Tome of Prowess (3.5e Sourcebook)/Utility Skills

Utility Skills

Appraisal

Appraisal is an analysis skill. It signifies an attention to detail that allows you to recognize forgeries, doctored goods, or knockoffs as well as price and identify goods and even share your insights with those suffering from a lack of logic.

Untrained Uses

Appraise Common Items

When you’re out shopping, it’s nice to not be ripped off by the merchants. If you spend a full-round action examining an item, you can appraise common or familiar goods and objects. You can not appraise uncommon, rare, or exotic items untrained. The DC for this check is 10.

You also use appraise to see past knockoffs and forgeries. If you exceed the DC to detect the forgery, you learn the real value of the item and know that it was doctored to appear more valuable. If you succeed on the DC to appraise an item but do not exceed the DC to spot the forgery, you learn the false value of the item as set by the forger.

Base DC: 10, and Special

Check Result:

• DC and above: You know the general value of the item. If you know the local economic conditions relating to the item, you know its exact value in the market. If the item is a forgery you know its apparent value as a result of the forging unless your check result exceeded the forgery DC, in which case you recognize it as a forgery and know its real value.
• DC-1 and below: You do not have a firm grasp of the value of the item. Even though you are not confident in your appraisal, you believe the item to be worth 2d6+3 times 10% (so 50% to 150%) of its actual value, or apparent value if it is a forgery. It is entirely possible to fail the check and still come up with an accurate appraisal, it’s just not a confident one.

Detect Forged Documents

Forged documents are as good a liar as any silver tongued devil, but they sit in front of you and let you examine them for a longer time. With a full-round action and an appraisal check, you can spot forged documents, and deal with those who would pass them off on you appropriately.

Base DC: Forgery DC as set by forger

Check Result:

• DC and above: You recognize the document as a forgery and can point out several places they went wrong, if you’re into mocking people who try to slip one by you.
• DC-1 and below: You believe the document is genuine. Note that if you make this check on a genuine document you will still get this result, so you shouldn’t discount it just because you think something is up. If their papers are in order, their papers are in order.

Rank 1 Uses

Appraise Anything Mundane

You know what you’re looking for, and have a fair guess of what most things are worth. In addition to common items, you can also appraise uncommon, rare, exotic, and one-of-a-kind mundane items. This includes artwork, gems and jewelry, and all of the other pieces of loot that adventures often find themselves saddled with. Uncommon items should have a DC no higher than 15. Rare or exotic mundane items have a DC no higher than 20 in general, but exceptions may exist. The exact DC for this check is set by the GM, but they should follow the guidelines here. It is a full-round action to appraise objects with this ability.

Some items, like artifacts or poorly made jewelry pieces with high emotional value to wealthy kings, are fundamentally un–appraisable and likely to return a completely wrong objective measure of their worth. These should be rare; otherwise this ability is worth considerably less and you should complain loudly to your GM about it.

Base DC: 12 to 20 or (rarely) above, as set by GM

Check Result:

• DC and above: You know the general value of the item. If you know the local economic conditions relating to the item, you know its exact value in the market. If the item is a forgery you know its apparent value as a result of the forging unless your check result exceeded the forgery DC, in which case you recognize it as a forgery and know its real value.
• DC-1 and below: You do not have a firm grasp of the value of the item. Even though you are not confident in your appraisal, you believe the item to be worth 2d6+3 times 10% (so 50% to 150%) of its actual value, or apparent value if it is a forgery. It is entirely possible to fail the check and still come up with an accurate appraisal, it’s just not a confident one.

Detail Oriented

Your eye for detail and ability to spot forgeries extends beyond goods, but to people as well. You are able to pierce disguises with your appraisal abilities, finding the critical flaws that ruin the entire disguise. After five full rounds of interaction, you may make an appraisal check to determine if the creature is disguised. The DC for this ability is set by the individual who applied the disguise at the time of its application, and the results of your check are listed in the table below even though they will actually be given to you by the GM based on your check.

