Party Skills, Proficiencies & Languages (*Everyone speaks Common. Do not post your alignment tongue.)
Non Weapon Proficiency Descriptions
Animal Trainer
Blind fighting
A character with this proficiency is less hampered by the absence of daylight than are characters who do not possess this skill. His penalty on attack and damage rolls in total darkness is only -2 instead of -4; in natural darkness, his penalty is only - 1 instead of -3; and in any conditions of brighter illumination he suffers no penalties. (See the text on “Fighting in Poor Visibility” in the section on Combat Rules for Wilderness Play.) A character with proficiency in blind-fighting suffers no penalty to armor class because of lack of illumination (he is just as hard to hit as he would be in daylight), and he retains special abilities and other proficiencies that would otherwise be lost in darkness. For instance, a character with blind-fighting proficiency and proficiency in direction sense would still be able to find his way around during a long journey in the dark (assuming that the Proficiency Check for direction sense is successful); a character with proficiency in tracking and in blind-fighting would still be able to follow a trail in total or natural darkness. This proficiency also reduces the character’s chance of stumbling or falling over an obstacle in his path during total or natural darkness, the chance of tumbling into a pit or over a cliff, and the chance of slipping and falling while climbing. In all such cases, the chance of an adverse occurrence is half that of a character without this proficiency.
Exceptions: Proficiency in blind-fighting does not impart the ability to see across long distances in the dark; the improved visual acuity granted by this skill only pertains to short-range uses of vision such as for tracking, in melee combat, and in the use of the fire-building proficiency. It does not enable the character to see out to the maximum range of visibility that would otherwise apply in daylight conditions, or to perform any skill or function that necessarily involves long-range vision.
Boating
If a character with this proficiency is piloting a boat, canoe, or other waterborne vessel, it can be moved at its fastest possible rate. Also, the presence of such a character reduces the chance of the craft capsizing in rough water or when it is on a body of water during high winds. For details on how the boating proficiency applies, see the text on “Movement in Waterborne Vehicles” in the section on Encumbrance and Movement.
Boatwright
Fishing (hook and line)
A character with proficiency in this skill is generally more successful at netting or hooking a substantial catch. See the text on “Fishing” in the section on Food and Water for details on how to determine the success of a fishing attempt.
Foraging
Similar to the fishing proficiency, this skill enables a character to locate and obtain edible plants more easily than a normal character can. A successful Proficiency Check indicates that twice as much food is obtained than a normal character would be able to obtain in the same length of time, or that the time needed to obtain a certain amount of food is half as long as a normal character would need to get the same results. See the section on Food and Water for details on how to determine the success of a foraging attempt.
Gaming
Healing
A character with this proficiency knows how to use substances found in the wilderness to aid a wounded or ill character or creature, and also has some knowledge of “doctoring” techniques that can accelerate the healing of wounds. If a character with healing proficiency tends to a wounded character within one round after a wound has been inflicted, and makes a successful Proficiency Check, his ministrations will cause the immediate restoration of a maximum of ld3 hit points to the victim. No more hit points can be restored than were lost in the round preceding the application of treatment; if a wound caused only 1 or 2 hit points of damage, then only 1 or 2 hit points can be restored regardless of the result of the die roll.
If a wounded character remains under the care of someone with healing proficiency, he can recover lost hit points at the rate of 1 point per day even while traveling or engaging in non-strenuous
activity. If the wounded character rests while he is being cared for, he can recover two hit points per day instead of the one point that is normally allowed. This “continuous care” aspect of the healing proficiency does not require a Proficiency Check, and is assumed to be benefiting the wounded character as long as the patient and the healer remain in the same group. However, this skill cannot be used on more than one character during the same day.
A character with healing proficiency can attempt to aid a character or creature who has been poisoned by venom entering his body through a wound. If the victim can be ministered to immediately
(beginning in the same round that the poisoning occurs), then his saving throw versus poison is taken at a +2 bonus. No Proficiency Check is required to exercise this ability. However, the bonus to the saving throw can only be retained if the victim remains at complete rest for one turn thereafter, and if the healing character continues to aid the victim for at least five rounds following the round in which the poisoning took place. If either of these time requirements is not met, the victim must make another saving throw versus poison, with no bonus, and abide by the result of that roll. Note that unless someone in the party has proficiency in animal handling, it may be fruitless to try to aid (for instance) a horse that has been poisoned, since it is unlikely that anyone will be able to keep the animal calm and resting for one turn.
A character with healing proficiency can also attempt to help a character who has been taken ill, either by a disease occurring because of the condition of the character or the environment or by a disease resulting from parasitic infestation (see pages 13-14, Dungeon Masters Guide, for a discussion of both types of disease).
