Reason

Description

Ability Score Used:	Choose One
Usable Untrained?	No (Bailiwick)
Armor Check Penalty Applies?	No

Only Alchemists and Monks may learn this bailiwick skill. No other class may place ranks in it unless they have an ability which specifically states they may put ranks into a bailiwick skill not normally offered by their class. A bailiwick skill is a skill that represents the core competency of a style of adventure, and has many useful applications.

The reason skill is an expression of your practical knowledge of all things related to cognition, philosophy and thinking, regardless of your intelligence score. Inductive and deductive reasoning comes naturally to you. For each rank a character places in reason, the character receives a free rank in Knowledge (Logic). Note that no character may ever have more ranks in a skill than her character level.

Each character class gains a single bailiwick skill at character creation, and this bailiwick skill is always a natural talent for your character. When you place your first rank in this skill, you must select one of your ability modifiers, and use that ability modifier as the key ability modifier for this skill. Once selected, this ability modifier may not be changed, except through the Character Retraining rules. Natural talent skills never suffer an armor check penalty, even if you associate that skill with your STR or DEX modifier.

If you gain a second bailiwick skill (usually through a racial trait), it is not automatically a natural talent (even though you typically get to choose which of your ability score modifiers is aligned to the second bailiwick skill). Armor check penalties do apply to the second bailiwick skill if you choose to associate it with your STR or DEX modifier, and you do not gain matching ranks in the linked skill for that bailiwick skill (in the case of reason, Knowledge (Logic)).

As with all skills, the uses below are merely suggestions, and by no means the full gamut of possible ways a skill can be used. Players and GM's are encouraged to find additional ways to use each skill.

Concentrate

To cast a spell, you must concentrate. If something interrupts your concentration while you're casting, you must make a Concentration skill check or lose the spell. The more distracting the interruption and the higher the level of the spell you are trying to cast, the higher the DC. Concentration checks are typically made for the following reasons (though other reasons may occur as well): to cast a spell while threatened by an enemy in combat to cause a spell to overcome the spell resistance of a creature to manipulate a spell which emulates a combat maneuver (such as Black Tentacles (Spell)) to overcome the target's Maneuver Defense casting a spell while grappled or pinned Casting Defensively You can attempt to cast a spell while threatened by an enemy in combat, but it is inherently risky. This is sometimes referred to as 'casting while threatened', 'casting defensively', 'concentration check', or 'combat casting'. These terms are all effectively interchangeable, as they all refer to making a skill check to cast a spell due to being threatened by an enemy. Note that casting defensively cannot normally provoke an attack of opportunity. Instead, the spell either succeeds or fails, depending on the outcome of the check. The target DC of defensive casting is 10 + (spell level x 4). As a result, casting lower level spells while threatened is far less risky to a higher level caster than trying to cast one of their best spells while threatened. Overcome Spell Resistance You can use concentration to attempt to force your spells through the defenses of a creature which is immune to spells. Such creatures have a special ability called Spell Resistance, which means that all spells or spell-like abilities must first make a concentration check versus a DC of the target creature's Maneuver Defense, or the spell fails to affect that creature. This special ability is effectively an immunity to spells! However, as a big damned hero, you can focus your will, and try to blast through this defense anyway. You're just that much of a bad-ass. Manipulate Spell Effect Some spells, such as Black Tentacles (Spell), emulate the effects of one or more Combat Maneuvers. As such, the effects of the spell go against the creature's Maneuver Defense score, instead of its Armor Class. Instead of using your own Might or Sleight of Hand skills to challenge your target, you use the power of your spell to manipulate your opponent on your behalf. You don't need bulging muscles and an obsession with high-protein diets to grapple monsters — you've got MAGIC! Spells which work inflict combat maneuver-like effects will also describe the need to use a concentrate check in place of might or sleight of hand in the text of the spell. Casting While Grappling If you are suffering under the grappled condition due to the actions of an enemy creature, you can cast a spell without any somatic components simply by casting defensively (see above). However, spells with somatic components require a Concentration check to cast, versus a DC of the grappler's Maneuver Defense, or the spell fails and the action to cast it is wasted. This Concentration check counts as the Casting Defensively check for casting the spell in melee (i.e. it is not in addition to a defensive casting Concentration check). Adverse Conditions If you are vigorously moving, in the middle of a violent storm, trying to stay upright on a tossing ship, or are otherwise being aggressively affected by your environment, you don't normally need to make a concentration check to cast a spell, because you're just that awesome. However, if you are attempting to cast a spell in the middle of a typhoon while on a sinking ship AND you are forced to make a concentration check for any reason, you suffer one or more penalties to the check due to the adverse conditions present.
Action Required:	Usually part of the same action as casting a spell
DC of Check:	Casting Defensively: 10 + (spell level x 4) Overcome Spell Resistance: the target's Maneuver Defense Manipulate Spell Effect: the target's Maneuver Defense Cast While Grappled: the target's Maneuver Defense
Modifiers to Check	Damaged During Casting: If you suffer damage during the act of casting a spell (usually due to a readied action), you increase the DC of your concentration check by +5. Bad Weather / Hazardous Environment: If you are in a terrible storm, or standing on a crumbling shelf in the midst of an earthquake, or any other adverse conditions that do not inflict damage each round, the DC of any concentration check is increased by +5. Dangerous Weather / Damaging Environment: If you are in a storm with flung debris, standing on a razor-sharp bed of shifting obsidian skree, or standing ankle-deep in an acid swamp, where you are suffering damage from the environment every round, the DC of any concentration check is increased by +10.
Take 10? / Take 20?	No (though some class features, feats, and abilities may allow this).
Allows Assists?	No
Results of Success	You successfully cast the spell.
Consequences of Failure	You lose the spell, just as if you had cast it to no effect.
Retry Allowed?	Yes, with a new spell. The spell of the initial attempt is lost, as though it had been cast.
Provokes AOO?	No

