Skills
There is a greater need for particular skills in the
wastelands and the cities of Athas. While most adven-
tures rely heavily upon Perception as a key skill to no-
tice everything about a character’s surroundings, it is
not the most important skill to possess on Athas. In or-
der to live under the harsh light of the dark sun, Surviv-
al is the single most important skill. Characters that lack
this skill may find themselves at a serious disadvantage
when traveling outside of a city.
Only a few key skills will be addressed in this sec-
tion, as most skills are useful for all of the same things
that they’re used for in any other campaign setting.
Sleight of Hand: This skill is critical for any arcane
casters that are attempting to hide their spellcasting
from the eyes of anyone in view, as casting arcane magic
carries a death sentence in most civilized areas of the
world.
Spellcasters may attempt to hide any spell with a
verbal or somatic component they are currently cast-
ing by making a Sleight of Hand check (DC 15 + the
level of the spell cast) as a swift action. Success grants a
+4 competence bonus to conceal your spellcasting. This
bonus stacks with any benefits gained from the conceal
spell feat.
Sleight of Hand Unchained: With the Sig-
nature Skill feat and sufficient ranks in Sleight of
Hand, you may choose to gain the following bene-
fits in place of the standard skill unlocks. Once your
choice has been made, it cannot be changed.
5 Ranks: When attempting to cast a spell with
a verbal or somatic component while concealing
your spellcasting, you gain a +2 circumstance bo-
nus on the roll.
10 Ranks: When using the conceal spell feat,
you may conceal your spellcasting without any
increase in the amount of time it takes to cast the
spell..
15 Ranks: When you successfully conceal a
spell that you have just cast, the save DC of that
spell increases by 1.
20 Ranks: When casting a spell with a verbal
or somatic component, you may make a Sleight of
Hand check to conceal your spellcasting as a free
action.
Survival: Athas is an incredibly harsh environment.
From tracking foes across desert wastes to finding wa-
ter, those that are not trained in Survival virtually guar-
antee that they will not survive the harsh environment
of the Tablelands.
Small sized characters need to consume 1 gallon of
water per day, medium sized characters need to con-
sume 2 gallons of water per day, while Large characters
need 4 gallons of water per day in order to avoid dehy-
dration.
Table 11: Survival DCs by Task
Survival DC Task
Varies Follow tracks
+15 … after a sandstorm has passed
+20 … in a dust sink (i.e. The Sea of Silt)
Varies Find water1
+0 … in farmlands or grasslands
+0 … in the forest ridge
+5 … on scrub plains
+5 … in stony barrens
+15 … in rocky badlands
+25 … on salt flats
1 A successful check locates a gallon of water. For every
2 that the DC check is exceeded, the character finds an
additional a gallon of water.
Swim: As there is very little standing water on
Athas, the Swim skill is largely unnecessary.
The following classes may replace the Swim skill
with Linguistics as a class skill: Vigilante.
The following classes may replace the Swim skill
with Escape Artist as a class skill: Barbarian, Bloodrag-
er, Druid, Fighter, Gunslinger, Hunter, Inquisitor, Rang-
er, Slayer, and Warpriest.
The following classes may replace the Swim skill
with Survival as a class skill: Aegis, Brawler, Cavalier,
Cryptic, Dread, Magus, Monk, Ninja, Psychic Warrior,
Rogue, Samurai, Skald, Soulknife, Swashbuckler, Tacti-
cian, and Wilder.