3 Skills
Heroes can sneak into the well-guarded lairs of criminal masterminds, infiltrate alien computer systems, and create devices beyond the understanding of modern science. They can piece together clues to a villain’s latest plot, run along tightropes, and pilot vehicles
through obstacle courses. They do so through the use of various skills, described in this chapter.
Skill Basics
Skills are learned abilities acquired through a combination of training (the) and natural talent (an ability score). Each skill has a rank, used as a bonus to the die roll when using the skill. To use a skill roll: d20 + skill rank + ability modifier + miscellaneous modifiers
The higher the roll, the better the result. You’re usually looking for a total that equals or exceeds a particular Difficulty Class (DC) or another character’s check total.
• Skill Rank: Your rank in a skill is based on the number of points you have invested in skills. If you have ranks in a skill you’re considered
trained in that skill. You can use some skills even if you don’t have any ranks in them, known as using a skill untrained.
• Ability Modifier: Each skill has a key ability, the ability modifier applied to the skill’s checks. Each skill’s key ability is noted in its
description and on the Skills table (see page 41).
• Miscellaneous Modifiers: Miscellaneous modifiers to skill checks include situational modifiers for favorable or unfavorable conditions, bonuses from feats or powers, or penalties for not having proper tools, among others.
Acquiring Skills
Characters gain skill ranks by spending power points: 4 skill ranks per power point. Skill ranks do not all need to be assigned to the same skill. Characters can perform some tasks without any training, using only raw talent (as defined by their ability scores), but skilled characters are better at such things. Characters with the right skills and feats (see Chapter 4) can even hold their own against super-powered opponents.
Skill Cost = 1 power point per 4 skill ranks.
How Skills Work
When you use a skill, make a skill check to see how you do. Based on the circumstances, your result must match or beat a particular number to use the skill successfully. The harder the task, the higher the number you need to roll. (See Checks, page 9, for more information.)
Untrained Skill Checks
Generally, if you attempt a task requiring a skill you don’t have, you make a skill check as normal. Your skill modifier doesn’t have a skill rank added in because you don’t have any ranks in the skill. You do get other modifiers, though, such as the ability modifier for the skill’s key ability. Many skills can only be used if you are trained in the skill. Skills that cannot be used untrained are marked with a “No” in the "Untrained” column on the Skills table and listed as “Trained Only” in their descriptions. Attempts to use these skills untrained automatically
fail.
Interaction Skills
Certain skills, called interaction skills, are aimed at dealing with others through social interaction. Interaction skills allow you to influence
the attitudes of others and get them to cooperate with you in one way or another. Since interaction skills are intended for dealing with others
socially, they have certain requirements. First, you must be able to interact with the subjects of the skill. The subjects must be aware of you and able to understand you. If you don’t speak the same language, or they can’t hear you for some reason, that’s the same as working without the proper tools, a –4 on your skill check. Interaction skills work best on intelligent subjects, ones with an Int score of 3 or better. You can use them on creatures with Int 1-2, but with a –8 penalty; they’re just too dumb to get the subtleties of your point. You can’t use interaction skills at all on subjects lacking one or more mental ability scores. (Try convincing a rock to be your friend—or to be afraid of you—sometime.) The Immunity power (see page 89) can also render some characters immune to interaction skills. You can use interaction skills on groups of subjects at once, but only to achieve the same result for all. So you can attempt to use Bluff or Diplomacy to convince a group of something, or Intimidate to cow a crowd, for example, but you can’t try to convince some individuals of one thing and the rest of another, or to intimidate some people and not others. The GM decides if a particular use of an interaction skill is effective against a group, and may apply modifiers
depending on the situation. The general rules for interaction still apply: everyone in the group must be able to hear and understand you, for
example, or you suffer a –4 on your skill check against them. Mindless subjects are unaffected.
Skill Benchmarks
As a general guideline, 1-4 ranks in a skill is a basic level of training, familiarity with the basics of the skill. A character with 5-8 ranks has a professional level of training, sufficient for someone using the skill in their primary profession. Someone with 9-12 ranks is an expert; the character is recognized and likely known as an expert in the skill, while 13-15 ranks represent virtual mastery of the skill. More than 15 ranks is such an amazing level of skill that the character is recognized as being among the best-trained people in the world!
These guidelines apply to attack and defense bonus as well if you substitute skill level for “combat skill level.” So a hero with attack +7 has a “professional” level of training, while someone with a +15 bonus is a true master of combat skills.
Manipulation Skills
Some skills, called manipulation skills, require a degree of fine physical manipulation. You need prehensile limbs and a Strength score or some
suitable substitute (such as Precise Telekinesis) to use manipulation skills effectively. Characters lacking the ability to use manipulation skills can still have ranks in them and use them to oversee the work of others (granting an aid bonus, for example, see Aid, page 154).
Specialty Skills
Some skills cover a wide range of knowledge or techniques. These skills are actually groups of similar skills, called specialty skills. When putting ranks into one of these skills, you must choose a specialty, a particular aspect of the skill your character knows. For example, you might choose the physical sciences specialty of Knowledge or the mechanical specialty of Craft. Skill ranks in one specialty of a skill do not imply training in the skill’s other specialties.
Under the Hood: Choosing Skills
There are a number of factors to consider when choosing skills for your character.
Training vs. Talent
In game terms there’s no difference between a character who has ranks in a skill because of extensive training and another whose skill
ranks represent a natural “knack” or aptitude for the skill. Both are considered “trained” in the skill. For example, one character might have
a high Diplomacy skill based on the character’s extensive training in negotiation, debate, and management. Another character’s Diplomacy
skill may stem more from personal attractiveness or a talent for getting others to cooperate, while a third character may have a combination of
the two. Feel free to decide for yourself what mix of training and talent your character’s skill ranks represent.
Life Skills
When allocating skill ranks for your character consider not just the character’s role as a hero but also the various other skills the character may
have picked up in day-to-day life. For example, most adults have some sort of Craft or Profession skill as their occupation with at least 3 to 5 ranks (more if they’re especially good at their job). Some people pick up ranks in Notice, although most get by using the skill untrained. Characters working with technology may have the Computers or Craft skills even if they don’t apply to their powers. A particularly well-educated person may have various Knowledge skills. These additional skills help round out a character and provide some background color and—who knows?—they may turn out to be useful in an adventure at some point.
Adventuring Skills
Also give some thought to the skills your character needs to be effective in game play. Some are obvious, especially if they’re part of your character concept. A scientist is going to have Knowledge skills, and possibly Computers or Craft. A pilot should have Pilot, while a doctor should have Medicine and Profession (physician). Beyond the obvious and background skills of your character consider “utility skills” like Concentration, Notice, Search, Sense Motive, and Stealth, which many characters find useful. A few ranks in such skills may be a smart investment.
Skill Descriptions
This section describes the skills available to Mutants & Masterminds characters, including their common uses and modifiers. Characters may be able to use skills for tasks other than those given here. The GM sets the DC and decides the results in those cases. The format for skill descriptions is given here. Items that do not apply are omitted from the skill’s description.
Name, key ability, interaction, manipulation, specialty, trained only, requires tools
The skill name line contains the following information:
• Skill Name: What the skill is called. GMs may feel free to change the names of some skills to better suit the style of their game.
• Key Ability: The ability modifier applied to the skill check.
• Interaction: If “Interaction” is included next to the skill’s name, it is an interaction skill.
• Manipulation: If “Manipulation” is included next to the skill’s name, it is a manipulation skill.
• Specialty: If “Specialty” is included next to the skill’s name, you must choose a specialty for the skill.
• Trained Only: If “Trained Only” is next to the skill’s name, you must have at least 1 rank in the skill in order to use it. If “Trained Only” is absent, untrained characters (those with 0 ranks in the skill) may use it.
• Requires Tools: If “Requires Tools” is included next to the skill’s name, you need to have the proper tools to use the skill. Not having the proper tools results in a –4 penalty to the skill check. See Chapter 7 for more details on tools. The skill name line is followed by a brief description of the skill and four other categories:
• Check: How to make a check for the skill, what the results are, and the basic Difficulty Class.
• Try Again: Conditions on retrying a check with the skill. If this section is omitted, the skill can be retried an unlimited number of times.
