Actions and Conditions Player Reference
Complete text of rule excerpts describing Basic Actions, Skill-based Actions, and Conditions are provided here for easy reference. Keep this document handy during play!
Aid
Trigger - An ally is about to use an action that requires a skill check or attack roll.
Requirements - The ally is willing to accept your aid, and you have prepared to help (see below).
You try to help your ally with a task. To use this reaction, you must first prepare to help, usually by using an action during your turn. You must explain to the GM exactly how you’re trying to help, and they determine whether you can Aid your ally.
When you use your Aid reaction, attempt a skill check or attack roll of a type decided by the GM. The typical DC is 20, but the GM might adjust this DC for particularly hard or easy tasks. The GM can add any relevant traits to your preparatory action or to your Aid reaction depending on the situation, or even allow you to Aid checks other than skill checks and attack rolls.
Critical Success - You grant your ally a +2 circumstance bonus to the triggering check. If you’re a master with the check you attempted, the bonus is +3, and if you’re legendary, it’s +4.
Success - You grant your ally a +1 circumstance bonus to the triggering check.
Critical Failure - Your ally takes a –1 circumstance penalty to the triggering check.
Crawl
Move
Requirements - You are prone and your Speed is at least 10 feet.
You move 5 feet by crawling and continue to stay prone.
Delay
Trigger - Your turn begins.
You wait for the right moment to act. The rest of your turn doesn’t happen yet. Instead, you’re removed from the initiative order. You can return to the initiative order as a free action triggered by the end of any other creature’s turn. This permanently changes your initiative to the new position. You can’t use reactions until you return to the initiative order. If you Delay an entire round without returning to the initiative order, the actions from the Delayed turn are lost, your initiative doesn’t change, and your next turn occurs at your original position in the initiative order.
When you Delay, any persistent damage or other negative effects that normally occur at the start or end of your turn occur immediately when you use the Delay action. Any beneficial effects that would end at any point during your turn also end. The GM might determine that other effects end when you Delay as well. Essentially, you can’t Delay to avoid negative consequences that would happen on your turn or to extend beneficial effects that would end on your turn.
Drop Prone
Move
You fall prone.
Escape
Attack
You attempt to escape from being grabbed, immobilized, or restrained. Choose one creature, object, spell effect, hazard, or other impediment imposing any of those conditions on you. Attempt a check using your unarmed attack modifier against the DC of the effect. This is typically the Athletics DC of a creature grabbing you, the Thievery DC of a creature who tied you up, the spell DC for a spell effect, or the listed Escape DC of an object, hazard, or other impediment. You can attempt an Acrobatics or Athletics check instead of using your attack modifier if you choose (but this action still has the attack trait).
Critical Success - You get free and remove the grabbed, immobilized, and restrained conditions imposed by your chosen target. You can then Stride up to 5 feet.
Success - You get free and remove the grabbed, immobilized, and restrained conditions imposed by your chosen target.
Critical Failure - You don’t get free, and you can’t attempt to Escape again until your next turn.
Interact
Manipulate
You use your hand or hands to manipulate an object or the terrain. You can grab an unattended or stored object, open a door, or produce some similar effect. You might have to attempt a skill check to determine if your Interact action was successful.
Leap
Move
You take a careful, short jump. You can Leap up to 10 feet horizontally if your Speed is at least 15 feet, or up to 15 feet horizontally if your Speed is at least 30 feet. You land in the space where your Leap ends (meaning you can typically clear a 5-foot gap, or a 10-foot gap if your Speed is 30 feet or more).
If you Leap vertically, you can move up to 3 feet vertically and 5 feet horizontally onto an elevated surface.
Jumping a greater distance requires using the Athletics skill.
Ready
Concentrate
You prepare to use an action that will occur outside your turn. Choose a single action or free action you can use, and designate a trigger. Your turn then ends. If the trigger you designated occurs before the start of your next turn, you can use the chosen action as a reaction (provided you still meet the requirements to use it). You can’t Ready a free action that already has a trigger.
If you have a multiple attack penalty and your readied action is an attack action, your readied attack takes the multiple attack penalty you had at the time you used Ready. This is one of the few times the multiple attack penalty applies when it’s not your turn.
Release
Manipulate
You release something you’re holding in your hand or hands. This might mean dropping an item, removing one hand from your weapon while continuing to hold it in another hand, releasing a rope suspending a chandelier, or performing a similar action. Unlike most manipulate actions, Release does not trigger reactions that can be triggered by actions with the manipulate trait (such as Attack of Opportunity).
If you want to prepare to Release something outside of your turn, use the Ready activity.
Seek
Concentrate
Secret
You scan an area for signs of creatures or objects. If you’re looking for creatures, choose an area you’re scanning. If precision is necessary, the GM can have you select a 30-foot cone or a 15-foot burst within line of sight. You might take a penalty if you choose an area that’s far away.
If you’re using Seek to search for objects (including secret doors and hazards), you search up to a 10-foot square adjacent to you. The GM might determine you need to Seek as an activity, taking more actions or even minutes or hours if you’re searching a particularly cluttered area.
The GM attempts a single secret Perception check for you and compares the result to the Stealth DCs of any undetected or hidden creatures in the area or the DC to detect each object in the area (as determined by the GM or by someone Concealing the Object). A creature you detect might remain hidden, rather than becoming observed, if you’re using an imprecise sense or if an effect (such as invisibility) prevents the subject from being observed.
Critical Success - If you were searching for creatures, any undetected or hidden creature you critically succeeded against becomes observed by you. If you were searching for an object, you learn its location.
Success - If you were searching for creatures, any undetected creature you succeeded against becomes hidden from you instead of undetected, and any hidden creature you succeeded against becomes observed by you. If you were searching for an object, you learn its location or get a clue to its whereabouts, as determined by the GM.
Sense Motive
Concentrate
Secret
You try to tell whether a creature’s behavior is abnormal. Choose one creature, and assess it for odd body language, signs of nervousness, and other indicators that it might be trying to deceive someone. The GM attempts a single secret Perception check for you and compares the result to the Deception DC of the creature, the DC of a spell affecting the creature’s mental state, or another appropriate DC determined by the GM. You typically can’t try to Sense the Motive of the same creature again until the situation changes significant
Critical Success - You determine the creature’s true intentions and get a solid idea of any mental magic affecting it.
Success - You can tell whether the creature is behaving normally, but you don’t know its exact intentions or what magic might be affecting it.
Failure - You detect what a deceptive creature wants you to believe. If they’re not being deceptive, you believe they’re behaving normally.
Critical Failure - You get a false sense of the creature’s intentions.
Stand
Move
You stand up from prone.
Stride
Move
You move up to your Speed.
Step
Move
Requirements - Your Speed is at least 10 feet.
You carefully move 5 feet. Unlike most types of movement, Stepping doesn’t trigger reactions, such as Attacks of Opportunity, that can be triggered by move actions or upon leaving or entering a square.
You can’t Step into difficult terrain, and you can’t Step using a Speed other than your land Speed.
Strike
Attack
You attack with a weapon you’re wielding or with an unarmed attack, targeting one creature within your reach (for a melee attack) or within range (for a ranged attack). Roll the attack roll for the weapon or unarmed attack you are using, and compare the result to the target creature’s AC to determine the effect.
Critical Success - As success, but you deal double damage.
Success - You deal damage according to the weapon or unarmed attack, including any modifiers, bonuses, and penalties you have to damage.
Take Cover
Requirements - You are benefiting from cover, are near a feature that allows you to take cover, or are prone.
You press yourself against a wall or duck behind an obstacle to take better advantage of cover. If you would have standard cover, you instead gain greater cover, which provides a +4 circumstance bonus to AC; to Reflex saves against area effects; and to Stealth checks to Hide, Sneak, or otherwise avoid detection. Otherwise, you gain the benefits of standard cover (a +2 circumstance bonus instead). This lasts until you move from your current space, use an attack action, become unconscious, or end this effect as a free action.
There are some actions that are useful under special circumstances. Some may require a special movement type (such as Burrow or Fly):
Arrest A Fall
Trigger: You fall.
Requirements: You have a fly Speed.
You attempt an Acrobatics check to slow your fall. The DC is typically 15, but it might be higher due to air turbulence or other circumstances.
Success: You fall gently, taking no damage from the fall.
Avert Gaze
You avert your gaze from danger. You gain a +2 circumstance bonus to saves against visual abilities that require you to look at a creature or object, such as a medusa's petrifying gaze. Your gaze remains averted until the start of your next turn.
Burrow
Move
Requirements: You have a burrow Speed.
You dig your way through dirt, sand, or a similar loose material at a rate up to your burrow Speed. You can’t burrow through rock or other substances denser than dirt unless you have an ability that allows you to do so.
Fly
Move
Requirements: You have a flySpeed.
You move through the air up to your fly Speed. Moving upward (straight up or diagonally) uses the rules for moving through difficult terrain. You can move straight down 10 feet for every 5 feet of movement you spend. If you Fly to the ground, you don’t take falling damage. You can use an action to Fly 0 feet to hover in place. If you’re airborne at the end of your turn and didn’t use a Fly action this round, you fall.
Grab An Edge
Trigger: You fall from or past an edge or handhold.
Requirements: Your hands are nott ied behind your back or otherwise restrained.
When you fall off or past an edge or other handhold, you can try to grab it, potentially stopping your fall. You must succeed at a Reflex save, usually at the Climb DC. If you grab the edge or handhold, you can then Climb up using Athletics.
Critical Success: You grab the edge or handhold, whether or not you have a hand free, typically by using a suitable held item to catch yourself (catching a battle axe on a ledge, for example). You still take damage from the distance fallen so far, but you treat the fall as though it were 30 feet shorter.
Success: If you have at least one hand free, you grab the edge or handhold, stopping your fall. You still take damage from the distance fallen so far, but you treat the fall as though it were 20 feet shorter. If you have no hands free, you continue to fall as if you had failed the check.
Critical Failure: You continue to fall, and if you’ve fallen 20 feet or more before you use this reaction, you take 10 bludgeoning damage from the impact for every 20 feet fallen.
Point Out
Auditory
Manipulate
Visual
Requirements - A creature is Undetected by one or more of your allies but isn’t Undetected by you.
You indicate a creature that you can see to one or more allies, gesturing in a direction and describing the distance verbally. That creature is hidden to your allies, rather than undetected (page 466). This works only for allies who can see you and are in a position where they could potentially detect the target. If your allies can’t hear or understand you, they must succeed at a Perception check against the creature’s Stealth DC or they misunderstand and believe the target is in a different location.
Raise a Shield
Requirements - You are wielding a shield.
You position your shield to protect yourself. When you have Raised a Shield, you gain its listed circumstance bonus to AC. Your shield remains raised until the start of your next turn.
There are also a few actions related to magic use that may be used from time to time:
Dismiss
Concentrate
You end one spell effect or magic item effect. This must be an effect that you are allowed to dismiss, as defined by the spell or item. Dismissal might end the effect entirely, or might end it just for a certain target or targets, depending on the spell or item.
Sustain A Spell
Concentrate
Requirements: You have at least one spell active with a sustained duration, and you are not fatigued.
Choose one spell with a sustained duration you have in effect. The duration of that spell continues until the end of your next turn. Some spells might have slightly different or expanded effects if you sustain them. Sustaining a Spell for more than 10 minutes (100 rounds) ends the spell and makes you fatigued unless the spell lists a different maximum duration (such as “sustained up to 1 minute” or “sustained up to 1 hour”).
If your Sustain a Spell action is disrupted, the spell immediately ends.
Sustain An Activation
Concentrate
Requirements: You have at least one magic item activation that you can sustain, and you are not fatigued.
Choose one magic item activation with a sustained duration you have in effect. The duration of that activation continues until the end of your next turn. Some activations may have slightly different or expanded effects if you sustain them. Sustaining an Activation for more than 10 minutes (100 rounds) ends the activation and makes you fatigued unless the item’s description states a different maximum duration (such as “up to 1 minute” or “up to 1 hour”).
If your Sustain an Activation action is disrupted, the item’s effect immediately ends.
Move
Requirements: You are in a square that contains a narrow surface, uneven ground, or another similar feature.
You move across a narrow surface or uneven ground, attempting an Acrobatics check against its Balance DC. You are flat-footed while on a narrow surface or uneven ground.
Critical Success: You move up to your Speed.
Success: You move up to your Speed, treating it as difficult terrain (every 5 feet costs 10 feet of movement).
Failure: You must remain stationary to keep your balance (wasting the action) or you fall. If you fall, your turn ends.
Critical Failure: You fall and your turn ends.
Tumble Through
Move
You Stride up to your Speed. During this movement, you can try to move through the space of one enemy. Attempt an Acrobatics check against the enemy’s Reflex DC as soon as you try to enter its space. You can Tumble Through using Climb, Fly, Swim, or another action instead of Stride in the appropriate environment.
Success: You move through the enemy’s space, treating the squares in its space as difficult terrain (every 5 feet costs 10 feet of movement). If you don’t have enough Speed to move all the way through its space, you get the same effect as a failure.
Failure: Your movement ends, and you trigger reactions as if you had moved out of the square you started in.
Trained: Maneuver In Flight
Move
Requirements: You are at least Trained in Acrobatics and you have a fly Speed.
You try a difficult maneuver while flying. Attempt an Acrobatics check. The GM determines what maneuvers are possible, but they rarely allow you to move farther than your fly Speed.
Success: You succeed at the maneuver.
Failure: Your maneuver fails. The GM chooses if you simply can’t move or if some other detrimental effect happens. The outcome should be appropriate for the maneuver you attempted (for instance, being blown off course if you were trying to fly against a strong wind).
Critical Failure: As failure, but the consequence is more dire.
Squeeze
Requirements: You are at least Trained in Acrobatics
You contort yourself to squeeze through a space so small you can barely fit through. This action is for exceptionally small spaces; many tight spaces are difficult terrain that you can move through more quickly and without a check.
Critical Success: You squeeze through the tight space in 1 minute per 10 feet of squeezing.
Success: You squeeze through in 1 minute per 5 feet.
Critical Failure: You become stuck in the tight space. While you’re stuck, you can spend 1 minute attempting another Acrobatics check at the same DC. Any result on that check other than a critical failure causes you to become unstuck.
Concentrate
Secret
You attempt a skill check to try to remember a bit of knowledge regarding a topic related to that skill. The GM determines the DCs for such checks and which skills apply.
Critical Success - You recall the knowledge accurately and gain additional information or context.
Success - You recall the knowledge accurately or gain a useful clue about your current situation.
Failure - You don't recall anything useful.
Critical Failure - You recall incorrect information or gain an erroneous or misleading clue.
Trained: Borrow an Arcane Spell
Requirements: You are at least Trained in the appropriate Magical Tradition's skill.
If you’re an arcane spellcaster who prepares from a spellbook, you can attempt to prepare a spell from someone else’s spellbook. The GM sets the DC for the check based on the spell’s level and rarity; it’s typically a bit easier than Learning the Spell.
Success: You prepare the borrowed spell as part of your normal spell preparation.
Failure: You fail to prepare the spell, but the spell slot remains available for you to prepare a different spell. You can’t try to prepare this spell until the next time you prepare spells.
Decipher Writing
Requirements: You are at least Trained in the appropriate magical Tradition's skill
You attempt to decipher complicated writing or literature on an obscure topic. This usually takes 1 minute per page of text, but might take longer (typically an hour per page for decrypting ciphers or the like). The text must be in a language you can read, though the GM might allow you to attempt to decipher text written in an unfamiliar language using Society instead.
The DC is determined by the GM based on the state or complexity of the document. The GM might have you roll one check for a short text or a check for each section of a larger text.
Critical Success: You understand the true meaning of the text.
Success: You understand the true meaning of the text. If it was a coded document, you know the general meaning but might not have a word-for-word translation.
Failure: You can’t understand the text and take a –2 circumstance penalty to further checks to decipher it.
Critical Failure: You believe you understand the text on that page, but you have in fact misconstrued its message.
Identify Magic
Requirements: You are at least Trained in the appropriate magical Tradition's skill. (See table below).
Once you discover that an item, location, or ongoing effect is magical, you can spend 10 minutes to try to identify the particulars of its magic. If your attempt is interrupted, you must start over. The GM sets the DC for your check. Cursed or esoteric subjects usually have higher DCs or might even be impossible to identify using this activity alone. Heightening a spell doesn’t increase the DC to identify it.
Critical Success: You learn all the attributes of the magic, including its name (for an effect), what it does, any means of activating it (for an item or location), and whether it is cursed.
Success: For an item or location, you get a sense of what it does and learn any means of activating it. For an ongoing effect (such as a spell with a duration), you learn the effect’s name and what it does. You can’t try again in hopes of getting a critical success.
Failure: You fail to identify the magic and can’t try again for 1 day.
Critical Failure: You misidentify the magic as something else. of the GM’s choice.
Learn A Spell
Requirements: You are at least Trained in the appropriate magical Tradition's skill
You can gain access to a new spell of your tradition from someone who knows that spell or from magical writing like a spellbook or scroll. If you can cast spells of multiple traditions, you can Learn a Spell of any of those traditions, but you must use the corresponding skill to do so. For example, if you were a cleric with the bard multiclass archetype, you couldn’t use Religion to add an occult spell to your bardic spell repertoire.
To learn the spell, you must do the following:
Critical Success: You expend half the materials and learn the spell.
Success: You expend the materials and learn the spell.
Failure: You fail to learn the spell but can try again after you gain a level. The materials aren’t expended.
Critical Failure: As failure, plus you expend half the materials.
Move
Requirements - You have both hands free.
You move up, down, or across an incline. Unless it’s particularly easy, you must attempt an Athletics check. The GM determines the DC based on the nature of the incline and environmental circumstances. You’re flat-footed unless you have a climb Speed.
Critical Success - You move up, across, or safely down the incline for 5 feet plus 5 feet per 20 feet of your land Speed (a total of 10 feet for most PCs).
Success - You move up, across, or safely down the incline for 5 feet per 20 feet of your land Speed (a total of 5 feet for most PCs, minimum 5 feet if your Speed is below 20 feet).
Failure - You fail to get off the ground.
Critical Failure - You fall. If you began the climb on stable ground, you fall and land prone.
Force Open
Attack
Using your body, a lever, or some other tool, you attempt to forcefully open a door, window, container or heavy gate. With a high enough result, you can even smash through walls. Without a crowbar, prying something open takes a –2 item penalty to the Athletics check to Force Open.
Critical Success - You open the door, window, container, or gate and can avoid damaging it in the process.
Success - You break the door, window, container, or gate open, and the door, window, container, or gate gains the broken condition. If it’s especially sturdy, the GM might have it take damage but not be broken.
Failure - You fail to open the door, window, container, or gate. Critical Failure - Your attempt jams the door, window, container, or gate shut, imposing a –2 circumstance penalty on future attempts to Force it Open.
Grapple
Attack
Requirements: You have at least one free hand. Your target cannot be more than one size larger than you.
You attempt to grab an opponent with your free hand. Attempt an Athletics check against their Fortitude DC. You can also Grapple to keep your hold on a creature you already grabbed.
Critical Success: Your opponent is restrained until the end of your next turn unless you move or your opponent Escapes.
Success: Your opponent is grabbed until the end of your next turn unless you move or your opponent Escapes.
Failure: You fail to grab your opponent. If you already had the opponent grabbed or restrained using a Grapple, those conditions on that creature end.
Critical Failure: If you already had the opponent grabbed or restrained, it breaks free. Your target can either grab you, as if it succeeded at using the Grapple action against you, or force you to fall and land prone.
High Jump
Move
You Stride, then make a vertical Leap and attempt a DC 30 Athletics check to increase the height of your jump.
If you didn’t Stride at least 10 feet, you automatically fail your check. This DC might be increased or decreased due to the situation, as determined by the GM.
Critical Success - Increase the maximum vertical distance to 8 feet, or increase the maximum vertical distance to 5 feet and maximum horizontal distance to 10 feet.
Success - Increase the maximum vertical distance to 5 feet.
Failure - You Leap normally.
Critical Failure - You don’t Leap at all, and instead you fall prone in your space.
Long Jump
Move
You Stride, then make a horizontal Leap and attempt an Athletics check to increase the length of your jump. The DC of the Athletics check is equal to the total distance in feet you’re attempting to move during your Leap (so you’d need to succeed at a DC 20 check to Leap 20 feet). You can’t Leap farther than your Speed.
If you didn’t Stride at least 10 feet, or if you attempt to jump in a different direction than your Stride, you automatically fail your check. This DC might be increased or decreased due to the situation, as determined by the GM.
