CHAPTER 7: NON-COMBAT SKILLS ​

Skills define what a character can do beyond their class training. A Fighter who grew up on a Bellarian fishing coast knows things about tides, knots, and weather that their sword arm never taught them. A Thief who spent years working the Solaran court has social fluency that no amount of backstab practice produces. Skills are the history, the life a character had before adventuring, and the things they learned along the way.

How Non-Combat Skills Work ​

A skill check is a roll of 1d20 against the relevant ability score. If the result is equal to or less than the ability score, the check succeeds.

Trained: Roll 1d20 vs. attribute. A success can produce work of genuine quality — the difference between a functional result and a skilled one.

Untrained: Roll 1d20+4 vs. attribute. An untrained character attempting a skill they have not invested in rolls with a built-in difficulty offset of 4. Even a success produces only a basic, functional result.

Specialized: Some skills cannot be attempted untrained at all. These are marked with a ◆ symbol throughout the skill descriptions. Medicine, Spellcraft, Engineering, and similar disciplines represent bodies of knowledge that cannot be improvised. A character without the relevant skill simply cannot attempt them.

Favorable and unfavorable conditions: When circumstances meaningfully improve or worsen the task, the GM adds +2 or +4 to the attribute (easier) or subtracts 2 or 4 (harder) before the roll is made. These are GM calls, not per-skill modifiers. They apply equally to trained and untrained attempts.

1 is always a success. 20 is always a failure, regardless of attribute scores or modifiers.

Quality of Success ​

A trained character's success can achieve work of real skill. An untrained character's success achieves a functional result. This distinction matters at the margin — a trained healer treating a wound and an untrained one doing the same thing both succeed on a roll, but the trained healer's patient recovers better. The GM applies this principle rather than a mechanical modifier: the quality ceiling is lower for untrained attempts, not the probability of a basic success.

When Not to Roll ​

Most tasks do not require a skill check. Anyone can cook something edible, swim to stay afloat, recognize a common plant, or fashion a crude splint. A skill roll is called for when the results are genuinely uncertain, and the outcome matters — when failure would be dramatic, when the quality of success is in question, or when time pressure makes the attempt meaningful.

The GM should not call for rolls on routine activities. A carpenter building a simple table does not roll. A carpenter building a table that needs to hold a specific weight for a specific noble, with substandard materials and half the time they would normally need, rolls.

Ability Score Checks ​

Some situations call for a roll without a specific skill attached — maintaining balance on a slippery deck, spotting movement in a crowded room, catching a falling object. These are ability checks: roll 1d20 against the relevant attribute. The GM assigns the appropriate attribute for the situation. No skill investment is required, and no trained/untrained distinction applies — these represent raw capability, not trained expertise.

Aiding Another ​

When multiple characters work together, the character with the highest relevant skill makes the roll. A second character who is trained in the same skill may assist: on a successful assist check, the primary character gains +2 to their attribute for the roll. Only one character may assist at a time.

If the assisting character rolls a 20, they impose a −2 penalty instead — they got in the way.

Some skills cannot be assisted, either because the task is solitary by nature or because intervention would be counterproductive. The GM has final judgment. Assisting a skill check always requires proficiency in that skill; assisting an ability check requires only that the situation permits it.

Optional Rule: Additional Skill Points ​

Adventurers receive few skill points by design — their primary specialization is adventuring, and the class system reflects that. Players who want more self-sufficient characters may use the following variant: characters receive their starting skill point total again every 3rd or 4th level (GM's choice). This increases breadth but reduces the differentiation between specialists. When multiple characters share equal proficiency in a skill, only the most proficient character rolls for group tasks.

Skill Descriptions ​

Skills are organized into four categories: General skills (any class), class-specific skills (listed by applicable group), Knowledge skills, and Trade skills. Each entry lists: applicable classes, governing attribute, any built-in difficulty modifier, and skill point cost.

A skill tagged with ◆ cannot be attempted untrained.

