|
|
|
- Acting (Mental 1, Charisma -1) — Acting enables a character to skillfully
portray various roles, often as entertainment. It can also be
used to enhance a disguise. If a character has both Acting and
Disguise skills, the check for either is made at a +5% bonus.
Skill checks are required only if the actor must portray a particularly
difficult role or is attempting to ‘ad lib’ without rehearsal.
- Administration (Mental 1, Intelligence/Reason +1) — Many temples own substantial
amounts of land and property, wielding power over vast areas.
Priests who can manage these lands and turn a tidy profit in the
name of the Church are always in demand. A character with this
skill is adept in the management and accounting of enterprises
ranging from the agriculture of an entire province to the vineyards
of a single small monastery. He knows how to account for money,
plan work, and supervise the collection of taxes or the sale of
goods.
- Alchemy (Mental 1, Intelligence/Knowledge-3) — A character with this
skill is not necessarily an alchemist or a specialist in the magical
school of alchemy, but he is well-versed in the physical aspects
of magical research and the properties of various chemicals, reagents
and substances. If the character has access to a decent laboratory,
he can use his knowledge to identify unknown elements or compounds,
create small doses of acids, incendiaries, or pyrotechnical substances
or (if he is a wizard of 9th level or higher) brew potions.
Refer to Chapter 5 of Player’s Option: Spells and Magic for information on the size, cost and equipment of an alchemical
laboratory. Naturally, a wizard or other character may be able
to defray some of the costs by sharing his facilities or striking
some kind of deal with a local wizard’s guild; the DM can come
up with the details.
- A wizard who spends money to expand his alchemical laboratory
beyond the minimum size for a character of his level increases
his chance of success when using the Alchemy skill by 1% per 1,000
gp in improvements.
- Identifying substances or samples of unknown material requires
1d4 days and a successful skill check. Simple materials, such
as powdered metals or ores, provide the alchemist with a +5% to
+20% bonus on his check, at the DM’s discretion. Rare, complex,
damaged or incomplete samples might impose a -5% to -20% penalty.
- This skill can be used to identify potions, but a character has
only half his normal chance to identify cursed potions as such
(including his own creations). A character attempting to make
a magic potion with this skill must follow the rules in the Book of Artifacts, pg. 120-24.
Creating dangerous substances such as acids or burning powders
takes 1d3 days and 20-50 gp or (1d4+1) x 10 per vial, or 2-5 days
and 50-100 gp or (1d6+4) x 10 per flask. The alchemist must pass
a skill check in order to successfully manufacture the substance;
failing the check with a natural roll of 96-00 results in an explosion
or other mishap that exposes the character to the effects of his
work and damages the laboratory for 10 to 60 percent or 1d6 x
10 percent of its construction value.
- Acid inflicts 1d3 points of damage per vial or 2d4 points of damage
per flask, and continues to injure the victim during the next
round; the vial inflicts one point of damage in the second round,
and the flask causes 1d3 points of damage. In addition, the flask
is large enough to splash creatures near the target; see Grenade-like
Missiles in the DMG. Acid can also burn out a lock or clasp, forcing an item saving
throw.
- Incendiaries ignite when exposed to air. A flask of incendiary
liquid inflicts damage as per burning oil (2d6 points in the first
round and 1d6 in the second). Again, refer to the DMG. Incendiary powders or liquids can easily start fires if used
on buildings, dry brush or other such surfaces.
- Pyrotechnic materials resemble incendiaries, but create clouds
of billowing smoke. A vial creates a cloud of smoke 5' high by
5' wide by 5' deep, obscuring vision. A flask creates a cloud
of smoke 10' high by 10' wide by 10' deep. The clouds persist
for 1d3 rounds, depending on the wind and other conditions.
- Alchemy is an expensive hobby, to say the least, and it can be
a dangerous one as well. If a player character is abusing this
skill (i.e., walking into a dungeon with 10 flasks of acid in
his pack), the DM can require item saving throws for all those
beakers anytime the character slips, falls or is struck by an
opponent.