Success - Increase the maximum horizontal distance you Leap to the desired distance.
Failure - You Leap normally.
Critical Failure - You Leap normally, but then fall and land prone
Shove
Attack
Requirements: You have at least one hand free. The target can’t be more than one size larger than you.
You push an opponent away from you. Attempt an Athletics check against your opponent’s Fortitude DC.
Critical Success: You push your opponent up to 10 feet away from you. You can Stride after it, but you must move the same distance and in the same direction.
Success: You push your opponent back 5 feet. You can Stride after it, but you must move the same distance and in the same direction.
Failure: Nothing happens.
Critical Failure: You lose your balance, fall, and land Prone.
[h4 Forced Movement The Shove action can force a creature to move. When an effect forces you to move, or if you start falling, the distance you move is defined by the effect that moved you, not by your Speed. Because you’re not acting to move, this doesn’t trigger reactions triggered by movement.
Swim
Move
You propel yourself through water. In most calm water, you succeed at the action without needing to attempt a check. If you must breathe air and you’re submerged in water, you must hold your breath each round. If you fail to hold your breath, you begin to drown (as described on page 478). If the water you are swimming in is turbulent or otherwise dangerous, you might have to attempt an Athletics check to Swim.
If you end your turn in water and haven’t succeeded at a Swim action that turn, you sink 10 feet or get moved by the current, as determined by the GM. However, if your last action on your turn was to enter the water, you don’t sink or move with the current that turn.
Critical Success: You move through the water 10 feet, plus 5 feet per 20 feet of your land Speed (a total of 15 feet for most PCs).
Success: You move through the water 5 feet, plus 5 feet per 20 feet of your land Speed (a total of 10 feet for most PCs).
Critical Failure: You make no progress, and if you’re holding your breath, you lose 1 round of air.
Trip
Attack
Requirements: You have at least one hand free. The target can’t be more than one size larger than you.
You try to knock an opponent to the ground. Attempt an Athletics check against your opponent’s Reflex DC.
Critical Success: The target falls and lands Prone, and takes 1d6 Bludgeoning damage.
Success: The target falls and lands Prone.
Failure: Nothing happens.
Critical Failure: You lose your balance, fall, and land Prone.
Trained: Disarm
Attack
Requirements: You are Trained in Athletics, and you have at least one hand free. The target can’t be more than one size larger than you.
You try to knock something out of an opponent’s grasp. Attempt an Athletics check against the opponent’s Reflex DC.
Critical Success: You knock the item out of the opponent’s grasp. It falls to the ground in the opponent’s space.
Success: You weaken your opponent’s grasp on the item. Until the start of that creature’s turn, attempts to Disarm the opponent of that item gain a +2 circumstance bonus, and the target takes a –2 circumstance penalty to attacks with the item or other checks requiring a firm grasp on the item.
Failure: Nothing happens.
Critical Failure: You lose your balance and become Flat-footed until the start of your next turn.
Concentrate
Secret
You attempt a skill check to try to remember a bit of knowledge regarding a topic related to that skill. The GM determines the DCs for such checks and which skills apply.
Critical Success - You recall the knowledge accurately and gain additional information or context.
Success - You recall the knowledge accurately or gain a useful clue about your current situation.
Failure - You don't recall anything useful.
Critical Failure - You recall incorrect information or gain an erroneous or misleading clue.
Trained: Craft
Requirements: You are at least Trained in Crafting.
You can make an item from raw materials. You need the Alchemical Crafting skill feat to create alchemical items, the Magical Crafting skill feat to create magic items, and the Snare Crafting feat to create snares.
To Craft an item, you must meet the following requirements:
If your attempt to create the item is successful, you expend the raw materials you supplied. You can pay the remaining portion of the item’s Price in materials to complete the item immediately, or you can spend additional downtime days working on it. For each additional day you spend, reduce the value of the materials you need to expend to complete the item. This amount is based on your proficiency rank in Crafting and using your own level instead of a task level. After any of these downtime days, you can complete the item by spending the remaining portion of its Price in materials. If the downtime days you spend are interrupted, you can return to finish the item later, continuing where you left off.
Critical Success: Your attempt is successful. Each additional day spent Crafting reduces the materials needed to complete the item by an amount based on your level + 1 and your proficiency rank in Crafting.
Success: Your attempt is successful. Each additional day spent Crafting reduces the materials needed to complete the item by an amount based on your level and your proficiency rank.
Failure: You fail to complete the item. You can salvage the raw materials you supplied for their full value. If you want to try again, you must start over.
Critical Failure: You fail to complete the item. You ruin 10% of the raw materials you supplied, but you can salvage the rest. If you want to try again, you must start over.
Earn Income
Requirements: You are at least Trained in the appropriate skill.
You use one of your skills to make money during downtime. The GM assigns a task level representing the most lucrative job available. You can search for lower-level tasks, with the GM determining whether you find any. Sometimes you can attempt to find better work than the initial offerings, though this takes time and requires using the Diplomacy skill to Gather Information, doing some research, or socializing.
When you take on a job, the GM secretly sets the DC of your skill check. After your first day of work, you roll to determine your earnings. You gain an amount of income based on your result, the task’s level, and your proficiency rank.
You can continue working at the task on subsequent days without needing to roll again. For each day you spend after the first, you earn the same amount as the first day, up until the task’s completion. The GM determines how long you can work at the task. Most tasks last a week or two, though some can take months or even years.
Critical Success: You do outstanding work. Gain the amount of currency listed for the task level + 1 and your proficiency rank.
Success: You do competent work. Gain the amount of currency listed for the task level and your proficiency rank.
Failure: You do shoddy work and get paid the bare minimum for your time. Gain the amount of currency listed in the failure column for the task level. The GM will likely reduce how long you can continue at the task.
Critical Failure: You earn nothing for your work and are fired immediately. You can’t continue at the task. Your reputation suffers, potentially making it difficult for you to find rewarding jobs in that community in the future.
Identify Alchemy
Requirements: You are at least Trained in Crafting and you have Alchemist's Tools.
You can identify the nature of an alchemical item with 10 minutes of testing using alchemist’s tools. If your attempt is interrupted in any way, you must start over.
Success: You identify the item and the means of activating it.
Failure: You fail to identify the item but can try again.
Critical Failure: You misidentify the item as another item of the GM’s choice.
Mental
With a gesture, a trick, or some distracting words, you can create a diversion that draws creatures’ attention elsewhere. If you use a gesture or trick, this action gains the manipulate trait. If you use distracting words, it gains the auditory and linguistic traits.
Attempt a single Deception check and compare it to the Perception DCs of the creatures whose attention you’re trying to divert. Whether or not you succeed, creatures you attempt to divert gain a +4 circumstance bonus to their Perception DCs against your attempts to Create a Diversion for 1 minute.
Success - You become Hidden to each creature whose Perception DC is less than or equal to your result. (The Hidden condition allows you to Sneak away.) This lasts until the end of your turn or until you do anything except Step or use the Hide or the Sneak action of the Stealth skill. If you Strike a creature, the creature remains Flat-footed against that attack, and you then become Observed. If you do anything else, you become Observed just before you act unless the GM determines otherwise.
Failure - You don’t divert the attention of any creatures whose Perception DC exceeds your result, and those creatures are aware you were trying to trick them.
Impersonate
You create a disguise to pass yourself off as someone or something you are not. Assembling a convincing disguise takes 10 minutes and requires a disguise kit, but a simpler, quicker disguise might do the job if you’re not trying to imitate a specific individual, at the GM’s discretion. In most cases, creatures have a chance to detect your deception only if they use the Seek action to attempt Perception checks against your Deception DC. If you attempt to directly interact with someone while disguised, the GM rolls a secret Deception check for you against that creature’s Perception DC instead. If you’re disguised as a specific individual, the GM might give creatures you interact with a circumstance bonus based on how well they know the person you’re imitating, or the GM might roll a secret Deception check even if you aren’t directly interacting with others.
Success: You trick the creature into thinking you’re the person you’re disguised as. You might have to attempt a new check if your behavior changes.
Failure: The creature can tell you’re not who you claim to be.
Critical Failure: The creature can tell you’re not who you claim to be, and it recognizes you if it would know you without a disguise.
Lie
You try to fool someone with an untruth. Doing so takes at least 1 round, or longer if the lie is elaborate. You roll a single Deception check and compare it against the Perception DC of every creature you are trying to fool. The GM might give them a circumstance bonus based on the situation and the nature of the lie you are trying to tell. Elaborate or highly unbelievable lies are much harder to get a creature to believe than simpler and more believable lies, and some lies are so big that it’s impossible to get anyone to believe them.
At the GM’s discretion, if a creature initially believes your lie, it might attempt a Perception check later to Sense Motive against your Deception DC to realize it’s a lie. This usually happens if the creature discovers enough evidence to counter your statements.
Success - The target believes your lie.
Failure - The target doesn’t believe your lie and gains a +4 circumstance bonus against your attempts to Lie for the duration of your conversation. The target is also more likely to be suspicious of you in the future.
Trained: Feint
Mental
Requirements - You are at least Trained in Deception and you are within melee reach of the opponent you attempt to Feint.
With a misleading flourish, you leave an opponent unprepared for your real attack. Attempt a Deception check against that opponent’s Perception DC.
Critical Success - You throw your enemy’s defenses against you entirely off. The target is Flat-footed against melee attacks that you attempt against it until the end of your next turn.
Success - Your foe is fooled, but only momentarily. The target is Flat-footed against the next melee attack that you attempt against it before the end of your current turn.
Critical Failure - Your feint backfires. You are Flat-footed against melee attacks the target attempts against you until the end of your next turn.
You canvass local markets, taverns, and gathering places in an attempt to learn about a specific individual or topic. The GM determines the DC of the check and the amount of time it takes (typically 2 hours, but sometimes more), along with any benefit you might be able to gain by spending coin on bribes, drinks, or gifts.
Success: You collect information about the individual or topic. The GM determines the specifics.
Critical Failure: You collect incorrect information about the individual or topic.
Sample Gather Information Tasks:
Make an Impression
With at least 1 minute of conversation, during which you engage in charismatic overtures, flattery, and other acts of goodwill, you seek to make a good impression on someone to make them temporarily agreeable. At the end of the conversation, attempt a Diplomacy check against the Will DC of one target, modified by any circumstances the GM sees fit. Good impressions (or bad impressions, on a critical failure) last for only the current social interaction unless the GM decides otherwise.
Critical Success - The target’s attitude toward you improves by two steps.
Success - The target’s attitude toward you improves by one step.
Failure - The target's attitude toward you does not change.
Critical Failure - The target’s attitude toward you decreases by one step.
No one can ever change the attitude of a player character with these skills. You can roleplay interactions with player characters, and even use Diplomacy results if the player wants a mechanical sense of how convincing or charming a character is, but players make the ultimate decisions about how their characters respond.
Request
Auditory
Concentrate
Linguistic
Mental
You can make a request of a creature that’s friendly or helpful to you. You must couch the request in terms that the target would accept given their current attitude toward you. The GM sets the DC based on the difficulty of the request. Some requests are unsavory or impossible, and even a helpful NPC would never agree to them.
Critical Success: The target agrees to your request without qualifications.
Success: The target agrees to your request, but they might demand added provisions or alterations to the request.
Failure: The target refuses the request, though they might propose an alternative that is less extreme.
Critical Failure: Not only does the target refuse the request, but their attitude toward you decreases by one step due to the temerity of the request.
With threats either veiled or overt, you attempt to bully a creature into doing what you want. You must spend at least 1 minute of conversation with a creature you can see and that can either see or sense you. At the end of the conversation, attempt an Intimidation check against the target’s Will DC, modified by any circumstances the GM determines.
Critical Success - The target gives you the information you seek or agrees to follow your directives so long as they aren’t likely to harm the target in any way. The target continues to comply for an amount of time determined by the GM but not exceeding 1 day, at which point the target becomes unfriendly (if they weren’t already unfriendly or hostile). However, the target is too scared of you to retaliate—at least in the short term.
Success - As critical success, but once the target becomes unfriendly, they might decide to act against you—for example, by reporting you to the authorities or assisting your enemies.
Failure - The target doesn’t do what you say, and if they were not already unfriendly or hostile, they become unfriendly.
Critical Failure - The target refuses to comply, becomes hostile if they weren’t already, and can’t be Coerced by you for at least 1 week.
Demoralize
Auditory
Concentrate
Emotion
Mental
With a sudden shout, a well-timed taunt, or a cutting putdown, you can shake an enemy’s resolve. Choose a creature within 30 feet of you who you’re aware of. Attempt an Intimidation check against that target’s Will DC. If the target does not understand the language you are speaking, you’re not speaking a language, or they can’t hear you, you take a –4 circumstance penalty to the check. Regardless of your result, the target is temporarily immune to your attempts to Demoralize it for 10 minutes.
Critical Success - The target becomes frightened 2.
Success - The target becomes frightened 1.
Concentrate
Secret
You attempt a skill check to try to remember a bit of knowledge regarding a topic related to that skill. The GM determines the DCs for such checks and which skills apply.
Critical Success - You recall the knowledge accurately and gain additional information or context.
Success - You recall the knowledge accurately or gain a useful clue about your current situation.
Failure - You don't recall anything useful.
Critical Failure - You recall incorrect information or gain an erroneous or misleading clue.
Trained: Earn Income
Requirements: You are at least Trained in the appropriate skill.
You use one of your skills to make money during downtime. The GM assigns a task level representing the most lucrative job available. You can search for lower-level tasks, with the GM determining whether you find any. Sometimes you can attempt to find better work than the initial offerings, though this takes time and requires using the Diplomacy skill to Gather Information, doing some research, or socializing.
When you take on a job, the GM secretly sets the DC of your skill check. After your first day of work, you roll to determine your earnings. You gain an amount of income based on your result, the task’s level, and your proficiency rank.
You can continue working at the task on subsequent days without needing to roll again. For each day you spend after the first, you earn the same amount as the first day, up until the task’s completion. The GM determines how long you can work at the task. Most tasks last a week or two, though some can take months or even years.
Critical Success: You do outstanding work. Gain the amount of currency listed for the task level + 1 and your proficiency rank.
Success: You do competent work. Gain the amount of currency listed for the task level and your proficiency rank.
Failure: You do shoddy work and get paid the bare minimum for your time. Gain the amount of currency listed in the failure column for the task level. The GM will likely reduce how long you can continue at the task.
Critical Failure: You earn nothing for your work and are fired immediately. You can’t continue at the task. Your reputation suffers, potentially making it difficult for you to find rewarding jobs in that community in the future.
Manipulate
Requirements - You have healer’s tools.
You perform first aid on an adjacent creature that is dying or bleeding. If a creature is both dying and bleeding, choose which ailment you’re trying to treat before you roll. You can Administer First Aid again to attempt to remedy the other effect.
• Stabilize - Attempt a Medicine check on a creature that has 0 Hit Points and the dying condition. The DC is equal to 5 + that creature’s recovery roll DC (typically 15 + its dying value).
• Stop Bleeding - Attempt a Medicine check on a creature that is taking persistent bleed damage, giving them a chance to make another flat check to remove the persistent damage. The DC is usually the DC of the effect that caused the bleed.
Success - If you’re trying to stabilize, the creature loses the dying condition (but remains unconscious). If you’re trying to stop bleeding, the creature attempts a flat check to end the bleeding.
Critical Failure - If you were trying to stabilize, the creature’s dying value increases by 1. If you were trying to stop bleeding, it immediately takes an amount of damage equal to its persistent bleed damage.
Recall Knowledge
Concentrate
Secret
You attempt a skill check to try to remember a bit of knowledge regarding a topic related to that skill. The GM determines the DCs for such checks and which skills apply.
Critical Success - You recall the knowledge accurately and gain additional information or context.
Success - You recall the knowledge accurately or gain a useful clue about your current situation.
Failure - You don't recall anything useful.
Critical Failure - You recall incorrect information or gain an erroneous or misleading clue.
Trained: Treat Disease
Requirements - You are at least Trained in Medicine, and you have Healer’s Tools.
You spend at least 8 hours caring for a diseased creature. Attempt a Medicine check against the disease’s DC. After you attempt to Treat a Disease for a creature, you can’t try again until after that creature’s next save against the disease.
Critical Success: You grant the creature a +4 circumstance bonus to its next saving throw against the disease.
Success: You grant the creature a +2 circumstance bonus to its next saving throw against the disease.
Critical Failure: Your efforts cause the creature to take a –2 circumstance penalty to its next save against the disease.
Treat Poison
Manipulate
Requirements - You are at least Trained in Medicine and you have healer’s tools.
You treat a patient to prevent the spread of poison. Attempt a Medicine check against the poison’s DC. After you attempt to Treat a Poison for a creature, you can’t try again until after the next time that creature attempts a save against the poison.
Critical Success: You grant the creature a +4 circumstance bonus to its next saving throw against the poison.
Success: You grant the creature a +2 circumstance bonus to its next saving throw against the poison.
Critical Failure: Your efforts cause the creature to take a –2 circumstance penalty to its next save against the poison.
Treat Wounds
Requirements - You are at least Trained in Medicine, and you have Healer’s Tools.
You spend 10 minutes treating one injured living creature (targeting yourself, if you so choose). The target is then temporarily immune to Treat Wounds actions for 1 hour, but this interval overlaps with the time you spent treating (so a patient can be treated once per hour, not once per 70 minutes).
The Medicine check DC is usually 15, though the GM might adjust it based on the circumstances, such as treating a patient outside in a storm, or treating magically cursed wounds. If you’re an expert in Medicine, you can instead attempt a DC 20 check to increase the Hit Points regained by 10; if you’re a master of Medicine, you can instead attempt a DC 30 check to increase the Hit Points regained by 30; and if you’re legendary, you can instead attempt a DC 40 check to increase the Hit Points regained by 50. The damage dealt on a critical failure remains the same.
If you succeed at your check, you can continue treating the target to grant additional healing. If you treat them for a total of 1 hour, double the Hit Points they regain from Treat Wounds.
The result of your Medicine check determines how many Hit Points the target regains.
Critical Success - The target regains 4d8 Hit Points, and its wounded condition is removed.
Success - The target regains 2d8 Hit Points, and its wounded condition is removed.
Critical Failure - The target takes 1d8 damage.
Auditory
Concentrate
You issue an order to an animal. Attempt a Nature check against the animal’s Will DC. The GM might adjust the DC if the animal has a good attitude toward you, you suggest a course of action it was predisposed toward, or you offer it a treat.
You automatically fail if the animal is hostile or unfriendly to you. If the animal is helpful to you, increase your degree of success by one step. You might be able to Command an Animal more easily with a feat like Ride.
Most animals know the Leap, Seek, Stand, Stride, and Strike basic actions. If an animal knows an activity, such as a horse’s Gallop, you can Command the Animal to perform the activity, but you must spend as many actions on Command an Animal as the activity’s number of actions. You can also spend multiple actions to Command the Animal to perform that number of basic actions on its next turn; for instance, you could spend 3 actions to Command an Animal to Stride three times or to Stride twice and then Strike.
Success: The animal does as you command on its next turn.
Failure: The animal is hesitant or resistant, and it does nothing.
Critical Failure: The animal misbehaves or misunderstands, and it takes some other action determined by the GM.
Recall Knowledge
Concentrate
Secret
You attempt a skill check to try to remember a bit of knowledge regarding a topic related to that skill. The GM determines the DCs for such checks and which skills apply.
Critical Success - You recall the knowledge accurately and gain additional information or context.
Success - You recall the knowledge accurately or gain a useful clue about your current situation.
Failure - You don't recall anything useful.
Critical Failure - You recall incorrect information or gain an erroneous or misleading clue.
Trained: Identify Magic
Requirements: You are at least Trained in the appropriate magical Tradition's skill. (See table below).
Once you discover that an item, location, or ongoing effect is magical, you can spend 10 minutes to try to identify the particulars of its magic. If your attempt is interrupted, you must start over. The GM sets the DC for your check. Cursed or esoteric subjects usually have higher DCs or might even be impossible to identify using this activity alone. Heightening a spell doesn’t increase the DC to identify it.
Critical Success: You learn all the attributes of the magic, including its name (for an effect), what it does, any means of activating it (for an item or location), and whether it is cursed.
Success: For an item or location, you get a sense of what it does and learn any means of activating it. For an ongoing effect (such as a spell with a duration), you learn the effect’s name and what it does. You can’t try again in hopes of getting a critical success.
Failure: You fail to identify the magic and can’t try again for 1 day.