GENERAL SKILLS ​

Acrobatics (Rogue; Dexterity; 0; 1 point) Balance, tumbling, and controlled movement. Acrobats can use this skill in place of a performance to earn income. Cannot be used while more than lightly encumbered.

  • Defensive Roll: By not attacking in a round, the character improves their AC by 4 for that round.
  • Quick Attack: When fighting unarmed, a trained acrobat gains +2 to attack rolls.
  • Tuck-and-Roll: A character falling 18 m or less halves damage on a successful check. A fall of less than 6 m deals no damage on success.
  • Balance: Maintain footing on surfaces no wider than 15 cm with a +0 check; surfaces of 3 cm or less impose −10; 5–15 cm, −5. A character may fight while balancing at −5 to attack. Damage while balancing requires an immediate check, or the character falls.

Animal Handling (General; Wisdom; −1; 2 points) Rearing, taming, and training animals, mundane and magical. Rangers and Druids pay 1 point instead of 2.

  • Calm Animal: Soothes a frightened or agitated non-magical animal. Does not stop a predator driven by hunger.
  • Train Animal: An animal can learn a combination of 2d4 tasks and tricks. Tasks (general commands like guard or fetch) take 1d3 months. Tricks take 2d6 weeks. A skill check at the end of training determines success.
  • Magical creatures and those with animal intelligence can be trained at −4 and must be tamed while young after a month of uninterrupted work.

Charioteer (General; Dexterity; 0; 1 point) Operation of wheeled vehicles drawn by animals. A trained charioteer automatically improves chariot speed by one-third, up to the mount's maximum. Difficult maneuvers require a check. Warriors gain +2 to this skill.

Climbing (General; Strength; 0; 1 point — Untrained permitted) A full description of climbing rules appears in Chapter 10. A trained climber gains +10% to their base climb chance per skill point (maximum +30% for mastery). Thieves use their Thief skill for climbing without equipment; this NWP applies to assisted or equipped climbing.

Disguise (Rogue; Charisma; −1; 1 point — Untrained permitted) Altering appearance with cosmetics and clothing. Height can be adjusted by up to 30 cm. Race, sex, or age category changes each impose an additional −2 (cumulative). The GM rolls disguise checks in secret. A disguise holds unless an observer has reason for suspicion, at which point they receive a Wisdom check modified by the disguise's margin of success.

Endurance (Rogue/Warrior; Constitution; 0; 2 points) Sustained physical exertion at twice the normal duration — running, swimming, holding breath, and similar activities. Extremely strenuous activities beyond normal capacity require a check.

Etiquette (General; Charisma; 0; 1 point) Proper conduct in formal, noble, and diplomatic settings. Unusual or once-in-a-career situations — meeting a foreign dignitary, addressing an extraplanar being, navigating an unfamiliar culture's formal hierarchy — require a check. The GM should give trained characters appropriate hints; the character knows more than the player does in these situations. The skill does not replace roleplaying — knowing the rules of a social encounter does not prevent a character from being genuinely offensive.

Jumping (Rogue; Strength; 0; 1 point — Untrained permitted) A trained jumper performs exceptional leaps without a skill check. Untrained characters jump at half the distances listed.

Jump distances use the notation result × 30 cm, where the result is the dice roll plus any modifiers. Roll the dice, add the modifiers, then multiply by 30 cm.

  • Broad Jump (6 m running start): (2d6 + level) × 30 cm; maximum of six times the character's height.
  • Standing Broad Jump: (1d6 + half-level) × 30 cm.
  • Running Vertical Jump: (1d3 + half-level) × 30 cm; maximum of one-and-a-half times the character's height.
  • Standing Vertical Jump: 1 m.
  • Pole Vault: Requires a 9 m running start and a pole 1.2–3 m longer than the character's height. Maximum distance equals one-and-a-half times the pole's length. A vault exceeding half the pole's length ends with the character prone; shorter vaults can be landed on the feet.

Read Lips (Rogue; Intelligence; −2; 2 points) ◆ Discerning conversation from lip movement and body language. Requires line of sight within 9 m. On success, the character understands approximately 70% of a conversation — the gist, basic details, and simple names. Limited to the languages the character can speak.

