Buy my skills? You mean, you don’t just learn them the hard way?

The old man chuckled. “Well, you could, if you really wanted to, but then the results would be rather… random, unless you focus. And your results would probably be weaker, since there are both Class skills and Cross-class skills.”

What is the difference between the two?

“Nothing, as far as how the skills actually work in the world. However, class skills are easier to build up, since cross-class skills are limited to half the ranks a class skill could be, and each takes two skill points to raise instead of one. So if, say, you were born into Tarona, and decided to try your hand at disarming traps and learning foreign languages, you’d be spending two skill points for each rank of Disable Device or Speak Language you got. Annoying, right? Meanwhile, you might have not known that your class gives you an easier time of using all manner of magic items, and your Use Magic Device skill would suffer for it. Just as an example.”

Oh, yeah, that would be bad. So, what skills are there?

“Here, let me show you the skill list. I took the liberty of highlighting your class skills for you. Because of your classes, you actually have quite a few good choices. And, before you ask, yes, you can use some skills untrained. You’re just not going to be very good at them, obviously. I highlighted your class skills in the list, and included the ability governing each skill.”

I took a look at the skill list, and noticed something. What are these markings by some of the skills?

“Ah, those are skills that will be hampered if you wear armor that restricts your movement, hold a heavy shield, or are carrying too much weight. Best to keep an eye on such things.”

Skill List

Skill

Description

Appraise (Int)

Allows you to approximate the monetary value of objects.

Balance (Dex)*

Allows you to avoid slipping in slick terrain, cross narrow beams, etc.

Bluff (Cha)

The ability to lie, cheat, seduce, manipulate, and otherwise convince people your words are true, despite reality. Can also create distractions in combat.

Climb (Str)*

The ability to climb up things, naturally.

Concentration (Con)

The ability to concentrate on a task despite distractions (like being stabbed in combat).

Craft ( ) (Int)

The ability to craft items or works of art. Separated into subskills by the type of crafting done, each purchased separately. Examples include Alchemy, Cooking, Painting, and Weaponsmithing.

Decipher Script (Int)

The ability to decipher messages written in incomplete or archaic forms. Cannot be used untrained.

Diplomacy (Cha)

The ability to change people’s attitudes, and negotiate through debate.

Disable Device (Dex)

The ability to disarm or disable traps, among other things. Cannot be used untrained.

Disguise (Cha)

The ability to create mundane disguises to prevent people from discerning your identity.

Escape Artist (Dex)*

The ability to slip out of restraints or squeeze through areas.

Forgery (Int)

The ability to create copies of written documents, including handwriting and signatures. Language-dependant.

Gather Information (Cha)

The ability to talk to people in a crowd, and gather information on a topic through word of mouth.

Handle Animal (Cha)

The ability to calm, control, domesticate, and train animals and magical beasts. Cannot be used untrained.

Heal (Wis)

The ability to diagnose and treat wounds or maladies without magic.

Hide (Dex)*

The ability to conceal oneself from sight.

Intimidate (Cha)

The ability to coerce others into doing as you say. May leave ill feelings afterwards.

Jump (Str)

The ability to jump higher or further.

Knowledge ( ) (Int)

A skill that determines your knowledge of various subjects. Each knowledge skill is purchased separately. Can help in dealing with certain people, or in identifying weak spots on monsters. All Knowledge skills cannot be used untrained.

Knowledge (Arcana) (Int)

Knowledge of magic, mystical writings, constructs, dragons, and magical beasts.

Knowledge (Planes) (Int)

Knowledge of the various planes of existence, and the beings that live on them.

Knowledge (Religion) (Int)

Knowledge of the gods and the tenets they hold their followers to. Also deals with the undead.

Listen (Wis)

The ability to identify sounds, despite distractions.

Move Silently (Dex)*

The ability to move silently and avoid detection.

Open Lock (Dex)

The ability to pick locks. Cannot be used untrained.