Critical Failure: You misidentify the magic as something else. of the GM’s choice.
Learn A Spell
Requirements: You are at least Trained in the appropriate magical Tradition's skill
You can gain access to a new spell of your tradition from someone who knows that spell or from magical writing like a spellbook or scroll. If you can cast spells of multiple traditions, you can Learn a Spell of any of those traditions, but you must use the corresponding skill to do so. For example, if you were a cleric with the bard multiclass archetype, you couldn’t use Religion to add an occult spell to your bardic spell repertoire.
To learn the spell, you must do the following:
Critical Success: You expend half the materials and learn the spell.
Success: You expend the materials and learn the spell.
Failure: You fail to learn the spell but can try again after you gain a level. The materials aren’t expended.
Critical Failure: As failure, plus you expend half the materials.
Concentrate
Secret
You attempt a skill check to try to remember a bit of knowledge regarding a topic related to that skill. The GM determines the DCs for such checks and which skills apply.
Critical Success - You recall the knowledge accurately and gain additional information or context.
Success - You recall the knowledge accurately or gain a useful clue about your current situation.
Failure - You don't recall anything useful.
Critical Failure - You recall incorrect information or gain an erroneous or misleading clue.
Trained: Decipher Writing
Requirements: You are at least Trained in the appropriate magical Tradition's skill
You attempt to decipher complicated writing or literature on an obscure topic. This usually takes 1 minute per page of text, but might take longer (typically an hour per page for decrypting ciphers or the like). The text must be in a language you can read, though the GM might allow you to attempt to decipher text written in an unfamiliar language using Society instead.
The DC is determined by the GM based on the state or complexity of the document. The GM might have you roll one check for a short text or a check for each section of a larger text.
Critical Success: You understand the true meaning of the text.
Success: You understand the true meaning of the text. If it was a coded document, you know the general meaning but might not have a word-for-word translation.
Failure: You can’t understand the text and take a –2 circumstance penalty to further checks to decipher it.
Critical Failure: You believe you understand the text on that page, but you have in fact misconstrued its message.
Identify Magic
Requirements: You are at least Trained in the appropriate magical Tradition's skill. (See table below).
Once you discover that an item, location, or ongoing effect is magical, you can spend 10 minutes to try to identify the particulars of its magic. If your attempt is interrupted, you must start over. The GM sets the DC for your check. Cursed or esoteric subjects usually have higher DCs or might even be impossible to identify using this activity alone. Heightening a spell doesn’t increase the DC to identify it.
Critical Success: You learn all the attributes of the magic, including its name (for an effect), what it does, any means of activating it (for an item or location), and whether it is cursed.
Success: For an item or location, you get a sense of what it does and learn any means of activating it. For an ongoing effect (such as a spell with a duration), you learn the effect’s name and what it does. You can’t try again in hopes of getting a critical success.
Failure: You fail to identify the magic and can’t try again for 1 day.
Critical Failure: You misidentify the magic as something else. of the GM’s choice.
Learn A Spell
Requirements: You are at least Trained in the appropriate magical Tradition's skill
You can gain access to a new spell of your tradition from someone who knows that spell or from magical writing like a spellbook or scroll. If you can cast spells of multiple traditions, you can Learn a Spell of any of those traditions, but you must use the corresponding skill to do so. For example, if you were a cleric with the bard multiclass archetype, you couldn’t use Religion to add an occult spell to your bardic spell repertoire.
To learn the spell, you must do the following:
Critical Success: You expend half the materials and learn the spell.
Success: You expend the materials and learn the spell.
Failure: You fail to learn the spell but can try again after you gain a level. The materials aren’t expended.
Critical Failure: As failure, plus you expend half the materials.
Concentrate
When making a brief performance—one song, a quick dance, or a few jokes—you use the Perform action. This action is most useful when you want to prove your capability or impress someone quickly. Performing rarely has an impact on its own, but it might influence the DCs of subsequent Diplomacy checks against the observers—or even change their attitudes— if the GM sees fit.
Critical Success: Your performance impresses the observers, and they’re likely to share stories of your ability.
Success: You prove yourself, and observers appreciate the quality of your performance.
Failure: Your performance falls flat.
Critical Failure: You demonstrate only incompetence
Trained: Earn Income
Requirements: You are at least Trained in the appropriate skill.
You use one of your skills to make money during downtime. The GM assigns a task level representing the most lucrative job available. You can search for lower-level tasks, with the GM determining whether you find any. Sometimes you can attempt to find better work than the initial offerings, though this takes time and requires using the Diplomacy skill to Gather Information, doing some research, or socializing.
When you take on a job, the GM secretly sets the DC of your skill check. After your first day of work, you roll to determine your earnings. You gain an amount of income based on your result, the task’s level, and your proficiency rank.
You can continue working at the task on subsequent days without needing to roll again. For each day you spend after the first, you earn the same amount as the first day, up until the task’s completion. The GM determines how long you can work at the task. Most tasks last a week or two, though some can take months or even years.
Critical Success: You do outstanding work. Gain the amount of currency listed for the task level + 1 and your proficiency rank.
Success: You do competent work. Gain the amount of currency listed for the task level and your proficiency rank.
Failure: You do shoddy work and get paid the bare minimum for your time. Gain the amount of currency listed in the failure column for the task level. The GM will likely reduce how long you can continue at the task.
Critical Failure: You earn nothing for your work and are fired immediately. You can’t continue at the task. Your reputation suffers, potentially making it difficult for you to find rewarding jobs in that community in the future.
Concentrate
Secret
You attempt a skill check to try to remember a bit of knowledge regarding a topic related to that skill. The GM determines the DCs for such checks and which skills apply.
Critical Success - You recall the knowledge accurately and gain additional information or context.
Success - You recall the knowledge accurately or gain a useful clue about your current situation.
Failure - You don't recall anything useful.
Critical Failure - You recall incorrect information or gain an erroneous or misleading clue.
Trained: Decipher Writing
Requirements: You are at least Trained in the appropriate magical Tradition's skill
You attempt to decipher complicated writing or literature on an obscure topic. This usually takes 1 minute per page of text, but might take longer (typically an hour per page for decrypting ciphers or the like). The text must be in a language you can read, though the GM might allow you to attempt to decipher text written in an unfamiliar language using Society instead.
The DC is determined by the GM based on the state or complexity of the document. The GM might have you roll one check for a short text or a check for each section of a larger text.
Critical Success: You understand the true meaning of the text.
Success: You understand the true meaning of the text. If it was a coded document, you know the general meaning but might not have a word-for-word translation.
Failure: You can’t understand the text and take a –2 circumstance penalty to further checks to decipher it.
Critical Failure: You believe you understand the text on that page, but you have in fact misconstrued its message.
Identify Magic
Requirements: You are at least Trained in the appropriate magical Tradition's skill. (See table below).
Once you discover that an item, location, or ongoing effect is magical, you can spend 10 minutes to try to identify the particulars of its magic. If your attempt is interrupted, you must start over. The GM sets the DC for your check. Cursed or esoteric subjects usually have higher DCs or might even be impossible to identify using this activity alone. Heightening a spell doesn’t increase the DC to identify it.
Critical Success: You learn all the attributes of the magic, including its name (for an effect), what it does, any means of activating it (for an item or location), and whether it is cursed.
Success: For an item or location, you get a sense of what it does and learn any means of activating it. For an ongoing effect (such as a spell with a duration), you learn the effect’s name and what it does. You can’t try again in hopes of getting a critical success.
Failure: You fail to identify the magic and can’t try again for 1 day.
Critical Failure: You misidentify the magic as something else. of the GM’s choice.
Learn A Spell
Requirements: You are at least Trained in the appropriate magical Tradition's skill
You can gain access to a new spell of your tradition from someone who knows that spell or from magical writing like a spellbook or scroll. If you can cast spells of multiple traditions, you can Learn a Spell of any of those traditions, but you must use the corresponding skill to do so. For example, if you were a cleric with the bard multiclass archetype, you couldn’t use Religion to add an occult spell to your bardic spell repertoire.
To learn the spell, you must do the following:
Critical Success: You expend half the materials and learn the spell.
Success: You expend the materials and learn the spell.
Failure: You fail to learn the spell but can try again after you gain a level. The materials aren’t expended.
Critical Failure: As failure, plus you expend half the materials.
Concentrate
Secret
You attempt a skill check to try to remember a bit of knowledge regarding a topic related to that skill. The GM determines the DCs for such checks and which skills apply.
Critical Success - You recall the knowledge accurately and gain additional information or context.
Success - You recall the knowledge accurately or gain a useful clue about your current situation.
Failure - You don't recall anything useful.
Critical Failure - You recall incorrect information or gain an erroneous or misleading clue.
Subsist
You try to provide food and shelter for yourself, and possibly others as well, with an appropriate standard of living. The GM determines the DC based on the nature of the place where you’re trying to Subsist. You might need a minimum proficiency rank to Subsist in particularly strange environments. Unlike most downtime activities, you can Subsist after 8 hours or less of exploration, but if you do, you take a –5 penalty.
Critical Success: You either provide a subsistence living for yourself and one additional creature, or you improve your own food and shelter, granting yourself a comfortable living.
Success: You find enough food and shelter with basic protection from the elements to provide you a subsistence living.
Failure: You’re exposed to the elements and don’t get enough food, becoming fatigued until you attain sufficient food and shelter.
Critical Failure: You attract trouble, eat something you shouldn’t, or otherwise worsen your situation. You take a –2 circumstance penalty to checks to Subsist for 1 week. You don’t find any food at all; if you don’t have any stored up, you’re in danger of starving or dying of thirst if you continue failing.
Trained: Create Forgery
Requirements: You are at least Trained in Society
You create a forged document, usually over the course of a day or a week. You must have the proper writing material to create a forgery. When you Create a Forgery, the GM rolls a secret DC 20 Society check. If you succeed, the forgery is of good enough quality that passive observers can’t notice the fake. Only those who carefully examine the document and attempt a Perception or Society check against your Society DC can do so.
If the document’s handwriting doesn’t need to be specific to a person, you need only to have seen a similar document before, and you gain up to a +4 circumstance bonus to your check, as well as to your DC (the GM determines the bonus). To forge a specific person’s handwriting, you need a sample of that person’s handwriting.
If your check result was below 20, the forgery has some obvious signs of being a fake, so the GM compares your result to each passive observer’s Perception DC or Society DC, whichever is higher, using the success or failure results below. Once the GM rolls your check for a document, that same result is used against all passive observers’ DCs no matter how many creatures passively observe that document.
An observer who was fooled on a passive glance can still choose to closely scrutinize the documents on the lookout for a forgery, using different techniques and analysis methods beyond the surface elements you successfully forged with your original check. In that case, the observer can attempt a Perception or Society check against your Society DC (if they succeed, they know your document is a forgery).
Success: The observer does not detect the forgery.
Failure: The observer knows your document is a forgery.
Decipher Writing
Requirements: You are at least Trained in the appropriate magical Tradition's skill
You attempt to decipher complicated writing or literature on an obscure topic. This usually takes 1 minute per page of text, but might take longer (typically an hour per page for decrypting ciphers or the like). The text must be in a language you can read, though the GM might allow you to attempt to decipher text written in an unfamiliar language using Society instead.
The DC is determined by the GM based on the state or complexity of the document. The GM might have you roll one check for a short text or a check for each section of a larger text.
Critical Success: You understand the true meaning of the text.
Success: You understand the true meaning of the text. If it was a coded document, you know the general meaning but might not have a word-for-word translation.
Failure: You can’t understand the text and take a –2 circumstance penalty to further checks to decipher it.
Critical Failure: You believe you understand the text on that page, but you have in fact misconstrued its message.
Manipulate
Secret
You hide a small object on your person (such as a weapon of light Bulk). When you try to sneak a concealed object past someone who might notice it, the GM rolls your Stealth check and compares it to this passive observer’s Perception DC. Once the GM rolls your check for a concealed object, that same result is used no matter how many passive observers you try to sneak it past. If a creature is specifically searching you for an item, it can attempt a Perception check against your Stealth DC (finding the object on success).
You can also conceal an object somewhere other than your person, such as among undergrowth or in a secret compartment within a piece of furniture. In this case, characters Seeking in an area compare their Perception check results to your Stealth DC to determine whether they find the object.
Success - The object remains undetected.
Failure - The searcher finds the object.
Hide
Secret
You huddle behind cover or greater cover or deeper into concealment to become Hidden, rather than Observed. The GM rolls your Stealth check in secret and compares the result to the Perception DC of each creature you’re Observed by but that you have cover or greater cover against or are concealed from. You gain the circumstance bonus from cover or greater cover to your check.
Success - If the creature could see you, you’re now Hidden from it instead of Observed. If you were Hidden from or Undetected by the creature, you retain that condition.
If you successfully become Hidden to a creature but then cease to have cover or greater cover against it or be concealed from it, you become observed again. You cease being Hidden if you do anything except Hide, Sneak, or Step
If you attempt to Strike a creature, the creature remains Flat-footed against that attack, and you then become Observed. If you do anything else, you become observed just before you act unless the GM determines otherwise. The GM might allow you to perform a particularly unobtrusive action without being noticed, possibly requiring another Stealth check.
If a creature uses Seek to make you observed by it, you must successfully Hide to become hidden from it again.
Creatures can try to find you using the Seek action.
Four conditions explain the states of detection. Remember that these conditions are relative to each creature—you can be observed by one creature while hidden to another and undetected by a third.
Sneak
Move
Secret
You can attempt to move to another place while becoming or staying undetected. Stride up to half your Speed. (You can use Sneak while Burrowing, Climbing, Flying, or Swimming instead of Striding if you have the corresponding movement type; you must move at half that Speed.)
If you’re undetected by a creature and it’s impossible for that creature to observe you (for a typical creature, this includes when you’re invisible, the observer is blinded, or you’re in darkness and the creature can’t see in darkness), for any critical failure you roll on a check to Sneak, you get a failure instead. You also continue to be undetected if you lose cover or greater cover against or are no longer concealed from such a creature.
At the end of your movement, the GM rolls your Stealth check in secret and compares the result to the Perception DC of each creature you were hidden from or undetected by at the start of your movement. If you have cover or greater cover from the creature throughout your Stride, you gain the +2 circumstance bonus from cover (or +4 from greater cover) to your Stealth check. Because you’re moving, the bonus increase from Taking Cover doesn’t apply. You don’t get to roll against a creature if, at the end of your movement, you neither are concealed from it nor have cover or greater cover against it. You automatically become observed by such a creature.
Success: You’re undetected by the creature during your movement and remain undetected by the creature at the end of it. You become observed as soon as you do anything other than Hide, Sneak, or Step. If you attempt to Strike a creature, the creature remains flat-footed against that attack, and you then become observed. If you do anything else, you become observed just before you act unless the GM determines otherwise. The GM might allow you to perform a particularly unobtrusive action without being noticed, possibly requiring another Stealth check. If you speak or make a deliberate loud noise, you become hidden instead of undetected. If a creature uses Seek and you become hidden to it as a result, you must Sneak if you want to become undetected by that creature again.
Failure: A telltale sound or other sign gives your position away, though you still remain unseen. You’re hidden from the creature throughout your movement and remain so.
Critical Failure: You’re spotted! You’re observed by the creature throughout your movement and remain so. If you’re invisible and were hidden from the creature, instead of being observed you’re hidden throughout your movement and remain so.
Creatures can try to find you using the Seek action.
Four conditions explain the states of detection. Remember that these conditions are relative to each creature—you can be observed by one creature while hidden to another and undetected by a third.
Using the stars, the position of the sun, traits of the geography or flora, or the behavior of fauna, you can stay oriented in the wild. Typically, you attempt a Survival check only once per day, but some environments or changes might necessitate rolling more often. The GM determines the DC and how long this activity takes (usually just a minute or so). More unusual locales or those you’re unfamiliar with might require you to have a minimum proficiency rank to Sense Direction. Without a compass, you take a –2 item penalty to checks to Sense Direction.
Critical Success: You get an excellent sense of where you are. If you are in an environment with cardinal directions, you know them exactly.
Success: You gain enough orientation to avoid becoming hopelessly lost. If you are in an environment with cardinal directions, you have a sense of those directions.
Subsist
You try to provide food and shelter for yourself, and possibly others as well, with an appropriate standard of living. The GM determines the DC based on the nature of the place where you’re trying to Subsist. You might need a minimum proficiency rank to Subsist in particularly strange environments. Unlike most downtime activities, you can Subsist after 8 hours or less of exploration, but if you do, you take a –5 penalty.
Critical Success: You either provide a subsistence living for yourself and one additional creature, or you improve your own food and shelter, granting yourself a comfortable living.
Success: You find enough food and shelter with basic protection from the elements to provide you a subsistence living.
Failure: You’re exposed to the elements and don’t get enough food, becoming fatigued until you attain sufficient food and shelter.
Critical Failure: You attract trouble, eat something you shouldn’t, or otherwise worsen your situation. You take a –2 circumstance penalty to checks to Subsist for 1 week. You don’t find any food at all; if you don’t have any stored up, you’re in danger of starving or dying of thirst if you continue failing.
Trained: Cover Tracks
You cover your tracks, moving up to half your travel Speed, using the rules on page 479). You don’t need to attempt a Survival check to cover your tracks, but anyone tracking you must succeed at a Survival check against your Survival DC if it is higher than the normal DC to Track.
In some cases, you might Cover Tracks in an encounter. In this case, Cover Tracks is a single action and doesn’t have the exploration trait.
Track
You follow tracks, moving at up to half your travel Speed. After a successful check to Track, you can continue following the tracks at half your Speed without attempting additional checks for up to 1 hour. In some cases, you might Track in an encounter. In this case, Track is a single action and doesn’t have the exploration trait, but you might need to roll more often because you’re in a tense situation. The GM determines how often you must attempt this check.
You attempt your Survival check when you start Tracking, once every hour you continue tracking, and any time something significant changes in the trail. The GM determines the DCs for such checks, depending on the freshness of the trail, the weather, and the type of ground.
Success - You find the trail or continue to follow the one you’re already following.
Failure - You lose the trail but can try again after a 1-hour delay.
Critical Failure - You lose the trail and can’t try again for 24 hours
Manipulate
Palming a small, unattended object without being noticed requires you to roll a single Thievery check against the Perception DCs of all creatures who are currently observing you. You take the object whether or not you successfully conceal that you did so. You can typically only Palm Objects of negligible Bulk, though the GM might determine otherwise depending on the situation.
Success - The creature does not notice you Palming the Object.
Failure - The creature notices you Palming the Object, and the GM determines the creature’s response.
Steal
Manipulate
You try to take a small object from another creature without being noticed. Typically, you can Steal only an object of negligible Bulk, and you automatically fail if the creature who has the object is in combat or on guard.
Attempt a Thievery check to determine if you successfully Steal the object. The DC to Steal is usually the Perception DC of the creature wearing the object. This assumes the object is worn but not closely guarded (like a loosely carried pouch filled with coins, or an object within such a pouch). If the object is in a pocket or similarly protected, you take a –5 penalty to your Thievery check. The GM might increase the DC of your check if the nature of the object makes it harder to steal (such as a very small item in a large pack, or a sheet of parchment mixed in with other documents).
You might also need to compare your Thievery check result against the Perception DCs of observers other than the person wearing the object. The GM may increase the Perception DCs of these observers if they’re distracted.
Success - You steal the item without the bearer noticing, or an observer doesn’t see you take or attempt to take the item.
Failure - The item’s bearer notices your attempt before you can take the object, or an observer sees you take or attempt to take the item. The GM determines the response of any creature that notices your theft.
Trained: Disable A Device
Manipulate
Requirements - You are at least Trained in Thievery. Some devices may require you to have Thieves' Tools to disable them.
This action allows you to disarm a trap or another complex device. Often, a device requires numerous successes before becoming disabled, depending on its construction and complexity. Thieves’ tools are helpful and sometimes even required to Disable a Device, as determined by the GM, and sometimes a device requires a higher proficiency rank in Thievery to disable it.
Your Thievery check result determines how much progress you make.
Critical Success: You disable the device, or you achieve two successes toward disabling a complex device. You leave no trace of your tampering, and you can rearm the device later, if that type of device can be rearmed.
Success: You disable the device, or you achieve one success toward disabling a complex device.
Critical Failure: You trigger the device.
Pick A Lock
Manipulate
Requirements - You are at least Trained in Thievery, and you have Thieves' Tools.
