Skills and Training

The dwarf put down the hammer and eyed the elf you with a quiet gaze. "So you've come here because your father cast ye out and ye need a trade? Well then. Pick up the tongs and hold the iron like I show." The long summer months with the dwarf put muscle on the elf, and the callouses raised themselves up. Little by little the elf's skill improved, until after months at fire and forge the dwarf took her aside and said "Well, that's about all I can teach you. Find your own student now. Until then, may your coals stay hot, and your hammer true."

Skills and training in D&D

In 5th edition, there are no rules for training skills. Characters start with two skills from background, one or more from race, and two to four from class. This leads to dumping Inteligence, and no mechanics for learning in play.

The basics of this ruleset are that characters start with a number of trained skills based on background, race, class and inteligence.

In this ruleset, characters do not add their proficency bonus to rolls made with skills, instead they apply a bonus determined by the amount of training they have completed, called the Training Bonus.

Skills at Character Creation

Characters receive training in two skills from their background, the skills from their race, and a number of skills from their class as shown in the table below.

Skills per Class

Class Skills trained Barbarian 2 + Inteligence Modifier Bard 2 + Intelligence Modifier Cleric 1 + Intelligence Modifier Druid 2 + Intelligence Modifier Fighter 1 + Intelligence Modifier Monk 2 + Intelligence Modifier Paladin 1 + Intelligence Modifier Ranger 2 + Intelligence Modifier Rogue 3 + Intelligence Modifier Sorcerer 1 + Intelligence Modifier Warlock 2 + Intelligence Modifier Wizard 1 + Intelligence Modifier

This is often one less than the character's standard starting set of skills, as more skills will be gained in play. The minimum number of skills gained from your class is zero.

A trained skill starts with a training bonus equal to your proficiency modifier for that level. When starting at higher levels, you gain more starting skills, to represent having trained.

Skills at higher staring levels

Level Extra Skills trained 0-4 0 5-9 1 10-14 2 15-20 3

Skills in play

As a character plays, they use skills as normal. However, when a character levels up and their proficiency modifier increases, their skills they have trained to not increase their bonus. A character's proficiency modifier represents the maximum bonus they can have from training a skill.

To increase a skills bonus in play, a character must either Train or Strive.

Training

A character can train at a skill. This is a reliable and risk free method of improving oneself, but takes a significant time. Training improves the training bonus of a skill by +1, up to a maximum of the characters proficiency modifier.

To train a skill, a character must find someone or something capable of teaching them: A master, a spirit of knowledge, a forgotten tome. The character then spends a number of months equal to their new training bonus working at that skill. At the end of the time, the skill's training bonus is improved by +1. A skill can be trained multiple times, with the bonus increasing by +1 each time.

Skills linked to Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma can be learned faster by more inteligent individuals. When learning skills linked to these three attributes, you can reduce the number of months of training required by half your Intelligence modifier rounded down, to a minimum training time of one month. Training times do not increase for negative modifiers.