Converting to the Tome of Prowess

This work includes a fair bit of skill consolidation or re-characterization, so that the skills themselves remain relatively close to each other in terms of utility and value. The new class skills for core SRD class are listed here and conversions for some published works may be found in the appendix. Advice on converting published classes without an entry, as well as homebrew classes can be found after the SRD skill listings below.

Core Class Skill List

Skill Name Key Attrib Barbarian Bard Cleric Druid Fighter Monk Paladin Ranger Rogue Sorcerer Wizard
Acrobatics Dex Class X X X X Class X X Class X X
Affability Cha X Class Class X Class X Class X X X X
Appraisal Int X X X X Class Class Class X Class X Class
Arcana Int X Class X X X X X X Class Class Class
Athletics Con Class X X X Class Class Class Class Class X X
Bluff Int X Class Class X X X X X Class Class X
Ciphers Int X Class X X X Class X X Class X Class
Concentration Wis X X Class Class X Class X X X Class Class
Creature Handling Wis Class X X Class X X X Class X X X
Cultures Cha Class Class X X Class X Class Class X X X
Devices Int X Class X X Class X X X Class X Class
Dowsing Wis Class X X Class Class X X Class X X X
Endurance Con Class X X X Class Class Class Class X X X
Escape Artistry Dex Class Class X X X Class X X Class X X
Geomancy Wis Class X X Class X X X Class X Class X
Healing Cha Class X X X Class Class Class Class X X X
Intimidation Cha Class X Class X Class X Class X X X X
Jump Str Class X X X Class Class Class X X X X
Legerdemain Dex X Class X X X Class X X Class X Class
Perception Wis X X X Class Class Class X Class Class X X
Psychology Int X Class Class X Class X Class X Class X X
Stealth Dex Class X X X X Class X Class Class X X
Survival Wis Class X X Class X X X Class X X X
Thaumaturgy Cha X X Class X Class X Class X X Class X
Transformation Cha X Class X X X Class X X Class Class X
Skill Points 10 6 4 4 10 10 6 6 10 4 4

Converting Other Classes

For non-SRD classes, the following advice should help you determine how many skill points and class skills are appropriate for a class, be it homebrew or published.

Class Skill Points The point of these skills is to supplement class features and increase relevant options available to characters. One of the easiest ways to determine the relevant options of a class is to look at its balance level. Lower balance classes tend to have fewer options in the same power range as the new skill abilities, and should get more skill points to increase their utility. Higher balance classes tend to have more options in the same power range as the new skill abilities, and thus benefit less from additional skill points.

Any balance range referred to should be understood to exclude contributions from Use Magic Device or Use Psionic Device, as these skills can skew balance assignments. Most classes with one or both of these skills should be treated as one balance category lower for the purpose of determining how many skill points they should get.

  • Low and Moderate balance non-casting classes should get 10 skill points per level. Low and Moderate balance partial casting classes should get 8 skill points per level. Low and Moderate balance full casters should get 6 skill points per level.
  • Most High balance non-casting classes should get 8 skill points per level. Some non-casting classes in this range may have sufficiently useful non-combat options to need only 6 skill points per level, like the High balance partial casters should receive. High balance full casters should receive 4 skill points per level.
  • Very High balance non-casting classes and partial casting classes should receive 6 skill points per level. Very High balance full casters should receive 4 skill points per level.

This advice presumes you want to bring under-performing classes up and not worry too much about the over-performers. If you want a lower powered game, feel free to exclude higher balance classes entirely and reduce the skill points granted in general.

Class Skills List Determining how much power a class needs to gain from skills is only a part of the conversion. How many skills they have to select from determines how varied their skills might be. In general, full casters get the fewest class skills as they have a wide pool of other effects to select from. Non-casters lack these ability pools, and gain a wider array of skills to help them compensate.

  • Classes with full spellcasting progressions should get 50% more class skills than they have skill points. For a VH class like the wizard, for example, they should have 6 class skills on which to spend their 4 skill points.
  • Classes with partial spellcasting progressions should get 50% more class skills than they have skill points or 9 class skills, whichever is greater.
  • Classes with no spellcasting progressions and largely combat class abilities should get 12 class skills. For High and Very High balance classes, this means that they will likely have almost twice as many class skills as they do skill points. Moderate and Low balance classes in this group should get an extra class skill, bringing them up to 13.

If you feel that a class needs more or less than this amount of class skills, remember that additional skills increase utility when given time to retrain as well as dilute the core of what the class is capable of. The opposite is also true, since fewer class skills reduces utility and tends to restrict character options. It's generally a bad idea to do those things.

Once the number of class skills has been determined, all that is left to do is assign the class skills. The easiest way to assign these class skills is to simply convert their original skills into the revised skills in this work. That will give you a base to work from, but probably won't leave the class skill list complete. After you have completed the initial skill conversion, you may need to remove some skills or add a few new ones. Some classes may need to give up a skill to remain within the guidelines. Alternately, some may already have all the appropriate skills and be left with acquiring class skills that might not fit with their common interpretation. More often than not, the best way forward in these circumstances is to embrace the chance to expand their repertoire and utility. As an example, the SRD fighter has gained access to a large number of utility abilities in the above conversion and is a more valued party contributor as a result.

Skill Updates

To assist with determining which skills a converted class would have access to if converted directly, each of the old skills is listed below along with a brief explanation of where you can find it now. It should help you determine a starting class skill list, which you can then modify as indicated above.