Base DC: Determined by the individual who applied the disguise

Check Result:

• DC+5 and above: If the target is disguised, you recognize it as such. You also spot a flaw in the disguise that you could easily exploit to ruin it utterly.
• DC+0 to DC+4: If the target is disguised, you believe that there is something odd about them but can not identify any flaws in the disguise that actually give them away. If you attempt to remove the disguise you likely fail, and make yourself look foolish in the process. You may retry this check after another minute of observation.
• DC-1 to DC-5: You do not notice anything that would lead you to suspect that the target is disguised.
• DC-6 and below: If the target is disguised, you believe you’ve found a flaw in the disguise that you can exploit. Any attempt to exploit it will fail, however. Sometimes you’re wrong after all, and a manly woman is still a woman.

Rank 4 Uses

Forgery

Attention to detail can go both ways, allowing you to find or create forgeries and knockoffs. Anything that you can create, you can create in ways that make it look like something official or more expensive. You can create fake documents for example, make a normal sword appear to be a masterwork one, or remove the signs from a barrel of fish that would indicate its low quality. There is no set time for use of this ability as it strongly depends on what you’re working on. The DC to detect your forgery is your check result, less some special modifiers that depend on the type of object you are working with. Seeing past forged documents can be done with either an appraise check, as explained above, or a perception check against the above DC. Seeing past the forgery to an item’s true worth is covered by earlier appraise abilities, as explained above. If you’re attempting to sell a rare or exotic item for more than it is worth, and the buyer has never seen it before, you should be using bluff instead of appraise to sell it to them. Con games aren’t covered by this ability.

If you are working with art objects or sundries, you suffer a penalty that increases as you try to make it look more valuable. For items with bullshit inflated market values, like most adventuring gear and weapons, you suffer a penalty for each category improvement you wish to show.

If you are instead trying to forge a document or identifying mark (such as an imperial sigil or an artists signature), you suffer penalties to your check based your familiarity. You must have at least glanced at an original to make a forgery of something (otherwise you’re just creating something and attempting to bluff with it), and you must be familiar with the written language if you don’t have a sample on hand to copy.

Base DC: None. Your total check result sets the DC for others.

Condition	Check Adjustment
Increase apparent value of sundries	-1 per 10% increase
Increase apparent value of art object	-2 per 50% increase
Increase adventuring gear category (damaged to standard to masterwork)	-2 per category
Forging a document you’ve never seen	Not Possible
Forging a document you’ve only glanced at	-5
Forging a document you’re familiar with	0
Forging a document you have on hand	+2
Forging a security measure into a document (watermark, arcane mark)	-3 per security mark
Rushing a job (1/4 the time)	-5
Rushing a job (1/10 the time)	-10

Rank 6 Uses

Eye for Magic

You can tell if an object is magical just by handling it. You may also appraise magical items; this is a full-round action with a DC of 15 + the caster level needed to create the item. A successful appraisal doesn’t mean you know what it is of course, just that you have an approximate idea of its value and power level. If you fail this check by 10 or less, you guess an incorrect value, as if you had failed to appraise a common item. If you fail by more than 10 you have no idea what it is worth.

This ability may work on artifacts, but only on ones that you would have a reasonable chance of recognizing from stories or research. As such, it is essentially up to the GM if you can appraise an artifact, as well as what the DC is.

Base DC: 15 + the caster level required to create the item, or Special for artifacts

Check Result:

• DC and above: You recognize that the item is magical and determine the caster level required to create the item. You believe its value to be 2d4+5 times 10% (70% to 130%) of its actual value. It is impossible to guess its value more closely than that without knowing what it can actually do. If the item in question is an artifact, you learn its name in place of its value (which is probably incalculable anyway).
• DC-1 to DC-5: You recognize that the item is magical, but learn nothing more about it. Because you are unable to guess at its level of power, you learn nothing of its value.
• DC-6 and below: You fail to recognize the item as magical at all, and guess its value as if it were a mundane item.