Riding, Land (General; Dexterity; 0; 1 point — Untrained permitted) Competent handling of standard land mounts. Most actions do not require a check. Riding bareback imposes −2 to all riding checks and requires a check for actions that would otherwise be automatic. Exotic mounts impose an additional −2.

  • Saddle Vault: Mount a stationary creature as part of movement. Mounting without a saddle, with the creature already moving, or to have the creature act in the same round requires a check.
  • Jump: A mounted creature can clear obstacles up to half its height or gaps up to twice its height without a check. Success on a check doubles jumping height and triples jumping distance.
  • Spur: Increase mount speed by 6 on a successful check, maintainable for up to four rounds with continued checks.
  • Guide with Knees: Free both hands automatically. A check is needed to stay mounted after taking damage.
  • Shield: Drop down the mount's flank, using it as cover. AC improves by 6; attacks that hit instead strike the mount. Requires a check if armored or encumbered.
  • Leap from Saddle: Leap up to 3 m and make a single melee attack during the mount's movement. A failed check causes the rider to fall for 1d3 damage.

Set Snares and Traps (Rogue/Warrior; Intelligence; −1; 1 point) Construction and placement of traps and snares. A check is made at the end of the work period. A failed check produces a trap that the character believes is functional, but that fails when triggered. Characters proficient in Animal Lore gain +2 when setting game snares.

  • Small Snare: 6d10 minutes. Catches small game.
  • Large Snare: 2d4 hours with at least one assistant. −2 to check. Catches up to large-sized creatures.
  • Man Trap: Constructed from available materials; complexity determines time. −4 to check for a single constructor.

Survival (General; Wisdom; 0; 1 point — Untrained permitted) Basic survival techniques in hostile terrain. A survivalist reduces the chance of becoming lost by 5% per skill point.

  • Forage: Locate food and water for a number of human-sized creatures equal to the margin of success. Requires one hour. Terrain difficulty varies: dense forest +4, desert −4.
  • Fire-Building: Build a fire in 2d10 minutes without a tinderbox. Wet tinder increases time to 3d10 minutes and requires a check.
  • Sense Direction: Concentrate 1d6 rounds. Success yields accurate direction. A standard failure gives a 90-degree error; a natural 20 gives the opposite direction. Bonuses: visible sun or moon +2, large visible landmark +2. Penalties: night −2, fog or poor visibility −2, underground −4. Duergar and Duardeen automatically know their direction underground. The GM rolls in secret.
  • Weather Sense: Predict conditions for the next 6 hours on success. A failed check gives a false reading. One check every 6 hours; each additional 6-hour observation period adds +1 to the next check.

Swimming (General; Strength; 0; 1 point — Untrained permitted) Full swimming rules appear in Chapter 10. A trained swimmer handles all but hazardous conditions without a check. Untrained characters can float in calm water but struggle in anything else.

Use Rope (General; Dexterity; 0; 1 point — Untrained permitted) Knots, lashing, and rope techniques. A trained character can bind a target such that no human-sized creature with Strength below 20 can break free. A failed check allows anyone with Strength 18+ to break free, or escape with a Dexterity check at −12. A trained character gains +2 to attack rolls with a lasso and +2 to climb checks when using an anchored rope.

CLASS-RESTRICTED SKILLS ​

Appraise (Rogue; Intelligence; 0; 1 point) Assessment of valuable objects — antiques, art, gems, and crafted items — including detection of counterfeits. Requires one minute of study. A successful check gives an accurate reading within a 10% margin. A natural 20 gives a wildly inaccurate result. The GM rolls in secret.

Blind-Fight (Rogue/Warrior; no attribute check; 2 points) Trained compensation for poor visibility. Eliminates the AC penalty in darkness. Reduces attack penalties for dim and no lighting by half. Reduces the attack penalty against invisible opponents to −2. Movement in total darkness increases to half speed rather than one-third. Applies to melee only; ranged penalties are unaffected. This skill has only one level of investment — further points provide no benefit.

