Example Ability Check DCs
Acrobatics
10 Maneuver quickly through a light crowd; rappel safely down a rope
15 Do a standing flip; keep your balance in a sudden, strong earthquake
18 Balance along a tightrope; swing from a chandelier
20 Contort into a space too narrow for your body to fit through; escape basic shackles
Animal Handling
10 Calm a warhorse startled in battle; de-escalate aggressive urban wildlife
15 Calm a riding or draft horse startled by battle; de-escalate territorial wildlife
20 Earn the immediate trust of urban wildlife; drive a warhorse into extreme peril
22 Befriend hostile wildlife; drive an untrained mount into battle
Arcana
10 Notice the telltale signs of a mage’s lab; pick out a spellbook among mundane tomes
15 Detect places of latent magical energy; recall an uncommon arcane method
18 Identify the purpose of an esoteric ritual circle; notice signs of planar disturbance
22 Wow an archmage with your expertise; recreate a complex ritual from memory
Athletics
10 Climb a rock face with obvious hand and footholds; climb a secured rope
15 Climb a ship’s rigging in inclement weather; climb a cliffside
18 Jump from a moving carriage to another; stay on a horse as it makes a daring jump
20 Long jump while carrying a Medium or Small creature; climb an overhang
Culture
10 Conduct yourself appropriately in an unfamiliar culture; know commonplace traditions
15 Give a crash course on etiquette; express yourself without a shared language
18 Integrate seamlessly into exclusive circles; twist the law to escape reproach
22 Earn a comfortable living in an urban environment through nothing more than trading
Deception
10 Communicate a simple secret message to an ally
15 Decipher a simple cipher or code
Deception is usually contested by a creature’s passive Insight. The following modifiers are appropriate.
–2 Victim wants to believe the lie, as it’s convenient or beautiful
–2 Victim trusts the liar deeply and implicitly
+2 Victim stands to lose something from the lie
+4 Victim is undertaking serious risk by believing the lie
+10 Lie is far-fetched, and the victim would be a fool to take it at face value
Engineering
10 Spot a dangerous structural instability; identify a weak point in a small construction
15 Determine if a building is condemned from outside; build a simple, single-purpose device
20 Identify a weak point in a grand construction such as a stone bridge; quickly synthesize a useful chemical compound from limited available resources
22 Assess the causes of long-past structural damage; rig a small structure to fall at a specific time
History
10 Recall famous legends about a specific region; remember the name of a famous hero
15 Assess the historical importance of an ancient artwork; identify long-lost heraldry
20 Know the childhood nickname of a famous noble; accurately recall an entire family’s genealogy dating back a century
Insight
Also see Deception.
10 Assess the mood of someone not hostile to you
15 Determine someone’s true opinion of you; learn someone’s current, most immediate desire
20 Understand the general meaning of someone speaking a language you don’t know
Intimidation
10 Push around someone you could take in a fight; force a battered opponent to surrender
15 Verbally rebuke someone who holds authority over you; demoralize foes stronger than you
20 Turn a threat back on someone more dangerous than you; demoralize a stronger foe while bloodied
Investigation
10 Notice an old and frequently-used secret door; find out what inn someone’s staying at
15 Discern simple truths from a crime scene; find a specific passage in a daunting tome
18 Identify patterns of thieves’ cant in a town; determine how long ago a recent event took place
20 Get dangerous gossip on a well-known local; assemble a timeline of suspicious happenings going back as far as 6 months
Medicine
10 Assess a broken bone or other obvious injury; stabilize a bleeding creature
15 Identify the cause of death on a recent corpse; diagnose early signs of a plague
18 Surgically remove a foreign object in a non-vital area; identify cause of death on an old corpse
20 Keep a maimed or dismembered creature alive; amputate an infected limb
Nature
10 Tell a poison berry from a safe one; identify contact-hazardous plants such as poison ivy
15 Intuit what kind of wildlife inhabits the surrounding environment; identify medicinal plants
18 Detect signs of fey crossing or other woodland spirits; predict weather up to 7 days in advance
20 Anticipate natural disasters from local animal behavior; assess the long-term health of a natural environment from a short examination
Perception
Also see Sleight of Hand and Stealth.
10 Spot a hunter’s trap before bumbling into it; notice signs of a recent campsite
15 Notice a well-concealed pressure plate; spot campfire smoke from a long distance
20 Detect the rumbling of a rockslide or avalanche before it’s too late; hear flowing water from a long distance
Performance
10 Earn room and board at a common inn; busk to impress passersby
15 Give a performance that catches the attention of a potential patron; show off for a minor noble
18 Draw a substantial crowd through busking; cause a massive distraction
20 Give a performance worthy of a lavish party; win over a wealthy patron
Persuasion
10 Persuade a shopkeeper to lower a price on common goods; talk your way past underpaid guards
15 Make fast friends at a social gathering; recruit someone’s aid for minimal rewards
18 Recruit someone untested into potential danger; inspire a demoralized and bloodied ally
22 Lead folks into imminent peril without fear; convince a noble to offer you a substantial loan with insufficient collateral
Religion
10 Recognize a holy symbol or important site at a glance
15 Sense the presence of a holy or unholy aura; identify signs of undead or fiends
20 Convert someone with strong beliefs to your faith; recognize the rituals of long-dead religions
Sleight of Hand
Sleight of Hand is often contested by the passive Perception of the creature you’re trying to trick.
10 Perform an amusing “magic trick”; palm or sleeve a coin
15 Make an object the size of a deck of cards “disappear”
18 Hide a dagger or similarly sized weapon on your person
25 Hide a shortsword or similarly sized weapon on your person
Stealth
Stealth is almost always contested by the passive Perception of the creature you’re hiding from. The following modifiers are appropriate.
–2 The hider is wearing distinctive or bright garments
–2 The area is still and there’s little movement otherwise
+2 The hider is wearing common or subdued garments
+2 The area is active and there are distractions
Survival
10 Determine which way is north aboveground; light a campfire, predict the weather, identify common plants
15 Identify rare plants, determine whether food or water is safe to consume; determine which way is north belowground
20 Light a campfire in the driving rain; figure out the direction of the nearest natural water source
In addition, see the Journey rules in Trials and Treasures for more information on tracking. The following modifiers are appropriate.
–2 The quarry traveled on a commonly used path
–2 Firm ground with faint tracks
+2 Quarry used a new path or none at all
+2 Soft ground with distcint tracks
+2 The quarry is in a group of 6 or more