- Wizards: Wizards who specialize in the school of alchemy gain a +10%
bonus to their skill rating in Alchemy.
- Prerequisites: The prerequisites for this skill are Herbalism (50%) and Brewing (50%). A character who learns the Alchemy skill gains a +5% bonus
to both the prerequisite skills upon learning Alchemy because
of the new insights gained into the interrelation of these skills.
- Alms (Mental 1, Charisma/Leadership) — Some orders of priests rely
on the charity of others for their support and livelihood. A character
with this skill is able to find food, shelter and clothing in
return for the benefit of his wisdom and a blessing or two for
his hosts. The quality of the charity the priest finds may vary
widely, depending on the wealth of his prospective hosts, their
piety and their recognition of his deity, and the way the priest
presents himself. Generally, if there’s shelter to be had, the
priest can make use of it, but obtaining food or clothing for
his companions may require a skill check at the DM’s discretion.
- Ambush (Mental 1, Intelligence/Reason) — A character with this skill
is proficient at laying ambushes and setting up surprise attacks.
Most characters can set up an adequate ambush when the terrain
favors it and they know the enemy is coming, but a character who
allocates skill points to this skill is able to create ambushes
where ambushes wouldn’t normally be possible.
- Ambushes are impossible if the attackers have already been spotted
by the victims; there’s no point in hiding then. If the ambushing
party knows their quarry is coming to them, they can lay an ambush.
If the attack is going to take place in difficult or unusual circumstances,
a skill check may be called for; failure indicates that the victims
have spotted the ambush before they walk into it. Otherwise, the
ambush is guaranteed to achieve surprise.
- Racial modifiers: Elves, Forest Gnomes and halflings gain a +25% bonus to their
Ambush skill checks. Kobolds and Orcs gain a +20% bonus. Goblins
and Lizard Men gain a +10% bonus.
- Anatomy (Mental 1, Intelligence/Knowledge) — This skill involves the
knowledge of the secret mysteries and intricacies of the human
(demihuman and humanoid) body, including the structure, function
and location of bones, muscles, organs and other soft tissues.
This skill provides the scholarly foundation for the special abilities
of the Anatomist wizard kit.
- A wizard or other character can use this skill to repair corpses
that have been badly damaged. With a successful skill check, the
character can strengthen and reinforce a body, making it more
suitable for animation as a mindless undead. This provides a hit
point bonus of +1 per die for skeletal remains or a bonus of +2
hp per die for a creature to be animated as a zombie. This skill
also comes in handy with certain necromantic spells (such as corpse
link, spectral voice and graft flesh), which require fresh body
parts that have been carefully harvested from cadavers.
- This skill also has some less gruesome benefits. A detailed knowledge
of anatomy can help with both the treatment of disease and the
accurate artistic representation of the human body. Characters
with the anatomy nonweapon skill automatically increase their
skill with Chirurgery and Healing by +10%. A character using an Artistic Ability skill to depict
living creatures gains a +10% bonus if the character also possesses
the Anatomy skill.
- Assassins: An assassin who studies the Anatomy skill gains a +10% bonus
to his chance to successfully assassinate an opponent because
his enhanced knowledge of the body allows the assassin to deliver
a more lethal strike.
- Animal Handling (Mental 1, Ego/Willpower -1, 20% default) — Proficiency in this
area enables a character to exercise a greater than normal degree
of control over pack animals and beasts of burden. A successful
skill check indicates that the character has succeeded in calming
an excited or agitated animal. In contrast, a character without
this skill defaults to only a 20% chance of succeeding in the
attempt. If this skill is taken as a recommended, studied or bonus
skill, 20% is added to the total. The character with this skill
also receives a +5% bonus to all animal-riding skills.
- Ranger: A ranger’s animal empathy ability can produce essentially the
same calming effect on an animal as the Animal Handling skill.