• Action: The type of action required to use the skill, how long it takes. As a general rule, if a skill takes a minute or longer to use, you can halve the time required by taking a –5 penalty on the check.
• Special: Any extra information about the skill or its use.
Acrobatics
Dex, Trained only
You can flip, dive, roll, tumble, and perform other acrobatic maneuvers, and you’re also adept at keeping your balance under difficult circumstances.
Check: Make an Acrobatics check (DC 25) to move through a space occupied by an opponent or obstacle (moving over, under, or around). A
failed roll means you don’t get past the obstacle.
•Balancing: You can walk on a precarious surface. A successful check lets you move at half your speed along the surface as a move action. A failure indicates you spend your move action just keeping your balance and do not move. A failure by 5 or more means you fall. The
difficulty varies with the conditions of the surface.
Su r f a c E Dc
More than 12 in. wide 5
7-12 in. wide 10
2-6 in. wide 15
Less than 2 in. wide 20
Uneven or angled +5
Slippery +5
While balancing, you lose your dodge bonus to Defense unless you have 5 or more ranks in Acrobatics. If you take damage while balancing,
make an immediate Acrobatics check to avoid falling.
•Accelerated Movement: You can try to move faster than normal while balancing. You can move your full speed, but take a –5 penalty on
your Acrobatics check. Moving twice your speed requires two checks, one for each move action.
• Jumping: You can make an Acrobatics check to extend the distance you can jump (see Jumping, page 34) by 1 foot per point your check
exceeds DC 15.
• Falling: You can make an Acrobatics check (DC 5) to lessen damage from a fall. Subtract the amount your roll exceeds the DC from the distance of a fall in feet before determining damage. So an Acrobatics check of 20 (15 more than the DC) reduces the effective distance of a
fall by 15 feet. A fall reduced to 0 distance does no damage and you land on your feet. You can reduce knockback damage in the same way (see Knockback, page 165).
• Avoiding Being Tripped: You can make an Acrobatics check in place of the Strength or Dexterity check to avoid a trip attack (see Trip,
page 159). You cannot use Acrobatics to make trip attacks, however.
• Instant Up: You can make an Acrobatics check (DC 20) to stand from a prone position as a free action rather than a move action.
• Performance: You can use Acrobatics as a Perform skill to impress an audience (see Perform, page 52).
Try Again: No.
Action: Free. If you actually move as part of your Acrobatics check, then it counts as part of your move action.
Special: The balancing aspects of Acrobatics can be used untrained.
Bluff
cha, Interaction
Bluff is the skill of making the outlandish seem credible. It covers acting, fast-talk, trickery, and subterfuge.
Check: A Bluff check is opposed by the target’s Bluff or Sense Motive check when trying to con or mislead. Favorable and unfavorable circumstances weigh heavily on the outcome of a bluff. Two circumstances can work against you: the bluff is hard to believe, or the action the bluff requires goes against the target’s self-interest, nature, personality, orders,or allegiance. If it’s important, the GM can distinguish between a bluff that fails because the target doesn’t believe it and one that fails because it asks too much. For instance, if the target gets a +10 bonus because the bluff demands something risky, and the Sense Motive check succeeds by 10 or less, then the target didn’t so much see through the bluff as prove reluctant to go along with it. If the target’s Sense Motive check succeeds by 11 or more, he has seen through the bluff, and
would have succeeded even if it had not placed unusual demand on him (that is, even without the +10 bonus).
A successful Bluff check indicates the target reacts as you want, at least for a short time (usually 1 round or less), or believes what you say.
ci r c u m S t a n c E S
The target wants to believe you. –5
The bluff is believable and doesn’t affect the target much
one way or the other.
+0
The bluff is a little hard to believe or puts the target at some
kind of risk.
The bluff is hard to believe or entails a large risk for the target. +10
The bluff is way out there; it’s almost too incredible to consider. +20
• Diversion: You can use Bluff to help you hide. A successful Bluff check gives you the momentary diversion needed to attempt a Stealth check while people are aware of you (see Stealth, page 54).
• Feint: You can use Bluff to mislead an opponent in combat so he can’t avoid your attacks as effectively. If your Bluff check succeeds,
your target loses any dodge bonus against your next attack.
• Innuendo: You can use Bluff to send secret messages while apparently talking about other things. The DC for a basic message is 10. Complex messages or messages trying to communicate new information have DCs of 15 or 20, respectively. The recipient of the message must make a Sense Motive check against the same DC to understand it. Anyone listening in on a secret message can also attempt a Sense
Motive check. If successful, the eavesdropper realizes a secret message is contained in the communication. If the eavesdropper beats the DC by 5 or more, he understands the secret message. Whether trying to send or pick up a message, a failure by 5 or more means the receiver misinterprets the message in some fashion.
rE S i S t a n c E
mOD i f i E r
+5
• Trick: You can use Bluff to mislead an opponent into taking a potentially unwise action, such as trying to hit you while you are standing
in front of an electrical junction box or at the edge of a precipice. If your Bluff check succeeds, your opponent is heedless of the potential
danger and may hit the junction box or lose his balance and fall, if his attack against you fails. (On the other hand, if the attack succeeds, it
might slam you into the junction box or send you flying off the edge.)
Try Again: Generally, a failed Bluff check makes the target too suspicious for you to try again under the same circumstances. When feinting or tricking in combat, you can try again freely, but targets get a cumulative +1 bonus to resist each time you try to bluff them in combat after the first.
Action: A bluff normally takes at least a full round but can take longer if you try something elaborate. Using Bluff to feint or trick in combat is a standard action, as is using Bluff to create a diversion to hide. You can feint, trick, or create diversion, as a move action by taking a –5
penalty on your check.
Climb
You’re skilled in scaling angled and uneven surfaces.
Check: With each successful Climb check, you can move up, down, or across a slope, wall, or other steep incline (even a ceiling with handholds). A slope is any incline of less than 60 degrees; a wall is any incline of 60 degrees or steeper. A failed Climb check indicates you make no progress, and failure by 5 or more means you fall from whatever height you already attained (unless you are secured with some kind of harness or other equipment). Make a Climb check to catch yourself (DC equal to wall’s DC + 20). A slope is easier to catch on (DC equal to slope’s DC + 10). It’s somewhat easier to catch someone else who falls, assuming they are within arm’s reach. Make a Climb check (DC equal to wall’s DC +10) to do so. A slope is easier (DC equal to the slope’s DC +5). If you fail the check, you do not catch the other person. If you fail by 5 or more, you fall as well.
The DC of the check depends on the conditions of the climb. If the climb is less than 10 feet, reduce the DC by 5.
Dc Ex a m p l E wa l l O r Su r f a c E O r ta S k
0 A slope too steep to walk up. A ladder.
5 A knotted rope with a wall to brace against.
10 A rope with a wall to brace against. A knotted rope. A surface with
sizable ledges to hold on to and stand on, such as a rugged cliff-face.
15 Any surface with adequate handholds and footholds (natural or artificial),
such as a rough natural rock surface, a tree, or a chain-link fence. An
unknotted rope. Pulling yourself up when dangling by your hands.
20 An uneven surface with just a few narrow handholds and footholds,
such as a coarse masonry wall or a sheer cliff face with a few crevices
and small toeholds.
25 A rough surface with no real handholds or footholds, such as a brick wall.
25 Overhang or ceiling with handholds but no footholds.
— A perfectly smooth, flat, vertical surface can’t be climbed without the
Wall-Crawling effect (see page 102).
–10 Climbing inside an air duct, chimney, or other location where you can
brace against two opposite walls (reduces normal DC by 10).
–5 Climbing a corner where you can brace against perpendicular walls
(reduces normal DC by 5).
+5 Surface is slippery (increases normal DC by 5).
Fighting While Climbing: Since you can’t easily move to avoid an attack, you lose your dodge bonus while climbing. Any time you take damage while climbing, make an immediate Climb check against the DC of the slope or wall. Failure means you fall and sustain the appropriate falling damage.
•Accelerated Movement: You can try to climb faster than normal. You can move your full speed, but take a –5 penalty on your Climb check.
Moving twice your speed requires two checks at –5, one for each move action.
