Skill

Along with your powers, skills are a major way to define what your character does in the D&D world. These range from your knowledge about the creatures and world around you to your ability to perform acrobatic or athletic deeds of daring-do; from sneaking around and picking locks to charming your way into a king's good graces, and so on.

Some skills require training to perform certain actions, and all skills benefit from the bonuses given by training.

List of skills

• Acrobatics
• Arcana
• Athletics
• Bluff
• Diplomacy
• Dungeoneering
• Endurance
• Heal
• History
• Insight
• Intimidate
• Nature
• Perception
• Religion
• Stealth
• Streetwise
• Thievery

Skill checks

Skills pit a d20 roll and a series of modifiers against the Difficulty Class (DC) of the action you are trying to perform. To perform a skill check, roll a d20 and add the following bonuses:

• One-half your level
• Your ability score modifier (each skill is based on one of your ability scores)
• A +5 bonus if you’re trained in the skill.

In addition, some or all of the following bonuses or penalties might apply to your base skill check bonus:

• Armor check penalty, if you’re wearing some kind of armor (see Chapter 7) and making a check using Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution as the key ability
• Racial or feat bonuses
• An item bonus from a magic item
• A power bonus
• Any untyped bonus that might apply

Class skills

Main article: Class skill

	Acrobatics	Arcana	Athletics	Bluff	Diplomacy	Dungeoneering	Endurance	Heal	History	Insight	Intimidate	Nature	Perception	Religion	Stealth	Streetwise	Thievery
key attribute	Dex	Int	Str	Cha	Cha	Wis	Con	Wis	Int	Wis	Cha	Wis	Wis	Int	Dex	Cha	Dex
ardent		+	+	+	+		+	+		+	+					+
artificer		+			+	+		+	+				+				+
assassin	+	+	+	+			+			+			+		+	+	+
avenger	+		+				+	+			+		+	+	+	+
barbarian	+		+				+	+			+	+	+
bard	+	+	+	+	+	+		+	+	+	+	+	+	+		+
battlemind		+	+	+	+		+	+		+	+
cavalier			+		+		+	+	+	+	+			+
cleric		+			+			+	+	+				+
druid		+	+		+		+	+	+	+		+	+
fighter			+				+	+			+					+
hexblade		+		+					+	+	+			+	+	+	+
hunter	+		+			+	+	+				+	+		+
invoker		+			+		+		+	+	+			+
knight			+		+		+	+			+
mage		+			+	+			+	+		+		+
monk	+		+		+		+	+		+			+	+	+		+
paladin					+		+	+	+	+	+			+
psion		+		+	+	+			+	+	+		+
ranger	+		+			+	+	+				+	+		+
rogue	+		+	+		+				+	+		+		+	+	+
runepriest		+	+				+	+	+	+				+			+
scout	+		+			+	+	+				+	+		+
seeker	+		+				+	+		+	+	+	+		+
sentinel		+	+		+		+	+	+	+		+	+
shaman		+	+				+	+	+	+		+	+	+
slayer			+				+	+			+					+
sorcerer		+	+	+	+	+	+		+	+	+	+
swordmage		+	+		+		+		+	+	+
thief	+		+	+		+				+	+		+		+	+	+
warden			+			+	+	+			+	+	+
warlock		+		+					+	+	+			+		+	+
warlord			+		+		+	+	+		+
warpriest		+			+			+	+	+				+
wizard		+			+	+			+	+		+		+

Skill DCs

As of September 2010, the Skill DCs have been adjusted to reflect game balance.^[Dr391:79]

Level	Easy	Moderate	Hard			Level	Easy	Moderate	Hard			Level	Easy	Moderate	Hard
1	8	12	19			11	13	19	27			21	19	26	35
2	9	13	20			12	14	20	28			22	20	27	36
3	9	13	21			13	14	20	29			23	20	27	37
4	10	14	21			14	15	21	29			24	21	28	37
5	10	15	22			15	15	22	30			25	21	29	38
6	11	15	23			16	16	22	31			26	22	29	39
7	11	16	23			17	16	23	31			27	22	30	39
8	12	16	24			18	17	23	32			28	23	30	40
9	12	17	25			19	17	24	33			29	23	31	41
10	13	18	26			20	18	25	34			30	24	32	42

In general, the skill DCs are designed around a few expectations. Easy DCs represent trivial tasks that rarely go wrong but could - trained charactersare guaranteed to succeed, while an untrained character without natural aptitude has a chance to fail. A moderate DC has an untrained character fail frequently and a trained character fail as often as an untrained would on an easy DC. The hard DC is designed for those who master a skill, where a trained character starts failing frequently, and where it's practically luck for an untrained character. ^[Du170:112]

See also

• Knowledge Checks
• Monster Knowledge Checks