Chapter 6: Character Skills

Skills are the practical tools your Demigod uses to navigate the world of Demayth, to overcome challenges, and to interact with its inhabitants. They represent the knowledge, training, and experience your character has gained throughout their life, whether through formal education, practical application, or the inherent talents bestowed upon them by their divine lineage. Skills influence your Demigod's success in a wide variety of endeavors, from scaling the treacherous cliffs of the Skyreach Mountains to deciphering the ancient runes of a forgotten civilization.

Starting Skills

As a new Demigod, you will choose seven skills in which your character is considered proficient. This initial selection reflects your character's background, their upbringing, and the areas where they have already developed a degree of competence. Perhaps they spent their youth training in the martial arts of the Warhandlers, or perhaps they delved into the arcane secrets of the Slagpin Clan. These choices will shape their initial capabilities and provide a foundation for their future development.

Skill Ranks

Your Demigod's proficiency in a skill is categorized into three levels, each granting a specific modifier to your skill checks:

Untrained: Your Demigod has little to no experience with this skill. They are likely to struggle with even basic tasks, and they cannot add their Attribute Modifier to the roll. They also suffer a -2 penalty to their skill checks.
Proficient: Your Demigod has a foundational understanding of the skill and can perform basic tasks with a reasonable degree of success. They have likely received some training or have practiced the skill extensively. They can add their Attribute Modifier to skill checks.
Mastered: Your Demigod is an expert in this skill, capable of performing complex tasks with ease and achieving results that would be impossible for a less skilled individual. Their mastery reflects years of dedicated practice, a deep understanding of the skill's nuances, and perhaps even a touch of divine inspiration. They gain a +2 bonus to all skill checks related to that skill, in addition to their Attribute Modifier.

Attributes and Skills

Each skill is associated with one of the six core Attributes (Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma). This Attribute represents the inherent aptitude that contributes to success in that skill. For example, Athletics is linked to Strength, reflecting the importance of physical power in climbing, jumping, and swimming. When you attempt a task that requires a skill check, your relevant Attribute Modifier will be factored into the roll, representing your Demigod's natural talent in that area.

Skill Checks

When attempting an action that requires a skill check, you will roll a 20-sided die (d20) and add the relevant modifiers:

Result = d20 Roll + Attribute Modifier + Skill Rank Bonus

The Battle Master will determine the Difficulty Class (DC) of the task. If your total result meets or exceeds the DC, your Demigod succeeds. The higher the roll the better the success.

Skill Sets: Specializing Within Skills

While gaining proficiency in a broad skill like Craft or Perform represents a general understanding of that field, true expertise often lies in mastering specific skill sets within that broader category. Think of it like this: being proficient in Craft means you understand the basic principles of making things, but it doesn't automatically make you a master blacksmith or a skilled alchemist. Likewise, being proficient in Perform might mean you can carry a tune, but it doesn't mean you can expertly play both the KeyKoryan lyre and the Dwarven war-drum.

These specialized areas are called skillsets (e.g., Craft: Blacksmithing, Perform: Lute, Craft: Alchemy). Choosing proficiency in a broad skill like Craft allows you to attempt basic tasks within any of its skill sets. Mastering a specific skill set requires dedicated practice and unlocks greater potential within that narrow focus. When you choose a skill like Craft, Perform, or Professional during character creation, you must also choose one specific skill set within that category in which you are proficient.

Learning New Skill Sets

Acquiring proficiency or mastery in additional skill sets beyond your initial choices requires dedicated practice, focused effort, and often, the guidance of a skilled mentor. Even a Demigod with an innate talent must invest time and effort to master the nuances of a particular specialization.

Progression through Practice: Your character can gain proficiency or mastery in a new skill set by dedicating time to practice and refining their technique. This progress is tracked through a percentage-based system:

Roll for Progress: During downtime or dedicated training sessions (as determined by the Battle Master), the player rolls a d10. The result represents the percentage of progress made during that session.
Record and Accumulate: This percentage is added to the character's existing progress toward that specific skill set.
Reaching 100%: Once the total progress reaches or exceeds 100%, the character gains Proficiency in the skillset (if the main skill is proficient) or Mastery (if the main skill is mastered) specifically for that skillset.

