newbi

[djwood]

I am a total newbie to D&D, and I am having trouble with filling out my Skills. I really do not get what skills I can get, and really, how the skills work. I've tried to decipher the Player's Manual, but it just doesn't seem to put it very well. Can anyone put it in lamen's terms for me? My friends say I can combine skills and what not.

i'm a ranger lvl 8

race : human
age : 10
sex : F
highest stat : dex 20
lowest char : 11
main weapon (longbow)


skills
Appraise (Int)0
Autohypnosis (Wis)0
Balance (Dex) 20
Bluff (Cha) 0
Climb (Str) 0
Concentration (Con)17
Control Shape (Wis) 0
Craft (Int) 0
Decipher Script (Int)0
Diplomacy (Cha) 0

Disable Device (Int) 0
Disguise (Cha) 0
Escape Artist (Dex) 18
Forgery (Int) 0
Gather Information (Cha)0
Handle Animal (Cha) 0
Heal (Wis) 0
Hide (Dex) 20
Intimidate (Cha)0
Jump (Str) 0

Knowledge (Int) 0
Listen (Wis) 0
Move Silently (Dex) 26
Open Lock (Dex) 20
Perform (Cha) 0
Psicraft (Int) 0
Profession (Wis) (mining) 5
Ride (Dex) 0
Search (Int) 17
Sense Motive (Wis) 10

Sleight of Hand (Dex) 16
Speak Language (none)
Spellcraft (Int) 0
Spot (Wis) 0
Survival (Wis)0
Swim (Str) 0
Tumble (Dex)0
Use Magic Device (Cha) 1
Use Psionic Device (Cha) 1
Use Rope (Dex) 15

I also have a giant eagle as familiar

i'm trying to be as far from the fight as possible cause 2-3 hits and im done (33 hp) so I want to be a sniperette!

[eggynack]

I'm not really sure where you're getting the numbers you're getting. My guess is that you're applying your actual stat to the skills, rather than the skill mod. You can find a description of ability modifiers here (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/theBasics.htm#abilityModifiers), if that is indeed the cause of your aberrantly high numbers. In any case, as a fast and easy way to do this, what you should do is pick 6+intelligence modifier skills, particularly skills on your skill list, and invest the maximum quantity of allowed points, which is 11, in each of them. There are obviously more involved ways to use your skill points, but just maxing stuff out works well enough for most purposes, and is relatively easy.

[Elkad]

Yup, you've missed a step.

Skill checks.

Lets start with a basic one.
Untrained character with a perfectly average strength wants to climb a wall. (make a Climb skill check)
Dungeon master assigns a difficulty to this of 15 (DC:15)
Roll a d20, you need a 15 or higher to advance up the wall.

Each skill lists a relevant ability score. For climbing, that ability is strength. However, with an average strength, nothing changes.
With a higher Strength, the character would get a bonus to his die roll. That bonus is found in the "modifier" column of the table found here http://www.d20srd.org/srd/theBasics.htm#abilityModifiers

So with a 14 strength, he would get a +2 applied to his roll.

Skill points work the same way. You get to assign skill points (amount decided by your class and intelligence) to specific skills.
So if you put 3 skill points into "Climb", you would also add that amount to your roll. Combine that with the strength bonus, and it's a +5 total.

[Telonius]

Just generally: each class has a set number of skill points it gets on every level-up, modified by a character's intelligence bonus. For a Ranger, they get 6+Intelligence bonus. So if you have an Intelligence of 12 (12 gives a +1 bonus), you'd get 7 skill points per level. If you're human, you get a bonus skill point each level, so you'd have 8. (At first level, you get [6+Int] x 4, or 32 points for our Human Ranger example). Note that it's only your basic Intelligence score that gives you skill points; having a higher Intelligence from a magic item (like a Headband of Intellect) or a spell doesn't let you have more skill points.

Each class has a list of "Class Skills." These are skills that a class is particularly good at doing. Gaining a rank in a class skill costs 1 skill point. Anything that's not a class skill is called a "Cross-Class Skill." These are skills that are harder for a class to learn. Each rank in a cross-class skill costs 2 skill points. If you use a multiclassed character, it's a bit more complicated; but let's stick to single-class to start.

At each level, you can have a maximum of (level+3) ranks in a Class skill, and (level+3)/2 ranks in a cross-class skill. For a level 8 ranger, that would be 11 ranks in a class skill, and 5.5 ranks in a cross-class skill. (Half-ranks don't actually make your character any better at performing the skill, but when you level up again, you can spend a skill point to make it an even 6 ranks). So you can't just put all 32 of your ranks in Hide at level 1; you'd have to spread them out a bit.

When you make a skill check, you roll a d20, and add to it the total number of ranks, the related ability score's bonus, and any other bonuses you might have from the character's race, size, magic items, and whatever other bonuses you might have. In many cases, you're trying to reach a particular number - the "Difficulty Class" (or DC) based on how hard the thing is that you're trying to accomplish. So your character has a Dexterity of 20, which gives a bonus of +5. Let's say you want to make a Balance check. Let's say you've maxed out your ranks, and have 11 ranks in Balance. You don't have any bonus or penalty for race or size. Your party Cleric has cast Prayer, giving everyone a +1 Luck bonus to skill checks. So, taking all of that together, you have d20+5(Dex)+11(ranks)+1(luck)=d20+17. Let's say you roll a 12 on your d20. Your Balance result is a 29. You'll probably be able to Balance your way across anything short of a greased pole.

There are other skill checks that are called "opposed" skill checks. Basically, you're trying to do one thing, but the enemy is trying to do something else; so you roll and see who's got the better result. Things like Hide and Spot, or Move Silently and Listen, are opposed skill checks. Again, you have +5 to Dexterity, and 11 ranks. Let's say you're wearing a +1 Shadow (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/magicArmor.htm#shadow) Studded Leather armor, which gives a +5 competence bonus to Hide checks. Your party Cleric has cast Prayer, giving everyone a +1 Luck bonus to skill checks. You want to make a Hide check. So, taking all of that together, you have d20+5(Dex)+11(ranks)+5(competence)+1(luck)=d20+22. Let's say you roll a 4 on your d20. Your Hide result is a 26. That means an enemy has to get a 27 to Spot you. (There are tiebreakers, too, but the DM will be able to tell you who wins in a tie).

Does that about cover it?