Proficiency Defintions

### **Proficiency Definitions**

* **Arcana**, **World**, and **Nature** checks are very important for determining if a creature you are facing is something you can handle, and how to handle it. Without proficiency in these skills your character generally knows what is common knowledge, but often this is not specific or deep enough knowledge to be useful to adventurers facing strange creatures.

* **Animal Handling**
	+ We won’t be using this skill. It is rolled into Nature (Intelligence or Wisdom).

* **Survival**
	+ We won’t be using this skill. It’s rolled into Nature (Wisdom or Intelligence).

* **Reasoning**
	+ Reasoning replaces Investigation in my games. This is done because there is too much confusion between what calls for a perception check or an investigation check. In some cases they are pretty much the same thing, in others totally different.
	+ This is essentially your ability to critically reason. This is not the skill for noticing traps typically. It is not typically the skill to notice the physical presence of a thing, but it's meaning. Has more to do with understanding and drawing connections using intellect.
	+ This is often the “GM hint” skill if you are struggling to piece some clues together on your own.
	+ This is the roll to remember something.

* **World**
	+ This has replaced History and Religion.

* **Arcana**
	+ Any magic is covered in this. It is the skill used to identify a spell being cast. Creatures can identify a spell being cast if it is a level equal or lower than it's Arcana (Intelligence) modifier. This seems to be the best “knowledge” skill and is probably one of the most used skills overall in Convergence sessions.
	+ In Primal Souls there will be more magic items, and more interactions with magical artifacts. This will be the skill to interact with those things. Most players will likely want to have proficiency in Arcana so they can fiddle with all the various objects they will find. Without the aid of broader magical spellbooks the Arcana skill will handle everything, such as Identify, Detect Magic, even Divination rituals and connection to elemental magical nodes may be handled with Arcana.
* **Security** (Intelligence/Dexterity)
	+ Security is also the skill for making and setting traps intended to kill humans and monsters.

* **Herbalism** (Wisdom or Intelligence)-
	+ Given the rules for potion of healing creation that we are using in Xanathar’s this might be the most useful tool proficiency.

* **Alchemy** (Intelligence) will have a greater role in this setting than most. This is the skill used to harvest creature parts for potion creation.

* **Ropework** (Intelligence or Wisdom) is its own tool proficiency rather than being part of sleight of hand. It can be Wisdom based in the sense that it is a practical skill that requires muscle memory, embodied knowledge. Anything you can learn from a book can often be an Intelligence skill, and there are books on rope work, but you'd still need practical experience, even if the books you read did help.

* **Horse Riding** will never be an important skill while dungeon crawling, but in the occasional case where it is important we use this specific skill. You may assume your character has this proficiency and count it as a Tool proficiency. The ability score it is rolled with will be flexible, but appropriate for the situation.