Perform ( ) (Cha)

The ability to put on a show. Different types of Performance are different skills, purchased separately. Can be used to earn money.

Profession ( ) (Wis)

The ability to ply a trade, and earn money through it. Cannot be used untrained.

Ride (Dex)

The ability to ride a mount, control the mount in combat, and avoid being dismounted.

Search (Int)

The ability to find hidden things, such as concealed levers or secret doors.

Sense Motive (Wis)

The ability to discern when someone is being truthful, or whether they are trustworthy.

Slight of Hand (Dex)*

The ability to use sleight of hand to slip something from a person’s pocket, and other such things. Cannot be used untrained.

Speak Language

The ability to speak other languages. Each rank grants proficiency in a new language. Cannot be used untrained.

Spellcraft (Int)

The ability to identify spells and magical effects as they are being cast. Cannot be used untrained.

Spot (Wis)

The ability to spot things (such as the bandit waiting in the bushes before they spring their ambush).

Survival (Wis)

The ability to navigate, forage, and survive in the wild.

Swim (Str)*

The ability to swim faster and further without fatigue.

Tumble (Dex)*

The ability to perform feats of acrobatics, like tumbling between a giant’s legs to hit him from behind.

Use Magic Device (Cha)

The ability to activate magic items that are not typically useable by someone of your race, class, level, or alignment.

Use Rope (Dex)

The ability to tie ropes, both to secure a rope for descending a cliff, and to secure a prisoner.

That was a lot to take in, obviously. Checking the details from my classes, I saw that I had 28 skill points to distribute. Hmm. Looks like I got a base of 4+INT skill points per level, and one bonus for having a Human base. So, 7 skill points. And first level gives you four times that amount. Nifty.

After considering my options, I began selecting skills. Balance, Perform (Dance), and Tumble all got 4 ranks right off. If I was a ‘Battledancer’, then I damn well better be able to dance! Hmm. Bluff and Use Magic Device seemed useful, so 4 each there. I wanted something to do when I wasn’t feeling like dancing, so Craft (Painting) got another 4. Down to the last 4, and a bunch of things I wanna take… All right, one point each in Escape Artist, Knowledge (Arcana), Knowledge (Planes), and Knowledge (Religion). That’ll give me a good base to work from, right?

The old man looked over at me when I was done. “Hmm. An interesting spread you picked, there. That’s definitely going to be useful for you, once you finally get out into the world. You’ll probably want to find a party to group up with, of course, to handle things like picking locks and the like. Anyway, now it is time to pick the languages you will start off knowing.”

Can I get a list?

“Of course. Here’s some of the common languages. Don’t expect this to be a comprehensive list, naturally.”

Language

Spoken By

Alphabet

Abyssal

Demons, chaotic evil outsiders

Infernal

Aquan

Water-based creatures

Elven

Auran

Air-based creatures

Draconic

Celestial

Good outsiders

Celestial

Common

Humans, halflings, half-elves, half-orcs

Common

Draconic

Kobolds, troglodytes, lizardfolk, dragons

Draconic

Druidic

Druids (only)

Druidic

Dwarven

Dwarves

Dwarven

Elven

Elves

Elven

Giant

Ogres, giants

Dwarven

Gnome

Gnomes

Dwarven

Goblin

Goblins, hobgoblins, bugbears

Dwarven

Gnoll

Gnolls

Common

Halfling

Halflings

Common

Ignan

Fire-based Creatures

Draconic

Infernal

Devils, lawful evil outsiders

Infernal

Orc

Orcs

Dwarven

Sylvan

Dryads, brownies, leprechauns

Elven

Terran

Xorns and other earth-based creatures

Dwarven

Undercommon

Drow

Elven

All right. I got Common off the bat, because human, and my INT gave me two more free languages. So, I wanted them to be things that would be useful to me. But did I want to go for ‘everyday’ useful, or ‘oh shit’ useful? From what it looked like when I was selecting races, the main races that controlled everything knew Common, so most of my everyday was covered. I’m sure I could pick up Elven or Dwarven later on, or use an item or something to translate if I needed to. But for times when it was ‘oh shit, I need to talk this guy down or I go splat’, those wouldn’t be as useful. I picked Abyssal and Draconic. Those should prove useful, right?