Rank 8 Uses

Identify Magic Items

You’ve learned enough about items that you can identify them fairly accurately. You can determine the properties of any item you know to be magical, or you may attempt this check on an item you simply believe to be magical. The DC for this check is 15 + the caster level required to create the item, though it can not be used on artifacts. It takes an hour to learn the properties of an item, at the end of which you make this check. If you have activated the item blindly with another skill, you may make your initial check for the item after only 10 minutes.

Base DC: 15 + the caster level required to create the item

Check Result:

• DC+5 and above: You learn every function of the item, and their methods of activation. This doesn’t mean you can use every function, just that you know them all.
• DC+0 to DC+4: You learn the function with the lowest caster level that you do not yet know, as well as its method of activation. If there are no additional functions of the item, you learn that as well. If there are additional functions, you may continue your identification after another hour and another check.
• DC-1 to DC-5: You learn nothing about the item this hour, but you may attempt identification again after another hour and another check.
• DC-6 and below: You’re not sure if you offended the item or not with your poorly thought out groping and babbling, but it’s probably best to leave it alone for now. You learn nothing and can not attempt further until you gain another rank in the skill.

Think It Through

Your ability to appraise a situation also lets you talk others through them. You can counter confusion and fascination effects just by talking to those suffering under them, affecting up to 1 target per 2 ranks in appraise. You can not affect yourself with this ability, however, as those conditions detract from your ability to analyze a situation. As a standard action, make an appraise check against the effect’s save DC + the effect’s level (in the case of spells like Hypnotic Pattern or Confusion) or 10 + the effect initiator’s character level + the effect initiator’s Chr modifier (in the case of supernatural abilities without an effect level). If you succeed on the check, you suppress the ability as indicated in the check result table below. Only make one roll for the round, and compare that roll to the DCs for each effect to see which are suppressed and which are not.

Base DC: Effect Save DC + Effect level, or 10 + Initiator’s Character Level + Cha mod

Check Result:

• DC+10 and above: You dispel the effect on your targets. This probably annoys whoever placed it on them.
• DC+5 to DC+9: You suppress the effect in your targets for this round, and may continue suppressing it for up to two additional rounds without an additional check. You must spend a swift action in the additional rounds to keep the effects suppressed however. At the end of that time the effects return if their duration has not expired, though you may make a new check as a standard action to suppress them again.
• DC+0 to DC+4: You suppress the effect in your targets for this round. Next round the effects return if their duration has not expired, though you may make a new check as a standard action to suppress them again.
• DC-1 to DC-5: You fail to affect the ability this round, but may try again next round if you like.
• DC-6 and below: After accidentally talking them deeper into their condition, you become unable to affect this instance of the ability at all. Any further retries are futile, and you should really find something else to do with your actions next round.

Concentration

Untrained Uses

None. Sorry, you actually can’t do this stuff without a bit of training.

Rank 1 Uses

Ignore Distraction

It’s tough to pick a lock while you’re being melted with acid, pick a pocket while you’re bleeding out of your ears, or cast a spell while you’re being molested by plants. If you focus hard enough though, you can block these distractions out. Generally, a distraction will be listed as a modifier on a different skill check. As a swift action you may attempt to block the distraction entirely, such that you suffer no penalty from that condition or conditions. The standard DC for this check is 15; it rises to 20 for conditions where you are partially restrained or being tossed about or, for magical distractions, the save DC of the distracting spell. You must wait a full round between retries of this check, delaying whatever other task you had intended to complete.

Base DC: 15, or 20 if you are partially restrained / being moved by outside forces, or the save DC of the distracting spell

Check Result:

• DC+0 and above: You successfully tune the distraction out, and may proceed with your work without penalty.
• DC-1 to DC-5: You fail to block the distraction, but it doesn’t cause you to miss a step. You make your check as usual, suffering full penalties for the distraction.
• DC-6 and below: You fail to block the distraction, and actually get a bit caught up in it. You lose the entire round, and must work through the distraction on subsequent turns.

