a general understanding of the movement of celestial bodies, and the influence of that movement upon the beings of the campaign world. The astrologer can identify numerous constellations, and knows many of the legends behind their naming. The character can make limited predictions for the future, always in vague terms—whether these are accurate is up to the DM. A character with this proficiency gains +2 on all checks made using the navigation proficiency, providing the stars can be seen. A character with the trait of empathy gains a +1 bonus to the astrology proficiency rating.
==Astronomy==
A character proficient in this skill has a detailed knowledge of the relative movement of stars, moons, and planets. The character can predict with complete accuracy the arrival of eclipses, comets, and other cosmic phenomena (evening and morning stars, full moons, etc.) The astronomer can identify numerous stars and constellations, and gains a +3 bonus to all checks made using the navigation proficiency, providing that the stars can be seen.
==Blacksmithing==
A character with the blacksmithing proficiency can handle a forge, bellows, hammer and tongs, to create tools and other objects out of iron. The character cannot make weapons or armor, but can make—without a proficiency check—simple items such as horseshoes, nails, brackets and buckles. By making a successful proficiency check, the character can create intricate objects such as wire cages and locks. A blacksmith can make an iron hoop for a wheel that has been made by a carpenter; this combination of proficiencies is required for a strong wheel.
==Blind-fighting==
This allows characters to ignore many of the problems inherent in fighting without being able to see. In total darkness, the character suffers –2 (not –4) to attack rolls, and suffers no penalties to AC versus melee attacks. In starlight or moonlight, the character suffers only a –1 penalty to attack rolls.
When moving in darkness, the character is allowed to make a proficiency check at the beginning of a round; success means no movement penalties are assessed because of the darkness, while failure means the normal penalty applies.
When in combat with an invisible creature, the character with blind-fighting proficiency suffers only a –2 to attack rolls, but gains no benefit toward discovering the creature.
==Boat Piloting==
This proficiency is useful for negotiating challenging waters with a rowboat, canoe, or small dory. When shooting a rapids, trying to stay afloat in a storm, or trying to row upstream against a strong current, the character will succeed without a proficiency check—unless the water conditions are very extreme. In this case, the DM will require an appropriately modified roll; a successful roll means that the character negotiates the challenge and no further checks are necessary (until the next stretch of rapids, etc.). Failure does not necessarily mean that the boat sinks, but it gets swept away by the current, or turned about, or moderately swamped—with everything and everyone inside getting wet. If the rough water continues, the character must make additional proficiency checks (every 1–6 rounds). The character's proficiency rating suffers a –1 modifier for each failed check, indicating the difficulty of steering a boat that is slowly filling with water.
The character also knows the basics of sailing, and can effectively maneuver a single-masted sailboat. As above, challenges will require proficiency checks, with failed checks leading to increasingly dire straits.
==Bowyer/Fletcher==
This character can make bows and arrows (but not arrowheads) of the types available in the campaign world. Given appropriate materials, the character can successfully make a bow or 2–12 arrows in a day. (Note that finding the right branch for the bow, or the proper shafts and feathers for the arrows might take several days of searching!)
Weaponsmiths are required to make good steel arrowheads. If none are available, the character can fire harden the wooden tips of his arrows, but these weapons suffer a –1 penalty on all damage rolls, and any arrow that misses its target is 50% likely to be broken.
==Brewing==
This category includes the brewing of malt beverages, the making of wine, and the distilling of stronger drink. A character can perform all the basic functions of the brewer's art without requiring a proficiency check. If the brewer chooses to make the check, failure means that a batch has been wasted, but success means that a particularly fine vintage has been created.
==Carpentry==
This character knows the basics of working with wood and can create—with no check required—small structures, fences, platforms, cabinets, carts and wagons. The carpenter can make wooden wheels, but a blacksmith must form the iron rim or the wheel will have a very short life expectancy.
A carpenter might build a short footbridge, a wooden clock, or a dumbwaiter system—these tasks will require a proficiency check. Larger projects such as major bridges, boats, or catapults, require the aid of a character with the engineering proficiency.