Action: Climbing one-half your speed is a full-round action. Moving half that fast (one-fourth your speed) is a move action. Accelerated climbing, allowing you to climb at full speed, is a full-round action. You can move half that far (one-half your speed) as a move action.
Special: At the GM’s discretion, certain kinds of climbing attempts might require tools like ropes, pitons, harness, and so forth. Attempting such a climb without tools incurs a –4 penalty.
Computers
int, manipulation, Trained only
You’re trained in the operation of computers and modifying or creating software.
Check: Most normal computer operations—using software, getting your e-mail—don’t require a Computers check and can be done untrained.
However, searching an unfamiliar network for a particular file, writing programs, altering existing programs to perform differently, and breaking computer security all require skill checks (and training).
•Find File: The DC and the time required to locate a particular file on an unfamiliar computer system are determined by the size of the site.
Finding public information on the Internet does not fall under this category; this only pertains to finding files on unfamiliar computer
systems.
Si z E O f Si t E Dc ti m E
Personal computer 10 1 round
Small office network 15 2 rounds
Large office network 20 1 minute
Massive network 25 10 minutes
• Defeat Computer Security: The DC is determined by the quality of the security installed to defend the system. If the check fails by 5 or
more, the system immediately alerts its administrator there has been an unauthorized entry. An alerted administrator may attempt to identify
you or cut off access to the system. Sometimes, you have to defeat security at more than one stage of the operation. If you beat the DC by 10 or more when attempting to defeat computer security, you automatically succeed at all subsequent security checks at that site until the end of
your session.
lE v E l O f SE c u r t y Dc
Minimum 20y
Average 25
Exceptional 35
Maximum 40
Defend Security: If you are the system administrator for a site (which maybe as simple as being the owner of a personal computer), you
can defend it against intruders. If the site alerts you to an intruder, you can attempt to cut off the intruder’s access or even to identify
the intruder. To cut off access, make an opposed Computers check against the intruder. If the check succeeds, the intruder’s session is ended. The intruder might be able to defeat your security and access your site again, but has to start over again. Attempting to cut off access takes a full round. One surefire way to prevent further access is to simply shut the site down. With a single computer, that’s no big deal, but on a large site with many computers (or computers controlling functions that can’t be interrupted) it may be time-consuming or even impossible to do so. To identify the intruder, make an opposed Computers check. If the check succeeds, you learn the site from which the intruder is operating (if it’s a single computer, you learn the name of the computer’s owner). Identifying the intruder requires 1 minute and is a separate check from cutting off access. This check can only be made if the intruder is accessing your site for the entire length of the check—if the intruder’s session ends before you make the Computers check, your attempt fails.
• Degrade Programming: You can destroy or alter programs on a computer to make it harder or impossible to use. Crashing a computer
simply shuts it down. Its user can restart it without a skill check (however, restarting takes at least 1 minute). Destroying programming
makes the computer unusable until the programming is repaired. Damaging programming imposes a –4 penalty on all checks made
with the computer (sometimes this is preferable to destroying the programming, since the user might not know anything is wrong, and
won’t simply decide to use a different computer).
You can damage the programming of multiple computers at a single site; doing so adds +2 to the DC for each additional computer.
Sc O p E O f al t E r a t i O n Dc tm E
Crash computer 10 1 minute
Destroy programming 15 10 minutes
Damage programming 20 10 minutes
Fixing damaged programming requires an hour and a Computers
check against a DC equal to the DC for damaging it + 5. Destroyed
programming must be re-installed.
• Write Program: You can create a program to help with a specific task. Doin so grants a +2 bonus to the task. A specific task, in this case, is one type of operation with one target. The DC to write a program is 20; the time required is one hour.
• Operate Remote Device: Many devices are computer-operated. If you have access to the computer controlling them, you can shut them off or change their operating parameters. The DC depends on the nature of the operation. If you fail the check by 5 or more, the system alerts its administrator there has been an unauthorized use of the equipment. An alerted administrator may attempt to identify you or cut off
your access to the system.
ty p E O f Op E r a t O n Dc tm E
Shut down passive remote
(including cameras and door locks)
Shut down active remote
(including motion detectors and alarms)
20 1 round per remote
25 1 round per remote
Reset parameters 30 1 minute per remote
Change passcodes 25 1 minute
Hide evidence of alteration +10 1 minute
Minimum security –5 —
Exceptional security +10 —
Maximum security +15 —
Action: Computers requires at least a full-round action. The GM may determine some tasks require several rounds, a few minutes, or longer, as described above.
Special: You can take 10 when using the Computers skill. You can take in some cases, but not those involving a penalty for failure. (You cannot take 20 to defeat computer security or defend security, for example.)
Concentration
You can focus your mind and concentrate despite difficult conditions, including taking damage.
Check: Make a Concentration check whenever you might be distracted (by taking damage, by harsh weather, and so on) while engaged in
some action requiring your full attention, maintaining powers with a Concentration or Sustained duration (see page 70). If the check succeeds,
you may continue with the action. If the check fails, the action fails. The DC depends on the nature of the distraction.
D S t r a c t O n Dc
Damaged during the action 10 + damage bonus
Taking continuous damage during the action 10 + half of continuous
damage bonus last dealt
Maintain a Concentration power as a move action 10 + power rank
Maintain a Sustained power as a reaction 10 + power rank
Vigorous motion (bouncy vehicle ride, small boat
in rough water, below decks in a storm-tossed ship,
riding a horse)
Violent motion (very rough vehicle ride, small boat in
rapids, on deck of storm-tossed ship, galloping horse)
Extraordinarily violent motion (earthquake) 20
Entangled (such as by a snare) 15
Bound, grappling, or pinned 20
Weather is a high wind carrying blinding rain or
sleet
5
Weather is wind-driven hail, dust, or debris 10
Try Again: Yes, although a success doesn’t cancel the effects of a previous failure, such as the disruption of an action you were concentrating on.
Action: Making a Concentration check doesn’t require an action; it is either a reaction (when attempted in response to a distraction) or a free
action (when attempted actively).
Craft
int, manipulation, specialty, Trained only, Requires tools
Craft covers a number of skills for making things. The different Craft specialties are:
• Artistic: You can create works of visual art, such as drawings, paintings,sculptures,and so forth.
• Chemical: You can mix chemicals to create acids, drugs, explosives,poisons, and so forth.
• Electronic: You can build electronic items.
• Mechanical: You can build mechanical items.
• Structural: You can build wooden, concrete, or metal structures including buildings and furniture.
Check: Craft skills are specifically focused on making things. To use Craft effectively, you must have an appropriate set of tools.
• Making Items: The difficulty and time required to make a particular item depends on its complexity. If your campaign uses the optional rules for Wealth and Purchasing Equipment, you will have to make a Wealth Check with a Difficulty Class 10 less than the Craft DC
to acquire the necessary materials (see Wealth and Purchasing Equipment, page 132). If your Craft check succeeds, you have made
the item. If the Craft check fails, you did not produce a usable end result, and any materials are wasted.
cO m p l E x i t y cr a f t Dc ti m E Ex a m p l E S
Simple 15 1 hour electronic timer or detonator, tripwire
trap, bookcase
Moderate 20 12 hours radio direction finder, lock, engine
component, shed, furniture
Complex 25 24 hours cell phone, combustion engine, bunker
Advanced 30 60 hours computer, jet engine, building
• Repairing Items: You can use the electronic , mechanical, and structural Craft skills to repair damaged items of the appropriate type.
Most repair checks are made to fix electronic or mechanical devices. The GM sets the DC. In general, simple repairs have a DC of 10 to 15
and require no more than a few minutes. More complex repair work has a DC of 20 or higher and can require an hour or more.
rE p a r ta S k (Ex a m p l E ) Dc tm E
Simple (tool, simple weapon) 10 1 min.
Moderate (mechanical or electronic component) 15 10 min.
Complex (mechanical or electronic device) 20 1 hr.
Advanced (cutting-edge mechanical or electronic device) 25 10 hr.
