Skills: Difference between revisions
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A result of a natural 1 on the die roll for a skill check always results in a failure, even in a case where your skill bonus is higher than the DC you are attempting before adding the die roll. This means there is always a 5% chance of failing any skill roll. You can never be so good at a skill that you can't make a mistake sometimes. | A result of a natural 1 on the die roll for a skill check always results in a failure, even in a case where your skill bonus is higher than the DC you are attempting before adding the die roll. This means there is always a 5% chance of failing any skill roll. You can never be so good at a skill that you can't make a mistake sometimes. | ||
A result in a natural 20 on die roll of a skill check | ===Skill Criticals=== | ||
A result in a natural 20 on die roll of a skill check gives you a critical result. Calculate the result of your check and find which of the five difficulty targets your result equals or exceeds (easy, average, challenging, hard or impossible), and then increase your result to the minimum of the next higher difficulty target. For example, if you are a attempting to pick a CR 10 lock, have a +16 disable device skill, and roll a natural 20, your check result is 36, which is one higher than a "hard" target DC. Because you rolled a natural 20, the critical result bumps your result up to the minimum of the next target, in this case, the impossible DC of 45. If your total result is less than an Easy DC, a natural 20 only brings your result up to the Easy target DC. If your result was already equal to or greater than an impossible DC, the critical result provides no benefit. Note that some skill checks require a specific DC to be met or exceeded, and a critical result does ''not'' cause your result to be an automatic success. The CR of the skill check is always determined by the GM, and the outcome of your results are always measured against the target DC's of that CR. | |||
===Skill Check DC's=== | ===Skill Check DC's=== | ||
The skill check's level should, whenever possible, be based on the creature who is forcing the skill check to be made, rather than the character attempting the check. For example, a rogue picking a lock on a nobleman's house would need to beat a DC based on the level of the lock (or locksmith), rather than using the rogue's level. This is why picking the same lock becomes easier as your character gains levels. The lock's DC doesn't change, but your skill may increase. Similarly, a heal check being performed on an ally PC to stop a Bleed condition would be based on the ally PC's level, not the healer's level. Making a Heal check to stop a Bleed condition on a level 1 peasant is quite easy for a higher level character. | The skill check's level should, whenever possible, be based on the creature who is forcing the skill check to be made, rather than the character attempting the check. For example, a rogue picking a lock on a nobleman's house would need to beat a DC based on the level of the lock (or locksmith), rather than using the rogue's level. This is why picking the same lock becomes easier as your character gains levels. The lock's DC doesn't change, but your skill may increase. Similarly, a heal check being performed on an ally PC to stop a Bleed condition would be based on the ally PC's level, not the healer's level. Making a Heal check to stop a Bleed condition on a level 1 peasant is quite easy for a higher level character. | ||
Other times, the DC of a skill check is static, regardless of the level of the character attempting it, or the CR of the environment or monsters in the area. Just because you are in a level 30 dungeon doesn't mean that jumping across a 20-foot gap is any harder (or easier) than it would be in a level 1 dungeon. These DC's are typically described in the skill page of the relevant skill. | |||
In some cases, it may not be obvious what the level of a skill check should be. GM's are encouraged to improvise something appropriate for the situation. If characters are in a dungeon filled with monsters 2 or 3 CR's higher than they are, any skill checks related to the dungeon will likely be of a similar level to the local monster CR's. Conversely, a character attempting things which should be simple at her level would likely need a skill DC based on a much lower level than the character. | In some cases, it may not be obvious what the level of a skill check should be. GM's are encouraged to improvise something appropriate for the situation. If characters are in a dungeon filled with monsters 2 or 3 CR's higher than they are, any skill checks related to the dungeon will likely be of a similar level to the local monster CR's. Conversely, a character attempting things which should be simple at her level would likely need a skill DC based on a much lower level than the character. | ||
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Taking 20 means you are trying until you get it right, and it assumes that you fail many times before succeeding. Taking 20 takes 20 times as long as making a single check would take (usually 2 minutes for a skill that takes 1 round or less to perform). | Taking 20 means you are trying until you get it right, and it assumes that you fail many times before succeeding. Taking 20 takes 20 times as long as making a single check would take (usually 2 minutes for a skill that takes 1 round or less to perform). | ||
Since taking 20 assumes that your character will fail many times before succeeding, your character would automatically incur any penalties for failure before he or she could complete the task (hence why it is generally not allowed with skills that carry such penalties). Common "take 20" | Since taking 20 assumes that your character will fail many times before succeeding, your character would automatically incur any penalties for failure before he or she could complete the task (hence why it is generally not allowed with skills that carry such penalties). Common "take 20" skills include Disable Device (when used to open locks), Escape Artist, and Perception (when attempting to find traps). | ||
Taking 20 is not considered a 'natural 20' | Taking 20 is not considered a 'natural 20', and never grants a critical result. | ||
===Ability Checks and Caster Level Checks=== | ===Ability Checks and Caster Level Checks=== | ||