==Charioteering==
A character with this skill can move a chariot at its normal speed, and effectively drive it over a smooth, wide road. The proficient character requires no check to drive or steer the chariot, including traveling across relatively flat, open countryside, charging into battle, and performing the turns, stops, and starts that might be required on the battlefield.
By making a proficiency check, the character can guide the chariot through obstacles such as deep fords, steeply-climbing terrain, ditches, and rough or rocky ground. Also, with a successful check, the character can add 1/3 to a chariot's movement rate for the duration of a charge or a march. However, failure of this check means that the chariot moves at its normal rate, but that the horses fatigue in half the normal time. Characters with the animal empathy trait gain a +1 bonus to their ratings with this proficiency.
Note that certain obstacles are simply impassable to chariots, including walls, water too deep (or too muddy on the bottom) to ford, thick forests, and mountainous terrain.
==Cobbling==
A character with this skill can makes shoes, boots, and sandals. No checks are normally required, but if the character attempts a field repair of damaged footwear, or tries to fashion shoes from wood or leather that has been scrounged up, a successful check is needed.
==Cooking==
This character knows the basics of food preparation, and he can generally cook, bake, fry, and so forth without a proficiency check. Checks are required if the character attempts to prepare truly gourmet meals, or tries to make a palatable dinner out of unpalatable ingredients—grubs, roots, and bark, for example.
==Cryptography==
The character with this proficiency has some training and skill in deciphering hidden messages and codes. In its basic form, the character is allowed to make a proficiency check when confronted with a coded message. If successful, the DM can reveal a general overview of the secret missive.
This proficiency is more fun when used as an aid to role-playing. Ideally, the use of the cryptography proficiency requires a great deal of involvement from the player—and a certain amount of puzzle design by the DM—instead of simply passing a check and demanding that a coded message be explained by the DM.
Rather, a character with the cryptography proficiency should have the chance of recognizing a code concealed within a written or spoken message, or perhaps hidden by some other medium—an intricately woven tapestry or sculpted piece of heraldry, for example. The DM will usually roll this check secretly, announcing that the character observes something unusual.
If the character notices the encoded sigil, the DM should describe it in considerable detail—word for word, if it is a written message. The character can make an additional proficiency check during the course of the decoding; if successful, the DM can provide a significant clue—a name, place, or date that is mentioned, for example. The bulk of the decoding should still be performed by the player.
==Dancing==
The character knows and can perform the moves of many types of dances, including some that involve precise and detailed steps. All dances common to the character's society will be familiar. Rare, archaic, or unusual dances will be known with a proficiency check. Also, characters who have had a chance to observe an unknown dance can perform it (–2 modifier, +1 for each time after the first that it is seen performed).
Truly spectacular dances—the kind that win character's campaign-wide acclaim—combine elements of dance proficiency with skills of tumbling, tightrope walking, and jumping.
==Deep Diving==
A character with this proficiency can add 10 feet per round to his speed of descent when diving into the water, or from the surface. Thus, a character with the deep diving proficiency can descend 30 feet per round, plus modifiers for encumbrance, running start, and height. Likewise, a character with the deep diving proficiency can surface at a rate of 30 feet (not 20 feet) per round.
This proficiency provides characters with the ability to hold their breath for 2/3 their Constitution scores in rounds, not the 1/3 allowed to most characters. Effects of exceeding the allotted time are the same, regardless of proficiency ratings.
==Disguise==
Characters trained in this proficiency can conceal their appearance through makeup and costuming. If they seek simply to alter their appearance without concealing size, sex, or race—for example, to go out in a city without anyone discovering what they look like—they can succeed without a proficiency check.
If the task is more difficult—the character in disguise meets and talks with an acquaintance, for example—a successful proficiency check is required. Characters who try to alter the appearance of their sex, race, or size, must make successful proficiency checks with a –2 penalty for each category.
Characters who attempt to disguise themselves as specific persons must make proficiency checks when they encounter and speak with someone who knows the other individuals. All of these checks suffer an inherent –2 penalty.
Note that the talent of impersonation (see traits) can improve a character's success with the disguise proficiency.
