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A skill trick is a new way to use a skill, which lets you do something that other people can’t do, even if they have as many ranks in the skill as you do.
Learning skill tricks
Learning a skill trick costs 2 skill points. Whenever you acquire skill points (e.g., when you gain a character level), you can choose to spend some skill points to acquire skill tricks instead of using them to buy ranks in skills.
You can learn any skill trick, as long as you meet the prerequisites and can afford to spend 2 skill points. (Learning skill tricks is optional; you can choose not to spend skill points on skill tricks.) If you later no longer meet the prerequisite for a skill trick, you can’t use it again until you once more qualify. (You don’t lose the skill trick; you still have it, but you can’t use it while you don’t meet the prerequisites.)
A skill trick is like a feat: you either know it or you don’t. You can’t select any skill trick more than once (and the effects of most skill tricks are such that selecting one multiple times would be meaningless).
The Gain Skill Trick feat allows you to learn any skill trick for which you qualify, without spending skill points. A rogue can select the Skill Trick rogue talent to gain any skill trick she qualifies for, without spending skill points. A bard can select the Gain Skill Trick option when gaining a benefit of her versatile performance ability to gain two skill tricks she qualifies for (from the list given in that ability description), without spending skill points.
Using skill tricks
Skill tricks are special maneuvers, so you can’t just use them as often as you want. Unless otherwise noted, a skill trick can be performed only once per encounter (or once per ten minutes, if using the skill trick out of combat).
Typically, performing a skill trick is either part of another action or an action in itself. Each skill trick’s description specifies what sort of action, if any, is required. Using a skill trick does not provoke attacks of opportunity unless its description specifically states that it does (or it involves an action that would normally provoke AoOs, such as moving out of an opponent’s threatened area).
List of skill tricks
The following skill tricks are available in the Old World campaign setting.
Acrobatic Backstab
You dart past your opponent’s attacks, ending up perfectly positioned for a devastating counterattack.
Prerequisite: Acrobatics 9 ranks.
Benefit: If you succeed on an Acrobatics check to move through an enemy’s space, you can treat that enemy as flat-footed against the next melee attack you make against it on your current turn.
Your enemy must be standing on the ground or floor in order for you to use this trick.
Back on Your Feet
You can hop back to your feet instantly if you fall.
Prerequisite: Acrobatics 9 ranks.
Benefit: If you fall prone for any reason, you can stand up as an immediate action without provoking attacks of opportunity.
Conceal Spellcasting
You can cast spells without others noticing.
Prerequisites: Bluff or Perform (acting) 5 ranks, Sleight of Hand 5 ranks, Spellcraft 5 ranks.
Benefit: You can cast a spell without revealing that you are doing so.
To use this skill trick, you must make two skill checks as part of the action used to cast the spell: a Bluff or Perform (acting) check (your choice), opposed by the Sense Motive checks of onlookers, and a Sleight of Hand check, opposed by the Perception checks of onlookers.
(You gain a +5 bonus on your Bluff or Perform (acting) check for each kind of component—verbal, somatic, material/focus—that the spell lacks; if the spell has no components, then you automatically succeed on the check. Additionally, if the spell has no somatic or material/focus components, you automatically succeed on the Sleight of Hand check to use this skill trick.)
Any observer against whom you succeed on both checks can’t tell that you’re casting a spell. That observer cannot make an attack of opportunity against you for casting, nor can they attempt to counter your spell. (Succeeding on only one of the two checks against an observer grants no benefit against that observer.)
At the DM’s discretion, observers who have reason to suspect that you may try to cast spells, or who are carefully watching you for suspicious behavior, etc., may gain a bonus on their checks to oppose your attempt to use this skill trick.
Special: This skill trick does not eliminate any of the spell’s usual components (verbal, somatic, etc.), nor does it make the act of spellcasting harder to detect (you still need to gesture, speak in a clear voice, etc.)—it only makes the action harder to identify as the act of casting a spell.
Dismount Attack
You can leap out of the saddle onto a foe.
Prerequisite: Ride 2 ranks.
Benefit: If your mount has moved at least 10 feet in this round and you succeed on a fast dismount, you can use a standard action to attack an adjacent opponent as if you had charged that opponent.
Distracting Taunt
You can disrupt an opponent’s spells with your taunts.
Prerequisites: Bluff 5 ranks, Spellcraft 5 ranks.
Benefit: As an attack of opportunity or readied action, you may attempt to disrupt a spellcaster as he casts a spell. You can make a Bluff check to distract a spellcaster within 20 feet, opposed by the spellcaster’s Sense Motive check. If you succeed, your target must immediately make a concentration check (DC 10 + your Bluff ranks + twice the spell’s level) or lose the spell.