Determine Tactics of Mindless Creature

Reason may be used to figure out how a creature that is mindless will behave based on its situational awareness and general purpose. You can deduce its programming based only on a few seconds of its responses to your party's approach. You may only attempt this skill use once combat with the creature has begun, because you need to see it in action to surmise how it responds to different stimuli.
Action Required:	Standard action
DC of Check:	10 + creature's CR (or 20 + creature's CR)
Modifiers to Check	Hasty Evaluation: You can attempt to determine the tactics of a mindless creature as a swift action (instead of a standard action), by increasing the DC by +10. (Epic Only) Mostly Mindless: You must have at least 21 ranks in reason to use this modifier. You can use determine tactics of a mindless creature on any creature with an intelligence score greater than 0. The DC increases by +5 per point of intelligence of the creature (i.e. a creature with an Int score (not modifier) of 3 would increase the DC by +15).
Take 10? / Take 20?	No
Allows Assists?	Yes (up to 5 allies). Assisting allies must have ranks in the reason skill.
Results of Success	GM's should read, or allow the player to read, the "Combat Tactics" section of the monster's entry in the bestiary.
Consequences of Failure	You are unable to deduce the monster's behavior.
Retry Allowed?	Yes, this can be attempted on a subsequent round. A character may not make more than one attempt in the same round, however.
Provokes AOO?	No

Rapid Mathematics

You can use reason to instantly tally loose coins, calculate the odds of something occurring, or perform some other feat of mathematics in your head.
Action Required:	Free action (during your turn)
DC of Check:	10 + double CR of the feat attempted
Modifiers to Check	Show Your Work: If you choose to write down the problem and work it out on paper, the time to perform the calculation increases to 1 minute (per attempt), but you reduce the DC by -10.
Take 10? / Take 20?	Yes
Allows Assists?	Yes (up to 5 allies). Assisting allies must have ranks in reason.
Results of Success	You know the answer to the mathematical problem. This can be a single number, or a set of numbers which are responsive to the problem in question.
Consequences of Failure	You are unable to figure out the solution.
Retry Allowed?	Yes, but each attempt after the first requires a standard action. You may not attempt this skill use more than once per round.
Provokes AOO?	No (if you choose to show your work, this does provoke).