• Jury-Rigging: You can also attempt jury-rigged, or temporary, repairs. Doin this reduces the DC by 5 from that of a regular repair, and allows you to make the check as a full-round action. However, a jury-rigged repair can only fix a single problem, and the repair only lasts until the end of the current encounter. The jury-rigged item must be fully repaired thereafter, and cannot be jury-rigged again until it is fully repaired. You can also use jury-rigging to hot-wire a car or jump-start an engine or electronic device. The DC for this is at least 15, and can be higher depending on the presence of security devices.
• Demolitions: Characters can use Craft (chemical) to make explosives.Setting a simple explosive to blow up at a certain spot doesn’t require a check, but connecting and setting a detonator does. Also, placing an explosive for maximum effect against a structure calls for a check, as does disarming an explosive device. Most explosives require a detonator to go off. Connecting a detonator to an explosive requires a Craft (mechanical) check (DC 10). Failure means the explosive fails to go off as planned. Failure by 10 or more means the explosive goes off as the detonator is being installed. You can make an explosive more difficult to disarm. To do so, choose the disarm DC before making your check to set the detonator (it must be higher than 10). Your DC to set the detonator is equal to the disarm DC. Disarming an explosive requires a Craft (mechanical) or Disable Device check. The DC is usually 10, unless the person who set the detonator chose a higher disarm DC. If you fail the check, you do not disarm the explosive. If you fail by 5 or more, the explosive goes off. Setting or disarming a detonator is a full-round action. Carefully placing an explosive against a fixed structure can maximize the damage by exploiting vulnerabilities in the construction. This requires at least a minute and a Craft (structural) check. The GM makes the check (so you don’t know exactly how well you have done until the explosive goes off). On a result of 15 or higher, the explosive deals +5 damage to the structure. On a result of 25 or higher, it deals +10 damage. In all cases, it deals normal damage to all other targets within its blast radius.
• Forgery: Characters can use Craft to produce forgeries of any item they can normally make. The result of the check becomes the DC for a Notice check to detect the forgery. The GM can modify either check based on the conditions and the characters’ familiarity with the original subject.
• Inventing: If you have the Inventor feat (see page 62), you can use Craft to build inventions, temporary devices. See Inventing, page
131, for details.
Try Again: Yes, although in some cases the GM may decide a failed attempt to repair or jury-rig an item has a negative effect, preventing further attempts.
Action: The time to make something varies according to its complexity.The Gamemaster may increase or decrease the time for a particular Craft project as necessary. You can cut the time for making or repairing an item in half by taking a –5 penalty.
Special: You can take 10 when using a Craft skill, but can’t take 20 since doing so represents multiple attempts, and you use up raw materials with each attempt. You can take 10 or 20 on repair checks. If you don’t have the proper tools, you take a –4 penalty on Craft checks.
Diplomacy
cha, inteRaction
You’re skilled in dealing with people, from etiquette and social graces to a way with words and public speaking. Use this skill to make a good impression, negotiate, and win people over.
Check: You can change others’ attitudes with a successful Diplomacy check. In negotiations, all participants roll Diplomacy checks to see who
gains the advantage. Opposed checks also resolve cases where two advocates plead opposing cases before a third party.
inteRaction
at t i t u D E mE a n S pO S S b l E ac t O n S
Hostile Will take risks to hurt or
avoid you
Attack, interfere, berate, flee
Unfriendly Wishes you ill Mislead, gossip, avoid, watch
suspiciously, insult
Indifferent Doesn’t much care Act as socially expected
Friendly Wishes you well Chat, advise, offer limited help,
advocate
Helpful Will take risks to help you Protect, back up, heal, aid
Fanatic Will do anything for you Fight to the death under
attituDe
in t i a l nE w at t t u D E
overwhelming odds
at t i t u D E hO S t i l E un f r E n . in D f f . fr E n D l y hE l p f u l fa n a t c
Hostile 19 or less 20 25 35 45 150
Unfriendly 4 or less 5 15 25 35 120
Indifferent — 0 or less 1 15 25 90
Friendly — — 0 or less 1 15 60
Helpful — — — 0 or less 1 50
Diplomacy can influence an NPC’s attitude. The GM chooses the character’s initial attitude based on circumstances. Most of the time, people
are friendly or indifferent toward heroes, but a specific situation may call for a different initial attitude. The DCs given on the Interaction table
show what it takes to change someone’s attitude with a use of Diplomacy. You don’t declare a specific outcome; instead, make the check and compare the result to the Interaction table to see what you’ve accomplished. A low roll may actually worsen the subject’s attitude! A fanatical NPC is willing to do anything the character wants. The fanatic state lasts for one day, plus a day per point of the character’s Charisma bonus. Fanatics can’t have their attitudes adjusted using interaction skills and have a +20 bonus to resist attempts to intimidate them.
Try Again: Generally, trying again doesn’t work. Even if the initial check succeeds, the other character can only be persuaded so far. If the initial check fails, the other character has probably become more firmly committed to his position, and trying again is futile. At the GM’s
discretion, you can try again when the situation changes in some way: you find a new approach to your argument, new evidence appears, and so forth.
Action: Diplomacy is at least a full-round action. The GM may determine some negotiations require longer (perhaps much longer).
Disable Device
int, manipulation, Trained only, Requires tools
You can disarm or sabotage various devices, both mechanical and electronic.
Check: The GM makes Disable Device checks secretly so you don’t necessarily know if you have succeeded.
• Open Lock: You can pick conventional locks, finesse combination locks, and bypass electronic locks. You must have a lockpick set (for a mechanical lock) or an electronic tool kit (for an electronic lock). The DC depends on the quality of the lock.
lO c k ty p E (Ex a m p l E ) Dc
Cheap (briefcase lock) 20
Average (home deadbolt) 25
High quality (business deadbolt) 30
High security (branch bank vault) 40
Ultra-high security (bank headquarters vault) 50
• Disable Security Device: You can disable a security device, such as an electric fence, motion sensor, or security camera. You must be able to reach the actual device. If the device is monitored, your attempt to disable it will probably be noticed. When disabling a monitored device, you can prevent your tampering from being noticed. Doing so requires 10 minutes and an electronics tool kit, and increases the DC by +10.
DE v c E ty p E (Ex a m p l E ) Dc
Cheap (home door alarm) 20
Average (store security camera) 25
High quality (art museum motion detector) 30
High security (bank vault alarm) 35
Ultra-high security (motion detector at Area 51) 40
Traps and Sabotage: Disabling a simple mechanical device is DC 10. More intricate and complex devices have higher DCs. You can use
Disable Device to defuse explosives like the Craft (mechanical) skill. If the check succeeds, you disable the device. If the check fails by 4 or
less, you have failed but can try again. If you fail by 5 or more, something goes wrong. If it’s a trap or explosive, you set it off. If it’s some
sort of sabotage, you think the device is disabled, but it still works normally. When you sabotage simple devices, you can rig them to work normally for a while and then fail some time later, if you choose.
• Disable Technology: At the GM’s discretion, you can disable any technological device (see Chapter 7) with a DC 30 skill check. You can
also disable technological creatures, like androids or robots, with the same check, but the subject must be helpless for you to make the check.
Try Again: Yes, though you must be aware you have failed in order to try again.
Action: Disabling a simple device is a full-round action. Intricate or complex devices require multiple rounds. Reducing a multi-round task to one round increases the DC by +20.
Special: You can take 10 when making a Disable Device check. You can take 20 to open a lock or disable a security device, unless you are trying to prevent your tampering from being noticed.
Disguise
cha, manipulation, RequiRes tools
You can use makeup, costumes, and other props to change your appearance.
Check: Your check result determines the effectiveness of the disguise. It is opposed by others’ Notice check results. Make one Disguise check even if several people make Notice checks. The GM makes the Disguise check secretly so you are not sure how well your disguise will hold up under scrutiny.
If you don’t draw any attention to yourself, others don’t get to make Notice checks. If you come to the attention of people who are suspicious,
they get to make a Notice check. (The GM can assume suspicious observers take 10 on their Notice checks if they have time to observe you.)
The effectiveness of your disguise depends in part on how much you attempt to change your appearance.