If the healing character begins tending to the victim within three turns of the onset of symptoms, and if that character makes a successful Proficiency Check, then the severity of the disease will be one step lower than indicated by the die roll (terminal becomes severe, or severe becomes mild). If the severity of the disease was already determined to be mild, then the disease will run its course in half the time that would have been required otherwise. These benefits will only continue to apply to the diseased character as long as he receives aid from the healing character at least twice per day, at regular intervals, until the disease runs its course. If two of these “medicine sessions” are missed consecutively, or if a total of three of them are missed during the duration of the disease, then the illness reverts to the level of severity that was originally indicated.
Note that in order for a character to be able to exercise his proficiency in healing, he must possess or have immediate access to any necessary materials or substances. See the section on First Aid and Medicine for details on the availability of medical equipment and medicinal substances.
Jeweler
Leatherworker
Navigator
Riding
Riding, land-based: This proficiency is essentially the same as the riding proficiency described on page 28 of Dungeoneer’s Survival Guide. A player choosing this proficiency for his character must specify the type of mount to which it applies. More than one proficiency in land-based riding may be taken if the player desires his character to be skilled in handling and riding more than one type of mount. A character with land-based riding proficiency can perform all of the following feats, some of them automatically and others requiring a Proficiency Check for success.
1) The character can vault into a saddle or onto the back of a mount whenever the mount is standing still, even if the character is wearing armor. A successful Proficiency Check is required if the character vaults into the saddle and then tries to get the mount moving during the same segment in which he landed on its back. The character can vault onto a moving mount by making a successful Proficiency Check. Failure indicates that the character falls to the ground, but he does not suffer any damage as a result.
2) The character can urge his mount to jump tall obstacles or leap across gaps. No check is required if the obstacle is less than three feet tall, or the gap is less than 12 feet wide. If the character
makes a Proficiency Check, the mount can be urged to leap obstacles up to seven feet high, or clear gaps of as much as 30 feet in width. Success means that the mount makes the leap. Failure indicates that the mount balks (stops suddenly just in front of the obstacle), and another Proficiency Check is required to determine whether the character keeps his seat or falls to the ground.
3) The character can spur his mount on to great speeds, adding 1” per round to the animal’s maximum movement rate for up to four turns. A Proficiency Check is required at the beginning of each turn in order to accomplish this feat. If the initial check fails, no further attempt of this sort can be made until at least three turns have passed, but the mount can still move at its maximum rate. If the second or a later check fails, the mount immediately slows to a walk, and the character must dismount and lead the animal for a turn. In any event, after four turns of racing the steed must be walked by its dismounted rider for a turn.
4) The character can guide his mount with his knees, allowing him to use equipment and weapons that require both hands to wield. This feat does not require a Proficiency Check unless the character takes damage while riding in this fashion. In this case, a check is required; failure means that the character falls to the ground and takes an additional ld6 points of damage.
5) The character can drop down and hang alongside the mount, using it as a shield against attack. No Proficiency Check is required to accomplish this feat, and it can be performed while the mount is moving at full speed. However, the character cannot be wearing any armor heavier than leather, and he cannot make any attacks while in the shielded position. The character receives a bonus of 6 steps to his armor class (10 becomes 4,8 becomes 2, etc.) while in the shielded position against attacks coming from the direction he is shielded from. However, any attacks directed against the mount and rider that would have struck the character’s armor class under normal circumstances are considered to
have struck the mount instead of the rider.
6) The character can leap from the back of his mount to the ground and make a melee attack, in the same round, against any character or creature within 10 feet of where he landed. However, this is a risky maneuver; the character must make a successful Proficiency Check with a +4 modifier to the die roll. Failure indicates that the character lands in a heap, suffers 1d3 points of damage, and must take 1-3 segments to get to his feet. If he is attacked before regaining an upright position, the opponent’s attack is made at +2 to hit because of the character’s vulnerable position.
Survival (Cold)
A character with this proficiency is more resistant to the adverse effects of a cold climate. For this character, the effective temperature is considered to be 20 degrees warmer than it is for a character without this proficiency. This proficiency only applies when the effective temperature is 30 degrees or lower.
Swimming
This is something of a special case among the so-called “normal” proficiencies (as opposed to something such as a survival skill, which might be called a “special” proficiency). A character without hunting proficiency still has a chance of being able to bring down some wild game for dinner; one without foraging proficiency is still able to gather plants that he believes to be edible. But a character without swimming proficiency cannot swim at all. He can hold his breath under water, and under the right circumstances he can float at the top of a body of water, but he cannot move through the water under his own power. Rules governing the swimming proficiency are given in the section on
Encumbrance and Movement.
Tracking
A character with this proficiency is able to follow the trail of a character or creature in the same fashion that a ranger can track (see Unearthed Arcana, page 21) - except that the base chance for success is half that of a ranger: 5% per level of the character, plus an additional 5%, up to a maximum of 55%. A character without proficiency in tracking has a base chance of 0% on any attempt to follow a trail, but may still be able to engage in tracking if the total of all applicable modifiers is a positive number.
Last edited by CaptainHellrazor, February 05 2024 00:31:55. Open game article. You can edit it once you log in.