Easy Escape
You can slip free from the grasp of a larger enemy with ease.
Prerequisite: Escape Artist 5 ranks.
Benefit: If your opponent is larger than you are, they do not apply their size modifier to combat maneuver defense against your Escape Artist checks to escape their grapple.
Escape Attack
You can follow a successful escape with a swift attack.
Prerequisite: Escape Artist 5 ranks.
Benefit: When you escape a grapple, you can make a single melee attack with a light weapon as a swift action against the opponent that was grappling you. The opponent is considered flat-footed against this attack.
You must have the weapon in hand at the beginning of your turn in order to use this trick.
Extreme Leap
Your extraordinary leaping ability carries you over great distances.
Prerequisite: Acrobatics 3 ranks.
Benefit: If you make a horizontal jump of at least 10 feet during your turn, you can spend a swift action to move an additional 10 feet on that turn.
Group Fake-out
You lean left, go right, and leave a whole group of enemies holding the bag.
Prerequisite: Bluff 5 ranks.
Benefit: You can use Bluff to feint in combat against more than one opponent. Make one Bluff check opposed by separate Sense Motive checks for each opponent. For each opponent after the first that you wish to affect, you take a cumulative −2 penalty on your Bluff check. (For example, you would make a single Bluff check at a −4 penalty if attempting to feint against three opponents.)
Hidden Blade
You can quickly draw a hidden weapon to make a deadly strike.
Prerequisites: Sleight of Hand 3 ranks, Quick Draw.
Benefit: After you have used the Sleight of Hand skill to successfully conceal a weapon, you can draw that weapon as a move action instead of a standard action. An opponent that was unaware of the concealed weapon is treated as flat-footed against the first attack you make in that turn.
Insightful Improvisation
You can tease out useful information by interacting with your audience.
Prerequisites: Diplomacy 3 ranks, Perform (any) 3 ranks.
Benefits: When performing for an audience, you can make a Perform check in place of a Diplomacy check. You take a −5 penalty on this check. If you succeed, you gain information as if using Diplomacy to gather information.
Special: You may only attempt this skill trick once per day.
Leaping Climber
There’s no better way to start a tough climb than by leaping up the wall.
Prerequisites: Climb 2 ranks, Acrobatics 2 ranks.
Benefit: If you begin a climb by making an Acrobatics check to jump as a swift action, you can add the vertical distance of your jump to the distance climbed in that round. Treat the jump check as being made with a running start even if you didn’t move at least 20 feet.
Example: Ember the monk is standing at the base of a craggy cliff and wants to scale the cliff as quickly as possible. She spends a swift action to make an Acrobatics check and gets a result of 24. Thus, she adds 6 feet to the distance she climbs in that round.
Magical Appraisal
You can judge the usefulness of magic items.
Prerequisite: Appraise 3 ranks, Knowledge (arcana) 6 ranks, Spellcraft 9 ranks.
Benefit: When you succeed by 5 or more on a Spellcraft check to determine the school of magic of the aura surrounding a magic item (by casting detect magic), you can then spend 1 minute concentrating to also gain a basic sense of the item’s functionality. This is a very general idea of what a magic item does.
For example, when examining an onyx dog figurine, you may get a sense that the figurine transforms and animates; for a wand of fire you may discern that the wand can create fire-based spell effects; and for a feather token, tree you may perceive that the token may be expended in order to conjure something.
When using this skill trick, you generally learn whether an item is permanent, charged, or consumable.
Special: You can use this skill trick once per day.
Never Outnumbered
You can demoralize multiple enemies.
Prerequisite: Intimidate 5 ranks.
Benefit: When you use Intimidate to demoralize an opponent, you can affect all enemies within 10 feet that can see you, rather than only a single enemy you threaten.
Each enemy rolls a separate modified level check to oppose your Intimidate check, but the skill check otherwise works as normal.
Nimble Charge
You can run across treacherous surfaces with ease.
Prerequisite: Acrobatics 3 ranks.
Benefit: You can run or charge across a difficult surface without needing to make an Acrobatics check.
Nimble Stand
You can rely on your acrobatic talent to stand up from prone safely.
Prerequisite: Acrobatics 5 ranks.
Benefit: You can stand up from prone without provoking attacks of opportunity.
Opening Tap
“No time to waste on tools—a sharp tap should pop that lock!”.
Prerequisite: Disable Device 10 ranks.
Benefit: As a swift action, you can make a Disable Device check with a −10 penalty by tapping a lock with a hard, blunt object such as the pommel of a weapon. You don’t take any additional penalty for making the check without thieves’ tools.