Di S g u i S E mOD i f i E r
Minor details only +5
Appropriate uniform or costume +2
Disguised as different sex –2
Disguised as a different race –2
Disguised as different age category –2
If you are impersonating a particular individual, those who know the subject automatically get to make Notice checks. Furthermore, they get a
bonus on the check.
fam i l i ar i t y bO n u S
Recognizes on sight +4
Friend or associate +6
Close friend +8
Intimate +10
Usually, an individual makes a Notice check to detect a disguise immediately upon meeting you and each hour thereafter. If you casually meet
many different people, each for a short time, the GM checks once per day or hour, using an average Notice modifier for the group (assuming they take 10).
Successfully acting like who you appear to be may require a Bluff or Perform (acting) check with a DC equal to the observer’s Sense Motive
check, modified by familiarity if the observer knows the subject well.
Try Again: No, though you can assume the same disguise again at a later time. If others saw through the previous disguise, they are automatically treated as suspicious if you assume the same disguise again.
Action: A Disguise check requires at least 10 minutes of preparation. The GM makes Notice checks for those who encounter you immediately
upon meeting you and again each hour or day thereafter, depending on circumstances.
Special: You can take 10 or take 20 when assuming a disguise. If you don’t have a disguise kit you take a –4 penalty on Disguise checks. You can help someone else create a disguise, treating it as an aid attempt (see page 154).
Drive
Dex, manipulation, Trained only
Use this skill to operate any ground or water vehicle.
Check: Make a check only when some unusual circumstance exists or when driving in a dramatic situation (being chased or attacked, for example, or trying to reach a destination in a limited amount of time). While driving, you can attempt maneuvers or stunts.
ma n E u v E r Dc
Easy (low-speed turn) 5
Average (sudden reverse, dodging obstacles) 10
Difficult (tight turns) 15
Challenging (bootlegger reverse) 20
Formidable (high-speed maneuvers, jumping obstacles) 25
Try Again: Most Drive checks have consequences for failure that make trying again impossible.
Action: A Drive check is a move action.
Special: Routine tasks, such as ordinary movement, don’t require a skill check and may be done untrained. At the Gamemaster’s option, Drive may require specialization, such as ground vehicles or water vehicles.
Escape Artist
Dex, manipulation
You’re trained in escaping bonds and other restraints.
Check: Make a check to escape from restraints or to squeeze through a tight space.
rE S t r a n t Dc
Ropes Opponent’s Dex bonus +20
Snare Snare’s rank +20 (see Snare, page 99)
Tight space 30
Grapple Opponent’s grapple check
• Tight Spaces: For a tight space, a check is only called for if your head fits but your shoulders don’t. If the space is longer than your height, such as in an airshaft, the GM may call for multiple checks. You can’t fit through a space your head doesn’t fit through. You can also reach through a tight space your hand fits through but your arm normally does not by making an Escape Artist check.
• Escaping Grapples: You can make an Escape Artist check opposed by an opponent’s grapple check to get out of a grapple or out of a
pinned condition. Doing so is a standard action. If you escape being pinned, you are still being grappled. If you escape the grapple you
can move in the same round.
Try Again: Yes.
Action: Making a check to escape from ropes or other restraints requires one minute. Escaping a grapple is a standard action. Escaping a snare is a full-round action. Squeezing or reaching through a tight space takes at least one minute, maybe longer, depending on the distance.
Special: You can take 10 on an Escape Artist check. You can take 20 if you are not actively opposed, such as when being grappled or pinned.
Gather Information
cha, Interaction
You know how to make contacts, collect gossip and rumors, question informants, and otherwise get information from people.
Check: By succeeding at a skill check (DC 10) you get a feel for the major news and rumors in an area. This assumes no obvious reasons exist why information would be withheld. The higher the check result, the more complete the information. Information ranges from general to protected, and the DC increases accordingly for the type of information, as given on the table.
ty p E O f in f O r m a t i O n Dc
General 10
Specific 15
Restricted 20
Protected 25
General information concerns local happenings, rumors, gossip, and the like. Specific information usually relates to a particular question.
Restricted information isn’t generally known and requires you to locate someone with access to the information. Protected information is even harder to come by and might involve some danger, either for the one asking the questions or the one providing the answers. There’s a chance someone takes note of anyone asking about restricted or protected information. The GM decides when this is the case. In some situations, opposed Gather Information checks are appropriate to see if someone else notices your inquiries (and you notice theirs). If you accept a –20 modifier on your check total, your inquiries avoid any notice.
• Finding People: You can use Gather Information to track down someone in a community. Make a Gather Information check to pick up your target’s trail and another for each hour you search, or when the trail becomes difficult to follow, such as when it moves to a different area
of town.The DC and number of Gather Information checks required to find your target depend on the size of the community, as given on the table. For every 5 points you exceed the DC, you reduce the required number of checks by one, to a minimum of one. So a Gather Information result of 35 allows you to locate anyone in a vast metropolis in an hour’s time. The DCs on the table assume the subject isn’t making any special effort to hide. People trying not to be found add their Knowledge (streetwise) or Stealth bonus to the DC to find them so long as they
keep a low profile.
cO m m u n t y Si z E Dc ch E c k S rE q u r E D
Village 5 1
Town 10 2
City 15 3
Metropolis 20 4
Try Again: Yes, but it takes additional time for each check, and you may draw attention to yourself if you repeatedly pursue a certain type of information.
Action: A Gather Information check takes at least an hour, possibly several, at the GM’s discretion. You can cut the time for a Gather
Information check in half by taking a –5 penalty.
Special: You can take 10 when making a Gather Information check, but cannot take 20.
Handle Animal
cha, Interaction
You know how to handle, care for, and train various types of animals.
Check: The time required to get an effect and the DC depend on what you are trying to do.
ta S k tm E Dc
Handle an animal Move action 10
Push an animal Full-round action 25
Teach an animal a trick 1 week See text
Train an animal for a purpose 4 weeks See text
• Handle an Animal: This means commanding an animal to perform a trick it knows. If the animal’s condition is something other than normal, the DC increases by +5. If the check is successful, the animal performs the task or trick on its next action.
• Push an Animal: Pushing an animal means getting it to perform a trick it doesn’t know, but is capable of doing. If the check is successful, the animal performs the task or trick on its next action.
• Teach an Animal a Trick: You can teach an animal a specific trick, such as “attack” or “stay,” with one week of work and a successful Handle Animal check (DC 15 for simple tricks, 20 or more for complex tricks). An animal with an Intelligence of 1 can learn a
maximum of three tricks, while an animal with an Intelligence of 2 can learn a maximum of six tricks.
• Train an Animal: Rather than teaching an animal individual tricks, you can train an animal for a general purpose, like combat, guarding, riding, and so forth. This requires a DC 20 skill check. Essentially, an animal’s purpose represents a set of tricks fitting a common scheme. An animal can be trained for one purpose only.
Action: See table.
Special: An untrained character uses Charisma checks to handle and push animals, but can’t teach or train animals. Characters with animal minions (see Minions, page 63) do not need to teach or train them, the animals automatically know the maximum number of tricks for their Intelligence. You still have to make Handle Animal checks to get animal minions to perform tricks unless they are completely obedient (in which case they automatically obey your commands and ignore those of others).
Intimidate
cha, Interaction
You know how to use threats (real or implied) to get others to cooperate.
Check: Make an Intimidate check, opposed by the target’s Intimidate or Sense Motive check or Will saving throw (whichever has the highest bonus). If your check succeeds, you may treat the target as friendly, but only for actions taken in your presence. (That is, the target retains his normal attitude, but will talk, advise, offer limited help, or advocate on your behalf while intimidated.) The target cooperates, but won’t necessarily obey your every command or do anything that would directly endanger him. If you perform some action that makes you more imposing, you gain a +2 bonus on your Intimidate check. If your target clearly has a superior position, you suffer a –2 penalty on your
Intimidate check. Fanatics get a +20 bonus on checks to resist being intimidated (see Diplomacy, page 46). If your Intimidate check fails by 5 or more, the target may actually do the opposite of what you want.
• Demoralizing in Combat: You can use Intimidate in combat to demoralize an opponent, shaking their confidence. Make an Intimidate
check as a standard action. If it succeeds, your target is shaken (–2 to attack rolls, saving throws, and checks) for one round.
• Interrogation: You can use Intimidate to get people to tell you things. If your check succeeds, the target spills the information.