Rank 4 Uses

Get Out of my Head!

The concentration skill may be used to fight off any lingering effects that would require a Will save. This includes almost all charm and compulsion effects like Charm Person or Suggestion, mental confusion effects, mental paralysis effects like Hold Person, and other status effect inducing effects. While it does include persistent damage over time effects that do not allow additional saves, it does not include instantaneous damage effects. If a spell contains both an instantaneous damage effect and a status effect, only the status effect may be fought with this ability. If you fail a save against such an effect you suffer the full effect immediately but perhaps not all of the time.

The DC for this check is the save DC + the spell level, or 10 + CR + relevant stat mod. This check is a free action, made on your turn after suffering an eligible effect. The check results below indicate how you suppress to the mental effect.

Base DC:Spell save DC + the spell level, or 10 + CR + relevant stat mod

Check Result:

• DC+10 and above: You shrug off the effect as if you had made your saving throw, suffering all effects normally associated with a successful saving throw. You no longer need to make these checks, as there is nothing left to fight against from this effect.
• DC+5 to DC+9: You are able to act normally this round, as you fight the cloud in your mind back for now. You gain a +2 cumulative bonus to any future checks to resist the effect.
• DC+0 to DC+4: You are able to take a standard action normally this round, as you work to keep your mind your own. You gain a +1 cumulative bonus to any future checks to resist the effect.
• DC-1 to DC-5: You force yourself to get a swift action off normally this round, though you are gradually losing the will necessary to resist. You suffer a -1 cumulative penalty to any future checks to resist the effect. If your total penalty reaches -5 you immediately suffer the full effects of the spell or ability and may no longer make checks to resist it.
• DC-6 and below: You are unable to will yourself to take any action free of the effect this round, instead suffering fully under your mental condition this round. You suffer a -2 cumulative penalty to any future checks to resist the effect. If your total penalty reaches -5 you immediately suffer the full effects of the spell or ability and may no longer make checks to resist it.

Photographic Memorization

Once you’ve seen something, you can pretty easily recall it. You can attempt to memorize a written string of numbers, a long passage of verse, a street scene, or some other particularly difficult piece of information. While you can memorize magical writing or similarly exotic scripts with this ability, you never gain the ability to understand or translate them if you did not have at the time you memorized it. The DC for this check is 20, though non-static magical work or extraordinarily complicated work may have a DC as high as 30, and the check requires one full minute of concentration. Each successful check allows you to memorize a single page of text (up to 800 words), numbers, diagrams, or sigils (even if you don’t recognize their meaning). If a document is longer than one page, you can make additional checks for each additional page.

Once memorized you retain this information indefinitely; however, you can recall it only with another successful check as a swift action. Once recalled you have access to it for 1 minute and can read it, describe it, attempt to analyze it, or even put it to paper or canvas as long as you have the proper implements at hand. You can not properly recreate a magical or exotic image that you did not understand, however. Your lack of understanding will make you unable to get or properly utilize some of the proper implements. You’ll know the recreation is wrong though, and can express that to others, so they’ll be able to treat any recreation as an approximation or degraded source. These recreations are not generally useful. This is why most people don’t memorize things they don’t comprehend, since it’s rarely useful to anybody. That doesn’t stop you from doing it if you want to though.

Base DC: 20, though it may rise to 30 for exceedingly complicated scenes, images, or texts.

Check Result:

• DC+0 and above: You successfully memorize the image, storing it away for later recall. If you were attempting to recall it, you do that instead, and have access to the image for one minute before you have to make an additional check.
• DC-1 and below: You fail to store the image, and you know it, so you probably try again if you have the time. If you were attempting to recall it, you fail to do so this round, but can try again next round time permitting.

Survival

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