Cross-Country Running (Warrior; Constitution; −6; 1 point) Sustained movement techniques for open terrain. A trained runner can march at twice their movement rate for an 8-hour day and continue on successive days with a successful check. After more than one hour of cross-country running, the character suffers −1 to attack rolls until they rest.

Forgery (Rogue; Dexterity; −1; 1 point) Creation and detection of handwritten forgeries. Requires a reference document. Forging a specific person's signature is −2; forging an entire document in their handwriting is −3. The GM rolls in secret — a character always believes their work is convincing. Detection: standard documents pass most inspections on success; only those intimately familiar with the document type or the writer's hand can identify them on a failed check.

Healing (Priest; Wisdom; −2; 2 points) ◆ Advanced care through natural means.

  • Emergency Treatment: Restore 1d3 hit points if applied within 10 minutes of injury. One use per patient per day.
  • Long-Term Care: A healer can tend up to 6 patients. Patients under care recover 1 hit point per day regardless of activity, 2 per day at complete rest, or 3 per day at complete rest if the healer is also trained in Herbalism.
  • Poison Treatment: If the healer works continuously for 5 rounds beginning within one round of a character being poisoned (wound or bloodstream delivery only), the patient gains +2 to their saving throw. Interruption removes the bonus.
  • Disease: A full day of treatment followed by a successful check reduces any variable damage and duration to a minimum. Magical diseases can be diagnosed but require magical treatment.

Read/Write Language (Rogue/Wizard; 1 point) Literacy in a language the character already speaks. Unless a language's script derives from Common or a language the character already reads, literacy is not included in the Modern Language skill. One skill point per language.

Spellcraft (Wizard; Intelligence; −2; 1 point) ◆ Identification of magical effects in progress or already active. A successful check while observing active casting identifies the spell. Post-casting identification of an active effect is possible if the effect is observable. Specialist Mages gain +3 to identify spells from their school and −3 to identify spells from their opposed school.

Tracking (Rogue/Warrior; Wisdom; −6; 2 points) Functions identically to the Ranger class skill, with an additional built-in −6 penalty for non-Rangers reflecting the extreme difficulty of the skill outside dedicated wilderness training. Rangers are automatically proficient; further skill investment gives them the standard trained bonus on top of their class ability.

KNOWLEDGE SKILLS ​

Knowledge skills cover bodies of information. A single skill point grants proficiency in one knowledge field. Checks should be called only when the answer is specific and not commonly known. A character either knows the answer or does not — no rerolls are permitted unless time is spent researching.

Table 7.2: Knowledge Skills ​

SkillClassesAttributeDifficultyCost
Ancient HistoryPriest/Rogue/WizardIntelligence−11 point
Animal LoreWarrior/PriestIntelligence01 point
AstrologyPriest/WizardIntelligence02 points
EngineeringGeneralIntelligence−32 points
GamingRogue/WarriorCharisma01 point
HerbalismPriest/Rogue/WizardIntelligence−22 points
Local HistoryPriest/RogueIntelligence01 point
NavigationGeneralIntelligence−21 point
ReligionPriest/WizardWisdom01 point

Ancient History. Esoteric and lost knowledge of a specific culture, civilization, or people. Deeper study of events far beyond common teaching.

Animal Lore. Natural animals and their behavior. A successful check allows the character to assess an animal's disposition. A failure reveals nothing; a failure of 5+ gives a false reading. Magical animals impose a difficulty modifier based on rarity. Also allows accurate animal calls — physically plausible only, and convincing enough to fool creatures not intimately familiar with the real sound.

Astrology. The stars, heavenly bodies, and their patterns. Allows prediction of general events up to 30 days forward on a successful check. Results are broad and directional, not precise. Grants +1 to Navigation when stars are visible.

Engineering ◆. Design of complex structures and machines — bridges, catapults, dams, siege equipment. This skill covers design and supervision, not construction. Also allows the detection of structural flaws and the operation of complex machinery.