Opening a lock without a key is very similar to Disabling a Device, but the DC of the check is determined by the complexity and construction of the lock you are attempting to pick. Locks of higher qualities might require multiple successes to unlock. If you lack the proper tools, the GM might let you used improvised picks, which are treated as shoddy tools, depending on the specifics of the lock.
Critical Success: You unlock the lock, or you achieve two successes toward opening a complex lock. You leave no trace of your tampering.
Success: You open the lock, or you achieve one success toward opening a complex lock.
Critical Failure: You break your tools. Fixing them requires using Crafting to Repair them or else swapping in replacement picks.
Helpful
This condition reflects a creature’s disposition toward a particular character, and it affects only creatures that are not player characters. A creature that is helpful to a character wishes to actively aid that character. It will accept reasonable Requests from that character, as long as such requests aren’t at the expense of the helpful creature’s goals or quality of life. If the character or one of their allies uses a hostile action against the creature, the creature gains a worse attitude condition depending on the severity of the hostile action, as determined by the GM.
Friendly
This condition reflects a creature’s disposition toward a particular character, and it affects only creatures that are not player characters. A creature that is friendly to a character likes that character. The character can attempt to make a Request of a friendly creature, and the friendly creature is likely to agree to a simple and safe request that doesn’t cost it much to fulfill. If the character or one of their allies uses hostile actions against the creature, the creature gains a worse attitude condition depending on the severity of the hostile action, as determined by the GM.
Indifferent
This condition reflects a creature’s disposition toward a particular character, and it affects only creatures that are not player characters. A creature that is indifferent to a character doesn’t really care one way or the other about that character. Assume a creature’s attitude to a given character is indifferent unless specified otherwise.
Unfriendly
This condition reflects a creature’s disposition toward a particular character, and it affects only creatures that are not player characters. A creature that is unfriendly to a character dislikes and specifically distrusts that character. The unfriendly creature won’t accept Requests from the character.
Hostile
This condition reflects a creature’s disposition toward a particular character, and it affects only creatures that are not player characters. A creature that is hostile to a character actively seeks to harm that character. It doesn’t necessarily attack, but it won’t accept Requests from the character.
Observed
Anything in plain view is observed by you. If a creature takes measures to avoid detection, such as by using Stealth to Hide, it can become hidden or undetected instead of observed. If you have another precise sense instead of or in addition to sight, you might be able to observe a creature or object using that sense instead. You can observe a creature only with precise senses. When Seeking a creature using only imprecise senses, it remains hidden, rather than observed.
Concealed
While you are concealed from a creature, such as in a thick fog, you are difficult for that creature to see. You can still be observed, but you’re tougher to target. A creature that you’re concealed from must succeed at a DC 5 flat check when targeting you with an attack, spell, or other effect. Area effects aren’t subject to this flat check. If the check fails, the attack, spell, or effect doesn’t affect you.
Hidden
While you’re hidden from a creature, that creature knows the space you’re in but can’t tell precisely where you are. You typically become hidden by using Stealth to Hide. When Seeking a creature using only imprecise senses, it remains hidden, rather than observed. A creature you’re hidden from is flat-footed to you, and it must succeed at a DC 11 flat check when targeting you with an attack, spell, or other effect or it fails affect you. Area effects aren’t subject to this flat check.
A creature might be able to use the Seek action to try to observe you.
Undetected
When you are undetected by a creature, that creature cannot see you at all, has no idea what space you occupy, and can’t target you, though you still can be affected by abilities that target an area. When you’re undetected by a creature, that creature is flat-footed to you.
A creature you’re undetected by can guess which square you’re in to try targeting you. It must pick a square and attempt an attack. This works like targeting a hidden creature (requiring a DC 11 flat check), but the flat check and attack roll are rolled in secret by the GM, who doesn’t reveal whether the attack missed due to failing the flat check, failing the attack roll, or choosing the wrong square.
A creature can use the Seek action to try to find you.
Unnoticed
If you are unnoticed by a creature, that creature has no idea you are present at all. When you’re unnoticed, you’re also undetected by the creature. This condition matters for abilities that can be used only against targets totally unaware of your presence.
Invisible
While invisible, you can’t be seen. You’re undetected to everyone. Creatures can Seek to attempt to detect you; if a creature succeeds at its Perception check against your Stealth DC, you become Hidden to that creature until you Sneak to become undetected again. If you become invisible while someone can already see you, you start out Hidden to the observer (instead of Undetected) until you successfully Sneak. You can’t become Observed while invisible except via special abilities or magic.
Doomed
A powerful force has gripped your soul, calling you closer to death. Doomed always includes a value. The dying value at which you die is reduced by your doomed value. If your maximum dying value is reduced to 0, you instantly die. When you die, you’re no longer doomed.
Your doomed value decreases by 1 each time you get a full night’s rest.
Unconscious
You’re sleeping, or you’ve been knocked out. You can’t act. You take a –4 status penalty to AC, Perception, and Reflex saves, and you have the blinded and flat-footed conditions. When you gain this condition, you fall prone and drop items you are wielding or holding unless the effect states otherwise or the GM determines you’re in a position in which you wouldn’t.
If you’re unconscious because you’re dying, you can’t wake up while you have 0 Hit Points. If you are restored to 1 Hit Point or more via healing, you lose the dying and unconscious conditions and can act normally on your next turn.
If you are unconscious and at 0 Hit Points, but not dying, you naturally return to 1 Hit Point and awaken after sufficient time passes. The GM determines how long you remain unconscious, from a minimum of 10 minutes to several hours. If you receive healing during this time, you lose the unconscious condition and can act normally on your next turn.
If you’re unconscious and have more than 1 Hit Point (typically because you are asleep or unconscious due to an effect), you wake up in one of the following ways. Each causes you to lose the unconscious condition.
Wounded
You have been seriously injured. If you lose the Dying condition and do not already have the wounded condition, you become Wounded 1. If you already have the wounded condition when you lose the dying condition, your wounded condition value increases by 1. If you gain the dying condition while wounded, increase your dying condition value by your wounded value.
The wounded condition ends if someone successfully restores Hit Points to you with Treat Wounds, or if you are restored to full Hit Points and rest for 10 minutes.
When some of these conditions appear in statblocks, they will be accompanied by a number (called a Condition Value. This number specifies a severity for the condition, and it either represents the number of rounds that must pass before the condition ends, or the number of saving throws required to eliminate the condition. Individual conditions will explain how the Condition Value applies to a particular Condition.
Some Conditions override or supersede others. If this is the case, it will be specified in the Condition description. Any conditions that are overridden are suppressed (but NOT removed) while the superseding Condition is active. If the suppressed condition has a timed duration, that duration does elapse even if the condition is suppressed, and may end because of duration before the suppressing condition ends.
Some Conditions automatically apply another Condition. In this case, if the Condition that triggered another Condition ends or is removed, this does not automatically end or remove the triggered Condition. (For example, if you are rendered Unconscious, you also fall Prone. Removing the Unconscious condition does not mean you automatically stand up; the Prone condition persists.
Blinded
You can’t see. All normal terrain is difficult terrain to you. You can’t detect anything using vision. You automatically critically fail Perception checks that require you to be able to see, and if vision is your only precise sense, you take a –4 status penalty to Perception checks. You are immune to visual effects. Blinded overrides dazzled.
Broken
Broken is a condition that affects objects. An object is broken when damage has reduced its Hit Points below its Broken Threshold. A broken object can’t be used for its normal function, nor does it grant bonuses—with the exception of armor. Broken armor still grants its item bonus to AC, but it also imparts a status penalty to AC depending on its category: –1 for broken light armor, –2 for broken medium armor, or –3 for broken heavy armor.
A broken item still imposes penalties and limitations normally incurred by carrying, holding, or wearing it. For example, broken armor would still impose its Dexterity modifier cap, check penalty, and so forth.
If an effect makes an item broken automatically and the item has more HP than its Broken Threshold, that effect also reduces the item’s current HP to the Broken Threshold.
Clumsy
Your movements become clumsy and inexact. Clumsy always includes a value. You take a status penalty equal to the condition value to Dexterity-based checks and DCs, including AC, Reflex saves, ranged attack rolls, and skill checks using Acrobatics, Stealth, and Thievery.
Confused
You don’t have your wits about you, and you attack wildly. You are flat-footed, you don’t treat anyone as your ally (though they might still treat you as theirs), and you can’t Delay, Ready, or use reactions.
You use all your actions to Strike or cast offensive cantrips, though the GM can have you use other actions to facilitate attack, such as draw a weapon, move so that a target is in reach, and so forth. Your targets are determined randomly by the GM. If you have no other viable targets, you target yourself, automatically hitting but not scoring a critical hit. If it’s impossible for you to attack or cast spells, you babble incoherently, wasting your actions.
Each time you take damage from an attack or spell, you can attempt a DC 11 flat check to recover from your confusion and end the condition.
Enfeebled
You’re physically weakened. Enfeebled always includes a value. When you are Enfeebled, you take a status penalty equal to the condition value to Strength-based rolls and DCs, including Strength-based melee attack rolls, Strength-based damage rolls, and Athletics checks.
Flat-footed
You’re distracted or otherwise unable to focus your full attention on defense. You take a –2 circumstance penalty to AC. Some effects give you the flat-footed condition only to certain creatures or against certain attacks. Others - especially conditions — can make you universally flat-footed against everything. If a rule doesn’t specify that the condition applies only to certain circumstances, it applies to all of them; for example, many effects simply say “The target is flat-footed.”
Frightened
You’re gripped by fear and struggle to control your nerves. The frightened condition always includes a value. You take a status penalty equal to this value to all your checks and DCs. Unless specified otherwise, at the end of each of your turns, the value of your frightened condition decreases by 1.
Grabbed
You’re held in place by another creature, giving you the Flat-footed and Immobilized conditions. If you attempt a manipulate action while grabbed, you must succeed at a DC 5 flat check or it is lost; roll the check after spending the action, but before any effects are applied.
Immobilized
You can’t use any action with the move trait. If you’re immobilized by something holding you in place and an external force would move you out of your space, the force must succeed at a check against either the DC of the effect holding you in place or the relevant defense (usually Fortitude DC) of the monster holding you in place.
Prone
You’re lying on the ground. You are Flat-footed and take a –2 circumstance penalty to attack rolls. The only move actions you can use while you’re prone are Crawl and Stand. Standing up ends the prone condition. You can Take Cover while prone to hunker down and gain cover against ranged attacks, even if you don’t have an object to get behind, gaining a +4 circumstance bonus to AC against ranged attacks (but you remain flat-footed).
If you would be knocked prone while you’re Climbing or Flying, you fall. You can’t be knocked prone when Swimming.
Restrained
You’re tied up and can barely move, or a creature has you pinned. You have the Flat-footed and Immobilized conditions, and you can’t use any actions with the attack or manipulate traits except to attempt to Escape or Force Open your bonds. Restrained overrides Grabbed.
Actions
When the game is in Exploration mode, things are pretty loose when it comes to timing of actions. But when the game switches to Encounter (Combat) mode, Action economy matters. In Pathfinder, when it is your turn in the Initiative Order, you can perform Three Actions. These can be pretty much any of the things listed below. Note, though, that each of the actions listed will show an icon that indicates how much of your "three actions" will be consumed by that choice:- Things marked with
require 1 of your three Actions to complete. - Things marked with
require 2 of your Actions to complete. These must be consecutive, and must both happen in the same combat turn. - Things marked with
require all 3 of your Actions. You can't do anything else in the combat turn... unless... - Things marked with
are Free Actions that do not consume any of your 3 Action slots. You can even do one or more Free Actions in the same turn as a choice. If you try to get carried away with lots of them in one turn, though, the GM may intervene. - Things marked with
are Reactions. These do not happen during your combat turn; they are things you can do during somebody else's turn if the Trigger conditions are satisfied. You can only perform 1 Reaction in the course of an entire combat round.
Basic Actions
These are actions that any player character (or any other creature) may attempt during Exploration or Encounter play (Some are Exploration only; they will indicate this in the descriptions.) Unless the description of the action states otherwise, successful performance of these actions is assumed without need for any die rolls or checks.Aid
Aid
Trigger - An ally is about to use an action that requires a skill check or attack roll.
Requirements - The ally is willing to accept your aid, and you have prepared to help (see below).
You try to help your ally with a task. To use this reaction, you must first prepare to help, usually by using an action during your turn. You must explain to the GM exactly how you’re trying to help, and they determine whether you can Aid your ally.
When you use your Aid reaction, attempt a skill check or attack roll of a type decided by the GM. The typical DC is 20, but the GM might adjust this DC for particularly hard or easy tasks. The GM can add any relevant traits to your preparatory action or to your Aid reaction depending on the situation, or even allow you to Aid checks other than skill checks and attack rolls.
Critical Success - You grant your ally a +2 circumstance bonus to the triggering check. If you’re a master with the check you attempted, the bonus is +3, and if you’re legendary, it’s +4.
Success - You grant your ally a +1 circumstance bonus to the triggering check.
Critical Failure - Your ally takes a –1 circumstance penalty to the triggering check.
Crawl
Move
Requirements - You are prone and your Speed is at least 10 feet.
You move 5 feet by crawling and continue to stay prone.
Delay
Trigger - Your turn begins.
You wait for the right moment to act. The rest of your turn doesn’t happen yet. Instead, you’re removed from the initiative order. You can return to the initiative order as a free action triggered by the end of any other creature’s turn. This permanently changes your initiative to the new position. You can’t use reactions until you return to the initiative order. If you Delay an entire round without returning to the initiative order, the actions from the Delayed turn are lost, your initiative doesn’t change, and your next turn occurs at your original position in the initiative order.
When you Delay, any persistent damage or other negative effects that normally occur at the start or end of your turn occur immediately when you use the Delay action. Any beneficial effects that would end at any point during your turn also end. The GM might determine that other effects end when you Delay as well. Essentially, you can’t Delay to avoid negative consequences that would happen on your turn or to extend beneficial effects that would end on your turn.
Drop Prone
Move
You fall prone.
Escape
Attack
You attempt to escape from being grabbed, immobilized, or restrained. Choose one creature, object, spell effect, hazard, or other impediment imposing any of those conditions on you. Attempt a check using your unarmed attack modifier against the DC of the effect. This is typically the Athletics DC of a creature grabbing you, the Thievery DC of a creature who tied you up, the spell DC for a spell effect, or the listed Escape DC of an object, hazard, or other impediment. You can attempt an Acrobatics or Athletics check instead of using your attack modifier if you choose (but this action still has the attack trait).
Critical Success - You get free and remove the grabbed, immobilized, and restrained conditions imposed by your chosen target. You can then Stride up to 5 feet.
Success - You get free and remove the grabbed, immobilized, and restrained conditions imposed by your chosen target.
Critical Failure - You don’t get free, and you can’t attempt to Escape again until your next turn.
Interact
Manipulate
You use your hand or hands to manipulate an object or the terrain. You can grab an unattended or stored object, open a door, or produce some similar effect. You might have to attempt a skill check to determine if your Interact action was successful.
Leap
Move
You take a careful, short jump. You can Leap up to 10 feet horizontally if your Speed is at least 15 feet, or up to 15 feet horizontally if your Speed is at least 30 feet. You land in the space where your Leap ends (meaning you can typically clear a 5-foot gap, or a 10-foot gap if your Speed is 30 feet or more).
If you Leap vertically, you can move up to 3 feet vertically and 5 feet horizontally onto an elevated surface.
Jumping a greater distance requires using the Athletics skill.
Ready
Concentrate
You prepare to use an action that will occur outside your turn. Choose a single action or free action you can use, and designate a trigger. Your turn then ends. If the trigger you designated occurs before the start of your next turn, you can use the chosen action as a reaction (provided you still meet the requirements to use it). You can’t Ready a free action that already has a trigger.
If you have a multiple attack penalty and your readied action is an attack action, your readied attack takes the multiple attack penalty you had at the time you used Ready. This is one of the few times the multiple attack penalty applies when it’s not your turn.
Release
Manipulate
You release something you’re holding in your hand or hands. This might mean dropping an item, removing one hand from your weapon while continuing to hold it in another hand, releasing a rope suspending a chandelier, or performing a similar action. Unlike most manipulate actions, Release does not trigger reactions that can be triggered by actions with the manipulate trait (such as Attack of Opportunity).
If you want to prepare to Release something outside of your turn, use the Ready activity.
Seek
Concentrate
Secret
You scan an area for signs of creatures or objects. If you’re looking for creatures, choose an area you’re scanning. If precision is necessary, the GM can have you select a 30-foot cone or a 15-foot burst within line of sight. You might take a penalty if you choose an area that’s far away.
If you’re using Seek to search for objects (including secret doors and hazards), you search up to a 10-foot square adjacent to you. The GM might determine you need to Seek as an activity, taking more actions or even minutes or hours if you’re searching a particularly cluttered area.
The GM attempts a single secret Perception check for you and compares the result to the Stealth DCs of any undetected or hidden creatures in the area or the DC to detect each object in the area (as determined by the GM or by someone Concealing the Object). A creature you detect might remain hidden, rather than becoming observed, if you’re using an imprecise sense or if an effect (such as invisibility) prevents the subject from being observed.
Critical Success - If you were searching for creatures, any undetected or hidden creature you critically succeeded against becomes observed by you. If you were searching for an object, you learn its location.
Success - If you were searching for creatures, any undetected creature you succeeded against becomes hidden from you instead of undetected, and any hidden creature you succeeded against becomes observed by you. If you were searching for an object, you learn its location or get a clue to its whereabouts, as determined by the GM.
Sense Motive
Concentrate
Secret
You try to tell whether a creature’s behavior is abnormal. Choose one creature, and assess it for odd body language, signs of nervousness, and other indicators that it might be trying to deceive someone. The GM attempts a single secret Perception check for you and compares the result to the Deception DC of the creature, the DC of a spell affecting the creature’s mental state, or another appropriate DC determined by the GM. You typically can’t try to Sense the Motive of the same creature again until the situation changes significant
Critical Success - You determine the creature’s true intentions and get a solid idea of any mental magic affecting it.
Success - You can tell whether the creature is behaving normally, but you don’t know its exact intentions or what magic might be affecting it.
Failure - You detect what a deceptive creature wants you to believe. If they’re not being deceptive, you believe they’re behaving normally.
Critical Failure - You get a false sense of the creature’s intentions.
Stand
Move
You stand up from prone.
Stride
Move
You move up to your Speed.
Step
Move
Requirements - Your Speed is at least 10 feet.
You carefully move 5 feet. Unlike most types of movement, Stepping doesn’t trigger reactions, such as Attacks of Opportunity, that can be triggered by move actions or upon leaving or entering a square.
You can’t Step into difficult terrain, and you can’t Step using a Speed other than your land Speed.
Strike
Attack
You attack with a weapon you’re wielding or with an unarmed attack, targeting one creature within your reach (for a melee attack) or within range (for a ranged attack). Roll the attack roll for the weapon or unarmed attack you are using, and compare the result to the target creature’s AC to determine the effect.
Critical Success - As success, but you deal double damage.
Success - You deal damage according to the weapon or unarmed attack, including any modifiers, bonuses, and penalties you have to damage.
Take Cover
Requirements - You are benefiting from cover, are near a feature that allows you to take cover, or are prone.
You press yourself against a wall or duck behind an obstacle to take better advantage of cover. If you would have standard cover, you instead gain greater cover, which provides a +4 circumstance bonus to AC; to Reflex saves against area effects; and to Stealth checks to Hide, Sneak, or otherwise avoid detection. Otherwise, you gain the benefits of standard cover (a +2 circumstance bonus instead). This lasts until you move from your current space, use an attack action, become unconscious, or end this effect as a free action.
There are some actions that are useful under special circumstances. Some may require a special movement type (such as Burrow or Fly):
Arrest A Fall
Arrest A Fall
Trigger: You fall.
Requirements: You have a fly Speed.
You attempt an Acrobatics check to slow your fall. The DC is typically 15, but it might be higher due to air turbulence or other circumstances.
Success: You fall gently, taking no damage from the fall.
Avert gaze
You avert your gaze from danger. You gain a +2 circumstance bonus to saves against visual abilities that require you to look at a creature or object, such as a medusa's petrifying gaze. Your gaze remains averted until the start of your next turn.
Burrow
Move
Requirements: You have a burrow Speed.
You dig your way through dirt, sand, or a similar loose material at a rate up to your burrow Speed. You can’t burrow through rock or other substances denser than dirt unless you have an ability that allows you to do so.
Fly
Move
Requirements: You have a flySpeed.
