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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[]

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:

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.[1][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[]

References[]

  1. Schubert, Stephen (September 8, 2010). Design & Development: Skill DCs.
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