• Intimidating Groups: You can intimidate a group of people—who can all see and hear you—with a single check. If the group clearly has you at a disadvantage, you suffer the usual –2 penalty on your Intimidate check. Each member of the group rolls separately, although the GM may choose to roll once for groups of minions. Compare your check result against each check result from the group. You cannot demoralize a group.
Try Again: No. Even if the initial check succeeds, the other character can only be intimidated so much, and trying again doesn’t help. If the initial check fails, the other character becomes more firmly resolved to resist, and trying again is futile. You can make Intimidate checks in combat freely until you fail, after which the target is no longer intimidated by you. Each time you demoralize an opponent in combat, he gains a +1 bonus to resist additional attempts in that encounter.
Action: An Intimidate check is a full-round action. Demoralizing in combat is a standard action. You can demoralize as a move action by taking
a –5 on your check.
Special: You add a +2 bonus to your Intimidate check for every size category you are larger than your target. Conversely, you take a –2 penalty
to your check for every size category you are smaller than your target (see Size, page 34).
Investigate
int, Trained only, Requires tools
You know how to prepare evidence for analysis and study clues.
Check: You generally use Search to find clues and Investigate to analyze them. If you have access to a crime lab, use the Investigate skill to collect and prepare samples for the lab.
• Analyze Clue: You can make an Investigate check to apply forensic knowledge to a clue. This function of the Investigate skill does not give you clues where none exist. It simply allows you to extract information from a clue you have found.
The base DC to analyze a clue is 15. It is modified by the time elapsed since the clue was left, and whether or not the scene was disturbed. Success gives you information based on the clue (as determined by the GM).
ci r c u m S t a n c E S Dc mOD i f i E r
Every day since event (max modifier +10) +2
Scene is outdoors +5
Scene slightly disturbed +2
Scene moderately disturbed +4
Scene extremely disturbed +6
• Collect Evidence: You can collect and prepare evidence for a lab. This use of Investigate requires an evidence kit. To collect a piece of evidence, make an Investigate check (DC 15). If the check succeeds, the evidence is usable by a crime lab. If the check fails, a crime lab analysis can be done, but the lab takes a –5 penalty on any necessary check. If the check fails by 5 or more, the lab analysis simply cannot be done. On the other hand, if the check succeeds by 10 or more, the lab gains a +2 bonus on its checks to analyze the material. This function of Investigate does not provide you with evidence. It simply allows you to collect evidence you have already found in a manner that best aids in its analysis later.
Try Again: Generally, analyzing a clue again doesn’t add new insight unless another clue is introduced. Evidence collected cannot be recollected, unless there is more of it to take.
Action: Analyzing a clue is a full-round action. Collecting evidence generally takes at least a minute.
Knowledge
int, specialty, Trained only
This skill encompasses several specialties, each treated as a separate skill. The Knowledge specialties, and the topics each one encompasses, are as follows:
• Arcane Lore: The occult, magic and the supernatural, astrology, numerology, and similar topics.
• Art: Fine arts and graphic arts, including art history and artistic techniques. Antiques, modern art, photography, and performance art
forms such as music and dance, among others.
• Behavioral Sciences: Psychology, sociology, and criminology.
• Business: Business procedures, investment strategies, and corporate structures. Bureaucratic procedures and how to navigate them.
• Civics: Law, legislation, litigation, and legal rights and obligations. Political and governmental institutions and processes.
Under the Hood: Player vs Character Knowledge
unDeR the hooD: playeR vs. chaRacteR knoWleDge
Knowledge skills measure what your character knows about various things,
whether you know anything about them or not. It’s fairly easy to measure
what a hero knows by making the appropriate Knowledge skill checks.
However, players may know things their characters do not, either
because of the player’s life experience or knowledge of the game and
its rules (and source material). In this case the Gamemaster may prefer
for players to limit themselves to only what their heroes know rather
than what they may or may not know about a given situation. If there’s
a question as to how to handle an issue of player versus character
knowledge in the game, consult your Gamemaster.
• Current Events: Recent happenings in the news, sports, politics, entertainment, and foreign affairs.
• Earth Sciences: Geology, geography, oceanography, and paleontology.
• History: Events, personalities, and cultures of the past. Archaeology and antiquities.
• Life Sciences: Biology, botany, genetics, medicine, and forensics.
• Physical Sciences: Astronomy, chemistry, mathematics, physics, and engineering.
• Popular Culture: Popular music and personalities, genre films and books, urban legends, comic books, science fiction, gaming, and trivia.
• Streetwise: Street and urban culture, local underworld personalities and events.
• Tactics: Techniques and strategies for disposing and maneuvering forces in combat.
• Technology: Current developments in cutting-edge devices, as well as the background necessary to identify various technological devices.
• Theology and Philosophy: Liberal arts, ethics, philosophical concepts, and the study of religious faith, practice, and experience.
Check: Make a Knowledge check to answer a question in your field. The DC is 10 for easy questions, 15 for basic questions, and 20 to 30 for difficult questions. You can make a Knowledge (technology) or Knowledge (arcane lore) check to identify devices associated with those areas of knowledge. The GM may make a Knowledge roll for you, so you don’t know whether or not your information is accurate.
Try Again: No. The check represents what a character knows, and thinking about a topic a second time doesn’t let you know something you
didn’t know before. The GM may allow another Knowledge check if a character gets access to a better source of information. For example, a hero who doesn’t know the answer to a particular question off-hand might get another check with access to a library or online database (and could take 10 or take 20 on that check, depending on the circumstances).
Action: A Knowledge check can be a reaction, but otherwise requires a full-round action. Taking 20 on a Knowledge check requires at least an
hour, longer if the GM decides the information you’re looking for is particularly obscure or otherwise restricted.
Special: An untrained Knowledge check is simply an Intelligence check. Without actual training, a character can only answer easy or basic questions about a topic. You can take 10 when making a Knowledge check. You can take 20 only if you have access to research materials (such as a library or online database) that allow you to keep looking for the answer.
Language
specialty, Trained only
Languages are unusual skills. They are not based on an ability score and do not require checks. Instead, your rank in Language measures how many languages you can speak, read, and write. Unskilled characters can speak, read, and write their native language. For each rank in Language, you are fluent in an additional language.
• Literacy: Characters are assumed to be literate in their native language and any other language they know. At the GM’s discretion,
characters may have to spend an additional rank to be literate in a language with a different alphabet or style of writing from the character’s native language (such as Japanese kanji or Greek for an English speaker). Completely illiterate characters may have a drawback (see Drawbacks, page 124).
Medicine
Wis, manipulation, Trained only, Requires tools
You’re trained in treating injuries and illness.
Check: The DC and effect depend on the task.
• Diagnosis (DC 10): You can diagnose injuries and ailments with an eye toward treatment. At the GM’s discretion, a successful diagnosis provides a +2 bonus on Medicine checks for treatment.
• Provide Care (DC 15): Providing care means treating a wounded person for a day or more or providing routine medical treatment. If successful, the patient adds your Medicine rank to any recovery checks (see Damage, page 163). You can tend up to your skill rank in patients at one time.
• Revive (DC 15): You can remove the dazed, stunned, or unconscious conditions from a character. This check is a full-round action. A successful check removes one condition. You can’t revive a dying character without stabilizing him first.
• Stabilize (DC 15): As a standard action, a successful Medicine check stabilizes a dying character.
• Treat Disease (DC 15): You can tend a character infected with a disease. Every time the diseased character makes a saving throw against disease effects (after the initial contamination), you make a Medicine check requiring 10 minutes. If your check succeeds, you provide a bonus on the character’s saving throw equal to your Medicine rank.
• Treat Poison (DC 15): You can tend a poisoned character. When a poisoned character makes a saving throw against a poison’s secondary effect, you make a Medicine check as a standard action. If the check succeeds, you provide a bonus on the character’s saving throw equal to your Medicine rank.
• Surgery (DC 15-30): You can perform surgical operations. The DC ranges from 15 for routine procedures to 30 or more for tricky operations like heart or brain surgery.
Try Again: Yes, for reviving dazed, stunned, or unconscious characters, and stabilizing dying characters. No, for all other uses of the skill.
