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Skills

Some skills from the core rules have slightly different or unique applications in this campaign setting. These modifications are described below and should be used in place of or in addition to those in the core rules.

Appraise

The Appraise skill can be used as normal to determine the appropriate vp an item should be worth in the local area; such estimates do not take into account the buyer's or seller's specific personal circumstances.

Synergy: A character with 5 or more ranks in Knowledge (local) for the area he is in gains a +2 synergy bonus on all Appraise checks made to determine the value of a good or service in that area.

Bluff

The following table presents examples of modifiers for specific uses of the Bluff skill within the campaign world. Where one overlaps with one of the more general circumstances provided in the PH, the modifiers do not stack.

Bluff Modifiers in Occupied Lands
Modifier Circumstances
+5 The Bluff works for the target's allies or against opposing factions within the legate ranks or the military ranks. Example: "Simply by letting us in the gate, you will have ensured the destruction of Captain Zenrik. You know, the one who's sleeping with your sister?"
+5 The threat of Shadow-intervention is believable. Example: "Legate Tomas is on his way here now and he's looking for trouble."
-5 The target is in a postion of authority where the dark god rules. Example: "Even if I believed you I wouldn't let you in without a token from Lord Barak."

Hide

Ambush: A character can substitute his own ranks in Hide for that of his companions if he spends five minutes per additional person surveying the terrain, explaining the situation to the others, and preparing camouflage for them. Only those present during this time can take advantage of this bonus. A character may not hide others if they are moving, and the Hide check must be made immediately after the period of explanation or it cannot be shared. If a poor Hide check is rolled when setting up an ambush, a new check may be rolled for every additional five minutes spent preparing a single person's hiding spot.

Use of this skill assumes that the individuals being hidden are Medium. Small or smaller creatures require half the time to prepare for an ambush, and the time required for all other creatures doubles for each size category they are above Medium.

Blending In: If the PCs do not want to be noticed, rather than opposing the PC's Hide checks with the Spot checks of every patrolling orc they pass by, assume that they manage to pass through a controlled area unnoticed and unharrassed if they each meet the DCs below on thier Hide checks. If they fail, they draw the attention of an orc patrol, hobgoblin guard, legate tithe master, etc. In some cases, such as a party of all-Dorn PCs in the Northlands, this might mean nothing more than that the PCs must cower for a few minutes to appease their questioner. In others, such as if there are fey among the party or they are carrying noticeable weapons, discovery can be a death sentence. What happens after the PCs are discovered depends on who they are, where they are, their ability to Bluff their way out of a bad situation, and a host of other circumstances.

The DM may call for a Hide check once per day, once per hour, or however often is deemed appropriate, depending on the level of danger he wants the PC's journey to have.

Blending in While in Occupied Territory
Circumstances Example Hide DC
Loosely controlled city Sharuun 5
Loosely controlled town Al Kadil 10
Loosely controlled village Farodun 15
Tightly controlled city Bastion 10
Tightly controlled town Chandering 20
Tightly controlled village Riismark 30

Modifiers: While most Hide checks are modified by armor check penalties and the like, these Hide checks are made to blend in with a crowd or make oneself beneath notice more than to actually hide. Therefore, additional modifiers are necessary.
Race:The cities and towns in the campaign do not have the same diversity of races as those in other settings. If a human character of a culture not normally found in an area attempts to blend in with crowds, he suffers a -2 penalty on his Hide check. Elflings and halflings can attempt to pass as human adults or children, but still suffer a -4 penalty to their checks to blend in. Finally, dwarves, orcs, and dworgs are the most noticeable of races due to their bulk and stature, suffering a -8 penalty to Hide checks to avoid notice. Though a dworg can pass for an orc and orcs have fairly free reign, it is still unusual to see the chosen of the dark god traveling alone or with a small group of other races. Any orc not traveling as part of a patrol or warband and not bearing the markings of the unit attached to the area is likely to be stopped and questioned.
Weapons: The dark god's guards have learned to notice the shapes of weapons, even hidden ones, out of the corner of their eyes. Even a sword hidden beneath a coat can be noticeable because of the effect it has on a person's walk or the strange bulges it produces beneath the clothing. PCs bearing one or more one-handed weapons suffer a -4 penalty to their checks to blend in, while those with the temerity to carry two-handed weapons suffer a -10 penalty on their checks to blend in.

Intimidate

Intimidate checks against orcs or legates in occupied territory suffer a -2 penalty since the target feels quite comfortable in the knowledge that he is in a dominant position. Likewise, Intimidate checks made against low-level orcs or collaborators trapped away from their usual comfort zone gain a +2 circumstance bonus. This bonus does not apply to legates or high-ranking members of the occupying army.

Knowledge

Knowledge (the planes) and Knowledge (religion) are not used. The following are new Knowledge skills.

Synergy: If you have 5 or more ranks in Knowledge (local), you get a +2 synergy bonus on Knowledge (Shadow) checks to determine information about the local military or religious organization and their notable figures.

If you have 5 or more ranks in Knowledge (nature), you get a +2 synergy bonus on Knowledge (spirits) checks.

Speak Language

Languages are handles slightly differently from those in the core rules.

First, all characters are considered illiterate, even in their native language. In order to become literate, a character must first find someone who can read and write the language, which can be a quest in and of itself. The character must then spend two skill points to acquire literacy in a language, at which point he gains the same level of written competence as he has competence in the spoken language. from that point forward, if the character spends more points to increase competence in a language, his competence in the written version of that language also increases. When languages are listed in character write-ups and stat blocks, an asterisk (*) after the language denotes literacy.

