Skills and Proficiencies

Characters can gain proficiency in a wide range of different skills and tools. Below you can find a list of each skill and tool and their intended use.

### Primary Skills

Acrobatics - Acrobatics covers your attempt to stay on your feet in a tricky situation, such as when you’re trying to run across a sheet of ice, balance on a tightrope, or stay upright on a rocking ship’s deck. The GM might also call for an Acrobatics check to see if you can perform acrobatic stunts, including dives, rolls, somersaults, and flips.

Animal Handling - When there is any question whether you can calm down a domesticated animal, keep a mount from getting spooked, or intuit an animal’s intentions, the GM might call for an Animal Handling check. You also make an Animal Handling check to control your mount when you attempt a risky manoeuvre.

Arcana - Arcana measures your ability to recall lore about spells, magic items, eldritch symbols, psionic traditions, the planes of existence, and the inhabitants of those planes.

Architecture - How well do you know the architecture of the structures around you. How well can you determine where the weakest point in a tunnel could cause it to collapse or the most logical places to put secret entrances are?

Athletics - Athletics covers difficult situations you encounter while climbing, jumping, or swimming. Examples include the following activities: • You attempt to climb a sheer or slippery cliff, avoid hazards while scaling a wall, or cling to a surface while something is trying to knock you off.

Biology - How well do you know nature itself, the birds, the bees, the flowers.

Deception - Deception lets you convincingly hide the truth, either verbally or through your actions. This deception can encompass everything from misleading others through ambiguity to telling outright lies. Typical situations include trying to fast talk a guard, con a merchant, earn money through gambling, pass yourself off in a disguise, dull someone’s suspicions with false assurances, or maintain a straight face while telling a blatant lie.

Electronics - How well are you able to solve the problems on electronic devices and are able to protect yourself and your devices from hackers. More about this in chapter 9.

History - History is your ability to recall lore about historical events, legendary people, ancient kingdoms, past disputes, recent wars, and lost civilizations.

Insight - Insight is the ability to determine the true intentions of a creature, such as when searching out a lie or predicting someone’s next move. Doing so involves gleaning clues from body language, speech habits, and changes in mannerisms.

Intimidation - When you attempt to influence someone through overt threats, hostile actions, and physical violence, the GM might ask you to make an Intimidation check. Examples include trying to pry information out of a prisoner, convincing street thugs to back down from a confrontation, or using the edge of a broken bottle to convince a sneering vizier to reconsider a decision.

Investigation - When you look around for clues and make deductions based on those clues, you make an Investigation check. You might deduce the location of a hidden object or discern from the appearance of a wound what kind of weapon dealt it. Poring through ancient scrolls in search of a hidden fragment of knowledge might also call for an Intelligence Investigation check.

Medicine - Medicine lets you try to stabilise a dying companion or diagnose an illness.

Perception - Your Perception lets you spot, hear, or otherwise detect the presence of something. It measures your general awareness of your surroundings and the keenness of your senses. For example, you might try to hear a conversation through a closed door, eavesdrop under an open window, or hear monsters moving stealthily in the forest. Or you might try to spot things that are obscured or easy to miss, whether they are orcs lying in ambush on a road, thugs hiding in the shadows of an alley, or candlelight under a closed secret door.

Performance - Orating poetry, speaking publicly and singing is all performance.

Persuasion - When you attempt to influence someone or a group of people with tact, social graces, or good nature, the GM might ask you to make a Charisma (Persuasion) check. Typically, you use persuasion when acting in good faith, to foster friendships, make cordial requests, or exhibit proper etiquette. Examples of persuading others include convincing a chamberlain to let your party see the king, negotiating peace between warring tribes, or inspiring a crowd of townsfolk.

Religion - Religion measures your ability to recall lore about deities, rites and prayers, religious hierarchies, holy symbols, and the practices of secret cults.

Science How well read are you on the exact sciences that are the basis of this world such as chemistry, mathematics and physics.

Sleight of Hand - Whenever you attempt an act of legerdemain or manual trickery, such as planting something on someone else, lockpicking or concealing an object on your person, make a Sleight of Hand check. The GM might also call for a Sleight of Hand check to determine whether you can lift a coin purse off another person or slip something out of another person’s pocket.

Stealth - Make a Stealth check when you attempt to conceal yourself from enemies, slink past guards, slip away without being noticed, or sneak up on someone without being seen or heard.

Survival - The GM might ask you to make a Survival check to follow tracks, hunt wild game, guide your group through frozen wastelands, identify signs that owlbears live nearby, predict the weather, or avoid quicksand and other natural hazards.

### Secondary Skills

Secondary skills are less frequently used proficiencies like proficiencies for crafting, music or piloting. These have an ability added based on the action being performed. For example an Art check for recalling other renowned painters would be a different type of ability than making a pointing yourself.

Aeronautical Vehicles -Piloting planes, space ships or other flying vessels is done with the Aeronautical Vehicle proficiency.

Art - Making art refers to the act of creating visual art which is not written in nature. This could be painting, sculpting or wood-art.

Calligraphy - Wording, forgery and handwriting is all part of the Calligraphy proficiency.

Culinary - Knowledge of foods and drinks and the preparation thereof is represented by Culinary proficiency.

Gaming - Gambling, video gaming and boardgaming is all represented with gaming proficiency.

Linguistics - How well are you able to pick up new languages, decipher long forgotten languages or secret messages and interpret proverbs?

Music - Writing and making music using any instrument is done using the music proficiency.

Naval Vehicles - Ships, submarines and water based vessels are all part of the Naval Vehicle proficiency.

Terrestrial Vehicles - Trucks, cars, bikes, they are all part of the Terrestrial Vehicle proficiencies.

Tinkering - Inventing, engineering, repairing, and creation of useful items and mechanics is all part of the Tinkering proficiency.

Languages

If you do not speak a language, you may use any interface with an internet connection such as a phone to translate your speech and writing.  However, this is monotonous and unnatural and grants disadvantage on any deception, persuasion, intimidation and insight checks made with a creature speaking the unknown language.

For advance ruling, refer to the language chapter.