Action: Medicine checks take time based on the task, as described above.
Special: You can take 10 when making a Medicine check. You can take 20 only when giving long-term care or attempting to revive dazed,
stunned, or unconscious characters. If you do not have the appropriate medical equipment, you take a –4 penalty on your check.
You can use the Medicine skill on yourself only to diagnose, provide care, or treat disease or poison. You take a –5 penalty on checks when treating yourself.
notice
Use this skill to notice things.
Check: Make a skill check to notice something. Notice checks generally suffer a penalty of –1 per 10 feet between you and the thing you’re trying to notice. If you’re distracted, you take a –5 penalty on Notice checks. Making out details—such as clearly hearing conversation
or reading text— requires you to exceed the DC by 10 or more. The GM may make Notice checks secretly so you don’t know whether
there was nothing to notice or you just failed to notice it. The most common sorts of Notice checks are:
Listen (auditory): Make a check against a DC based on how loud the noise is or against an opposed Stealth check. A normal conversation
is DC 0, a quiet noise DC 10. Listening through a door is +5 DC, +15 for a solid wall. While you’re asleep, hearing something well enough
to wake up is +10 DC.
• Spot (visual): Make a check against a DC based on how visible the object is or against an opposed Stealth check. Spot is also used to detect someone in disguise (see Disguise, page 47), or to notice a concealed object.
• Other Senses: You can make Notice checks involving other sense types as well as various special senses (see page 103 for more on sense types and unusual senses). Noticing something obvious to a sense is DC 0. Less obvious things are DC 10 or so, hidden things DC 20 or
more, and making out details requires you to exceed the DC by 10 or more.
Try Again: You can make a Notice check every time you have the opportunity to notice something new. As a move action, you can attempt to
notice something you failed (or believe you failed) to notice previously.
Action: A Notice check is either a reaction (if called for by the GM) or a move action (if you take the time to try and notice something).
Special: When several characters try to notice the same thing, the GM can make a single d20 roll and use it for all the characters’ skill checks.
Various sensory effects provide modifiers on Notice checks (see SuperSenses, page 102, for details).
Taking 20 on a Notice check means you spend 1 minute attempting to notice something that may or may not be there.
Perform
cha, specialty, Trained only
This skill encompasses several types of performance, each treated as a separate skill. The Perform specialties are:
• Acting: You can perform drama, comedy, or action-oriented roles with some level of skill.
• Comedy: You are a comedian, capable of performing a stand-up routine for an audience.
• Dance: You are a dancer, capable of performing rhythmic and patterned movements to music.
• Keyboards: You can play keyboard instruments, such as piano, organ, and synthesizer.
• Oratory: You can deliver effective speeches and monologues.
• Percussion Instruments: You can play percussion instruments, such as drums, cymbals, triangle, xylophone, and tambourine.
• Singing: You can sing with some level of skill.
• Stringed Instruments: You can play stringed instruments, such as banjo, guitar, harp, and violin.
• Wind Instruments: You can play wind instruments, such as flute, bugle, trumpet, tuba, bagpipes, and trombone.
Check: The quality of your performance depends on your check result.
ch E c k rE S u l t pE r f O r m a n c E
10 Amateur performance. Audience appreciates your
performance, but isn’t impressed.
15 Routine performance. Audience enjoys your performance,
but it isn’t exceptional.
20 Great performance. Audience impressed.
25 Memorable performance. Audience enthusiastic.
30 Masterful performance. Audience awed.
Try Again: Not for the same performance and audience.
Action: A Perform check usually requires at least several minutes to an hour or more.
Special: You can take 10 when making a Perform check, but can’t take 20. Perform skills requiring musical instruments are manipulation skills.
If you don’t have an appropriate instrument you automatically fail any Perform check requiring it. At the GM’s discretion, impromptu instruments may be employed, but you take a –4 penalty on the check.
pilot
Dex, manipulation, Trained only
Use this skill to pilot any vehicle that travels through the air or space, such as planes, helicopters, or spacecraft.
Check: Routine tasks, such as ordinary movement, don’t require a skill check. Make a check only when piloting in a dramatic situation (being
chased or attacked, for example, or trying to reach a destination in time). While piloting, you can attempt simple maneuvers or stunts.
ma n E u v E r Dc
Easy (low-speed turn) 5
Average (sudden reverse, dodging obstacles) 10
Difficult (tight turns) 15
Challenging (loop, barrel roll) 20
Formidable (high-speed maneuvers, dodging obstacles) 25
Try Again: Most Pilot checks have consequences for failure that make trying again impossible.
Action: A Pilot check is a move action.
Special: At the Gamemaster’s option, Pilot may be further broken down into more detailed categories requiring specialization, such as airplanes, jet-planes, helicopters, starfighters, space transports, or space cruisers.
Profession
Wis, specialty, Trained only
You’re trained in a profession such as accountant, doctor, engineer, game designer, lawyer, police officer, reporter, teacher, writer, and so forth. Like Craft, Profession is actually a number of specialties. You can have multiple Profession skills; each acquired as a separate skill.
While a Craft skill represents skill in making things, a Profession skill represents training in a job requiring a broader range of less specific
knowledge. Generally speaking, if an occupation is a service industry, it’s a Profession skill. If it’s in the manufacturing sector, it’s a Craft skill.
Check: You can practice a profession and make a living at it. You know how to use the tools of the trade, perform the profession’s daily tasks,
supervise untrained helpers, and handle common problems. For example, a sailor knows how to tie basic knots, tend and repair sails, and stand a deck watch at sea. The GM sets DCs for job-related tasks.
Action: A Profession check usually requires a minute or more, depending on the task.
Special: Every 5 full points of bonus in Profession give you a +1 bonus to Wealth (see page 132).
Ride
Dex, manipulation, Trained only
Use this skill to ride a mount, such as a horse or more exotic creatures like dolphins, griffins, or even dragons.
Check: Routine tasks, such as ordinary movement, don’t require a skill check. Make a check only when riding in a dramatic situation (being
chased or attacked, for example, or trying to reach a destination in time). While riding, you can attempt simple maneuvers or stunts.
Easy riding maneuvers, like staying in the saddle in a fight or guiding a mount with your knees, are DC 5. An average maneuver, like a full gallop or dodging around an obstacle, is DC 10. Difficult maneuvers, like using your mount as cover, jumping, or suffering no harm in a fall, are DC 15. Challenging maneuvers, like a fast mount or dismount (as a free action) or controlling a panicking mount, are DC 20 or more.
Try Again: Most Ride checks have consequences for failure that make trying again impossible.
Action: A Ride check is a move action.
Special: At the Gamemaster’s option, Ride may be further broken down into more detailed categories requiring specialization, such as running, swimming, and flying mounts, or even by specific mount type (horse, camel, dolphin, giant eagle, etc .).
Search
You can search an area for clues, hidden items, traps, and other details. Notice allows you to immediately notice things, Search allows you to pick up on details with some effort. Search works in conjunction with all accurate senses (see page 102). Sight is the only accurate sense for normal humans.
Check: You must be within 10 feet (one Notice range increment) of the area. You can examine a 5-foot-by-5-foot area or a volume of goods 5 feet on a side with a single check. A Search check can turn up things like footprints, but does not allow you to follow tracks (see Tracking, page 104).
ta S k Dc
Ransack an area to find a certain object. 10
Notice a secret compartment, a simple trap, or an obscure clue. 20
Find a well-hidden secret compartment or trap, or an extremely
obscure clue.
25+
• Finding Concealed Objects: The DC for a Search check to find a concealed object is usually based on the Stealth or Slight of Hand
check of the character who hid it. The GM can assume characters with the time take 20 on their check to conceal an object.
• Surveillance: You can use Search to set up surveillance of a particular area, watching from a stationary location. The DC of the subject’s Stealth check to evade your notice is equal to the result of your Search check.
• Extended Searches: Certain powers—notably ESP, Quickness, SuperSenses, and Super-Speed—greatly extend the area you can search at
once. When searching for something over an extended area, use the following guidelines. Determine the area’s approximate diameter. For each step up the Extended Range Table (starting at 10 feet for twice the normal Search area), move the time required to search the area one step up the Time and Value Progression Table (starting at one minute, the interval above a full round). See pages 69 and 70 for those tables.
