D&D New Edition: Skills

In D&D NE, the ability of a character to accomplish non-combat tasks is determined by a variety of skills. Any wizard can throw a magic missile, but how well can he balance on an unstable platform or play the flute? Just how effective is the party bard at negotiating with the local warlord? Skills are the most common tools used to resolve non-combat challenges. Some situations can be resolved with one or two skill checks, while others are complex affairs that can be influenced by many different skills and demand many successful checks before they are finished. The latter situations, referred to as Skill Challenges, will be explained in greater depth elsewhere. D&D NE divides skills into two categories: Active Skills and Knowledge Skills. As the name implies, Active skills represent the things that one does – jumping over a chasm, disabling a trap, and finding food in the wilderness are all examples of Active skills. In the same way, Knowledge skills represent the things that one knows, special learning and information that others might not have. Knowledge skills are developed a bit differently than Active skills, as explained in the Knowledge Skills section below.

Skill Basics
A character's skills are measured in ranks – a numerical value which represents the character's ability and training. When making a skill check, you add your rank in that skill to the check result. The average person has 0 ranks in any given skill – they are untrained in its use. Even those who have training can only progress so far at once. The maximum rank of a skill is determined by the character's level. The number of ranks that a character has in a single skill cannot exceed the maximum rank of 2 + character level. At first level, and at all subsequent levels, a character receives skill points which may be spent to improve his rank in a skill, or to learn a new skill. D&D NE divides skill points into three categories: General, Attribute, and Knowledge. General skill points may be spent to improve any skill at all. Attribute skill points, by contrast, can only improve Active skills linked to a certain ability score. These are normally referenced by their specific attribute: Strength points, Intelligence points, etc. Two Attribute skill points may be traded for one General skill point. Knowledge skill points may only be spent to improve Knowledge skills.

Typical Skill Check: 1d20 + ability score modifier + ranks +/- miscellaneous modifiers (synergy, item, circumstance, etc.)

Skill Points by Level

+  These totals are calculated separately for each attribute.

Example:  Alf the Malevolent has just reached level 3 as a wizard. His ability scores are: STR 10 (+0), CON 12 (+1), DEX 13 (+1), INT 17 (+3), WIS 14 (+2), CHA 8 (-1). Like any other character, he receives 2 General skill points. Looking at his ability scores and their modifiers, his player determines that he also gains the following Attribute skill points: 0 STR, 1 CON, 1 DEX, 3 INT, 2 WIS, 0 CHA. (His Charisma modifier is -1, but you cannot have negative skill points.) Finally, since his Intelligence modifier is +3, he gains 5 Knowledge skill points.

Active Skill List
Extended Example: Alf the Malevolent, now having seen the skill list, moves quickly to spend his skill points before the list is edited. He decides that for his spells, he wants to be able to focus better, so he places his Constitution point into Concentration. He's also pretty tired of his horse throwing him, so he puts his Dexterity skill point into Ride. He spends two of his Intelligence skill points on Magecraft and Spycraft, and will use the third point to get an extra General skill point. He similarly spends one Wisdom skill point on Insight, and the other combines with his Intelligence skill point gives him two Attribute points to exchange for a General point. He now has three General skill points. He spends two of them on Bluff, and one on his Streetcraft. This level, Alf improved: Concentration +1 (1 Con), Ride +1 (1 Dex), Magecraft +1 (1 Int), Spycraft +1 (1 Int), Insight +1 (1 Wis), Bluff +2 (2 General), Streetcraft +1 (1 General[Int+Wis]). That accounts for every point that Alf can spend on Active skills.

Knowledge Skills
Unlike Active skills, Knowledge skills have no set list. Your character can gain knowledge about anything, from weather patterns to the history of orc tribal invasions. Work with your DM to determine exactly what is reasonably a Knowledge skill. As a general guideline, Knowledge skills should be fairly broad. While no character should simply be able to learn all the history of the world in a single skill, it is also unreasonable to require a player to take the skill Knowledge: History (Glimmerstick the Longsword). A more appropriate skill for learning about powerful artifact items would be Knowledge: History (Artifacts), or Knowledge: Arcana (Artifacts), depending on the player, character, and DM in question.