==Endurance==
A character with this proficiency can perform continual strenuous physical activity for twice as long as a normal character before becoming exhausted. If the character is ever required to make a Strength/Stamina check or a Constitution/Fitness check, the character can add his endurance score to his success number. If the fatigue rules from the Player's Option: Combat & Tactics book are in play, the endurance proficiency is treated differently (see Combat & Tactics, Chapter One).
==Engineering==
This proficiency is required for the design and construction of objects and installations of all sizes. Note that carpentry, stonemasonry, blacksmithing, or other proficiencies also might be necessary for the actual building. Characters can design and supervise the building of houses, boats, small bridges, palisades, and towers—of up to about 30 feet high without proficiency checks.
Characters with this skill can try to design large bridges, fortresses, ships, war machines, locks and dams, and other more complicated projects. Plans for these types of objects generally require at least a week—more if an exceptionally large project is being attempted. Complicated tasks require successful proficiency checks before a workable design can be made. If a check fails on a roll of less than 20, however, the engineer will be aware of the failure and can seek to create a new design—go back to the drawing board, so to speak. On a roll of 20, the design is flawed but the danger will not be discovered until after the object is built.
==Etiquette==
Characters with this skill are familiar with the typical manners of formal interaction- at least as they relate to the culture in the campaign world. They know what fanfares are required to greet royal visitors, how to seat the lords and ladies at a table, how to organize the reception line, and how everyone is to be addressed. None of these tasks require a proficiency check.
When dealing with a foreign or completely unknown culture, the characters must pass proficiency checks to correctly gauge the required etiquette. The check should be modified- +2 if the foreigners are the same race as the character, +1 or more if the character has had some time to observe the foreigners.
Characters with the empathy trait gain a +2 bonus to their rating with this proficiency.
==Fire-building==
A character with this proficiency can build a fire in 1d20 minutes, as long as there is dry wood and some small bits of tinder. Add another d20 minutes for each of these factors: the wood (or tinder) is wet, it's raining or foggy, or the winds are strong. A proficiency check is required if conditions are bad and the character is forced to work without shelter.
==Fishing==
A character with this proficiency knows how to catch fish with hook and line, net, and spear. If fish are present in a body of water, a successful proficiency check means the character has caught something. Typically, with a successful check, the fisherman he will catch 1d6 fish in an hour. This number can be doubled if many fish are present. It is reduced to one fish per hour if the character is seeking large quarry—such as sturgeon, muskellunge, giant carp, or salt-water fish.
==Forgery==
This proficiency indicates a skill at creating false documents, mimicking the handwriting of others, and detecting forgeries. No check is required if the character is simply trying to duplicate a style of writing—the issuing of an anonymous military decree, for example. Characters trying to duplicate the signatures of specific individuals must see those signatures; the DM rolls the proficiency checks secretly to see if the forgeries are successful. If a character writes a longer message in a specific hand, the DM rolls the check with a –2 modifier. The DM should also roll the check if a character seeks to determine if another document is a forgery. On a 20, the character makes the wrong assumption, whereas a failure with less than 20 means that the character is not sure of the truth or falsehood of the sample.
==Gaming==
A character with this proficiency is familiar with all manner of gambling games. A successful proficiency check means the character will win a given game being played with NPCs—although cumulative negative modifiers should be assigned for each NPC with the gaming proficiency. Subtract 1 for each proficient NPC, with –2 for those with higher than basic gaming expertise.
The character might try to cheat, which confers a +3 to the gaming proficiency score and requires a check. If the proficiency check rolled is a 20, the character gets caught cheating, even if no NPCs have the gaming proficiency. Add one to this spread for each NPC with gaming proficiency—i.e., if two others have this skill, the cheater will be caught on a roll of 18–20.
==Gem-cutting==
A character with this proficiency each day can work 1d10 uncut stones into finished gems. The worker needs good light and an assortment of chisels, hammers, and hard cutting blades.