You move through the air up to your fly Speed. Moving upward (straight up or diagonally) uses the rules for moving through difficult terrain. You can move straight down 10 feet for every 5 feet of movement you spend. If you Fly to the ground, you don’t take falling damage. You can use an action to Fly 0 feet to hover in place. If you’re airborne at the end of your turn and didn’t use a Fly action this round, you fall.
Grab An Edge
Trigger: You fall from or past an edge or handhold.
Requirements: Your hands are nott ied behind your back or otherwise restrained.
When you fall off or past an edge or other handhold, you can try to grab it, potentially stopping your fall. You must succeed at a Reflex save, usually at the Climb DC. If you grab the edge or handhold, you can then Climb up using Athletics.
Critical Success: You grab the edge or handhold, whether or not you have a hand free, typically by using a suitable held item to catch yourself (catching a battle axe on a ledge, for example). You still take damage from the distance fallen so far, but you treat the fall as though it were 30 feet shorter.
Success: If you have at least one hand free, you grab the edge or handhold, stopping your fall. You still take damage from the distance fallen so far, but you treat the fall as though it were 20 feet shorter. If you have no hands free, you continue to fall as if you had failed the check.
Critical Failure: You continue to fall, and if you’ve fallen 20 feet or more before you use this reaction, you take 10 bludgeoning damage from the impact for every 20 feet fallen.
Point Out
Auditory
Manipulate
Visual
Requirements - A creature is Undetected by one or more of your allies but isn’t Undetected by you.
You indicate a creature that you can see to one or more allies, gesturing in a direction and describing the distance verbally. That creature is hidden to your allies, rather than undetected (page 466). This works only for allies who can see you and are in a position where they could potentially detect the target. If your allies can’t hear or understand you, they must succeed at a Perception check against the creature’s Stealth DC or they misunderstand and believe the target is in a different location.
Raise a Shield
Requirements - You are wielding a shield.
You position your shield to protect yourself. When you have Raised a Shield, you gain its listed circumstance bonus to AC. Your shield remains raised until the start of your next turn.
There are also a few actions related to magic use that may be used from time to time:
Dismiss
Dismiss
Concentrate
You end one spell effect or magic item effect. This must be an effect that you are allowed to dismiss, as defined by the spell or item. Dismissal might end the effect entirely, or might end it just for a certain target or targets, depending on the spell or item.
Sustain A Spell
Concentrate
Requirements: You have at least one spell active with a sustained duration, and you are not fatigued.
Choose one spell with a sustained duration you have in effect. The duration of that spell continues until the end of your next turn. Some spells might have slightly different or expanded effects if you sustain them. Sustaining a Spell for more than 10 minutes (100 rounds) ends the spell and makes you fatigued unless the spell lists a different maximum duration (such as “sustained up to 1 minute” or “sustained up to 1 hour”).
If your Sustain a Spell action is disrupted, the spell immediately ends.
Sustain An Activation
Concentrate
Requirements: You have at least one magic item activation that you can sustain, and you are not fatigued.
Choose one magic item activation with a sustained duration you have in effect. The duration of that activation continues until the end of your next turn. Some activations may have slightly different or expanded effects if you sustain them. Sustaining an Activation for more than 10 minutes (100 rounds) ends the activation and makes you fatigued unless the item’s description states a different maximum duration (such as “up to 1 minute” or “up to 1 hour”).
If your Sustain an Activation action is disrupted, the item’s effect immediately ends.
Skill Actions
These actions will always require a Skill Check to determine if the attempt succeeds or fails. Some of these are marked with either the Exploration or Downtime traits; these may only be possible during those periods of play.Acrobatics
Untrained: Balance Balance
MoveRequirements: You are in a square that contains a narrow surface, uneven ground, or another similar feature.
You move across a narrow surface or uneven ground, attempting an Acrobatics check against its Balance DC. You are flat-footed while on a narrow surface or uneven ground.
Critical Success: You move up to your Speed.
Success: You move up to your Speed, treating it as difficult terrain (every 5 feet costs 10 feet of movement).
Failure: You must remain stationary to keep your balance (wasting the action) or you fall. If you fall, your turn ends.
Critical Failure: You fall and your turn ends.
Sample Balance Tasks
- Unrained: tangled roots, uneven cobblestones
- Trained: wooden beam
- Expert: deep, loose gravel
- Master: tightrope, smooth sheet of ice
- Legendary: razor's edge, chunks of floor falling in midair
Tumble Through
Move
You Stride up to your Speed. During this movement, you can try to move through the space of one enemy. Attempt an Acrobatics check against the enemy’s Reflex DC as soon as you try to enter its space. You can Tumble Through using Climb, Fly, Swim, or another action instead of Stride in the appropriate environment.
Success: You move through the enemy’s space, treating the squares in its space as difficult terrain (every 5 feet costs 10 feet of movement). If you don’t have enough Speed to move all the way through its space, you get the same effect as a failure.
Failure: Your movement ends, and you trigger reactions as if you had moved out of the square you started in.
Maneuver In Flight
Move
Requirements: You are at least Trained in Acrobatics and you have a fly Speed.
You try a difficult maneuver while flying. Attempt an Acrobatics check. The GM determines what maneuvers are possible, but they rarely allow you to move farther than your fly Speed.
Success: You succeed at the maneuver.
Failure: Your maneuver fails. The GM chooses if you simply can’t move or if some other detrimental effect happens. The outcome should be appropriate for the maneuver you attempted (for instance, being blown off course if you were trying to fly against a strong wind).
Critical Failure: As failure, but the consequence is more dire.
Sample Maneuver in Flight Tasks
- Trained: steep ascent or descent
- Expert: fly against the wind, hover midair
- Master: reverse direction
- Legendary: fly through gale force winds
Squeeze
Exploration MoveRequirements: You are at least Trained in Acrobatics
You contort yourself to squeeze through a space so small you can barely fit through. This action is for exceptionally small spaces; many tight spaces are difficult terrain that you can move through more quickly and without a check.
Critical Success: You squeeze through the tight space in 1 minute per 10 feet of squeezing.
Success: You squeeze through in 1 minute per 5 feet.
Critical Failure: You become stuck in the tight space. While you’re stuck, you can spend 1 minute attempting another Acrobatics check at the same DC. Any result on that check other than a critical failure causes you to become unstuck.
Sample Squeeze Tasks
- Trained: space barely fitting your shoulders
- Master: space barely fitting your head
Arcana
Untrained: Recall Knowledge Recall Knowledge
Concentrate
SecretYou attempt a skill check to try to remember a bit of knowledge regarding a topic related to that skill. The GM determines the DCs for such checks and which skills apply.
Critical Success - You recall the knowledge accurately and gain additional information or context.
Success - You recall the knowledge accurately or gain a useful clue about your current situation.
Failure - You don't recall anything useful.
Critical Failure - You recall incorrect information or gain an erroneous or misleading clue.
Sample Recall Knowledge tasks
These examples use Society or Religion:- Untrained: name of a ruler or key noble; name of a major deity
- Trained: line of succession for a major noble family; core doctrines of a major deity
- Expert: genealogy of a minor noble; teachings of an ancient priest
- Master: hierarchy of a genie noble court; major extraplanar temples of a deity
- Legendary: existence of a long-lost noble heir; secret doctrines of a religion
Borrow an Arcane Spell
Concentrate ExplorationRequirements: You are at least Trained in the appropriate Magical Tradition's skill.
If you’re an arcane spellcaster who prepares from a spellbook, you can attempt to prepare a spell from someone else’s spellbook. The GM sets the DC for the check based on the spell’s level and rarity; it’s typically a bit easier than Learning the Spell.
Success: You prepare the borrowed spell as part of your normal spell preparation.
Failure: You fail to prepare the spell, but the spell slot remains available for you to prepare a different spell. You can’t try to prepare this spell until the next time you prepare spells.
Decipher Writing
Concentrate Exploration SecretRequirements: You are at least Trained in the appropriate magical Tradition's skill
You attempt to decipher complicated writing or literature on an obscure topic. This usually takes 1 minute per page of text, but might take longer (typically an hour per page for decrypting ciphers or the like). The text must be in a language you can read, though the GM might allow you to attempt to decipher text written in an unfamiliar language using Society instead.
The DC is determined by the GM based on the state or complexity of the document. The GM might have you roll one check for a short text or a check for each section of a larger text.
Critical Success: You understand the true meaning of the text.
Success: You understand the true meaning of the text. If it was a coded document, you know the general meaning but might not have a word-for-word translation.
Failure: You can’t understand the text and take a –2 circumstance penalty to further checks to decipher it.
Critical Failure: You believe you understand the text on that page, but you have in fact misconstrued its message.
Identify Magic
Concentrate Exploration SecretRequirements: You are at least Trained in the appropriate magical Tradition's skill. (See table below).
Once you discover that an item, location, or ongoing effect is magical, you can spend 10 minutes to try to identify the particulars of its magic. If your attempt is interrupted, you must start over. The GM sets the DC for your check. Cursed or esoteric subjects usually have higher DCs or might even be impossible to identify using this activity alone. Heightening a spell doesn’t increase the DC to identify it.
Critical Success: You learn all the attributes of the magic, including its name (for an effect), what it does, any means of activating it (for an item or location), and whether it is cursed.
Success: For an item or location, you get a sense of what it does and learn any means of activating it. For an ongoing effect (such as a spell with a duration), you learn the effect’s name and what it does. You can’t try again in hopes of getting a critical success.
Failure: You fail to identify the magic and can’t try again for 1 day.
Critical Failure: You misidentify the magic as something else. of the GM’s choice.
Magical Traditions and Skills
Each magical tradition has a corresponding skill, as shown on the table below. You must have the trained proficiency rank in a skill to use it to Identify Magic or Learn a Spell. Something without a specific tradition, such as an item with the magical trait, can be identified using any of these skills.| Magical Tradition | Corresponding Skill |
|---|---|
| Arcane | Arcana |
| Divine | Religion |
| Occult | Occultism |
| Primal | Nature |
Learn A Spell
Concentrate ExplorationRequirements: You are at least Trained in the appropriate magical Tradition's skill
You can gain access to a new spell of your tradition from someone who knows that spell or from magical writing like a spellbook or scroll. If you can cast spells of multiple traditions, you can Learn a Spell of any of those traditions, but you must use the corresponding skill to do so. For example, if you were a cleric with the bard multiclass archetype, you couldn’t use Religion to add an occult spell to your bardic spell repertoire.
To learn the spell, you must do the following:
- Spend 1 hour per level of the spell, during which you must remain in conversation with a person who knows the spell or have the magical writing in your possession.
- Have materials with the Price specified in the Spell description.
- Attempt a skill check for the skill corresponding to your tradition (DC determined by the GM). Uncommon or rare spells have higher DCs.
Critical Success: You expend half the materials and learn the spell.
Success: You expend the materials and learn the spell.
Failure: You fail to learn the spell but can try again after you gain a level. The materials aren’t expended.
Critical Failure: As failure, plus you expend half the materials.
Learning A Spell
Following are prices and typical DCs for learning a new spell.| Spell Level | Price | Typical DC |
|---|---|---|
| 1st or Cantrip | 2 gp | 15 |
| 2nd | 6 gp | 18 |
| 3rd | 16 gp | 20 |
| 4th | 36 gp | 23 |
| 5th | 70 gp | 26 |
| 6th | 140 gp | 28 |
| 7th | 300 gp | 31 |
| 8th | 650 gp | 34 |
| 9th | 1500 gp | 36 |
| 10th | 7000 gp | 41 |
Athletics
Untrained: Climb Climb
MoveRequirements - You have both hands free.
You move up, down, or across an incline. Unless it’s particularly easy, you must attempt an Athletics check. The GM determines the DC based on the nature of the incline and environmental circumstances. You’re flat-footed unless you have a climb Speed.
Critical Success - You move up, across, or safely down the incline for 5 feet plus 5 feet per 20 feet of your land Speed (a total of 10 feet for most PCs).
Success - You move up, across, or safely down the incline for 5 feet per 20 feet of your land Speed (a total of 5 feet for most PCs, minimum 5 feet if your Speed is below 20 feet).
Failure - You fail to get off the ground.
Critical Failure - You fall. If you began the climb on stable ground, you fall and land prone.
Sample Climb Tasks
- Untrained: ladder, steep slope, low-branched tree
- Trained: rigging, rope, typical tree
- Expert: wall with small handholds and footholds
- Master: ceiling with handholds and footholds; rock wall
- Legendary: smooth surface
Force Open
AttackUsing your body, a lever, or some other tool, you attempt to forcefully open a door, window, container or heavy gate. With a high enough result, you can even smash through walls. Without a crowbar, prying something open takes a –2 item penalty to the Athletics check to Force Open.
Critical Success - You open the door, window, container, or gate and can avoid damaging it in the process.
Success - You break the door, window, container, or gate open, and the door, window, container, or gate gains the broken condition. If it’s especially sturdy, the GM might have it take damage but not be broken.
Failure - You fail to open the door, window, container, or gate. Critical Failure - Your attempt jams the door, window, container, or gate shut, imposing a –2 circumstance penalty on future attempts to Force it Open.
Sample Force Open Tasks
- Untrained: fabric, flimsy glass
- Trained: ice, sturdy glass
- Expert: flimsy wooden door, wooden portcullis
- Master: sturdy wooden door, iron portcullis, metal bar
- Legendary: stone or iron door
Grapple
AttackRequirements: You have at least one free hand. Your target cannot be more than one size larger than you.
You attempt to grab an opponent with your free hand. Attempt an Athletics check against their Fortitude DC. You can also Grapple to keep your hold on a creature you already grabbed.
Critical Success: Your opponent is restrained until the end of your next turn unless you move or your opponent Escapes.
Success: Your opponent is grabbed until the end of your next turn unless you move or your opponent Escapes.
Failure: You fail to grab your opponent. If you already had the opponent grabbed or restrained using a Grapple, those conditions on that creature end.
Critical Failure: If you already had the opponent grabbed or restrained, it breaks free. Your target can either grab you, as if it succeeded at using the Grapple action against you, or force you to fall and land prone.
High Jump
MoveYou Stride, then make a vertical Leap and attempt a DC 30 Athletics check to increase the height of your jump.
If you didn’t Stride at least 10 feet, you automatically fail your check. This DC might be increased or decreased due to the situation, as determined by the GM.
Critical Success - Increase the maximum vertical distance to 8 feet, or increase the maximum vertical distance to 5 feet and maximum horizontal distance to 10 feet.
Success - Increase the maximum vertical distance to 5 feet.
Failure - You Leap normally.
Critical Failure - You don’t Leap at all, and instead you fall prone in your space.
Long Jump
MoveYou Stride, then make a horizontal Leap and attempt an Athletics check to increase the length of your jump. The DC of the Athletics check is equal to the total distance in feet you’re attempting to move during your Leap (so you’d need to succeed at a DC 20 check to Leap 20 feet). You can’t Leap farther than your Speed.
If you didn’t Stride at least 10 feet, or if you attempt to jump in a different direction than your Stride, you automatically fail your check. This DC might be increased or decreased due to the situation, as determined by the GM.
Success - Increase the maximum horizontal distance you Leap to the desired distance.
Failure - You Leap normally.
Critical Failure - You Leap normally, but then fall and land prone
Shove
Attack
Requirements: You have at least one hand free. The target can’t be more than one size larger than you.
You push an opponent away from you. Attempt an Athletics check against your opponent’s Fortitude DC.
Critical Success: You push your opponent up to 10 feet away from you. You can Stride after it, but you must move the same distance and in the same direction.
Success: You push your opponent back 5 feet. You can Stride after it, but you must move the same distance and in the same direction.
Failure: Nothing happens.
Critical Failure: You lose your balance, fall, and land Prone.
[h4 Forced Movement The Shove action can force a creature to move. When an effect forces you to move, or if you start falling, the distance you move is defined by the effect that moved you, not by your Speed. Because you’re not acting to move, this doesn’t trigger reactions triggered by movement.
Swim
MoveYou propel yourself through water. In most calm water, you succeed at the action without needing to attempt a check. If you must breathe air and you’re submerged in water, you must hold your breath each round. If you fail to hold your breath, you begin to drown (as described on page 478). If the water you are swimming in is turbulent or otherwise dangerous, you might have to attempt an Athletics check to Swim.
If you end your turn in water and haven’t succeeded at a Swim action that turn, you sink 10 feet or get moved by the current, as determined by the GM. However, if your last action on your turn was to enter the water, you don’t sink or move with the current that turn.
Critical Success: You move through the water 10 feet, plus 5 feet per 20 feet of your land Speed (a total of 15 feet for most PCs).
Success: You move through the water 5 feet, plus 5 feet per 20 feet of your land Speed (a total of 10 feet for most PCs).
Critical Failure: You make no progress, and if you’re holding your breath, you lose 1 round of air.
Sample Swim Tasks
- Untrained: lake or other still water
- Trained: flowing water, like a river
- Expert: swiftly flowing water
- Master: stormy sea
- Legendary: maelstrom, waterfall
Trip
AttackRequirements: You have at least one hand free. The target can’t be more than one size larger than you.
You try to knock an opponent to the ground. Attempt an Athletics check against your opponent’s Reflex DC.
Critical Success: The target falls and lands Prone, and takes 1d6 Bludgeoning damage.
Success: The target falls and lands Prone.
Failure: Nothing happens.
Critical Failure: You lose your balance, fall, and land Prone.
Disarm
AttackRequirements: You are Trained in Athletics, and you have at least one hand free. The target can’t be more than one size larger than you.
You try to knock something out of an opponent’s grasp. Attempt an Athletics check against the opponent’s Reflex DC.
Critical Success: You knock the item out of the opponent’s grasp. It falls to the ground in the opponent’s space.
Success: You weaken your opponent’s grasp on the item. Until the start of that creature’s turn, attempts to Disarm the opponent of that item gain a +2 circumstance bonus, and the target takes a –2 circumstance penalty to attacks with the item or other checks requiring a firm grasp on the item.
Failure: Nothing happens.
Critical Failure: You lose your balance and become Flat-footed until the start of your next turn.
Crafting
Untrained: Recall Knowledge Recall Knowledge
Concentrate
SecretYou attempt a skill check to try to remember a bit of knowledge regarding a topic related to that skill. The GM determines the DCs for such checks and which skills apply.
Critical Success - You recall the knowledge accurately and gain additional information or context.
Success - You recall the knowledge accurately or gain a useful clue about your current situation.
Failure - You don't recall anything useful.
Critical Failure - You recall incorrect information or gain an erroneous or misleading clue.
Sample Recall Knowledge tasks
These examples use Society or Religion:- Untrained: name of a ruler or key noble; name of a major deity
- Trained: line of succession for a major noble family; core doctrines of a major deity
- Expert: genealogy of a minor noble; teachings of an ancient priest
- Master: hierarchy of a genie noble court; major extraplanar temples of a deity
- Legendary: existence of a long-lost noble heir; secret doctrines of a religion
Craft
Downtime ManipulateRequirements: You are at least Trained in Crafting.
You can make an item from raw materials. You need the Alchemical Crafting skill feat to create alchemical items, the Magical Crafting skill feat to create magic items, and the Snare Crafting feat to create snares.
To Craft an item, you must meet the following requirements:
- The item is your level or lower. An item that doesn’t list a level is level 0. If the item is 9th level or higher, you must be a master in Crafting, and if it’s 16th or higher, you must be legendary.
- You have the formula for the item.
- You have an appropriate set of tools and, in many cases, a workshop. For example, you need access to a smithy to forge a metal shield.
- You must supply raw materials worth at least half the item’s Price. You always expend at least that amount of raw materials when you Craft successfully. If you’re in a settlement, you can usually spend currency to get the amount of raw materials you need, except in the case of rarer precious materials.
If your attempt to create the item is successful, you expend the raw materials you supplied. You can pay the remaining portion of the item’s Price in materials to complete the item immediately, or you can spend additional downtime days working on it. For each additional day you spend, reduce the value of the materials you need to expend to complete the item. This amount is based on your proficiency rank in Crafting and using your own level instead of a task level. After any of these downtime days, you can complete the item by spending the remaining portion of its Price in materials. If the downtime days you spend are interrupted, you can return to finish the item later, continuing where you left off.
Critical Success: Your attempt is successful. Each additional day spent Crafting reduces the materials needed to complete the item by an amount based on your level + 1 and your proficiency rank in Crafting.
Success: Your attempt is successful. Each additional day spent Crafting reduces the materials needed to complete the item by an amount based on your level and your proficiency rank.
Failure: You fail to complete the item. You can salvage the raw materials you supplied for their full value. If you want to try again, you must start over.