“Excellent. Now, you still need to choose your first Invocation for your Warlock class. Invocations are basically spell-like abilities that you can use at will. They can be very useful, and some of the later ones are really powerful. For now, though, you have to choose from the Least invocations.

Bit of a bummer not being able to get invocations of DOOOOOOM right off the bat, but I understood. Had to start somewhere. There were like 24 invocations I could pick from, right off the bat. Some modified my magical blasting attack, either extending the range, or adding effects to it, while others had different effects, some of which were combat-related, and others of which were basically just always on.

There were a lot of interesting choices, of course, but I quickly narrowed it down to ‘Hideous Blow’, which would allow me to channel my Eldritch Blast through a melee attack, so I could punch someone and not only hit them, but blast them at the same time. On the other hand, there was Beguiling Influence. It gave me a flat +6 to Bluff, Diplomacy, and Intimidated for 24 hours. So, basically always on. That looked pretty powerful, especially for me trying to fast-talk my way out of trouble. I liked Hideous Blow for coolness alone, but I still had that allergy to sharp pokeys, and that meant getting up close and personal. Bad combo. So Beguiling Influence it was!

I checked my status sheet, and found that my Bluff and Intimidate were now sitting at a +15 each, while Diplomacy was at a respectable +11. I wasn’t sure, but I thought that these were very respectable numbers for someone starting at level 1. Since most of my skills were somewhere between +3 and +9, that meant a +15 was actually really good, right?

“All right! Just one final little matter to take care of before I send you on your way. You see, the gods in Tarona are quite a bit more active than the gods in the world you came from. Most people have a patron god that they worship. Now, it is a pantheon kind of thing, so if you follow the God of Battle, that doesn’t mean you can’t offer a prayer to the God of the Seas when you step onto a ship. That’s a fairly common thing, actually, with the exception of actual priests or paladins and the like, who are more closely tied to their gods.”

“Anyway, because the gods are more active in Tarona, they’re always competing with each other, meddling in their rivals’ schemes and the like. Picture high school, and you get the idea. So, the Gods like to welcome Transfers by getting them to pick a patron, and that patron gives the Transfer a boon. Now, this doesn’t lock you in to worshipping a particular god forever, and you’re not their slave. If you get pissed at something a god does, and want to switch sides, you can, though you can bet there will be hard feelings. In that case, your boon will change. It works best as a partnership. You get some power, and the god tosses some quests your way when things need doing. And, yes, you could decide to just not decide, but that is probably going to piss off all of them, and your stay on Tarona will almost certainly be a short one. Just saying.”

Hmph. So, the gods want to use me as a pawn, and if I don’t play, I will probably get killed? Lovely. Well, lets see what is available here… Yeah, not picking that God of Battles. Ugh, creepy undead god? No thanks. God of Lycanthropes? Hell no, Twilight sucked. Ooh, what is this? Goddess of Winter? Fickle, cruel, but fair… doesn’t play favorites, and is respected and feared by all? I like this woman!

You have chosen Auril, Goddess of Winter, as your patron.

As a Transfer who has chosen Auril as a patron, you gain the Boon of Auril.

Boon of Auril (Ex)

You are touched by the Goddess of Winter. Gain continual Endure Elements effect, +2 Sacred Bonus to AC vs. creatures of the Fire type.

Ooh, more armor stuff was always welcome, even if it only applied against fire-types. But that Endure Elements? That meant I could shrug off any hot or cold type environments, so long as the cold wasn’t enough to actually injure me. Anywhere between -50 and 140 Fahrenheit, I was going to be just fine. Yeah, that’ll do nicely.

“Well, I think that does it. I’m going to send you on along. Have a great life, and don’t come and see me too soon, yeah?”

I waved at the old man, and then everything went dark again.