The gem cutter can do decent work without a proficiency check; the stones cut will be valued in the typical range for that type of gem. However, if the cutter seeks to do a unique and very high-quality job, a proficiency check is called for. Failure means the stone is destroyed, but success results in a gem of double the usual value.
==Healing==
Characters with this proficiency can perform first aid on fresh wounds and can supervise the recovery of themselves and others. If the characters tend a wound on the round immediately after it is inflicted, a successful proficiency check means that 1d3 points of damage have been restored (to a maximum of the damage inflicted the previous round). If they tend a wound within one hour of its infliction, they can heal 1 point with a successful check. No character can benefit from this proficiency more than once a day.
This proficiency can also help with long-term healing and resisting poison and disease; these procedures are detailed in the Player's Handbook.
==Heraldry==
These characters are familiar with the heraldic symbols of their own lands, and those of neighboring lands. The characters can make proficiency checks when confronted with unusual or rare symbols; success means that they can identify the symbols. A character with the obscure knowledge trait gains a +2 bonus to the use of this proficiency.
==Herbalism==
This skill indicates that a character is familiar with the uses of natural plant products for good and ill. If a character spends a day searching the woods, and makes a successful proficiency check, enough herbs, fungi, roots, leaves, pollen, and pulp has been gleaned for 2d6 doses.
The most common use of these herbs is as an aid to healing; one dose of herbs can be used in conjunction with the healing proficiency (by the herbalist or another healer). This dose adds +1 point to the wounds cured by a successful healing proficiency check. Even if the healing check fails, the herbs still restore the 1 hit point. With no healing proficiency, the herbs can still be used, but the herbalist needs to roll a successful check to restore the 1 hit point.
The herbs also can be used to create a poison, either ingested or injected. A single use of poison requires two doses of herbs. The lethality or other effects of the poison (paralysis, unconsciousness, delusions, etc.) must be worked out with the DM.
==Hunting==
The hunting proficiency allows a character to find game and get reasonably close to it. The actual kill is handled using rolls to hit and for damage. Hunting is a proficiency that always requires a successful proficiency check when it is used.
If the check is successful, the hunter will reach a position within 1d100 + 100 yards of the quarry. Generally it will take about 2–12 daylight hours to reach this position, though an abundance or scarcity of game can decrease or increase this time at the DM's option. Night hunting might be possible for characters with infravision.
The hunter also possesses a basic skill at removing skin from an animal, and butchering the carcass into usable meat. These tasks require no checks.
==Juggling==
A character with this proficiency can juggle up to three small objects without a proficiency check. Additional objects can be added, but a check is required; use a –1 modifier for each item beyond the fourth. Checks are also required for spectacular feats, such as juggling lighted torches or whirling scimitars, with failure meaning that 1d4 items are dropped. The potential for damage or disaster is left to the DM.
This skill is primarily useful for entertainment or diversions, though characters with the juggling proficiency have a chance to catch small objects—such as darts or daggers—that are thrown at them. They must be facing the source of the attack to make such an attempt, and they must make a proficiency check with a –2 modifier. Failure means they are automatically hit by the thrown objects.
==Jumping==
This skill means that a character has unusual abilities to jump across distances, leap incredible heights, and vault with a pole.
A human or elven character with the jumping proficiency can perform a running broad jump of 20 feet without a proficiency check; a jump of more than 20 feet requires a check, with a –1 modifier for each foot above 20. The jumper can do a standing broad jump of 8 feet without a check; longer jumps require proficiency checks with the same penalties.
The character can high jump 4 feet without a check, higher obstacles require a check, with a –1 modifier for every 6" of additional height. If jumping from a standing start, the beginning height is 3 feet, not 4 feet.
Dwarves, gnomes, and halflings are more limited in their jumping ability. For these characters, the basic distances in each category are reduced to 75% of the listed amount—e.g. 15 feet instead of 20 for the broad jump.
A vaulting pole must be at least as tall as the character using it, but no more than twice as tall. The character can vault over obstacles up to the height of the pole. If the obstacles are within 2 feet of the pole's length, however, the character must make a proficiency check. The vaulter can also jump across a space no more than 11_2 the width of the pole's length. If the gap is greater than the length of the pole, a proficiency check is required.