Critical Failure: You fail to complete the item. You ruin 10% of the raw materials you supplied, but you can salvage the rest. If you want to try again, you must start over.
Consumables and Ammunition
You can Craft items with the consumables trait in batches, making up to four of the same item at once with a single check. This requires you to include the raw materials for all of the items in the batch at the start, and you must complete all of the batches at once. You can also Craft non-magical ammunition in batches, using the normal supply quantity listed for that item type.Getting Formulas
You can gain access to the formulas for all common items in a Basic Crafters Book. Uncommon or rarer formulas must be discovered by adventuring (or may be available by other means at your GM's discretion).Earn Income
DowntimeRequirements: You are at least Trained in the appropriate skill.
You use one of your skills to make money during downtime. The GM assigns a task level representing the most lucrative job available. You can search for lower-level tasks, with the GM determining whether you find any. Sometimes you can attempt to find better work than the initial offerings, though this takes time and requires using the Diplomacy skill to Gather Information, doing some research, or socializing.
When you take on a job, the GM secretly sets the DC of your skill check. After your first day of work, you roll to determine your earnings. You gain an amount of income based on your result, the task’s level, and your proficiency rank.
You can continue working at the task on subsequent days without needing to roll again. For each day you spend after the first, you earn the same amount as the first day, up until the task’s completion. The GM determines how long you can work at the task. Most tasks last a week or two, though some can take months or even years.
Critical Success: You do outstanding work. Gain the amount of currency listed for the task level + 1 and your proficiency rank.
Success: You do competent work. Gain the amount of currency listed for the task level and your proficiency rank.
Failure: You do shoddy work and get paid the bare minimum for your time. Gain the amount of currency listed in the failure column for the task level. The GM will likely reduce how long you can continue at the task.
Critical Failure: You earn nothing for your work and are fired immediately. You can’t continue at the task. Your reputation suffers, potentially making it difficult for you to find rewarding jobs in that community in the future.
Sample Earn Income tasks
These examples use Alcohol Lore to work in a bar, or Legal Lore to peform Legal work:- Trained: bartemd. do legal research
- Expert: curate drink selection, present minor court cases
- Master: run a large brewery, present important court cases
- Legendary: run an international brewing franchise, present a case in Hell's courts
Identify Alchemy
Concentrate Exploration SecretRequirements: You are at least Trained in Crafting and you have Alchemist's Tools.
You can identify the nature of an alchemical item with 10 minutes of testing using alchemist’s tools. If your attempt is interrupted in any way, you must start over.
Success: You identify the item and the means of activating it.
Failure: You fail to identify the item but can try again.
Critical Failure: You misidentify the item as another item of the GM’s choice.
Deception
Untrained: Create a Diversion Create a Diversion
MentalWith a gesture, a trick, or some distracting words, you can create a diversion that draws creatures’ attention elsewhere. If you use a gesture or trick, this action gains the manipulate trait. If you use distracting words, it gains the auditory and linguistic traits.
Attempt a single Deception check and compare it to the Perception DCs of the creatures whose attention you’re trying to divert. Whether or not you succeed, creatures you attempt to divert gain a +4 circumstance bonus to their Perception DCs against your attempts to Create a Diversion for 1 minute.
Success - You become Hidden to each creature whose Perception DC is less than or equal to your result. (The Hidden condition allows you to Sneak away.) This lasts until the end of your turn or until you do anything except Step or use the Hide or the Sneak action of the Stealth skill. If you Strike a creature, the creature remains Flat-footed against that attack, and you then become Observed. If you do anything else, you become Observed just before you act unless the GM determines otherwise.
Failure - You don’t divert the attention of any creatures whose Perception DC exceeds your result, and those creatures are aware you were trying to trick them.
Impersonate
Concentrate Exploration Manipulate SecretYou create a disguise to pass yourself off as someone or something you are not. Assembling a convincing disguise takes 10 minutes and requires a disguise kit, but a simpler, quicker disguise might do the job if you’re not trying to imitate a specific individual, at the GM’s discretion. In most cases, creatures have a chance to detect your deception only if they use the Seek action to attempt Perception checks against your Deception DC. If you attempt to directly interact with someone while disguised, the GM rolls a secret Deception check for you against that creature’s Perception DC instead. If you’re disguised as a specific individual, the GM might give creatures you interact with a circumstance bonus based on how well they know the person you’re imitating, or the GM might roll a secret Deception check even if you aren’t directly interacting with others.
Success: You trick the creature into thinking you’re the person you’re disguised as. You might have to attempt a new check if your behavior changes.
Failure: The creature can tell you’re not who you claim to be.
Critical Failure: The creature can tell you’re not who you claim to be, and it recognizes you if it would know you without a disguise.
Lie
Auditory Concentrate Linguistic Mental SecretYou try to fool someone with an untruth. Doing so takes at least 1 round, or longer if the lie is elaborate. You roll a single Deception check and compare it against the Perception DC of every creature you are trying to fool. The GM might give them a circumstance bonus based on the situation and the nature of the lie you are trying to tell. Elaborate or highly unbelievable lies are much harder to get a creature to believe than simpler and more believable lies, and some lies are so big that it’s impossible to get anyone to believe them.
At the GM’s discretion, if a creature initially believes your lie, it might attempt a Perception check later to Sense Motive against your Deception DC to realize it’s a lie. This usually happens if the creature discovers enough evidence to counter your statements.
Success - The target believes your lie.
Failure - The target doesn’t believe your lie and gains a +4 circumstance bonus against your attempts to Lie for the duration of your conversation. The target is also more likely to be suspicious of you in the future.
Feint
Mental
Requirements - You are at least Trained in Deception and you are within melee reach of the opponent you attempt to Feint.
With a misleading flourish, you leave an opponent unprepared for your real attack. Attempt a Deception check against that opponent’s Perception DC.
Critical Success - You throw your enemy’s defenses against you entirely off. The target is Flat-footed against melee attacks that you attempt against it until the end of your next turn.
Success - Your foe is fooled, but only momentarily. The target is Flat-footed against the next melee attack that you attempt against it before the end of your current turn.
Critical Failure - Your feint backfires. You are Flat-footed against melee attacks the target attempts against you until the end of your next turn.
Diplomacy
Untrained: Gather InformationGather Information
Exploration SecretYou canvass local markets, taverns, and gathering places in an attempt to learn about a specific individual or topic. The GM determines the DC of the check and the amount of time it takes (typically 2 hours, but sometimes more), along with any benefit you might be able to gain by spending coin on bribes, drinks, or gifts.
Success: You collect information about the individual or topic. The GM determines the specifics.
Critical Failure: You collect incorrect information about the individual or topic.
Sample Gather Information Tasks:
- Untrained: talk of the town
- Trained: common rumor
- Expert: obscure rumor, poorly guarded secret
- Master: well-guarded secret or esoteric information
- Legendary: information known only to an incredibly select few, or only to extraordinary beings
Make an Impression
Auditory Concentrate Exploration Linguistic MentalWith at least 1 minute of conversation, during which you engage in charismatic overtures, flattery, and other acts of goodwill, you seek to make a good impression on someone to make them temporarily agreeable. At the end of the conversation, attempt a Diplomacy check against the Will DC of one target, modified by any circumstances the GM sees fit. Good impressions (or bad impressions, on a critical failure) last for only the current social interaction unless the GM decides otherwise.
Critical Success - The target’s attitude toward you improves by two steps.
Success - The target’s attitude toward you improves by one step.
Failure - The target's attitude toward you does not change.
Critical Failure - The target’s attitude toward you decreases by one step.
Changing Attitudes
Your influence on NPCs is measured with a set of attitudes that reflect how they view your character. These are only a brief summary of a creature’s disposition. The GM will supply additional nuance based on the history and beliefs of the characters you’re interacting with, and their attitudes can change in accordance with the story. The attitudes are detailed in the Conditions Appendix and are summarized here.- Helpful: Willing to help you and responds favorably to your requests
- Friendly: Has a good attitude toward you, but won’t necessarily stick their neck out to help you.
- Indifferent: Doesn’t care about you either way. (Most NPCs start out indifferent.)
- Unfriendly: Dislikes you and doesn’t want to help you.
- Hostile: Actively works against you—and might attack you just because of their dislike.
No one can ever change the attitude of a player character with these skills. You can roleplay interactions with player characters, and even use Diplomacy results if the player wants a mechanical sense of how convincing or charming a character is, but players make the ultimate decisions about how their characters respond.
Request
Auditory
Concentrate
Linguistic
Mental
You can make a request of a creature that’s friendly or helpful to you. You must couch the request in terms that the target would accept given their current attitude toward you. The GM sets the DC based on the difficulty of the request. Some requests are unsavory or impossible, and even a helpful NPC would never agree to them.
Critical Success: The target agrees to your request without qualifications.
Success: The target agrees to your request, but they might demand added provisions or alterations to the request.
Failure: The target refuses the request, though they might propose an alternative that is less extreme.
Critical Failure: Not only does the target refuse the request, but their attitude toward you decreases by one step due to the temerity of the request.
Intimidation
Untrained: CoerceCoerce
Auditory Concentrate Emotion Exploration Linguistic MentalWith threats either veiled or overt, you attempt to bully a creature into doing what you want. You must spend at least 1 minute of conversation with a creature you can see and that can either see or sense you. At the end of the conversation, attempt an Intimidation check against the target’s Will DC, modified by any circumstances the GM determines.
Critical Success - The target gives you the information you seek or agrees to follow your directives so long as they aren’t likely to harm the target in any way. The target continues to comply for an amount of time determined by the GM but not exceeding 1 day, at which point the target becomes unfriendly (if they weren’t already unfriendly or hostile). However, the target is too scared of you to retaliate—at least in the short term.
Success - As critical success, but once the target becomes unfriendly, they might decide to act against you—for example, by reporting you to the authorities or assisting your enemies.
Failure - The target doesn’t do what you say, and if they were not already unfriendly or hostile, they become unfriendly.
Critical Failure - The target refuses to comply, becomes hostile if they weren’t already, and can’t be Coerced by you for at least 1 week.
Demoralize
Auditory
Concentrate
Emotion
Mental
With a sudden shout, a well-timed taunt, or a cutting putdown, you can shake an enemy’s resolve. Choose a creature within 30 feet of you who you’re aware of. Attempt an Intimidation check against that target’s Will DC. If the target does not understand the language you are speaking, you’re not speaking a language, or they can’t hear you, you take a –4 circumstance penalty to the check. Regardless of your result, the target is temporarily immune to your attempts to Demoralize it for 10 minutes.
Critical Success - The target becomes frightened 2.
Success - The target becomes frightened 1.
Lore
Untrained: Recall Knowledge Recall Knowledge
Concentrate
SecretYou attempt a skill check to try to remember a bit of knowledge regarding a topic related to that skill. The GM determines the DCs for such checks and which skills apply.
Critical Success - You recall the knowledge accurately and gain additional information or context.
Success - You recall the knowledge accurately or gain a useful clue about your current situation.
Failure - You don't recall anything useful.
Critical Failure - You recall incorrect information or gain an erroneous or misleading clue.
Sample Recall Knowledge tasks
These examples use Society or Religion:- Untrained: name of a ruler or key noble; name of a major deity
- Trained: line of succession for a major noble family; core doctrines of a major deity
- Expert: genealogy of a minor noble; teachings of an ancient priest
- Master: hierarchy of a genie noble court; major extraplanar temples of a deity
- Legendary: existence of a long-lost noble heir; secret doctrines of a religion
Earn Income
DowntimeRequirements: You are at least Trained in the appropriate skill.
You use one of your skills to make money during downtime. The GM assigns a task level representing the most lucrative job available. You can search for lower-level tasks, with the GM determining whether you find any. Sometimes you can attempt to find better work than the initial offerings, though this takes time and requires using the Diplomacy skill to Gather Information, doing some research, or socializing.
When you take on a job, the GM secretly sets the DC of your skill check. After your first day of work, you roll to determine your earnings. You gain an amount of income based on your result, the task’s level, and your proficiency rank.
You can continue working at the task on subsequent days without needing to roll again. For each day you spend after the first, you earn the same amount as the first day, up until the task’s completion. The GM determines how long you can work at the task. Most tasks last a week or two, though some can take months or even years.
Critical Success: You do outstanding work. Gain the amount of currency listed for the task level + 1 and your proficiency rank.
Success: You do competent work. Gain the amount of currency listed for the task level and your proficiency rank.
Failure: You do shoddy work and get paid the bare minimum for your time. Gain the amount of currency listed in the failure column for the task level. The GM will likely reduce how long you can continue at the task.
Critical Failure: You earn nothing for your work and are fired immediately. You can’t continue at the task. Your reputation suffers, potentially making it difficult for you to find rewarding jobs in that community in the future.
Sample Earn Income tasks
These examples use Alcohol Lore to work in a bar, or Legal Lore to peform Legal work:- Trained: bartemd. do legal research
- Expert: curate drink selection, present minor court cases
- Master: run a large brewery, present important court cases
- Legendary: run an international brewing franchise, present a case in Hell's courts
Medicine
Untrained: Administer First Aid Administer First Aid
Manipulate
Requirements - You have healer’s tools.
You perform first aid on an adjacent creature that is dying or bleeding. If a creature is both dying and bleeding, choose which ailment you’re trying to treat before you roll. You can Administer First Aid again to attempt to remedy the other effect.
• Stabilize - Attempt a Medicine check on a creature that has 0 Hit Points and the dying condition. The DC is equal to 5 + that creature’s recovery roll DC (typically 15 + its dying value).
• Stop Bleeding - Attempt a Medicine check on a creature that is taking persistent bleed damage, giving them a chance to make another flat check to remove the persistent damage. The DC is usually the DC of the effect that caused the bleed.
Success - If you’re trying to stabilize, the creature loses the dying condition (but remains unconscious). If you’re trying to stop bleeding, the creature attempts a flat check to end the bleeding.
Critical Failure - If you were trying to stabilize, the creature’s dying value increases by 1. If you were trying to stop bleeding, it immediately takes an amount of damage equal to its persistent bleed damage.
Recall Knowledge
Concentrate
SecretYou attempt a skill check to try to remember a bit of knowledge regarding a topic related to that skill. The GM determines the DCs for such checks and which skills apply.
Critical Success - You recall the knowledge accurately and gain additional information or context.
Success - You recall the knowledge accurately or gain a useful clue about your current situation.
Failure - You don't recall anything useful.
Critical Failure - You recall incorrect information or gain an erroneous or misleading clue.
Sample Recall Knowledge tasks
These examples use Society or Religion:- Untrained: name of a ruler or key noble; name of a major deity
- Trained: line of succession for a major noble family; core doctrines of a major deity
- Expert: genealogy of a minor noble; teachings of an ancient priest
- Master: hierarchy of a genie noble court; major extraplanar temples of a deity
- Legendary: existence of a long-lost noble heir; secret doctrines of a religion
Treat Disease
Downtime ManipulateRequirements - You are at least Trained in Medicine, and you have Healer’s Tools.
You spend at least 8 hours caring for a diseased creature. Attempt a Medicine check against the disease’s DC. After you attempt to Treat a Disease for a creature, you can’t try again until after that creature’s next save against the disease.
Critical Success: You grant the creature a +4 circumstance bonus to its next saving throw against the disease.
Success: You grant the creature a +2 circumstance bonus to its next saving throw against the disease.
Critical Failure: Your efforts cause the creature to take a –2 circumstance penalty to its next save against the disease.
Treat Poison
ManipulateRequirements - You are at least Trained in Medicine and you have healer’s tools.
You treat a patient to prevent the spread of poison. Attempt a Medicine check against the poison’s DC. After you attempt to Treat a Poison for a creature, you can’t try again until after the next time that creature attempts a save against the poison.
Critical Success: You grant the creature a +4 circumstance bonus to its next saving throw against the poison.
Success: You grant the creature a +2 circumstance bonus to its next saving throw against the poison.
Critical Failure: Your efforts cause the creature to take a –2 circumstance penalty to its next save against the poison.
Treat Wounds
Exploration Healing ManipulateRequirements - You are at least Trained in Medicine, and you have Healer’s Tools.
You spend 10 minutes treating one injured living creature (targeting yourself, if you so choose). The target is then temporarily immune to Treat Wounds actions for 1 hour, but this interval overlaps with the time you spent treating (so a patient can be treated once per hour, not once per 70 minutes).
The Medicine check DC is usually 15, though the GM might adjust it based on the circumstances, such as treating a patient outside in a storm, or treating magically cursed wounds. If you’re an expert in Medicine, you can instead attempt a DC 20 check to increase the Hit Points regained by 10; if you’re a master of Medicine, you can instead attempt a DC 30 check to increase the Hit Points regained by 30; and if you’re legendary, you can instead attempt a DC 40 check to increase the Hit Points regained by 50. The damage dealt on a critical failure remains the same.
If you succeed at your check, you can continue treating the target to grant additional healing. If you treat them for a total of 1 hour, double the Hit Points they regain from Treat Wounds.
The result of your Medicine check determines how many Hit Points the target regains.
Critical Success - The target regains 4d8 Hit Points, and its wounded condition is removed.
Success - The target regains 2d8 Hit Points, and its wounded condition is removed.
Critical Failure - The target takes 1d8 damage.
Nature
Untrained: Command An Animal Command An Animal
Auditory
Concentrate
You issue an order to an animal. Attempt a Nature check against the animal’s Will DC. The GM might adjust the DC if the animal has a good attitude toward you, you suggest a course of action it was predisposed toward, or you offer it a treat.
You automatically fail if the animal is hostile or unfriendly to you. If the animal is helpful to you, increase your degree of success by one step. You might be able to Command an Animal more easily with a feat like Ride.
Most animals know the Leap, Seek, Stand, Stride, and Strike basic actions. If an animal knows an activity, such as a horse’s Gallop, you can Command the Animal to perform the activity, but you must spend as many actions on Command an Animal as the activity’s number of actions. You can also spend multiple actions to Command the Animal to perform that number of basic actions on its next turn; for instance, you could spend 3 actions to Command an Animal to Stride three times or to Stride twice and then Strike.
Success: The animal does as you command on its next turn.
Failure: The animal is hesitant or resistant, and it does nothing.
Critical Failure: The animal misbehaves or misunderstands, and it takes some other action determined by the GM.
Recall Knowledge
Concentrate
SecretYou attempt a skill check to try to remember a bit of knowledge regarding a topic related to that skill. The GM determines the DCs for such checks and which skills apply.
Critical Success - You recall the knowledge accurately and gain additional information or context.
Success - You recall the knowledge accurately or gain a useful clue about your current situation.
Failure - You don't recall anything useful.
Critical Failure - You recall incorrect information or gain an erroneous or misleading clue.
Sample Recall Knowledge tasks
These examples use Society or Religion:- Untrained: name of a ruler or key noble; name of a major deity
- Trained: line of succession for a major noble family; core doctrines of a major deity
- Expert: genealogy of a minor noble; teachings of an ancient priest
- Master: hierarchy of a genie noble court; major extraplanar temples of a deity
- Legendary: existence of a long-lost noble heir; secret doctrines of a religion
Identify Magic
Concentrate Exploration SecretRequirements: You are at least Trained in the appropriate magical Tradition's skill. (See table below).
Once you discover that an item, location, or ongoing effect is magical, you can spend 10 minutes to try to identify the particulars of its magic. If your attempt is interrupted, you must start over. The GM sets the DC for your check. Cursed or esoteric subjects usually have higher DCs or might even be impossible to identify using this activity alone. Heightening a spell doesn’t increase the DC to identify it.
Critical Success: You learn all the attributes of the magic, including its name (for an effect), what it does, any means of activating it (for an item or location), and whether it is cursed.
Success: For an item or location, you get a sense of what it does and learn any means of activating it. For an ongoing effect (such as a spell with a duration), you learn the effect’s name and what it does. You can’t try again in hopes of getting a critical success.
Failure: You fail to identify the magic and can’t try again for 1 day.
Critical Failure: You misidentify the magic as something else. of the GM’s choice.
Magical Traditions and Skills
Each magical tradition has a corresponding skill, as shown on the table below. You must have the trained proficiency rank in a skill to use it to Identify Magic or Learn a Spell. Something without a specific tradition, such as an item with the magical trait, can be identified using any of these skills.| Magical Tradition | Corresponding Skill |
|---|---|
| Arcane | Arcana |
| Divine | Religion |
| Occult | Occultism |
| Primal | Nature |
Learn A Spell
Concentrate ExplorationRequirements: You are at least Trained in the appropriate magical Tradition's skill
You can gain access to a new spell of your tradition from someone who knows that spell or from magical writing like a spellbook or scroll. If you can cast spells of multiple traditions, you can Learn a Spell of any of those traditions, but you must use the corresponding skill to do so. For example, if you were a cleric with the bard multiclass archetype, you couldn’t use Religion to add an occult spell to your bardic spell repertoire.