Convert Spell to Extract

Alchemists may use reason to convert a spell, typically in the form of a scroll or a borrowed spellbook, into an extract that they can use. A spell must already exist on the alchemist's extract list in order for it to be converted (i.e. you can't convert a spell which an alchemist cannot normally get as an extract).
Action Required:	It takes one hour of studying the spell to be converted before a Reason check may be made. If the check is successful, it takes another 1 hour per spell level (or 30 minutes for a zero-level spell) to inscribe the formula of the new extract into your formula book.
DC of Check:	15 + spell level
Modifiers to Check	-
Take 10? / Take 20?	You can take 10, but you cannot take 20.
Allows Assists?	Yes (up to 5 allies). Assisting allies must have ranks in reason.
Results of Success	You successfully copy the spell, in the form of an extract, into your formula book. You are now able to construct that extract when you prepare extracts.
Consequences of Failure	The spell is written in such a way that you cannot work out the alchemical equivalents. You do not gain access to this extract.
Retry Allowed?	No. You must find a different source of that spell (a different scroll, a different spellbook, etc.) in order to try again.
Provokes AOO?	Yes. Don't try this in combat.

Identify Magic Item

You can use reason to identify the properties and command words (if any) of a magic item you are holding. This is identical to the Divinity, Naturalism, Spellcraft, Spycraft, and Warfare ability to identify magic items. It is also very similar to the Barter ability, except that it is faster. Reason may also be used to assist another party member's attempt at determining the properties of a magic item, even if the other party member is using a different skill to make the check.
Action Required:	3 rounds per item you are attempting to identify
DC of Check:	10 + double the caster level of the item
Modifiers to Check	-
Take 10? / Take 20?	No
Allows Assists?	Yes (up to 5 allies).
Results of Success	Item is identified, including the command words (if any) needed to trigger its magical properties.
Consequences of Failure	Item is not identified
Retry Allowed?	You must wait 24 hours before retrying on the same item. Any attempts in the meantime always fail.
Provokes AOO?	Yes

Craft Magic Item

When combined with the Creator feat, reason can be used to create magic items. A day of crafting a magic item is 8 uninterrupted hours of work in an appropriate work space. While you can do other things during that day, you must have 8 consecutive hours in your work space for it to count towards the number of days required to make the magic item. Working fewer than 8 hours at a time fails to reduce the number of days required to finish the work – you can't work fractions of days and then add them together to create a day of work. Days of work need not be consecutive. You can take breaks or go adventuring, then come back and keep working, and this does not harm the final product in any way, except to delay its completion date. However, if you begin working on a different magic item before the first one is finished, all work on the first one is lost, and any components used for its creation are destroyed, just as if you had failed the check.
Action Required:	2 days, +1 day per caster level of the item being created. You can never reduce the time to create a magic item below 3 days, no matter how well you roll.
DC of Check:	If your skill check result is at least an Easy DC for your current level, but less than an Average DC the time required to complete the magic item is increased by 1 day OR 10%, whichever is worse. If your skill check result is at least an Average DC for your current level, but less than a Challenging DC, the required time to complete the magic item is unchanged. If you roll grater than or equal to a Challenging DC for your current level, but less than an Impossible DC, the required time to complete the retraining is reduced by 1 day OR 10%, whichever is better. If you roll greater than or equal to an Impossible DC for your current level, the required time to complete the retraining is reduced by 3 days OR 25%, whichever is better.
Modifiers to Check	If you are attempting to create a magic item that has more than one enchantment on it, the caster level of the item is determined by taking the highest caster level of the enchantments you wish to add, and then adding +3 caster levels to that number for each additional enchantment you are adding after the first. The maximum caster level of an item is 35, and if an item's caster level is above 21, you cannot create that item until you have at least 21 ranks in your bailiwick skill.
Take 10? / Take 20?	No
Allows Assists?	Yes, but only if each assisting ally has Cooperative Crafting (Feat). Up to 5 allies with that feat may assist.
Results of Success	You create the magic item after the designated number of days.
Consequences of Failure	If you fail to achieve at least an Easy DC for your current level, or you roll a natural 1 on the die, the attempt fails. The components you intended to use in the item's creation are destroyed, including any monetary expenses for the item. This failure occurs on the final day of the item's creation, meaning you also lose a number of days equal to its unmodified creation time (minimum 3 days).
Retry Allowed?	Yes, though you must procure new components to replace the destroyed ones, and begin the process again. You gain a +5 circumstance bonus on each retry after a failure, as you incorporate your new knowledge of what not to do.
Provokes AOO?	Yes. Don't try this during combat.