==Leather working==
The character with this skill can skin animals, tan leather, and work that leather into clothing, armor, backpacks and saddlebags, harnesses, etc. These tasks are automatic successes, but the leather worker will have to make a proficiency check when attempting unusual jobs—making a leather patch for a boat hull, for example, or making a usable tent of scraps of hide.
==Local History==
The character knows all about the background of a specific area in the campaign world and can use this knowledge to entertain and enlighten others, gaining a +2 bonus to the reaction rolls of NPCs from that area. If a specific question comes up—the identity of a knight's banner seen in the distance, for example—the character can make a proficiency check, with success indicating the correct tidbit of information. A character with the obscure knowledge trait gains a +3 bonus to the proficiency rating.
==Mining==
A character with the mining proficiency can select the site of a mine and supervise its excavation and operation. Mining proficiency checks are best made for a player by the DM, since the character will not learn for some time whether his suppositions about a potential mine were accurate.
The Player's Handbook contains a more detailed description of how to role-play a miner's proficiency use.
==Modern Languages==
The character has learned one or more languages, other than his native tongue, that are contemporary to the campaign world. For each additional character point spent on modern Languages, the character can speak one additional language.
==Mountaineering==
A character with this proficiency is skilled in the use of hammer and pitons (spikes) to secure a route up a mountainside. He also knows how to use the rope and brackets that can link a party of climbers. A proficient character can make a route across a steep section of rocks, and by the use of ropes allow other, non-proficient characters to follow.
No proficiency check is required unless the DM declares that a route is very perilous- steeply pitched, with few hand- and foot-holds, and those that exist are tiny or loose. If a character connected to the mountaineer by rope falls, the mountaineering character can make a proficiency check; success means that the otherís fall has been arrested. Failure means that the other character continues to fall, and failure by a roll of 20 means that the mountaineer is pulled down, too.
Characters with the mountaineering proficiency can add their proficiency rating to their percentage chance of climbing any surface; this includes thieves using the climb walls special ability.
==Musical Instrument==
The character can play a specific type of musical instrument, adding an extra instrument for every character point expended on this proficiency after its initial purchase. The skill enables the character to play the instrument very well, though a proficiency check might be required when attempting a very difficult piece.
A character with the music/instrumental trait knows how to play two instruments immediately (when this proficiency is selected). For each character point spent, two (not one) additional instruments can be learned.
==Navigation==
Characters with the navigation proficiency know how to fix their locations on the seas and oceans of the campaign world by observing celestial clues. Characters with a sextant (not necessarily available in all campaigns) and a compass, and who can see the stars or observe a sunrise or sunset, will know where they are—no proficiency check is necessary. Such a skilled character can navigate across entire oceans without becoming lost, though bad weather can obscure the celestial clues and blow a vessel far off course.
If a character does not have the proper tools, or is forced to work with only a general idea of direction (fog obscures the sunset, for example), the DM should secretly make the proficiency check. Success means the character is reasonably accurate in plotting the day's course. Failure means an off-course error that varies by the extent of the failure—a roll of 20 has the character going practically the exact opposite direction!
==Orienteering==
This is the ability to keep one's bearings on roadless, trackless land. Proficient characters will not get lost as long as they can either see the sky or have the use of a compass. This means that they can maintain track of a given direction, keeping themselves and their companions traveling in a straight line.
Characters who possess a map and can track their direction of travel can arrive at specific points—towns, ferry crossings, bridges, monuments, wells, springs, etc.—without proficiency checks.
If the map is slightly erroneous, or lacking in crucial details, the characters will have to make successful proficiency checks to accurately arrive at a specific point. This check can be modified for increased difficulty based on poor weather or major problems with the map.
==Painting==
A character with this proficiency is skilled at rendering images with oil, brush, and canvas. The artist can create reasonable portrayals of people, landscapes, and monsters, and he possesses a knowledge of perspective, shading, and composition. If this proficiency is coupled with the artistic talent trait, the character receives +2 to his base painting score and can create stunningly realistic works, capable of stirring profound reactions in observers—and perhaps worth gold to wealthy NPCs.