To learn the spell, you must do the following:
- Spend 1 hour per level of the spell, during which you must remain in conversation with a person who knows the spell or have the magical writing in your possession.
- Have materials with the Price specified in the Spell description.
- Attempt a skill check for the skill corresponding to your tradition (DC determined by the GM). Uncommon or rare spells have higher DCs.
Critical Success: You expend half the materials and learn the spell.
Success: You expend the materials and learn the spell.
Failure: You fail to learn the spell but can try again after you gain a level. The materials aren’t expended.
Critical Failure: As failure, plus you expend half the materials.
Learning A Spell
Following are prices and typical DCs for learning a new spell.| Spell Level | Price | Typical DC |
|---|---|---|
| 1st or Cantrip | 2 gp | 15 |
| 2nd | 6 gp | 18 |
| 3rd | 16 gp | 20 |
| 4th | 36 gp | 23 |
| 5th | 70 gp | 26 |
| 6th | 140 gp | 28 |
| 7th | 300 gp | 31 |
| 8th | 650 gp | 34 |
| 9th | 1500 gp | 36 |
| 10th | 7000 gp | 41 |
Occultism
Untrained: Recall Knowledge Recall Knowledge
Concentrate
SecretYou attempt a skill check to try to remember a bit of knowledge regarding a topic related to that skill. The GM determines the DCs for such checks and which skills apply.
Critical Success - You recall the knowledge accurately and gain additional information or context.
Success - You recall the knowledge accurately or gain a useful clue about your current situation.
Failure - You don't recall anything useful.
Critical Failure - You recall incorrect information or gain an erroneous or misleading clue.
Sample Recall Knowledge tasks
These examples use Society or Religion:- Untrained: name of a ruler or key noble; name of a major deity
- Trained: line of succession for a major noble family; core doctrines of a major deity
- Expert: genealogy of a minor noble; teachings of an ancient priest
- Master: hierarchy of a genie noble court; major extraplanar temples of a deity
- Legendary: existence of a long-lost noble heir; secret doctrines of a religion
Decipher Writing
Concentrate Exploration SecretRequirements: You are at least Trained in the appropriate magical Tradition's skill
You attempt to decipher complicated writing or literature on an obscure topic. This usually takes 1 minute per page of text, but might take longer (typically an hour per page for decrypting ciphers or the like). The text must be in a language you can read, though the GM might allow you to attempt to decipher text written in an unfamiliar language using Society instead.
The DC is determined by the GM based on the state or complexity of the document. The GM might have you roll one check for a short text or a check for each section of a larger text.
Critical Success: You understand the true meaning of the text.
Success: You understand the true meaning of the text. If it was a coded document, you know the general meaning but might not have a word-for-word translation.
Failure: You can’t understand the text and take a –2 circumstance penalty to further checks to decipher it.
Critical Failure: You believe you understand the text on that page, but you have in fact misconstrued its message.
Identify Magic
Concentrate Exploration SecretRequirements: You are at least Trained in the appropriate magical Tradition's skill. (See table below).
Once you discover that an item, location, or ongoing effect is magical, you can spend 10 minutes to try to identify the particulars of its magic. If your attempt is interrupted, you must start over. The GM sets the DC for your check. Cursed or esoteric subjects usually have higher DCs or might even be impossible to identify using this activity alone. Heightening a spell doesn’t increase the DC to identify it.
Critical Success: You learn all the attributes of the magic, including its name (for an effect), what it does, any means of activating it (for an item or location), and whether it is cursed.
Success: For an item or location, you get a sense of what it does and learn any means of activating it. For an ongoing effect (such as a spell with a duration), you learn the effect’s name and what it does. You can’t try again in hopes of getting a critical success.
Failure: You fail to identify the magic and can’t try again for 1 day.
Critical Failure: You misidentify the magic as something else. of the GM’s choice.
Magical Traditions and Skills
Each magical tradition has a corresponding skill, as shown on the table below. You must have the trained proficiency rank in a skill to use it to Identify Magic or Learn a Spell. Something without a specific tradition, such as an item with the magical trait, can be identified using any of these skills.| Magical Tradition | Corresponding Skill |
|---|---|
| Arcane | Arcana |
| Divine | Religion |
| Occult | Occultism |
| Primal | Nature |
Learn A Spell
Concentrate ExplorationRequirements: You are at least Trained in the appropriate magical Tradition's skill
You can gain access to a new spell of your tradition from someone who knows that spell or from magical writing like a spellbook or scroll. If you can cast spells of multiple traditions, you can Learn a Spell of any of those traditions, but you must use the corresponding skill to do so. For example, if you were a cleric with the bard multiclass archetype, you couldn’t use Religion to add an occult spell to your bardic spell repertoire.
To learn the spell, you must do the following:
- Spend 1 hour per level of the spell, during which you must remain in conversation with a person who knows the spell or have the magical writing in your possession.
- Have materials with the Price specified in the Spell description.
- Attempt a skill check for the skill corresponding to your tradition (DC determined by the GM). Uncommon or rare spells have higher DCs.
Critical Success: You expend half the materials and learn the spell.
Success: You expend the materials and learn the spell.
Failure: You fail to learn the spell but can try again after you gain a level. The materials aren’t expended.
Critical Failure: As failure, plus you expend half the materials.
Learning A Spell
Following are prices and typical DCs for learning a new spell.| Spell Level | Price | Typical DC |
|---|---|---|
| 1st or Cantrip | 2 gp | 15 |
| 2nd | 6 gp | 18 |
| 3rd | 16 gp | 20 |
| 4th | 36 gp | 23 |
| 5th | 70 gp | 26 |
| 6th | 140 gp | 28 |
| 7th | 300 gp | 31 |
| 8th | 650 gp | 34 |
| 9th | 1500 gp | 36 |
| 10th | 7000 gp | 41 |
Performance
Untrained: Perform Perform
Concentrate
When making a brief performance—one song, a quick dance, or a few jokes—you use the Perform action. This action is most useful when you want to prove your capability or impress someone quickly. Performing rarely has an impact on its own, but it might influence the DCs of subsequent Diplomacy checks against the observers—or even change their attitudes— if the GM sees fit.
Critical Success: Your performance impresses the observers, and they’re likely to share stories of your ability.
Success: You prove yourself, and observers appreciate the quality of your performance.
Failure: Your performance falls flat.
Critical Failure: You demonstrate only incompetence
Sample Perform Tasks
- Untrained - audience of commoners
- Trained - audience of artisans
- Expert - audience of merchants or minor nobles
- Master - audience of high nobility or minor royalty
- Legendary - audience of major royalty or otherworldly beings
Earn Income
DowntimeRequirements: You are at least Trained in the appropriate skill.
You use one of your skills to make money during downtime. The GM assigns a task level representing the most lucrative job available. You can search for lower-level tasks, with the GM determining whether you find any. Sometimes you can attempt to find better work than the initial offerings, though this takes time and requires using the Diplomacy skill to Gather Information, doing some research, or socializing.
When you take on a job, the GM secretly sets the DC of your skill check. After your first day of work, you roll to determine your earnings. You gain an amount of income based on your result, the task’s level, and your proficiency rank.
You can continue working at the task on subsequent days without needing to roll again. For each day you spend after the first, you earn the same amount as the first day, up until the task’s completion. The GM determines how long you can work at the task. Most tasks last a week or two, though some can take months or even years.
Critical Success: You do outstanding work. Gain the amount of currency listed for the task level + 1 and your proficiency rank.
Success: You do competent work. Gain the amount of currency listed for the task level and your proficiency rank.
Failure: You do shoddy work and get paid the bare minimum for your time. Gain the amount of currency listed in the failure column for the task level. The GM will likely reduce how long you can continue at the task.
Critical Failure: You earn nothing for your work and are fired immediately. You can’t continue at the task. Your reputation suffers, potentially making it difficult for you to find rewarding jobs in that community in the future.
Sample Earn Income tasks
These examples use Alcohol Lore to work in a bar, or Legal Lore to peform Legal work:- Trained: bartemd. do legal research
- Expert: curate drink selection, present minor court cases
- Master: run a large brewery, present important court cases
- Legendary: run an international brewing franchise, present a case in Hell's courts
Religion
Untrained: Recall Knowledge Recall Knowledge
Concentrate
SecretYou attempt a skill check to try to remember a bit of knowledge regarding a topic related to that skill. The GM determines the DCs for such checks and which skills apply.
Critical Success - You recall the knowledge accurately and gain additional information or context.
Success - You recall the knowledge accurately or gain a useful clue about your current situation.
Failure - You don't recall anything useful.
Critical Failure - You recall incorrect information or gain an erroneous or misleading clue.
Sample Recall Knowledge tasks
These examples use Society or Religion:- Untrained: name of a ruler or key noble; name of a major deity
- Trained: line of succession for a major noble family; core doctrines of a major deity
- Expert: genealogy of a minor noble; teachings of an ancient priest
- Master: hierarchy of a genie noble court; major extraplanar temples of a deity
- Legendary: existence of a long-lost noble heir; secret doctrines of a religion
Decipher Writing
Concentrate Exploration SecretRequirements: You are at least Trained in the appropriate magical Tradition's skill
You attempt to decipher complicated writing or literature on an obscure topic. This usually takes 1 minute per page of text, but might take longer (typically an hour per page for decrypting ciphers or the like). The text must be in a language you can read, though the GM might allow you to attempt to decipher text written in an unfamiliar language using Society instead.
The DC is determined by the GM based on the state or complexity of the document. The GM might have you roll one check for a short text or a check for each section of a larger text.
Critical Success: You understand the true meaning of the text.
Success: You understand the true meaning of the text. If it was a coded document, you know the general meaning but might not have a word-for-word translation.
Failure: You can’t understand the text and take a –2 circumstance penalty to further checks to decipher it.
Critical Failure: You believe you understand the text on that page, but you have in fact misconstrued its message.
Identify Magic
Concentrate Exploration SecretRequirements: You are at least Trained in the appropriate magical Tradition's skill. (See table below).
Once you discover that an item, location, or ongoing effect is magical, you can spend 10 minutes to try to identify the particulars of its magic. If your attempt is interrupted, you must start over. The GM sets the DC for your check. Cursed or esoteric subjects usually have higher DCs or might even be impossible to identify using this activity alone. Heightening a spell doesn’t increase the DC to identify it.
Critical Success: You learn all the attributes of the magic, including its name (for an effect), what it does, any means of activating it (for an item or location), and whether it is cursed.
Success: For an item or location, you get a sense of what it does and learn any means of activating it. For an ongoing effect (such as a spell with a duration), you learn the effect’s name and what it does. You can’t try again in hopes of getting a critical success.
Failure: You fail to identify the magic and can’t try again for 1 day.
Critical Failure: You misidentify the magic as something else. of the GM’s choice.
Magical Traditions and Skills
Each magical tradition has a corresponding skill, as shown on the table below. You must have the trained proficiency rank in a skill to use it to Identify Magic or Learn a Spell. Something without a specific tradition, such as an item with the magical trait, can be identified using any of these skills.| Magical Tradition | Corresponding Skill |
|---|---|
| Arcane | Arcana |
| Divine | Religion |
| Occult | Occultism |
| Primal | Nature |
Learn A Spell
Concentrate ExplorationRequirements: You are at least Trained in the appropriate magical Tradition's skill
You can gain access to a new spell of your tradition from someone who knows that spell or from magical writing like a spellbook or scroll. If you can cast spells of multiple traditions, you can Learn a Spell of any of those traditions, but you must use the corresponding skill to do so. For example, if you were a cleric with the bard multiclass archetype, you couldn’t use Religion to add an occult spell to your bardic spell repertoire.
To learn the spell, you must do the following:
- Spend 1 hour per level of the spell, during which you must remain in conversation with a person who knows the spell or have the magical writing in your possession.
- Have materials with the Price specified in the Spell description.
- Attempt a skill check for the skill corresponding to your tradition (DC determined by the GM). Uncommon or rare spells have higher DCs.
Critical Success: You expend half the materials and learn the spell.
Success: You expend the materials and learn the spell.
Failure: You fail to learn the spell but can try again after you gain a level. The materials aren’t expended.
Critical Failure: As failure, plus you expend half the materials.
Learning A Spell
Following are prices and typical DCs for learning a new spell.| Spell Level | Price | Typical DC |
|---|---|---|
| 1st or Cantrip | 2 gp | 15 |
| 2nd | 6 gp | 18 |
| 3rd | 16 gp | 20 |
| 4th | 36 gp | 23 |
| 5th | 70 gp | 26 |
| 6th | 140 gp | 28 |
| 7th | 300 gp | 31 |
| 8th | 650 gp | 34 |
| 9th | 1500 gp | 36 |
| 10th | 7000 gp | 41 |
Society
Untrained: Recall Knowledge Recall Knowledge
Concentrate
SecretYou attempt a skill check to try to remember a bit of knowledge regarding a topic related to that skill. The GM determines the DCs for such checks and which skills apply.
Critical Success - You recall the knowledge accurately and gain additional information or context.
Success - You recall the knowledge accurately or gain a useful clue about your current situation.
Failure - You don't recall anything useful.
Critical Failure - You recall incorrect information or gain an erroneous or misleading clue.
Sample Recall Knowledge tasks
These examples use Society or Religion:- Untrained: name of a ruler or key noble; name of a major deity
- Trained: line of succession for a major noble family; core doctrines of a major deity
- Expert: genealogy of a minor noble; teachings of an ancient priest
- Master: hierarchy of a genie noble court; major extraplanar temples of a deity
- Legendary: existence of a long-lost noble heir; secret doctrines of a religion
Subsist
DowntimeYou try to provide food and shelter for yourself, and possibly others as well, with an appropriate standard of living. The GM determines the DC based on the nature of the place where you’re trying to Subsist. You might need a minimum proficiency rank to Subsist in particularly strange environments. Unlike most downtime activities, you can Subsist after 8 hours or less of exploration, but if you do, you take a –5 penalty.
Critical Success: You either provide a subsistence living for yourself and one additional creature, or you improve your own food and shelter, granting yourself a comfortable living.
Success: You find enough food and shelter with basic protection from the elements to provide you a subsistence living.
Failure: You’re exposed to the elements and don’t get enough food, becoming fatigued until you attain sufficient food and shelter.
Critical Failure: You attract trouble, eat something you shouldn’t, or otherwise worsen your situation. You take a –2 circumstance penalty to checks to Subsist for 1 week. You don’t find any food at all; if you don’t have any stored up, you’re in danger of starving or dying of thirst if you continue failing.
Sample Subsist Tasks
These are conditions that define "typical" wilderness (Survival) or urban (Society) subsistence check conditions:- Untrained: lush forest with calm weather; large city with plentiful resources
- Trained: typical hillside; typical village
- Expert: typical mountains; insular, tiny hamlet
- Master: typical desert; city under siege
- Legendary: barren wasteland; city of undead
Create Forgery
Downtime SecretRequirements: You are at least Trained in Society
You create a forged document, usually over the course of a day or a week. You must have the proper writing material to create a forgery. When you Create a Forgery, the GM rolls a secret DC 20 Society check. If you succeed, the forgery is of good enough quality that passive observers can’t notice the fake. Only those who carefully examine the document and attempt a Perception or Society check against your Society DC can do so.
If the document’s handwriting doesn’t need to be specific to a person, you need only to have seen a similar document before, and you gain up to a +4 circumstance bonus to your check, as well as to your DC (the GM determines the bonus). To forge a specific person’s handwriting, you need a sample of that person’s handwriting.
If your check result was below 20, the forgery has some obvious signs of being a fake, so the GM compares your result to each passive observer’s Perception DC or Society DC, whichever is higher, using the success or failure results below. Once the GM rolls your check for a document, that same result is used against all passive observers’ DCs no matter how many creatures passively observe that document.
An observer who was fooled on a passive glance can still choose to closely scrutinize the documents on the lookout for a forgery, using different techniques and analysis methods beyond the surface elements you successfully forged with your original check. In that case, the observer can attempt a Perception or Society check against your Society DC (if they succeed, they know your document is a forgery).
Success: The observer does not detect the forgery.
Failure: The observer knows your document is a forgery.
Decipher Writing
Concentrate Exploration SecretRequirements: You are at least Trained in the appropriate magical Tradition's skill
You attempt to decipher complicated writing or literature on an obscure topic. This usually takes 1 minute per page of text, but might take longer (typically an hour per page for decrypting ciphers or the like). The text must be in a language you can read, though the GM might allow you to attempt to decipher text written in an unfamiliar language using Society instead.
The DC is determined by the GM based on the state or complexity of the document. The GM might have you roll one check for a short text or a check for each section of a larger text.
Critical Success: You understand the true meaning of the text.
Success: You understand the true meaning of the text. If it was a coded document, you know the general meaning but might not have a word-for-word translation.
Failure: You can’t understand the text and take a –2 circumstance penalty to further checks to decipher it.
Critical Failure: You believe you understand the text on that page, but you have in fact misconstrued its message.
Stealth
Untrained: Conceal an Object Conceal an Object
Manipulate
Secret
You hide a small object on your person (such as a weapon of light Bulk). When you try to sneak a concealed object past someone who might notice it, the GM rolls your Stealth check and compares it to this passive observer’s Perception DC. Once the GM rolls your check for a concealed object, that same result is used no matter how many passive observers you try to sneak it past. If a creature is specifically searching you for an item, it can attempt a Perception check against your Stealth DC (finding the object on success).
You can also conceal an object somewhere other than your person, such as among undergrowth or in a secret compartment within a piece of furniture. In this case, characters Seeking in an area compare their Perception check results to your Stealth DC to determine whether they find the object.
Success - The object remains undetected.
Failure - The searcher finds the object.
Hide
Secret
You huddle behind cover or greater cover or deeper into concealment to become Hidden, rather than Observed. The GM rolls your Stealth check in secret and compares the result to the Perception DC of each creature you’re Observed by but that you have cover or greater cover against or are concealed from. You gain the circumstance bonus from cover or greater cover to your check.
Success - If the creature could see you, you’re now Hidden from it instead of Observed. If you were Hidden from or Undetected by the creature, you retain that condition.
If you successfully become Hidden to a creature but then cease to have cover or greater cover against it or be concealed from it, you become observed again. You cease being Hidden if you do anything except Hide, Sneak, or Step
If you attempt to Strike a creature, the creature remains Flat-footed against that attack, and you then become Observed. If you do anything else, you become observed just before you act unless the GM determines otherwise. The GM might allow you to perform a particularly unobtrusive action without being noticed, possibly requiring another Stealth check.
If a creature uses Seek to make you observed by it, you must successfully Hide to become hidden from it again.
Being Stealthy
If you want to sneak around when there are creatures that can see you, you can use a combination of Hide and Sneak to do so.- First, Hide behind something (either by taking advantage of cover or having the Concealed condition due to fog, a spell, or a similar effect). A successful Stealth check makes you hidden, though the creatures still know roughly where you are.
- Second, now that you’re hidden, you can Sneak. That means you can move at half your Speed and attempt another Stealth check. If it’s successful, you’re now undetected. That means the creatures don’t know which square you’re in anymore.
Creatures can try to find you using the Seek action.
Four conditions explain the states of detection. Remember that these conditions are relative to each creature—you can be observed by one creature while hidden to another and undetected by a third.
- Observed - You’re in the creature’s clear view.
- Hidden - The creature knows your location but can’t see you.
- Undetected - The creature doesn’t know your location, but senses you are nearby somewhere.
- Unnoticed - The creature isn't even aware that you are nearby.
Sneak
Move
Secret
You can attempt to move to another place while becoming or staying undetected. Stride up to half your Speed. (You can use Sneak while Burrowing, Climbing, Flying, or Swimming instead of Striding if you have the corresponding movement type; you must move at half that Speed.)
If you’re undetected by a creature and it’s impossible for that creature to observe you (for a typical creature, this includes when you’re invisible, the observer is blinded, or you’re in darkness and the creature can’t see in darkness), for any critical failure you roll on a check to Sneak, you get a failure instead. You also continue to be undetected if you lose cover or greater cover against or are no longer concealed from such a creature.