Language Competence

Most languages have three levels of competence: pidgin, basic competence, and fluency. One skill point spent on a language allows the character to learn the pidgin version of it, which lets a character understand and recite only basic grammatical structures and words. Two skill points grants basic competency in both speech and comprehension, while three skill points buys fluency. When languages are listed in character write-ups and stat blocks, a (1) after the language represents pidgin competence, while a (2) after the language represents basic competence. If there is no number in parenthesis after the language, the character is fluent in that language.

Some languages, like Black Tongue or Snow Elf Patrol Sign, exist only to convey simple terms and meaning withing a very limited scope (in this case warfare), and therefore have no level of competence above pidgin. Others, like High Elven, are so complex and intricate that a pidgin level of competence is meaningless, and only begin to make sense at the basic competence level.

Most characters begin play with fluency in at least one of their automatic languages and varying levels of competence in other automatic languages. Additionally, rather than gaining bonus languages for high Intelligence modifiers, starting characters instead gain two skill points per Intelligence bonus to spend on automatic or bonus languages. Characters may not begin play with skill ranks in languages other than those listed as automatic or bonus languages.

Some languages provide a variation on synergy with one another. When a character gains a level of competence in a language (called the primary language) that provides some level of competence in another language (called the related language), his competence in the related language immediately increases. If the character already has that level of competence in the related language, then he gains no benefit from the competence increase granted by the primary language.

A character that learns or improves a language after 1st level can only advance it with one skill point per level, mimicking the natural growth of linguistic mastery over time. Thus, a character who begins play with a pidgin understanding of Norther could not spend two skill points at 2nd level to grant fluency with the language--he can spend one point to gain basic competency, than anoter at 3rd or higher level to gain fluency with the language. A character can advance as many languages as he wishes at each level, but only one level of competency at a time.

If you are less than fluent in a language you are attempting to use with certain skills, you may suffer penalties on skill checks with them, as shown on the table below.

Language Comptency Modifiers*
Competence Bluff Diplomacy Gather Info Intimidate Sense Motive
None -30 -30 -30 -5 -20
Pidgin -5 -5 -5 -2 -5
Basic -2 -2 -2 -- -2
Fluent -- -- -- -- --
* At the DM's discretion, these modifiers may not apply to actions in which language plays no part, such as feinting during combat or using someone's body language as the object of your Sense Motive skill.
Languages of Eredane
Alphabets of Eredane
Language Alphabets
Black Tongue None
Colonial Sarcosan (30 letters)
Courtier Sarcosan (30 letters)
Danisil High Elven (38 letters)
Erenlander Sarcosan (23 letters)
Halfling High Elven (38 letters)
High Elven High Elven (38 letters)
Norther Norther (18 letters)
Old Dwarven Pictographs (thousands)
Orcish None
Snow Elf Patrol Sign None
Trader's Tongue simplified Elven

Survival

In the uses of Survival skill listed below, the character making the checks is referred to as the "guide/"

Foraging: Foraging for food can mean the difference between life and death. The table below lists the DCs by region for any use of the Survival skill to forage for food in a given region.

Evading Patrols: Rather than opposing the character's Hide and Move Silently checks with the Spot checks of every orc in the patrols they pass near, assume that a party manages to pass through any patrolled area undetected if their guide meets the DCs on the table below on his Survival checks. If he fails, the party draws the attention of the patrol. When attempting to evade patrols, the natural terrain determines the acheck's DC; however, the guide also suffers penalties or bonuses to his check similar to the Condition modifiers listed under the Track feat. Rather than acting as penalties and bonuses to the Survival DC, the listed modifiers (in which "group being tracked" refers to the guide's own group) instead act as penalties and bonuses to the guide's Survival check.

The DM may call for a Survival check once per day, once per hour, or however often he deems appropriate, depending on the level of danger he wants the character's journey to have. When the characters attempt to sneak past specific guard points (for instance, past a well-guarded bridge or through the pickets of an enemy encampment), opposed Spot and Hide checks are in order.

Counter-tracking: Unlike in the core rules, hiding one's tracks is far too important to be represented by a simple DC modifier to a foe's Survival DC. Instead, whenever a party attempts to hide its trail (which requires that they move at half speed), the guide makes a Survival check with a DC dependent on the surface over which the party is being tracked. For every 2 points by which the guide beats the DC, the DC to track the party increases by 1.

Foraging DCs by Region
Region DC
Aruun 15
Caraheen 10
Central Plains 15
Highhorn Mountains 15
Icewall Mountains 20
Island of Asmadar 10
Kaladrun Mountains 15
Miraleen 10
Northern Marches 20
Northlands 15
Sea of Pelluria 15
Southern Erenland 15
Veradeen 15
Westlands 20
White Desert 20
Evading Patrols
Circumstances Survival DC
Open terrain or thick forests 15
Hills or light forests 10
Mountains or grasslands 5
Permanent magic item or ongoing spell effect +1/caster level*
Per additional item or effect +1
* This modifier is only applied if the DM determines that an astirax is in the area, and only applies to the most powerful magic effect on the party.
Counter-tracking
Surface DC
Very soft ground 20
Soft ground 15
Firm ground 10
Hard ground 5