==Pottery==
The character can create ceramic vessels—jars, bottles, plates, bowls, etc.—of whatever type are in use in the campaign world. A serviceable piece of crockery can be made without a proficiency check. If the character attempts to make a fine-quality piece, it will take about three days for an average-sized object—and a successful proficiency check. Failure means the object is useless; success indicates the degree of excellence, with a roll of 1 indicating that the character has created a work of unique value.
A character with the artistic talent trait gains a +2 to the pottery proficiency rating. Masterpieces of pottery are sculpted by these talented characters.
==Reading/Writing==
The character is literate in a language that is contemporary to the campaign world, provided that the character can speak it (see the modern languages proficiency), For each additional character point spent on reading/writing, the character is literate in one additional language.
==Reading Lips==
Characters possessing this proficiency have a chance to understand the speech of those they can see but not hear. The speaker must be clearly visible, less than 30 feet away, and well-illuminated—characters cannot lip-read with infravision. If the speaker is addressing the lip reader and intends to be understood, no proficiency check is necessary. If lip readers attempt to “overhear” speech not directed to them, proficiency checks are required. Success means the gist of the words come through. The trait of empathy adds +2 to checks using this skill.
==Religion==
A character with this proficiency is familiar with the basic tenets of the major and minor faiths practiced in the campaign world. Observing an act of religious significance—a blessing of warriors before battle, for example—means the character understands the importance of the ritual without a proficiency check. Checks are required to understand the activities of unique or foreign religions. Additional character points spent on this proficiency can expand a character's knowledge to include other religions, or can increase the level of detailed knowledge about the faiths already studied.
==Riding, Airborne and Riding, Land==
The riding proficiencies are well-detailed in the Player's Handbook. Characters using the Skills and Powers rules can add +2 to their proficiency score in either category of riding if they possess the trait of animal empathy, and +1 if they have the additional proficiency in animal training. These modifiers are cumulative.
==Rope Use==
A character with this proficiency can tie knots of all kinds without a proficiency check. The character adds +2 to all mountaineering proficiency checks that involve rope and also gains +10% to climbing chances—if the climb involves a rope.
If the character is tied up with ropes, or seeks to untie a permanent knot, a proficiency check is required. Success means that the bonds or knots come undone in 2d6 minutes.
==Running==
Characters can add their normal top speed to their movement rates for up to 1 turn. After this, they must spend a turn resting, or 6 turns engaged in normal activity before they can sprint again.
Also, characters can jog steadily, moving at twice their normal movement rates over the course of a day. Eight hours of rest is mandatory after such a stint. Following rest, the characters can make proficiency checks. Success means they can run normally during the upcoming day; failure indicates they cannot use the running ability that day.
==Sculpting==
The character with this proficiency can render realistic objects out of stone and clay. A high level of sculpting proficiency, coupled with the artistic talent trait, means the character can create statues, statuettes, busts, and other objects of rare and valuable beauty.
==Seamanship==
These characters are trained to help operate galleys and sailing ships. They can row, hang rigging, steer a helm, patch canvas, and repair hulls (with tar or pitch). This proficiency does not allow characters to navigate.
The captain of a vessel, who presumably possesses this skill at a high level, must make proficiency checks to avoid certain hazards of the sea. Such a seaman might take the ship into a reef-lined bay with no difficulty if a local pilot is there to act as a guide. But if the captain has to pick a path through coastal breakers, a failed check might mean a bump on the bottom of the hull, or that the ship has run aground. Bad weather and treacherous currents can penalize these proficiency checks, while fair breezes and superb visibility should convey positive modifiers.
==Set Snares==
A character with this skill can place small traps and snares along a game trail—a useful aid to gaining food in a non-civilized setting. Given proper materials—supple branches, bowstring or heavy thread—the character can make two snares in an hour without a proficiency check. The character can check the snares after eight hours, rolling a proficiency check for each. These checks can be modified by +2 if the character has the animal lore proficiency, and an additional +2 for the animal empathy trait. Success means that a small animal, such as a rabbit or partridge, has been snared. The checks can be modified up or down by the DM, to reflect the population of animals in the area.