Gaming. Games of chance and skill — deep knowledge of probabilities, techniques, and detection of cheating. A check can be made to cheat successfully; a result of 17–20, regardless of success or failure, means the character is caught.

Herbalism. Identification of natural plants and preparation of non-magical mixtures, including poisons from natural substances. When combined with Healing, it increases daily recovery under the healer's care and expands poison treatment to all poison types.

Local History. Detailed and esoteric knowledge of a specific region — facts beyond common knowledge. A successful check while using this knowledge in a social context grants +2 to Charisma for the encounter.

Navigation. Wind, stars, and currents. Reduces the chance of becoming lost by 5% on land and 20% at sea.

Religion. Doctrinal knowledge of one's own faith and neighboring religious traditions. Additional skill points extend knowledge to more distant or obscure faiths.

Languages, Ancient (Priest/Wizard). Obscure languages few creatures still speak — dead tongues, planar dialects, and archaic scripts. One skill point per language.

Languages, Modern (General). A spoken language with an available teacher. One skill point per language. Literacy is not included unless the script derives from a language the character already reads. A character cannot exceed their Intelligence language limit regardless of skill investment.

PERFORMANCE SKILLS ​

Performance skills encompass public showmanship and entertainment. A street performer in a modest town earns copper pieces equal to their margin of success each day; in a city, silver. Notable performers eventually attract private engagements. Each performance type is a separate skill.

Table 7.3: Performance Skills ​

SkillClassesAttributeDifficultyCost
DanceGeneralDexterity01 point — Untrained permitted
InstrumentGeneralDexterity−11 point per instrument
JugglingGeneralDexterity−11 point
SingingGeneralCharisma01 point — Untrained permitted

Juggling. Basic performances require no check unless large objects are involved. A trained Rogue may use Juggling to catch small thrown weapons (daggers, darts) aimed at them or within reach: an attack roll using base Attack Bonus modified only by Dexterity against AC 10. A free hand is required and the Rogue must be aware of the attack. Failure causes the weapon to deal damage even if the original attack would have missed.

TRADE SKILLS ​

Trade skills cover professional crafts and practical occupations. One skill point grants proficiency. A trained character can supervise untrained assistants, allowing them to contribute to the work without requiring their own proficiency check. This list is representative, not exhaustive — the GM should permit reasonable trade skills not listed here.

Skills marked ◆ cannot be attempted untrained under any circumstances.

Table 7.4: Trade Skills ​

SkillClassesAttributeDifficultyCost
AgricultureGeneralIntelligence01 point
ArmorerWarriorIntelligence−22 points
Artist (Field)GeneralIntelligence01 point
BlacksmithGeneralStrength01 point
Bowyer/FletcherGeneralDexterity−11 point
BrewingGeneralIntelligence01 point
CarpentryGeneralStrength01 point
CobblerGeneralDexterity01 point
CookingGeneralIntelligence01 point
GemcuttingRogueDexterity−22 points
LeatherworkingGeneralDexterity01 point
MasonGeneralStrength−21 point
MiningWarriorWisdom−32 points
Seamstress/TailorGeneralDexterity−11 point
ShipwrightGeneralIntelligence−22 points
WeaponsmithWarriorIntelligence−33 points
WeavingGeneralIntelligence01 point

Armorer ◆. Creation of metal armors. A check at the end of the crafting period; failure produces flawed armor with −1 to AC, a flaw the wearer usually cannot detect. Plate armor requires the recipient to be present for a week of fitting. Proficient armorers can detect flaws by inspection.

Artist (Field). Specialization in a chosen medium — painting, sculpting, etc. Grants +1 to Appraise when assessing art and to checks related to music and acting.

Mining. Extraction of ore and mineral resources, including assessment of tunnel stability. Duardeen and Duergar characters gain +2 to this skill.

Weaponsmith ◆. Creation of bladed weapons and edged tools. The greatest difficulty craft skill on this list. A failed check produces a weapon that snaps under stress — a natural 1 on an attack roll — or one that deals −1 damage permanently. A skilled weaponsmith can identify flaws in weapons before purchase.