You can reduce the time required for an extended search by increasing the DC of the Search check: each step down the Time and
Value Progression Table, to a minimum of a full round, is +5 DC. The Quickness power (see page 96) can also reduce the time for an
extended search.You can take 10 and take 20 on extended searches. Taking 20 requires 20 times the base time to search the area, and you can’t reduce the time by increasing the DC if you take 20. Example: A hero wants to search an area a mile in diameter using ESP. This is four steps up the Extended Range Table, so the GM moves four steps up the Time and Value Progression Table and gets a base time of one hour to make the search. If the hero wanted to quickly search a mile diameter to find a certain object (DC 10), rather than taking an hour, he can increase the DC by +20 (to DC 30) and accomplish the search in one round (four steps down the Time and Value Progression Table).
Rocketfoott, who has Super-Speed 10, wants to search the same 1-mile diameter. This would normally take an hour, but Johnny’s
Super-Speed allows him to perform routine tasks 2,500 times faster than normal. This allows him to perform the search in less than 3
seconds (one standard action). If Johnny decides to take 20 on his Search check, it takes him about 30 seconds (one hour × 20 / 2,500
= 28.8 seconds) or 5 full rounds to search the whole diameter.
Action: A Search check is a full-round action.
Sense Motive
You can tell someone’s true intentions by paying attention to body language, inflection, and intuition.
Check: A successful Sense Motive check allows you to avoid the effects of some interaction skills. You can also use the skill to tell when someone is behaving oddly or to assess their trustworthiness.
• Evaluate: You can use this skill to make an assessment of a social situation. With a successful check (DC 20), you can get a feeling when
something is wrong. You can also tell if someone is trustworthy and honorable (or not) with an opposed Sense Motive and Bluff check.
• Notice Influence: You can make a Sense Motive check to notice someone acting under the influence of a mental power. The DC is 10 +
the power’s rank.
• Notice Innuendo: You can use Sense Motive to detect a hidden message transmitted via the Bluff skill (DC equal to the Bluff check
result). If your check result beats the DC, you understand the secret message. If your check fails by 5 or more, you misinterpret the message
in some fashion. If you are not the intended recipient of the message, your DC increases by 5.
• Resist Interaction: Make a Sense Motive check to resist or ignore the effects of certain interaction skills, such as Bluff or Intimidate. If the result of your check exceeds your opponent’s check result, you are unaffected.
Try Again: No, though you can make a Sense Motive check for each interaction attempt against you.
Action: A Sense Motive check may be made as a reaction to notice or resist something. (When that’s the case, the GM may roll the Sense Motive check in secret, so you don’t know if there’s something to notice or not.) Using Sense Motive to evaluate a person or situation takes at least 1 minute.
Sleight of Hand
Dex, manipulation, Trained only
You can perform feats of legerdemain such as picking pockets, palming small objects (making them seem to disappear), and so forth.
Check: A check against DC 10 lets you palm a coin-sized object. Minor feats of sleight of hand, such as making a coin disappear, also have a
Wis DC of 10 unless an observer is concentrating on noticing what you are doing. When you perform this skill under close observation, your check is opposed by the observer’s Notice check. The observer’s check doesn’t prevent you from performing the action, just from doing it unnoticed.
• Thievery: When you try to take something from another person, your opponent makes a Notice check. To obtain the object, you must get a result of 20 or higher, regardless of the opponent’s check result. The opponent noticed the attempt if his check result beats your check
result, whether you take the object or not.
• Planting: You can make a Sleight of Hand check to plant a small object on someone, slip something into their pocket, drop something
into their drink, and so forth. To plant the object, you must get a result of 20 or higher, regardless of the opponent’s check result. The
opponent noticed the attempt if his check result beats your check result, whether you plant the object or not.
• Concealment: You can use Sleight of Hand to conceal a small item, making your check result the DC of a Search check to find it.
Try Again: A second Sleight of Hand attempt against the same target, or when being watched by the same observer, has a DC 10 higher than the first check if the first check failed or was noticed.
Action: A Sleight of Hand check is a standard action.
Special: You can make an untrained Sleight of Hand check to conceal something, but must always take 10 when doing so, so you can’t do it
while under stress.
Stealth
You’re skilled at going unnoticed.
Check: Your Stealth check is opposed by the Notice check of anyone who detect you. While using Stealth, you can move up to half your normal speed at no penalty. At more than half and up to your full speed, you take a –5 penalty.
It’s practically impossible (–20 penalty) to use Stealth while attacking, moving all out, or charging.
• Size Modifiers: Apply the modifier from your size category to your Stealth checks to represent the relative ease of noticing smaller and
larger targets (see Size, page 34).
• Hiding: If others have spotted you, you can’t use Stealth to remain unseen. You can run around a corner so you are out of sight and then
use Stealth to hide, but others then know which way you went. You can’t hide at all if you have absolutely no cover or concealment, since that means you’re standing out in plain sight. Of course, if someone isn’t looking directly at you (you’re sneaking up from behind, for example), then you have concealment relative to that person. Characters with the Hide in Plain Sight feat (see page 61) can make Stealth checks without the need for cover or concealment.
• Creating a Diversion to Hide: A successful Bluff or Intimidate check can give you the momentary diversion needed to make a Stealth
check while people are aware of you. When others turn their attention from you, you can make a Stealth check if you can reach cover
or concealment of some kind. (As a general guideline, any cover has to be within 1 foot for every rank you have in Stealth.) This check,
however, is at a –5 penalty because you have to move quickly.
• Sniping: If you’re successfully hidden at least one Notice range increment away from a subject (usually 10 feet), then you can make a
ranged attack and immediately hide again, but you suffer a –20 penalty to your Stealth check.Tailing: You can use Stealth to tail someone
at your normal speed. This assumes you have some cover or concealment (crowds of people,shadows, fog, etc.). If the subject is worried
about being followed, he can make a Notice check (opposed by your Stealth check) every time he changes course (goes around a street
corner, exits a building, and so on). If he is unsuspecting, he only gets a Notice check after each hour of being tailed. If the subject notices you, you can make a Bluff check,opposed by Sense Motive. If you succeed, you manage to pass off your presence as coincidence and can
continue tailing.A failed Bluff check, or being noticed a second time, means the subject knows something is up.
Action: Stealth is a move action.
Survival
You use this skill to survive in the wilderness, including finding food and shelter, and safely guiding others.
Check: Make a check to determine the conditions you can handle.
ta S k Dc
Get along in the wild. Move up to half your
overland speed while hunting and foraging
(no food or water supplies needed). You
can provide food and water for one other
person for every 2 points your check result
exceeds 10.
Gain a +2 bonus on Fortitude saves against
severe weather while moving up to half your
speed, or a +4 bonus if stationary. You may
grant the same bonus to one other character
for every point your check result exceeds 15.
Avoid getting lost and avoid natural hazards,
such as quicksand.
Wis
10
15
18
•Navigation: You can use Survival to navigate outdoors. The DC is 10 if you have the proper tools, 14 if you have no tools, and 18 if you
are also avoiding natural hazards (quicksand, gullies, reefs, etc .). At the GM’s discretion, characters can also perform this task using an
appropriate Knowledge or Profession skill.
Try Again: No.
Action: Survival checks occur each day in the wilderness or whenever a hazard presents itself.
Special: You can take 10 when making a Survival check, but can’t take 20.
Swim
You can swim and maneuver underwater.
Check: A successful Swim check allows you to swim one-quarter your speed as a move action or half your speed as a full-round action. If the
check fails, you make no progress through the water. If the check fails by 5 or more, you go underwater. If you are underwater you must hold your breath to avoid drowning (see Suffocation, page 168). The DC for the Swim check depends on the condition of the water:
cO n D i t i O n Dc
Calm water 10
Rough water 15
Stormy water 20
Each hour you swim, make a Swim check (DC 20). If the check fails, you suffer from fatigue (see page 167). Unconscious characters go underwater and immediately begin to drown.
• Rescuing: Rescuing another character who cannot swim (for whatever reason) increases the DC of your Swim checks by +5.
Action: A Swim check is either a move action or a full-round action, as described above.