- Retrain. Spend time doing activities to retrain any of your chosen abilities, features, or if it makes sense in the story, possibly even your subclass.
- Gather Information. Meet NPCs, pick up news, or collect rumors and job leads.
- Personal Goals. Pursue goals from your backstory or other smaller quests youâve chosen.
- Buy & Sell. Get new equipment, and sell treasures youâve collected while out adventuring.
- Perform. Play music, tell stories, compete, or perform in public to earn gold or fame.
- Craft. Create weapons, armor, or simple items using materials youâve acquired.
- Socialize. Build alliances, make new friends, or make new enemies.
- Invest. Use your gold to invest in businesses or trade ventures for future profit.
- Mentor. Teach a skill or ability to another character or NPC.
- Research. Investigate a mystery, study ancient texts, or uncover hidden knowledge.
- Serve. Aid a patron or a deity in exchange for a favor, or perform charity for townsfolk.
- Build. Establish a home base, start a business, craft siege weapons, or build anything else you can imagine (GM and setting-permitting, of course).
Proficiency Tiers
ExcalibaardđYou no longer put individual +1 skill points in your skills. Instead, you have distinct tiers of Proficiency for each skill.
There are 4 Tiers of Proficiency:
- Trained
- Expert (L.3*)
- Master (L.7)
- Savant (L.13)
Higher tiers of Proficiency are locked until you . *Certain Ancestries may supersede this.
Skill Checks
When you make a skill check, you gain a bonus based on the appropriate Stat and your Proficiency. Each Tier adds a +2 bonus.
Example: an Expert in Finesse with 3 DEX will roll 1d20+7 (+3 from DEX, +4 from Expert Proficiency).
Leveling up
Start with 3 Trained skills on character creation. You can improve more skills as you level up. Your level determines the maximum tier you can unlock.
- On even levels, you can increase 1 Tier of 1 skill.
- On odd levels, you may reduce 1 Tier of a skill to increase 1 Tier of another.
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Using in-game
It's easy to use this with the existing character sheets. You only need to track how many Tiers you have unlocked per skill. You can put a tally in a corner of the skill, or fill a corner for each Tier you unlocked.
GM Tip. The maximum bonus someone can have with max stats (+5) is +13. You may want to adjust the DC from by 1 or 2 to compensate.
Ancestry Adjustments
Ancestries keep any unmentioned passive/active features.
- Human. +2 Trained skills, +1 Initiative.
- Halfling. +1 Stealth (can start at Expert).
- Orc. +1 Might (can start at Expert).
- Changeling. +1 'flexible' Tier, change whenever you change form.
- Half-Giant. Expert in Might. (Flawed in Finesse.)
Compatibility with other homebrew
These rules are compatible with . Proficiency can be applied to individual 'Facets' rather than skills. The limited amount of Facets compared to skills means you'll want to slow progression, remove caps, or add a 5th tier (since every facet starts at 'Trained').
Variant Rules
Flaws
You may choose to add a 'negative' Tier: Flawed. This gives a -2 malus in that skill.
You can choose one Flaw during character creation to turn a Trained skill into Expert early. When you increase the tier of your Flawed skill, it becomes Untrained.
Tip: Mark a Flaw on your character sheet with an "Ă" in the corner of the skill.
Flexible Base Stats
Sometimes, a different base stat is more appropriate for certain skills - for example Influencing someone by flexing your muscles. You may choose to allow such a check to use a different base stat, with the Proficiency of Influence.
That's one intimidating .
Dicey Proficiency
Instead of a flat +2 per proficiency, you can add an extra die to the skill check instead! Roll a d20 + your stat bonus, and add another die for your Proficiency:
- Trained. +1d4
- Expert. +1d8
- Master. +1d12
- Savant. +1d12 with Advantage*
- Flawed. -1d4
Example: An Expert in Finesse with 3 DEX would roll 1d20+1d8+3.
Advantage/Disadvantage only affect the d20, which is always the Primary Die for deciding a crit success/failure. *Savant Proficiency always has Advantage on their d12 bonus die, regardless of other sources. (There are no new tricks to learn, but you have honed them to perfection.)
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Alternative progression methods
If you don't like a level cap, you can make skill progression interesting in other ways. When using these variants, the minimum level requirement can be less strict or removed.
Downtime Training
Rather than gaining Tiers through Leveling Up, a GM may require you to seek out an appropriate trainer in order to be able to put your points into a Proficiency Tier.
Trained is easy to pick up from regular skilled villagers. Expert can be learned in any town with a proper guild or trade school. Master is only achieved from the best teachers. Savant trainers are almost impossible to find (and often quite eccentric if you do). Few people in the world are skilled enough to teach such advanced techniques.
Mentoring
When Mentoring, you can temporarily give your student +1 Tier on a skill (but never higher than your own Proficiency in that skill). You can only Mentor one person at a time. Until they 'learn' this skill by increasing its Tier, they will not retain what you've taught them.
Point Buy (Variable Cost)
You can also use a variable skill point cost per Tier. This makes higher Proficiency more difficult to obtain than lower ones. This gives more flexibility to 'spread' skills instead of maxing them early.
Leveling Up
Each Tier costs one more skill point than the previous. Increasing a skill to Trained requires only 1 skill point, while increasing a skill to Savant requires 4 points. This represents the increased effort and knowledge required.
You start with 4 skill points (1 expert and 1 trained, or 4 trained), then gain 1 for each level. From leveling to 10 and onward, you gain 2 skill points every level. Just like initiative: 2 digits = 2 points.
This results in 33 skill points total, for final example distributions of:
- 3 Savant and 3 Trained skills,
- 5 Master and 1 Expert skills,
- 1 Master, rest Expert.