The character can create a larger snare, such as a pit trap, by making a proficiency check. An 8' deep, 6' square pit requires at least eight hours to make if the ground is soft and a decent shovel is available. Rocky ground, larger pits, and makeshift equipment can increase this time dramatically. Whether anything falls into the large pit is a matter of the DM's interpretation and generosity.
==Singing==
The character knows and can perform the many types of songs, including some that involve complex or difficult notes. All songs common to the character's society will be familiar. Rare, archaic, or unusual songs will be known with a proficiency check. Also, characters who have had a chance to hear an unknown song can perform it (–2 modifier, +1 for each time after the first that it is heard).
The character can compose his own songs, including choral works, with a successful proficiency check. If the character also has the Music/Singing Talent, the character can add +2 to his base score.
==Spellcraft==
A character with this proficiency gains no actual spell use abilities, but does possess significant knowledge about spellcasting. Observing or overhearing a spell being cast, or a getting a good look at the spell components, lets the character make a proficiency check. Success means the enchantment is recognized. Modify the check by +2 if the character can both see and hear, and add another +2 if the spell components are spotted.
Wizards using this proficiency gain +2 to checks made if the spell being studied is one from their own specialty or school. Characters with this proficiency can also make checks to determine if an item is enchanted.
==Stonemasonry==
A character with this skill knows how to excavate stone from quarries, cut that stone into blocks, make bricks, mix mortar, lay stone or brick, and carve simple designs and symbols into stone. The mason can lay cobblestones or bricks for roads and courtyards, and the work can include small arches and cantilevered platforms. None of these tasks require proficiency checks. The character's tools include hammers, chisels, trowels, block and tackle, plumb lines, shovels, and wedges. If fully equipped, a typical mason can build a wall, 10' long, 5' high and 1' thick, in one day—if the stone is already cut. The character can erect walls, buildings, pillars, stone abutments for bridges, etc.
The character can step up the work by making a proficiency check. Also, if the stonemason doesn't have the benefit of the engineering proficiency, checks must be made for wall sections higher than 10', and for structures involving arches or elaborate corners.
A dwarven character receives a +2 bonus when taking this proficiency.
==Survival==
A character with this proficiency has a basic knowledge of the dangers and challenges in certain wilderness terrain: arctic, woodland, desert, plains, or tropical. Mountains are not usually a separate terrain type-a mountain range may be tropical, wooded, snow-covered, etc.
Survival skill means the character has a good chance of finding food or water in that environment- if there is any to be found. The character can roll a proficiency check once a day for each category. Success means food, water, or shelter is found. Typically it will take 1d6 hours to find water, and 2d6 turns to forage enough food for one person.
A character with this skill also understands the perils inherent in sudden storms and dangerous topical features- avalanches, quicksand, sandstorms, and landslides, for example. The DM might allow a player to roll a proficiency check when one of these dangers appears on the horizon- success means the character has noticed the menace.
==Swimming==
This useful proficiency allows characters to swim according to the AD&D game rules for water movement (see the Player's Handbook for more information). Characters without this proficiency are considered untrained swimmers, and they can do little more than hold their breath and float. Proficient characters can perform most swimming tasks without any checks.
For each character point added to this proficiency after its initial purchase, swimmers can add 1 to their movement rates in water.
==Tailoring==
A character with this proficiency can sew garments out of all types of cloth—wool, cotton, silk, and well-tanned leather being the most common in the typical campaign world. The character can use needle and thread. The amount of time required for a job naturally varies by its complexity, but proficiency checks are only required if the tailor is attempting to make something truly unique and spectacular—a coronation gown for the queen, perhaps.
The tailor can also make field repairs on clothing that has been damaged by the vagaries of adventuring. These repairs typically require proficiency checks, with failure indicating that the patch will hold for only a very short time. A halfling character gains a +1 to this proficiency rating.