Identify an Object's Creator (Epic Use)

You can use reason to study an object or magic item in order to determine who crafted that item. While many items are created by unknown professionals, some are created by famous individuals, or people of historical significance. Learning the provenance of an item may improve its value to a collector, or may help you to understand more of its history. This is an epic skill use, and requires at least 21 ranks in the skill before it may be attempted.
Action Required:	1 minute of study
DC of Check:	DC 40 + caster level of item
Modifiers to Check	Friends with Creator: If the creator of the object is a friend of yours, reduce the DC by -10. Acquainted With Creator: If you are acquainted with the creator of the object, reduce the DC by -5. Famous Creator: If you have never met the creator, but they are well known within their profession, reduce the DC by -2. Unknown Creator: If the creator is a nobody within their profession, increase the DC by +10. Hurry: You can attempt to learn the creator of an item by studying it for only a single standard action (instead of 1 minute), but doing so increases the DC by +10.
Take 10? / Take 20?	You can take 10 (as long as you are not in combat), but you cannot take 20.
Allows Assists?	Yes (up to 5 allies). Assisting allies must have ranks in reason.
Results of Success	You learn the name of the creator, and the nation of origin of that creator. If you succeed by 5 or more, you learn the name of the creator, infer all professions that creator is skilled at (not just the one used to create this object), and surmise the city in which their primary work space is located.
Consequences of Failure	If you fail by 4 or less, you can deduce the nation of origin of the creator, but not the creator's name. If you fail by 5 or more, you simply aren't able to determine anything about the creation of the object.
Retry Allowed?	No. The check represents what you know, and thinking about a topic a second time doesn't let you know something that you never learned in the first place.
Provokes AOO?	Yes

Learn Secret Language (Epic Use)

You can attempt to learn a secret language, as long as you have sufficient exposure to the language. Examples of sufficient sources include a document of at least 2 pages (500 words) in length, or being present for a conversation, spoken in the secret language, lasting at least 10 minutes. From this foundation, you can deduce the structure of the secret language sufficient to actually learn it without being explicitly taught it. This skill use does not reveal the content of the conversation or document unless you are successful with the skill check. However, if you wish, you can use Linguistics to attempt to comprehend its meaning, as part of the same 10 minute action. This is an epic skill use, and requires at least 21 ranks in the skill before it may be attempted.
Action Required:	20 full days
DC of Check:	70
Modifiers to Check	Sphinx: The secret language of Sphinx is so structured and rational that characters with high ranks in reason can more easily deduce its nature. When you are exposed to a sufficient source of Sphinx, you reduce the DC to learn it by -10.
Take 10? / Take 20?	You can take 10, but you cannot take 20.
Allows Assists?	Yes (up to 5 allies). Assisting allies must have at least 21 ranks in reason.
Results of Success	You learn the language at the pidgin level of fluency. If you have an available rank in Linguistics to learn a new language, you may apply that rank towards learning this secret language (gaining it at the "fluent" level of fluency). For every point by which you exceed the target DC, you can reduce the time spent learning the language by 1 full day, to a minimum of 5 full days.
Consequences of Failure	You are unable to piece together the structure of the language from this source. You may still attempt a Linguistics check to try to comprehend the meaning of the language or document, but your success with Linguistics does not grant you the ability to learn the secret language.
Retry Allowed?	No. You must be exposed to a new sufficient source of the language before you can try again.
Provokes AOO?	No