At the end of your movement, the GM rolls your Stealth check in secret and compares the result to the Perception DC of each creature you were hidden from or undetected by at the start of your movement. If you have cover or greater cover from the creature throughout your Stride, you gain the +2 circumstance bonus from cover (or +4 from greater cover) to your Stealth check. Because you’re moving, the bonus increase from Taking Cover doesn’t apply. You don’t get to roll against a creature if, at the end of your movement, you neither are concealed from it nor have cover or greater cover against it. You automatically become observed by such a creature.
Success: You’re undetected by the creature during your movement and remain undetected by the creature at the end of it. You become observed as soon as you do anything other than Hide, Sneak, or Step. If you attempt to Strike a creature, the creature remains flat-footed against that attack, and you then become observed. If you do anything else, you become observed just before you act unless the GM determines otherwise. The GM might allow you to perform a particularly unobtrusive action without being noticed, possibly requiring another Stealth check. If you speak or make a deliberate loud noise, you become hidden instead of undetected. If a creature uses Seek and you become hidden to it as a result, you must Sneak if you want to become undetected by that creature again.
Failure: A telltale sound or other sign gives your position away, though you still remain unseen. You’re hidden from the creature throughout your movement and remain so.
Critical Failure: You’re spotted! You’re observed by the creature throughout your movement and remain so. If you’re invisible and were hidden from the creature, instead of being observed you’re hidden throughout your movement and remain so.
Being Stealthy
If you want to sneak around when there are creatures that can see you, you can use a combination of Hide and Sneak to do so.- First, Hide behind something (either by taking advantage of cover or having the Concealed condition due to fog, a spell, or a similar effect). A successful Stealth check makes you hidden, though the creatures still know roughly where you are.
- Second, now that you’re hidden, you can Sneak. That means you can move at half your Speed and attempt another Stealth check. If it’s successful, you’re now undetected. That means the creatures don’t know which square you’re in anymore.
Creatures can try to find you using the Seek action.
Four conditions explain the states of detection. Remember that these conditions are relative to each creature—you can be observed by one creature while hidden to another and undetected by a third.
- Observed - You’re in the creature’s clear view.
- Hidden - The creature knows your location but can’t see you.
- Undetected - The creature doesn’t know your location, but senses you are nearby somewhere.
- Unnoticed - The creature isn't even aware that you are nearby.
Survival
Untrained: Sense DirectionSense Direction
Exploration SecretUsing the stars, the position of the sun, traits of the geography or flora, or the behavior of fauna, you can stay oriented in the wild. Typically, you attempt a Survival check only once per day, but some environments or changes might necessitate rolling more often. The GM determines the DC and how long this activity takes (usually just a minute or so). More unusual locales or those you’re unfamiliar with might require you to have a minimum proficiency rank to Sense Direction. Without a compass, you take a –2 item penalty to checks to Sense Direction.
Critical Success: You get an excellent sense of where you are. If you are in an environment with cardinal directions, you know them exactly.
Success: You gain enough orientation to avoid becoming hopelessly lost. If you are in an environment with cardinal directions, you have a sense of those directions.
Sense Direction Tasks
- Untrained: determine a cardinal direction using the sun
- Trained: find an overgrown path in a forest
- Expert: navigate a hedge maze
- Master: navigate a byzantine labyrinth or relatively featureless desert
- Legendary: navigate an ever-changing dream realm
Subsist
DowntimeYou try to provide food and shelter for yourself, and possibly others as well, with an appropriate standard of living. The GM determines the DC based on the nature of the place where you’re trying to Subsist. You might need a minimum proficiency rank to Subsist in particularly strange environments. Unlike most downtime activities, you can Subsist after 8 hours or less of exploration, but if you do, you take a –5 penalty.
Critical Success: You either provide a subsistence living for yourself and one additional creature, or you improve your own food and shelter, granting yourself a comfortable living.
Success: You find enough food and shelter with basic protection from the elements to provide you a subsistence living.
Failure: You’re exposed to the elements and don’t get enough food, becoming fatigued until you attain sufficient food and shelter.
Critical Failure: You attract trouble, eat something you shouldn’t, or otherwise worsen your situation. You take a –2 circumstance penalty to checks to Subsist for 1 week. You don’t find any food at all; if you don’t have any stored up, you’re in danger of starving or dying of thirst if you continue failing.
Sample Subsist Tasks
These are conditions that define "typical" wilderness (Survival) or urban (Society) subsistence check conditions:- Untrained: lush forest with calm weather; large city with plentiful resources
- Trained: typical hillside; typical village
- Expert: typical mountains; insular, tiny hamlet
- Master: typical desert; city under siege
- Legendary: barren wasteland; city of undead
Cover Tracks
Concentrate Exploration MoveYou cover your tracks, moving up to half your travel Speed, using the rules on page 479). You don’t need to attempt a Survival check to cover your tracks, but anyone tracking you must succeed at a Survival check against your Survival DC if it is higher than the normal DC to Track.
In some cases, you might Cover Tracks in an encounter. In this case, Cover Tracks is a single action and doesn’t have the exploration trait.
Track
Concentrate Exploration MoveYou follow tracks, moving at up to half your travel Speed. After a successful check to Track, you can continue following the tracks at half your Speed without attempting additional checks for up to 1 hour. In some cases, you might Track in an encounter. In this case, Track is a single action and doesn’t have the exploration trait, but you might need to roll more often because you’re in a tense situation. The GM determines how often you must attempt this check.
You attempt your Survival check when you start Tracking, once every hour you continue tracking, and any time something significant changes in the trail. The GM determines the DCs for such checks, depending on the freshness of the trail, the weather, and the type of ground.
Success - You find the trail or continue to follow the one you’re already following.
Failure - You lose the trail but can try again after a 1-hour delay.
Critical Failure - You lose the trail and can’t try again for 24 hours
Thievery
Untrained: Palm An Object Palm An Object
Manipulate
Palming a small, unattended object without being noticed requires you to roll a single Thievery check against the Perception DCs of all creatures who are currently observing you. You take the object whether or not you successfully conceal that you did so. You can typically only Palm Objects of negligible Bulk, though the GM might determine otherwise depending on the situation.
Success - The creature does not notice you Palming the Object.
Failure - The creature notices you Palming the Object, and the GM determines the creature’s response.
Steal
Manipulate
You try to take a small object from another creature without being noticed. Typically, you can Steal only an object of negligible Bulk, and you automatically fail if the creature who has the object is in combat or on guard.
Attempt a Thievery check to determine if you successfully Steal the object. The DC to Steal is usually the Perception DC of the creature wearing the object. This assumes the object is worn but not closely guarded (like a loosely carried pouch filled with coins, or an object within such a pouch). If the object is in a pocket or similarly protected, you take a –5 penalty to your Thievery check. The GM might increase the DC of your check if the nature of the object makes it harder to steal (such as a very small item in a large pack, or a sheet of parchment mixed in with other documents).
You might also need to compare your Thievery check result against the Perception DCs of observers other than the person wearing the object. The GM may increase the Perception DCs of these observers if they’re distracted.
Success - You steal the item without the bearer noticing, or an observer doesn’t see you take or attempt to take the item.
Failure - The item’s bearer notices your attempt before you can take the object, or an observer sees you take or attempt to take the item. The GM determines the response of any creature that notices your theft.
Disable a Device
Manipulate
Requirements - You are at least Trained in Thievery. Some devices may require you to have Thieves' Tools to disable them.
This action allows you to disarm a trap or another complex device. Often, a device requires numerous successes before becoming disabled, depending on its construction and complexity. Thieves’ tools are helpful and sometimes even required to Disable a Device, as determined by the GM, and sometimes a device requires a higher proficiency rank in Thievery to disable it.
Your Thievery check result determines how much progress you make.
Critical Success: You disable the device, or you achieve two successes toward disabling a complex device. You leave no trace of your tampering, and you can rearm the device later, if that type of device can be rearmed.
Success: You disable the device, or you achieve one success toward disabling a complex device.
Critical Failure: You trigger the device.
Pick A Lock
Manipulate
Requirements - You are at least Trained in Thievery, and you have Thieves' Tools.
Opening a lock without a key is very similar to Disabling a Device, but the DC of the check is determined by the complexity and construction of the lock you are attempting to pick. Locks of higher qualities might require multiple successes to unlock. If you lack the proper tools, the GM might let you used improvised picks, which are treated as shoddy tools, depending on the specifics of the lock.
Critical Success: You unlock the lock, or you achieve two successes toward opening a complex lock. You leave no trace of your tampering.
Success: You open the lock, or you achieve one success toward opening a complex lock.
Critical Failure: You break your tools. Fixing them requires using Crafting to Repair them or else swapping in replacement picks.
Conditions
Conditions are states which affect Player Characters, NPCs, and other creatures. They frequently limit of modify the choices of Actions that are available during play, or may modify saving throws or check DCs called for in certain situations.Attitude
Attitude refers to the opinion another has of you when you attempt to socially interact with them. Assume that most people will begin as Indifferent when you first encounter them. Whether or not that opinion changes - and hence whether or not you can persuade an NPC to help you - will depend on you you deal with them. If you successfully Make an Impression, for example, an NPCs view of you may increase. Getting caught doing this may send their view in the other direction, though. NOTE: Attitude conditions are never used to describe or govern interactions among player characters.Helpful
Helpful
This condition reflects a creature’s disposition toward a particular character, and it affects only creatures that are not player characters. A creature that is helpful to a character wishes to actively aid that character. It will accept reasonable Requests from that character, as long as such requests aren’t at the expense of the helpful creature’s goals or quality of life. If the character or one of their allies uses a hostile action against the creature, the creature gains a worse attitude condition depending on the severity of the hostile action, as determined by the GM.
Friendly
This condition reflects a creature’s disposition toward a particular character, and it affects only creatures that are not player characters. A creature that is friendly to a character likes that character. The character can attempt to make a Request of a friendly creature, and the friendly creature is likely to agree to a simple and safe request that doesn’t cost it much to fulfill. If the character or one of their allies uses hostile actions against the creature, the creature gains a worse attitude condition depending on the severity of the hostile action, as determined by the GM.
Indifferent
This condition reflects a creature’s disposition toward a particular character, and it affects only creatures that are not player characters. A creature that is indifferent to a character doesn’t really care one way or the other about that character. Assume a creature’s attitude to a given character is indifferent unless specified otherwise.
Unfriendly
This condition reflects a creature’s disposition toward a particular character, and it affects only creatures that are not player characters. A creature that is unfriendly to a character dislikes and specifically distrusts that character. The unfriendly creature won’t accept Requests from the character.
Hostile
This condition reflects a creature’s disposition toward a particular character, and it affects only creatures that are not player characters. A creature that is hostile to a character actively seeks to harm that character. It doesn’t necessarily attack, but it won’t accept Requests from the character.
Detection
These conditions describe whether or not, or to what degree, a creature (or Player Character) may or may not be observable by somebody else in the scene. These in turn determine whether or not something can be targeted or attacked, and may add circumstance bonuses and penalties to Perception checks and other checks.Observed
Observed
Anything in plain view is observed by you. If a creature takes measures to avoid detection, such as by using Stealth to Hide, it can become hidden or undetected instead of observed. If you have another precise sense instead of or in addition to sight, you might be able to observe a creature or object using that sense instead. You can observe a creature only with precise senses. When Seeking a creature using only imprecise senses, it remains hidden, rather than observed.
Concealed
While you are concealed from a creature, such as in a thick fog, you are difficult for that creature to see. You can still be observed, but you’re tougher to target. A creature that you’re concealed from must succeed at a DC 5 flat check when targeting you with an attack, spell, or other effect. Area effects aren’t subject to this flat check. If the check fails, the attack, spell, or effect doesn’t affect you.
Hidden
While you’re hidden from a creature, that creature knows the space you’re in but can’t tell precisely where you are. You typically become hidden by using Stealth to Hide. When Seeking a creature using only imprecise senses, it remains hidden, rather than observed. A creature you’re hidden from is flat-footed to you, and it must succeed at a DC 11 flat check when targeting you with an attack, spell, or other effect or it fails affect you. Area effects aren’t subject to this flat check.
A creature might be able to use the Seek action to try to observe you.
Undetected
When you are undetected by a creature, that creature cannot see you at all, has no idea what space you occupy, and can’t target you, though you still can be affected by abilities that target an area. When you’re undetected by a creature, that creature is flat-footed to you.
A creature you’re undetected by can guess which square you’re in to try targeting you. It must pick a square and attempt an attack. This works like targeting a hidden creature (requiring a DC 11 flat check), but the flat check and attack roll are rolled in secret by the GM, who doesn’t reveal whether the attack missed due to failing the flat check, failing the attack roll, or choosing the wrong square.
A creature can use the Seek action to try to find you.
Unnoticed
If you are unnoticed by a creature, that creature has no idea you are present at all. When you’re unnoticed, you’re also undetected by the creature. This condition matters for abilities that can be used only against targets totally unaware of your presence.
Invisible
While invisible, you can’t be seen. You’re undetected to everyone. Creatures can Seek to attempt to detect you; if a creature succeeds at its Perception check against your Stealth DC, you become Hidden to that creature until you Sneak to become undetected again. If you become invisible while someone can already see you, you start out Hidden to the observer (instead of Undetected) until you successfully Sneak. You can’t become Observed while invisible except via special abilities or magic.
Death and Dying
The following conditions relate to the process of determining when a Player Character actually dies. They either refer to states that a character is in during the dying process which begins when the character is reduced to zero hit points, or that affect the player's closeness to death when they reach the zero hit point threshhold.Doomed
Doomed
A powerful force has gripped your soul, calling you closer to death. Doomed always includes a value. The dying value at which you die is reduced by your doomed value. If your maximum dying value is reduced to 0, you instantly die. When you die, you’re no longer doomed.
Your doomed value decreases by 1 each time you get a full night’s rest.
Unconscious
You’re sleeping, or you’ve been knocked out. You can’t act. You take a –4 status penalty to AC, Perception, and Reflex saves, and you have the blinded and flat-footed conditions. When you gain this condition, you fall prone and drop items you are wielding or holding unless the effect states otherwise or the GM determines you’re in a position in which you wouldn’t.
If you’re unconscious because you’re dying, you can’t wake up while you have 0 Hit Points. If you are restored to 1 Hit Point or more via healing, you lose the dying and unconscious conditions and can act normally on your next turn.
If you are unconscious and at 0 Hit Points, but not dying, you naturally return to 1 Hit Point and awaken after sufficient time passes. The GM determines how long you remain unconscious, from a minimum of 10 minutes to several hours. If you receive healing during this time, you lose the unconscious condition and can act normally on your next turn.
If you’re unconscious and have more than 1 Hit Point (typically because you are asleep or unconscious due to an effect), you wake up in one of the following ways. Each causes you to lose the unconscious condition.
- You take damage, provided the damage doesn’t reduce you to 0 Hit Points. If the damage reduces you to 0 Hit Points, you remain unconscious and gain the dying condition as normal.
- You receive healing, other than the natural healing you get from resting.
- Someone shakes you awake with an Interact action.
- There’s loud noise going on around you—though this isn’t automatic. At the start of your turn, you automatically attempt a Perception check against the noise’s DC (or the lowest DC if there is more than one noise), waking up if you succeed. If creatures are attempting to stay quiet around you, this Perception check uses their Stealth DCs. Some magical effects make you sleep so deeply that they don’t allow you to attempt this Perception check.
Wounded
You have been seriously injured. If you lose the Dying condition and do not already have the wounded condition, you become Wounded 1. If you already have the wounded condition when you lose the dying condition, your wounded condition value increases by 1. If you gain the dying condition while wounded, increase your dying condition value by your wounded value.
The wounded condition ends if someone successfully restores Hit Points to you with Treat Wounds, or if you are restored to full Hit Points and rest for 10 minutes.
Other
These are various other Conditions that may affect Player Characters, NPCs, combat targets, etc.When some of these conditions appear in statblocks, they will be accompanied by a number (called a Condition Value. This number specifies a severity for the condition, and it either represents the number of rounds that must pass before the condition ends, or the number of saving throws required to eliminate the condition. Individual conditions will explain how the Condition Value applies to a particular Condition.
Some Conditions override or supersede others. If this is the case, it will be specified in the Condition description. Any conditions that are overridden are suppressed (but NOT removed) while the superseding Condition is active. If the suppressed condition has a timed duration, that duration does elapse even if the condition is suppressed, and may end because of duration before the suppressing condition ends.
Some Conditions automatically apply another Condition. In this case, if the Condition that triggered another Condition ends or is removed, this does not automatically end or remove the triggered Condition. (For example, if you are rendered Unconscious, you also fall Prone. Removing the Unconscious condition does not mean you automatically stand up; the Prone condition persists.
Blinded
Blinded
You can’t see. All normal terrain is difficult terrain to you. You can’t detect anything using vision. You automatically critically fail Perception checks that require you to be able to see, and if vision is your only precise sense, you take a –4 status penalty to Perception checks. You are immune to visual effects. Blinded overrides dazzled.
Broken
Broken is a condition that affects objects. An object is broken when damage has reduced its Hit Points below its Broken Threshold. A broken object can’t be used for its normal function, nor does it grant bonuses—with the exception of armor. Broken armor still grants its item bonus to AC, but it also imparts a status penalty to AC depending on its category: –1 for broken light armor, –2 for broken medium armor, or –3 for broken heavy armor.
A broken item still imposes penalties and limitations normally incurred by carrying, holding, or wearing it. For example, broken armor would still impose its Dexterity modifier cap, check penalty, and so forth.
If an effect makes an item broken automatically and the item has more HP than its Broken Threshold, that effect also reduces the item’s current HP to the Broken Threshold.
Clumsy
Your movements become clumsy and inexact. Clumsy always includes a value. You take a status penalty equal to the condition value to Dexterity-based checks and DCs, including AC, Reflex saves, ranged attack rolls, and skill checks using Acrobatics, Stealth, and Thievery.
Confused
You don’t have your wits about you, and you attack wildly. You are flat-footed, you don’t treat anyone as your ally (though they might still treat you as theirs), and you can’t Delay, Ready, or use reactions.
You use all your actions to Strike or cast offensive cantrips, though the GM can have you use other actions to facilitate attack, such as draw a weapon, move so that a target is in reach, and so forth. Your targets are determined randomly by the GM. If you have no other viable targets, you target yourself, automatically hitting but not scoring a critical hit. If it’s impossible for you to attack or cast spells, you babble incoherently, wasting your actions.
Each time you take damage from an attack or spell, you can attempt a DC 11 flat check to recover from your confusion and end the condition.
Enfeebled
You’re physically weakened. Enfeebled always includes a value. When you are Enfeebled, you take a status penalty equal to the condition value to Strength-based rolls and DCs, including Strength-based melee attack rolls, Strength-based damage rolls, and Athletics checks.
Flat-Footed Condition
You’re distracted or otherwise unable to focus your full attention on defense. You take a –2 circumstance penalty to AC. Some effects give you the flat-footed condition only to certain creatures or against certain attacks. Others - especially conditions — can make you universally flat-footed against everything. If a rule doesn’t specify that the condition applies only to certain circumstances, it applies to all of them; for example, many effects simply say “The target is flat-footed.”
Frightened
You’re gripped by fear and struggle to control your nerves. The frightened condition always includes a value. You take a status penalty equal to this value to all your checks and DCs. Unless specified otherwise, at the end of each of your turns, the value of your frightened condition decreases by 1.
Grabbed
You’re held in place by another creature, giving you the Flat-footed and Immobilized conditions. If you attempt a manipulate action while grabbed, you must succeed at a DC 5 flat check or it is lost; roll the check after spending the action, but before any effects are applied.
Immobilized Condition
You can’t use any action with the move trait. If you’re immobilized by something holding you in place and an external force would move you out of your space, the force must succeed at a check against either the DC of the effect holding you in place or the relevant defense (usually Fortitude DC) of the monster holding you in place.
Prone Condition
You’re lying on the ground. You are Flat-footed and take a –2 circumstance penalty to attack rolls. The only move actions you can use while you’re prone are Crawl and Stand. Standing up ends the prone condition. You can Take Cover while prone to hunker down and gain cover against ranged attacks, even if you don’t have an object to get behind, gaining a +4 circumstance bonus to AC against ranged attacks (but you remain flat-footed).
If you would be knocked prone while you’re Climbing or Flying, you fall. You can’t be knocked prone when Swimming.
Restrained
You’re tied up and can barely move, or a creature has you pinned. You have the Flat-footed and Immobilized conditions, and you can’t use any actions with the attack or manipulate traits except to attempt to Escape or Force Open your bonds. Restrained overrides Grabbed.
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