Skill Breakdown for 5th Edition D&D
Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma, Skill DCs
Strength |
Lifting, pushing, pulling, breaking, forcing, brute force |
Athletics |
Dangerous situations when climbing, jumping, or swimming.
- Avoid hazards while climbing
- Climb a sheer or slippery cliff
- Jump extra far or do a tricky stunt while jumping
- Climbing while something is trying to knock you off
- Swimming or keeping your head above water in strong currents, storms, or thick weeds
- Keeping your head above water while something else tries to pull you under or otherwise interfere
|
Strength Check |
STR affects your carrying (STR mod x 15), pushing, dragging, or lifting max weight (2x carry), and your max jump height/distance
- Break out of bonds (ropes, manacles)
- Force open a door (stuck, locked, etc)
- Squeeze through a small space
- Push over something heavy
- Hang on while being dragged along
- Stop something heavy like a boulder or cart
|
Dexterity |
Move gracefully, quickly, quietly, or keep from falling on difficult footing |
Acrobatics |
Stay on your feet in a dangerous situation
- Balance on tightrope
- Run on ice
- Perform stunts, dives, rolls, flips, and somersaults
- Keep balance on a stormy ship's deck
|
Sleight of Hand |
Skillful hand use and manual trickery
- Pick someone elses pocket (coins, object, etc)
- Conceal an object on yourself
- Plant an object on someone
|
Stealth |
Remain out of sight
- Slip away in a busy crowd
- Hide from enemies in shadows and behind objects
- Slip past some guards unnoticed
- Sneak up behind someone without being seen or heard
|
Dexterity Check |
- Pick a lock
- Disable a trap
- Tie someone up
- Control a runaway cart
- Steer a vehicle around a tight turn
- Wriggle out of rope bonds
- Play a stringed instrument
- Craft a small or detailed object
|
Constitution |
Push yourself beyond your normal limits |
Constitution Check |
- Hold your breath
- Travel or work for over 8 hours without rest
- Go without sleep
- Survive without food or water
- Chug an ale in one shot
|
Intelligence |
Logic, education, memory, deductive reasoning |
Arcana |
Recall knowledge about spells, magic items, symbols, magic traditions, the planes of existence, and the creatures on the planes.
|
History |
Recall knowledge about events, famous people, kingdoms, wars, and lost civilizations.
|
Investigation |
Look for clues and make deductions.
- Deduce the location of a hidden object
- Determine the cause of a wound
- Find the weak point in a tunnel to collapse it
- Search through a scroll for hidden knowledge
|
Nature |
Recall knowledge about terrain, plants, animals, the weather, and natural cycles.
|
Religion |
Recall knowledge about deities, rites, prayers, religious hierarchies, holy symbols, and secret cults.
|
Intelligence Check |
- Communicate without spoken words
- Estimate the value of something
- Make a disguise
- Forge a document
- Recall knowledge about a craft or trade
- Win at trivia
|
Wisdom |
Read body language, empathy, notice things around you, care for someone injured |
Animal Handling |
Control or influence an animal
- Calm a domesticated animal
- Control a mount when spooked or during risky maneuver
- Understand an animal's intent
|
Insight |
Determine a creature's true intent
- Tell if someone is lying
- Predict someone's next move
- Detect a change in movements, speech habits, and mannerisms
|
Medicine |
Stabilize a dying creature or diagnose an illness
|
Perception |
Spot, hear, or otherwise detect something
- Hear a conversation through a closed door
- Eavesdrop under a window
- Hear a creature moving stealthily
- Spot something obscured or easily missed
|
Survival |
Do something difficult in nature
- Follow tracks
- Hunt wild game
- Guide a group through rough terrain
- Identify signs of an animal nearby
- Predict the weather
- Avoid quicksand or other hazards
- Build a campfire in the rain
|
Wisdom Check |
- Get a gut feeling about a situation
- Determine if a creature is undead
|
Charisma |
Make friends and influence people |
Deception |
Convincingly hide the truth
- Fast-talk a suspicious guard
- Con a merchant
- Trick the dealer when gambling
- Pass yourself off in a disguise
- Maintain a straight face and body language when telling a blatant lie
|
Intimidation |
Influence through threats, hostile actions, and physical violence
- Pry information from a prisoner
- Convince thugs to back down from a mugging
- Use an improvised weapon to get someone to reconsider their choice
|
Performance |
Delight an audience with music, dancing, acting, storytelling, or other entertainment.
- Sing a song well
- Dance on the table as a distraction
- Entertain bandits
|
Persuasion |
Influence others with your social graces
- Act in good faith
- Foster friendships
- Make a civil request
- Exercise proper etiquette
- Convince a chamberlain to grant audience with the king
- Negotiating peace between warring tribes
- Inspire a crowd
|
Charisma Check |
- Find a good source of news, rumors, or gossip
- Blend into a crowd and get a sense of key topics in conversations
|
Difficulty Class |
Task Difficulty | DC |
Trivial | 5 |
Easy | 10 |
Moderate | 15 |
Hard | 20 |
Very Hard | 25 |
Nearly Impossible | 30 |
Social Checks
Attitudes are based on the NPC's ideals, bonds, and flaws and disposition can typically be shifted by appealing to (up) or coming into conflict with (down) them, but never more than 1 shift in an encounter. Successful insight checks can give hints or insights into an NPC's ideals, bonds, and flaws (and not as a catch-all lie detector). Use RP to determine disposition, and other PCs assisting can offer advantage or disadvantage on the roll based on if they're helpful or unfavorable. More details here.
Friendly Disposition |
0-9 | Helpful but won't take risks |
10-19 | Take minor risks to help |
20+ | Accept significant risk or sacrifice to do as asked |
Indifferent Disposition |
0-9 | Won't help, but won't harm |
10-19 | Helpful but won't take risks |
20+ | Take minor risks to help |
Hostile Disposition |
0-9 | Will actively try to hinder the PCs and will accept minor risks to do so |
10-19 | Won't help, but won't harm |
20+ | Helpful but won't take risks or make any sacrifices |
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