Time Investment: The time required to master a skill set depends on its complexity and the character's dedication. Generally, achieving proficiency takes months of practice, while mastery demands years of dedicated effort. The Battle Master might adjust these timelines based on the specific skill, available resources (like a good teacher), and the narrative context.

The Skills of Demayth

The following descriptions detail the various skills available in Demayth Adventures, categorized by the Attribute that governs their use. Remember that skills marked with an asterisk (*) require you to choose a specific skill set.

Strength Skills

Athletics: This skill encompasses a wide array of physical activities, reflecting your Demigod's raw power, endurance, and control over their physical form. It governs actions such as climbing sheer cliffs or ancient ruins, jumping across treacherous chasms, swimming against strong currents or through murky swamp water, lifting heavy objects like gates or boulders, and performing feats of strength during combat or exploration.
Intimidation: While often associated with Charisma, Intimidation through Strength relies on your Demigod's physical presence, implied power, and forceful demeanor to instill fear or compliance. A towering Okand warrior's glare or a Furyin flexing their muscles can be as effective as any verbal threat. Larger creatures often find it easier to intimidate smaller ones.

Dexterity Skills

Acrobatics: This skill represents nimble maneuvering, balance, and agility. It allows a Demigod to gracefully traverse precarious surfaces like narrow ledges or tightropes, tumble through dangerous environments to avoid traps or attacks, execute impressive leaps and flips, soften the impact of falls, and even perform actions while airborne or off-balance. Exceptional Dexterity enhances these abilities.
Fly: This skill governs the ability to navigate the aerial realm, whether using natural wings (like Caelics or Hyperion Elves), magical means (spells or items), or technological devices (like Dragonwrath airships). Proficiency allows for controlled maneuvering, dodging obstacles, changing direction swiftly, gaining altitude, and maintaining stability in various weather conditions. A high Dexterity aids precision in flight.
Ride: This skill embodies the ability to mount and control various forms of transportation, from mundane horses and camels to exotic Demayth creatures like griffons, trained drakes, or even mechanical steeds. It covers mounting/dismounting gracefully, steering and controlling the mount/vehicle, maintaining balance during difficult maneuvers or terrain, and calming a frightened animal. Dexterity is key to staying in control.
Sleight of Hand: This skill encompasses mastery of dexterous manipulation for tasks requiring subtlety and precision. It enables a Demigod to pick pockets unnoticed, palm small objects, perform stage magic or illusions involving misdirection, deftly disarm intricate traps, or pick locks using specialized tools. High Dexterity allows for quicker, less detectable movements.
Stealth: This skill represents the ability to move silently, blend into shadows, and avoid the perception of others. It is crucial for moving unseen through guarded areas, setting up ambushes, or evading pursuit. Utilizing cover, minimizing noise, and understanding lines of sight are key components. High Dexterity aids in moving quietly and gracefully.

Intelligence Skills

Craft (Requires Skillset Specification):* This skill represents expertise in a particular form of skilled craftsmanship or artistry. Being proficient allows basic creation/repair, but mastery requires specializing in a skillset (e.g., Craft: Blacksmithing, Craft: Alchemy, Craft: Engineering, Craft: Weaving, Craft: Jewelcrafting). You must choose one skillset upon gaining proficiency.
Demayth Knowledge: This crucial skill reflects your understanding of Demayth energy, the twelve schools of magic, magical history (including the rise of Demigods and the Great War), the nature of Exalted Ones, Celestials, and Voidlings, and the effects of magic on the world. It allows identification of spells, understanding magical items/locations (Nexuses, ley lines), recalling divine lore, and developing magical theories.
History: This skill represents your knowledge of past events, significant figures (heroes, villains, rulers), ancient civilizations across the Five Gaias, cultural practices, and the lineage of Demigod clans or human noble houses. It allows you to provide context, understand prophecies, decipher historical clues, and learn from the past.
Linguistics: This skill encompasses understanding, speaking, reading, and deciphering languages. Demayth features diverse tongues like Common, Elven dialects, ancient Magi, Orcish, Thornyn, Draconic, Abyssal, Celestial, and Voidish. Proficiency allows cross-cultural communication and translation. (Gain two additional languages besides Common upon proficiency).
Medical: This skill represents theoretical understanding of anatomy, physiology, diseases, and treatments across various races. It allows diagnosis, identification of medicinal components (used with Nature/Craft: Alchemy), understanding procedures, and guiding practical healing. (Direct healing uses the Heal skill).
Nature: This skill reflects knowledge of the natural world: identifying plants (Ruby Berries, nightshade) and animals (mundane beasts, griffons, Baron Beasts), understanding habitats/behaviors, recognizing terrain, predicting weather, navigating wilderness, and identifying natural hazards/resources.
Religion: This skill represents knowledge of the Elder Divine, their domains, symbols, myths, Exalted Ones, afterlives (Abyss, Shadow Realm), and the rituals/practices of their followers. It allows identification of divine influence, understanding customs, deciphering holy texts, and interacting with religious figures.