When you unlearn a rank of a skill, you regain all skill points you spent. A Flaw is worth 1 Skill Point. ```
Augments
Example Downtime Activities
Leveling Up
The GM may allow you to gain a level (LVL) while Safe Resting after you complete an appropriately challenging quest or adventure. At level 1, this may be as simple as clearing some angry rats out of a basement or rescuing someone from the woods. Each subsequent level will generally take more effort (and therefore more time). When you gain a level:
- HP Increase. Roll your Hit Die with advantage and increase your max HP by that much, or take the average instead: d4: +3 HP; d6: +4 HP; d8: +5 HP; d10: +7 HP; d12: +8 HP.
- More Endurance. Your Hit Die max increases by 1 (it is typically equal to your level).
- More Skilled. Gain 1 skill point. Additionally, you may move 1 point from one skill to another (as long as the skill doesnât become negative), reflecting your heroâs evolving expertise and priorities.
- Class Features. Gain new class features for your level. This may mean increasing your mana pool, new spells, or even selecting a subclass!
- Other Adjustments. If any of your base stats increase, remember to adjust other elements of your character sheet as needed (skills, damage, Initiative, Defense, Mana, languages, etc.).
Note The maximum bonus a skill can have is +12.
Skill Checks
When you want to affect the world (convince an NPC, spot a trap, pick a lock, etc.), the GM may call for a skill check. Roll 1d20 and add your skill (the max bonus a skill can ever have is +12). If the total meets or exceeds the Difficulty Challenge (DC), you succeed; otherwise, you fail. A roll of 1 always fails regardless of any other bonuses, while a roll of 20 always succeeds. The DC varies based on the task:
- Easy: Spotting a large Ogre crouched behind a small bush might be a DC 8 Perception check.
- Medium: A hidden doorway behind a bookcase might be a DC 12 Examination check.
- Challenging: Calming an injured Owlbear stuck in a trap may be a DC 15 Naturecraft check.
- Very Difficult: Intuiting the true intentions of a trained Spy may be a DC 18 Insight check.
- Extremely Difficult: Disarming an ancient legendary trap may be a DC 20+ Finesse check.
Skills
Skills gauge how well your hero interacts with the world. Whenever you tell the GM what you are doing, they may ask you to use one of your skills.
The maximum bonus a skill can have is +12.
Understanding of magical phenomena, spells, and enchantments. With Arcana, you can identify magical effects, decipher arcane symbols, and discern the properties of magical items. It also grants insights into the abilities and weaknesses of magical beings like Aberrations, Elementals, and Oozes.
Aptitude for thorough analysis and deduction. Use Examination to diagnose injuries, determine causes of death, uncover clues, and unravel the workings of traps or mechanical devices. It also grants insights into the abilities and weaknesses of Constructs.
The ability to use your hands and feet in careful ways. Use Finesse for activities such as picking locks, disarming traps, piloting vehicles, tinkering, card tricks, stealing or planting items, climbing a mossy wall, or any other task that requires precise, careful movement.
Your persuasiveness, charm, and ability to influence others through charisma or cunning. Use Influence to convince or deceive people, negotiate deals, build trust, win allies to your cause, or put on a captivating performance.
Your ability to understand people and situations beyond the obvious. Use Insight to sense motives, detect lies, read hidden emotions, make sense of clues, and when faced with uncertaintyâyou can think ahead or just âgetâ what is happening. Insight can be used to retroactively change situations:
Insight Example Player: âOh no! I forgot to buy rope back in town!â GM: âGive me an Insight check; maybe your hero would have thought about it.â
Understanding of the history of civilization, kingdoms, and religions. Use Lore to recall historical events and grasp the significance of cultural practices. It extends to knowledge of the abilities and behavior of Celestials, Dragons, Fey, Fiends, Giants, Humanoids, and Undead.
Your ability to apply strength effectively. Use Might for lifting heavy objects, breaking through obstacles, climbing, swimming, jumping, or performing feats of strength.
Your expertise in wilderness survival, navigation, tracking, and the handling of animals. Use Naturecraft to thrive in the wild, identify flora, fauna, and track creatures with precision. It encompasses knowledge of Beasts, Monstrosities, and Plants, providing insights into their behavior, habitats, and characteristics.
Your overall ability to notice subtle details in your surroundings. Use Perception to spot hidden objects, detect secret passages, sense subtle environmental changes, and sense when youâre being followed or observed. It encompasses your ability to pick up on non-obvious cues, and hidden threats.
Your proficiency in staying unseen and moving quietly. Use Stealth to hide, slip past guards, evade detection, and move without drawing attention.
Stats
Heroes have 4 stats that impact their effectiveness in various tasks: 2 Key Stats crucial to their class and 2 Secondary Stats. The maximum a heroâs stat can typically go is +5.
Your raw physical power and resilience, endurance, and resistance to harm. Affects STR weapon damage, resistance to Wounds, HP recovery, Concentration, STR saves, carrying capacity, Grappling, and the Might skill.
Your agility, reflexes, and precision with blades or bows. Affects DEX weapon damage, Initiative, DEX saves, Grappling, and can contribute to Defense, as well as the Stealth and Finesse skills.
Your Intelligence reflects knowledge and reasoning across fields like the arcane, tactics, or street smarts. Affects languages, spellcasting, use of wands, spell scrolls, INT saves, as well as the Arcana, Examination, and Lore skills.
Your force of personality, courage, and wisdom. Will shapes your interactions with both nature and society. Affects spellcasting and WIL saves, as well as the Insight, Influence, Naturecraft, and Perception skills.
When an ability or spell references âKEY,â use one of your Key Stats. If a stat is listed before a die roll, roll a number of dice equal to the stat. For example, âWIL d8â means that if your WIL is 2, you roll 2d8 (two eight-sided dice).