==Throwing==
Characters with this proficiency add 10' to each range category of thrown weapons, and increases the damage or the attack roll by +1 each time they throw a weapon. The player can elect to improve either the damage or attack roll, but the choice must be announced before the attack is made.
For each character point spent on this proficiency (after its initial purchase) a character adds another 5' to thrown weapon ranges. For every 4 additional character points spent, another +1 on the damage or attack rolls is gained—this can be used as a +2 on one or the other, or split as a +1 to attack and +1 to damage.
==Tightrope Walking==
The character with this proficiency can balance on ropes, wires, slender beams, and other narrow, perilous surfaces. A typical movement rate is 60 feet a round, though an upward angle will slow this. Ascents and descents of 45 degrees or more are not possible.
The character does not require a proficiency check if the surface is at least 4" wide. Narrower surfaces require checks, with failure indicating a fall. If walking on a flat surface more than an inch wide, the character receives a +3 modifier to the check. A balance pole adds another +2 modifier, though high winds or a moving surface can contribute significant negatives.
If the character makes an attack or suffers damage while balanced on a rope, a proficiency check is required. Failure signals a fall. Subtract the number of points of damage the character suffered from the proficiency rating when this check is made. Attacks made while on the rope suffer –5 penalties on attack rolls. Also, a character walking on a tightrope has limited maneuverability and therefore does not gain an AC bonus for Dexterity.
==Tracking==
The detailed tracking procedure described in the Player's Handbook is modified as follows for the Skills and Powers rules:
No characters suffer the integral –6 penalty to their ability scores; this difference is reflected in the proficiency rating itself.
Rangers gain a +5 bonus to their tracking rating.
Characters with the animal empathy trait gain +2 to their proficiency score when tracking non-domesticated animals.
Characters with the animal lore proficiency gain +2 to their proficiency rating when tracking animals—either wild or domesticated.
==Tumbling==
Characters with this proficiency can roll, somersault, stand on their hands, flip forward and backward, and otherwise perform feats of acrobatics. They can only perform tumbling feats if unencumbered or lightly encumbered.
Tumbling characters can improve their AC by 4 on a given round if: they avoiding attacks directed against them, win initiative, and elect not to attack that round. A tumbling character can move up to 20 feet, or remain in one place, during the course of this evasion. In unarmed combat a character with tumbling ability improves attack rolls by +2.
The character can attempt to dodge through obstacles or escape through narrow apertures, but successful proficiency checks are required. If the character topples from a height of 60 feet or less, a successful proficiency check results in suffering only half damage from the fall.
==Ventriloquism==
Characters using this skill can make others believe that sounds and voices are coming from somewhere else. Such a character must pass a proficiency check to deceive an audience. This roll might be modified by some of these factors: the intelligence of the listeners (+/–3); the distance from the ventriloquist to the apparent source of the sound (not more than 20 feet); the believability of the ventriloquist's words and sounds; whether the audience can observe the proficient character; and the length of the ventriloquism display.
==Weaponsmithing==
This proficiency allows a character to create metal weapons. The Player's Handbook gives the time and material cost requirements for various types of weapons.
A character who seeks to create a truly exceptional weapon, can make a proficiency check after the item is completed. If the check fails, the weapon is useless, melted down for its bare metal; if the check succeeds, the character has created a weapon that is worth 50% more than the typical example. These are the kinds of weapons selected by wizards for enchantment.
Dwarves get a +1 bonus to their rating with this proficiency.
==Weather Knowledge==
A character with this proficiency has a knowledge of winds, humidity, clouds, and seasons and can accurately predict the immediate weather simply by looking at the sky. With a proficiency check the character can predict what will happen during the next 12 hours. Modify the check up to +/–6, with a 0 modifier to predictions for the weather six hours ahead.
==Weaving==
A character with this skill can weave yarn into cloth, and he can create tapestries, cloaks, and other large swaths from thread. The character can spin wool into yarn with a spinning wheel, and he needs a loom to artfully weave that yarn. A character with the artistic talent trait can use this skill to create exceptionally beautiful cloth. Halflings get a +1 bonus to their rating with this proficiency.