Wisdom Skills

Wisdom reflects your Demigod's connection to the world around them, their intuition, their common sense, their spiritual awareness, and their ability to perceive truths that might escape others. It governs skills related to understanding people, sensing danger, navigating the world, and interacting with the subtle energies of Demayth.

Appraise: This skill allows you to accurately assess the monetary worth of goods, artifacts, and materials, whether mundane or magical. It involves evaluating craftsmanship (perhaps identifying Dwarven or Elven work), recognizing rarity, identifying magical properties (often aided by Demayth Sense), detecting clever forgeries, and understanding the fluctuating market trends across different realms or cities. A successful Appraise check against a DC set by the BM might reveal an item's true value or hidden properties.
Demayth Sense: This vital skill represents a Demigod's innate or trained ability to perceive the flow and concentration of Demayth energy. With Demayth Sense, you can detect the presence of active spells, interpret the lingering aura of magical effects, identify the school of magic being used, sense the power level of magical creatures or items, and perceive disturbances in the local Demayth field (like proximity to a Nexus or a Rift). For many Demigods, especially Diviners like the Slagpin, this sense is crucial for understanding the hidden magical realities of the universe. Making a Demayth Sense check often requires concentration and may have a DC determined by the subtlety or power of the magic being sensed.
Heal: This skill represents the practical application of non-magical medical aid. It involves tending to wounds, stopping bleeding, setting broken bones, applying poultices and bandages, administering basic remedies (often identified using the Medical skill), and stabilizing dying creatures. While Restoration magic provides powerful healing, the Heal skill represents essential first aid and practical medical knowledge crucial for survival when magic is unavailable or insufficient. (Specific DCs apply for tasks like stabilizing a dying creature [DC 15 usually] or treating specific injuries).
Perception: This skill encompasses your Demigod's general awareness of their surroundings, utilizing all their physical senses (sight, hearing, smell, touch, taste) to notice details, spot hidden dangers (like traps or ambushing Voidlings), detect illusions (contested by the caster's skill), find concealed objects, and gather information from the environment. A high Perception is vital for avoiding surprise and uncovering clues. (Perception checks are among the most common, made against a DC set by the BM based on how hidden something is).
Professional (Requires Skillset Specification):* This skill represents expertise in a specific non-crafting, non-magical occupation or field, gained through years of experience and training. Examples include Professional: Merchant (understanding trade routes, negotiation), Professional: Scholar (deep knowledge in a non-magical academic field like Kordanian Zoology), Professional: Sailor (navigating ships, understanding Rokuru's currents), Professional: Guard (knowledge of local laws, patrol routes). You must choose a specific profession when gaining proficiency.
Survival: This skill covers the knowledge and abilities needed to thrive in wild or hostile environments across the different Gaias. It includes navigating wilderness terrain, tracking creatures (mundane or magical), foraging for safe food and water (potentially identifying alchemical ingredients with Nature), building shelters, identifying natural hazards, enduring extreme weather, and predicting animal behavior. (Survival checks are often needed for long journeys or wilderness exploration).
Sense Motive: This skill allows you to read the intentions and emotions of others, detecting lies, discerning hidden motives, assessing trustworthiness, and understanding unspoken social cues through careful observation of body language, tone of voice, and subtle inconsistencies. It is invaluable for social interactions, negotiations, interrogations, and discerning the truth in a world often filled with deception. (Sense Motive checks are typically made against a DC set by the BM or contested by a target's Deception skill).
Beast Master: This skill reflects a deep understanding of and connection with animals and magical beasts, allowing your Demigod to tame, train, command, and form bonds with them. It goes beyond simple animal handling (which might fall under Wisdom), involving a charismatic connection often associated with deities like Maka Kyky. A skilled Beast Master might calm a raging griffon, train a loyal warhound, or even attempt to tame the powerful beasts roaming Kordan.