You can use this trick any number of times per day until you fail a Disable Device check made in this way. After a failure, you can’t use Opening Tap again until after you have rested for 8 hours.
Quick Escape
In the blink of an eye, you can escape nearly any tight spot.
Prerequisite: Escape Artist 9 ranks.
Benefit: This trick has two options, either of which can be used once per encounter.
You can make an Escape Artist check to escape from a grapple or pin as a swift action. You can use this trick even if you have already used a standard action on your current turn to attempt the same escape.
Alternatively, you can make any Escape Artist check that would normally require a full-round action as a move action. You can’t use this option more than once per day against the same kind of restraint.
Rhetorical Flourish
You can smooth over tense situations when under pressure.
Prerequisite: Diplomacy 5 ranks.
Benefit: You can perform a rushed Diplomacy check as a full-round action with only a −5 penalty on the check (instead of the normal −10).
Second Impression
You can convince someone of your false identity even after your disguise fails.
Prerequisites: Bluff 3 ranks, Disguise 3 ranks.
Benefit: If an observer sees through your disguise with a successful Perception check, you can (as an immediate action) attempt a Bluff check to convince him that he’s mistaken. Use the observer’s Perception check result as the DC for your Bluff check; if you succeed, the observer ignores the evidence of his own senses in favor of what your disguise attempts to show.
You must be aware of the observer’s discovery in order to use this trick; for example, you can’t use it against someone viewing you secretly, nor can you use it against someone who sees through your disguise but keeps that information secret.
When in doubt, the DM should allow a character to use this trick if she has any reason to fear that her cover has been blown.
You can use this trick only once per day, but its effect extends to all viewers within 30 feet of you. For example, you could attempt it against an entire patrol of guards confronting you just as effectively as against a single person.
This trick doesn’t let you maintain a disguise that has been defeated by other means; for example, if your disguise self spell is penetrated by a true seeing spell, Second Impression won’t help.
Shrouded Dance
You can seem to be where you aren’t.
Prerequisites: Stealth 5 ranks, Perform (dance) 5 ranks.
Benefit: As a move action, you can attempt a DC 20 Stealth check. If you succeed, you have concealment until the start of your next turn.
Social Recovery
You can talk your way out of a problem you talked yourself into.
Prerequisites: Bluff 5 ranks, Diplomacy 3 ranks.
Benefit: If your Diplomacy check to influence a character’s attitude fails, you can spend another full round talking to that person, then make a Bluff check with a −10 penalty. Use the result of this check in place of the Diplomacy check result, except that it can’t improve the person’s attitude by more than one step.
Once you use this skill trick (successfully or not), you cannot use it against the same target again for 24 hours.
Sudden Draw
You can quickly draw a hidden weapon to make a deadly strike.
Prerequisites: Sleight of Hand 5 ranks, Quick Draw.
Benefit: If an opponent provokes an attack of opportunity from you, you can draw a weapon that you have successfully concealed using Sleight of Hand as an immediate action to deliver the attack of opportunity with that weapon.
That opponent is treated as flat-footed against the attack with the concealed weapon.
Timely Misdirection
You can divert an opponent’s attention to avoid its attacks.
Prerequisite: Bluff 5 ranks.
Benefit: If you succeed on a Bluff check to feint in combat, your opponent can’t make any attacks of opportunity against you until the start of its next turn. This effect is in addition to the normal benefits of a successful feint.
Tumbling Crawl
You can safely roll away from danger.
Prerequisite: Acrobatics 3 ranks.
Benefit: By succeeding on a DC 15 Acrobatics check, you can crawl 5 feet as a move action without provoking attacks of opportunity. Crawling normally provokes attacks of opportunity from any attackers who threaten you at any point during your crawl.
Twisted Charge
You can charge in a crooked line.
Prerequisite: Acrobatics 3 ranks.
Benefit: When you charge, you can make one turn of up to 90 degrees during your movement. You can’t move more than your speed as part of this charge. All other restrictions on charges still apply, and you must have line of sight to the opponent at the start of your turn.
Up the Hill
You can move quickly up a slope.
Prerequisite: Acrobatics 3 ranks.
Benefit: You can move up a steep slope or stairs at your normal speed instead of at half speed. This effect lasts for 1 round.
Urban Tracking
Walk the Walls
You can run straight up a wall for a few seconds.
Prerequisite: Climb 7 ranks, Acrobatics 3 ranks.
Benefit: You can move up a wall without making a Climb check. Each 5 feet of vertical movement costs you 20 feet of movement, and you must begin and end your turn on a horizontal surface.