If a ranger also has the Animal Handling skill, he may attempt
to soothe an animal either by making skill check or by using his
animal empathy ability — but not both. A ranger who takes this
skill gains a +2 bonus to his animal empathy skill. Any character
with an animal empathy skill or trait gains a +10% bonus to the
Animal Handling skill.
- If an animal is among a ranger’s followers, neither animal empathy
nor the Animal Handling skill is necessary to control the follower.
The Animal Handling skill has no effect on a ranger’s species
enemy.
- Paladin: A paladin can soothe his bonded mount automatically; the Animal
Handling skill is not necessary.
- Racial modifiers: Eradan humans, elves (except for Drow and Oceanus elves), half-elves,
forest gnomes and Uldra receive a +5% bonus to this skill. Peradian
humans gain a +10% bonus to their Animal Handling skill.
- Animal Lore (Mental 1, Intelligence/Knowledge) — This skill enables a character
to observe the actions or habitat of an animal and interpret what
is going on. Actions can show how dangerous the creature is, whether
it is hungry, protecting its young, or defending a nearby den.
Furthermore, careful observation of signs and behaviors can even
indicate the location of a water hole, animal herd, predator or
impending danger, such as a forest fire. The DM will secretly
roll a skill check. A successful check means the character understood
the basic actions of the creature. If the check fails by 20% or
less, no information is gained. If the check fails by more than
20%, the character misinterprets the actions of the animal.
- The effectiveness of this skill varies according to the background
of a character. A character who has lived his entire life underground
knows little about animals living above ground and is penalized
by -10% to his skill check when attempting to use the Animal Lore
skill with regard to these creatures, but he will be very knowledgeable
about those underground and receives a +5% chance to his skill
check when attempting to use Animal Lore with regard to these
creatures (and vice versa). A character with a background of trade
with other races who live both below and above ground or who travels
regularly between the surface and the Everdark, may have normal
Animal Lore skill with no modifiers, knowing both above and below-ground
animals (but not having expert knowledge of either).
- A character may also imitate the calls and cries of animals that
he is reasonably familiar with, based on his background. This
ability is limited by volume. The roar of a tyrannosaurus rex
would be beyond the abilities of a normal character. A successful
skill check means that only magical means can distinguish the
character’s call from that of the true animal. The cry is sufficient
to fool animals, perhaps frightening them away or luring them
closer. A failed check means the sound is incorrect in some slight
way. A failed call may still fool some listeners, but creatures
very familiar with the cry automatically detect a false call.
All other creatures and characters are allowed a Wisdom check
to detect the fake.
- Finally, Animal Lore increases the chance of successfully setting
snares and traps (for hunting) since the character knows the general
habits of the creature hunted. A character with this skill adds
a +10% to a Hunting and Set Snares skill checks (with regard to animals only).
- Aquatic creatures: Aquatic creatures live in habitats and follow behavior patterns
that do not lend themselves to easy study. Characters with this
skill suffer a -10% penalty to checks regarding aquatic creatures.
However, a character can choose to specialize in aquatic creatures
resulting in a +5% bonus when studying aquatic animals, but resulting
in a -10% penalty to land-based skill checks.
- Barbarian: All barbarians receive the Animal Lore skill as a bonus skill
for creatures in their homeland terrain. If a barbarian spends
skill points to improve this skill by at least 25 skill points,
he acquires knowledge of Animal Lore for creatures other than
those native to his homeland terrain.
- Druids: Any nature priest or druid who does not already have this skill
may take it as a recommended skill.
- Paladins: Although this skill allows a character to imitate animal sounds,
this ability neither helps nor hinders the paladin when summoning
his bonded mount.
- Racial modifiers: Elberethi elves, Forest Gnomes, Wild Halflings and Uldra gain
a +10% bonus when using this skill. Fälgornian humans, Peradian
humans, Variquesti elves and Rock Gnomes receive a +5% bonus when
using this skill.
 
|