Taming Wild Beasts: Forming a bond with a wild creature requires patience, understanding, and often significant risk. The process typically involves:

Initial Encounter: Approaching the beast non-aggressively and succeeding on a DC 15 Charisma (Beast Master) check to establish a tentative connection.
Preparation (Optional): Spending time (e.g., a week) researching the beast's habits and gathering appropriate resources grants advantage on the Taming Check.
Taming Check: Making a Charisma (Beast Master) check against a DC set by the Battle Master (based on the beast's nature, intelligence, and willpower).
Success: The beast becomes tamed and loyal, ready for further training. Failure means the attempt fails for now, but may be tried again later.
Training: Further Charisma (Beast Master) checks can teach the tamed beast specific commands, tricks, or combat maneuvers.

Charisma Skills

Diplomat: This skill encompasses the art of negotiation, persuasion, deception, and maintaining peaceful relations. It involves using charm, logic, or subtle manipulation to influence individuals or groups, resolve conflicts, forge alliances, gather information through conversation, or navigate the complex political landscape of Demayth. A skilled Diplomat might convince a stubborn Dwarven king to lend aid, deceive a Mal Kye warlord, or broker a truce between warring factions. (Diplomat checks are often contested by a target's Wisdom (Sense Motive) or have a DC set by the BM).
Interrogation: This skill represents the ability to skillfully question and extract information from unwilling subjects, combining psychological manipulation, keen observation (often aided by Wisdom (Sense Motive)), and persuasive or intimidating tactics. It requires understanding motivations and applying pressure effectively. Using interrogation carries ethical considerations, as coercive methods can cross moral lines. (Interrogation checks are often contested by a target's Will save or Charisma (Deception) check).
Perform (Requires Skill Set Specification):* This skill embodies the ability to entertain, inspire, and move others through artistic expression. Proficiency requires choosing a specific skill set (e.g., Perform: Acting, Perform: Singing, Perform: Lute, Perform: Storytelling). A skilled Performer can captivate audiences, earn renown, gain influence, sway emotions, or even weave subtle magic into their art (if they possess the appropriate magical abilities). (Performance checks are often made against a DC set by the BM based on the audience and the difficulty of the performance).

Situational Modifiers and Battle Master Discretion

While Skill Ranks (Untrained, Proficient, Mastered) and specialized Skill Sets represent a Demigod's general competence and focused expertise, the dynamic world of Demayth often presents unique circumstances that can influence the outcome of an action. Your Battle Master (BM) has the flexibility to introduce minor, situational modifiers to your skill checks to reflect these nuances.

These modifiers are typically small (often +1 or -1) and apply only to a specific application of a broader skill, representing temporary advantages, disadvantages, character quirks, or the effects of minor curses or blessings. They do not represent a full level of Proficiency or Mastery in a skillset, but rather a subtle edge or hindrance in a particular context.

For example:

A Demigod proficient in the Diplomat skill might possess a natural talent for weaving convincing falsehoods. The BM might grant them a +1 bonus specifically when making Diplomat checks to deceive or bluff, even if they haven't formally learned a "Deception" skillset.
Conversely, a character suffering from a minor divine curse might find it difficult to lie convincingly. The BM might impose a -1 penalty on their Diplomat checks only when attempting to deceive.
A character attempting an Athletics check to climb a perfectly smooth, rain-slicked wall might suffer a situational penalty, even if they are Mastered in Athletics, reflecting the extreme difficulty of the specific task.

These situational modifiers are tools for the Battle Master to add flavor, reflect narrative consequences, and fine-tune the challenge of specific tasks. They emphasize that skills are not just numbers on a sheet, but adaptable tools used within the ever-changing circumstances of your adventures. Always communicate with your Battle Master about how your character's background, traits, or the current situation might influence their skill checks.