Old Skill New Skill Notes
Appraise Appraisal Appraise has been expanded to include analysis of situations as well as objects. It has also taken in Forgery, since forgery was a poor skill on its own and characters who know what to look for make more effective forgeries.
Balance Acrobatics Balance has been combined with Tumble into a new Acrobatics skill. The two are thematically similar, and together the two can be boosted into relevance.
Bluff Bluff Bluff remains the skill of liars. It has acquired the acting portion of the Disguise skill, as that always had more to do with lying than looking like someone or something else.
Climb Athletics Climb has been combined with Swim in a new Athletics skill. This skill interacts with a revised overland movement and running system to allow for cross-country runners and triathletes.
Concentration Concentration Concentration has taken uses from the Auto-Hypnosis skill, and several uses have been forked into a new Endurance skill. Casting defensively has been moved into each of the relevant magic skills. Concentration now holds a position similar to Escape Artist with respect to spells; you may use it to override failed Will saves for a time.
Craft — Craft scales so abysmally that it has not been carried over. It is not possible to write a worthwhile craft skill without giving people the Craft Arms and Armor and similar feats for free when they begin to exceed 8 ranks in the skill, and that change was left out for now. The ability to craft things should be thought of in the same terms of a character knowing something. Please refer to the section on character knowledge for additional information on this adjustment.
Decipher Script Ciphers Decipher Script has been expanded upon and combined with portions of Speak Language in the new Ciphers skill. Understanding the various language patterns required to decipher dead script lends itself to a study of written languages in general, as well as magical symbols, glyphs, and scrolls.
Diplomacy Affability Diplomacy has been refocused into a skill that gets people to like you, called Affability. That you can then use that relationship to get people to agree to things remains, but works quite differently.
Disable Device Devices Disable Device has been renamed Devices. It no longer requires the Trapfinding class feature, as it was entirely useless without it. That class feature has been rewritten, and traps have been more clearly defined. Open Lock has also been subsumed by this skill, as locks are devices by definition.
Disguise Transformation Disguise has lost the portions of the skill that dealt with acting, but has gained a much larger repertoire of physical modifications. It now competes directly with other transformational spells like Alter Self and Polymorph.
Escape Artist Escape Artistry This skill retains its original focus, though it has been expanded upon. It has been renamed Escape Artistry.
Forgery Appraisal Forgery has been expanded upon to allow item forgeries as well as written ones, and subsumed into Appraisal.
Gather Information — Gather information has been removed from the game, as it was largely redundant with playing the game. There remain ample ways to gather information in other skill and spell abilities.
Handle Animal Creature Handling Handle Animal retains its original focus and has been expanded upon significantly, gaining pieces of the Animal Empathy class feature. It has been expanded to include handling of additional types of creatures.
Heal Healing Heal retains its original focus and has been expanded upon significantly. It has been renamed Healing.
Hide Stealth The original hide rules relied upon physical conditions that would make a person hidden even without ranks in the skill. This was compounded by the lack of facing rules in the game, which conspired to make the skill absolutely useless without the Move Silently skill unless your target was deaf. This skill has been combined with the Move Silently skill into a new Stealth skill which has seen substantial adjustments.
Intimidate Intimidation Intimidate retains its original focus and has been expanded upon significantly.
Jump Jump Jump functions differently enough from the Climb skill in helping a character achieve distance or height to allow it to remain its own skill. It has been expanded upon significantly, and now allows substantial distance at much lower levels levels through non-linear scaling.
Knowledge Various The Knowledge skills are a special case, and have been compressed and altered significantly, and some have been removed entirely. Only the creature identification portions really remain. Please refer to the section on character knowledge for additional information on this adjustment.
Listen Perception Listen was a significantly useful skill on its own, but generally only showed up in the game to notice something that the DM wanted players to know, or to oppose a Move Silently check. Because Move Silently has been merged with Hide, and boosting Listen on its own proves to be extremely challenging, it has been merged into a new Perception skill with Spot.
Move Silently Stealth Though Move Silently was a better skill than Hide because it did not require specific physical conditions, it has been merged with Hide into the new Stealth skill.
Open Lock Devices Open Lock was a specialized case of disabling or bypassing a specialized device. It has been wholly subsumed by the Devices skill.
Perform — Perform scales so abysmally that it has not been carried over. The ability to play an instrument or recite a poem or dance alluringly should be thought of in the same terms as a character knowing some other mundane thing. Please refer to the section on character knowledge for additional information on this adjustment. As this skill is required for Bards, we simply give them their class level + 3 ‘ranks’ in the ‘skill’ for free.
Profession — Profession doesn’t scale at all, can’t be made to scale, and has not been carried over. The ability to tend a bar or run a shop is not useful for an adventurer, and should be thought of in the same terms as a character knowing something. Please refer to the section on character knowledge for additional information on this adjustment.
Ride Animal Handling Ride scales poorly, and has been subsumed into the Animal Handling skill. Characters who wish to ride without the creature training baggage can select a feat in place of investing in the skill. The Riding subsystem has also been rewritten to be more consistent with the rest of the skills and features.
Search Various Search was generally most useful in conjunction with the Trapfinding ability, which has been largely eliminated. The ability to find and disable traps and locked secret doors has been rolled into the ability to disable them, and now appears in the Devices skill. The ability to find traps, secret doors, and hidden caches (but not necessarily open them) has moved into Perception.
Sense Motive Psychology Sense Motive had some interesting uses, and these have been expanded upon. It has been renamed Psychology.
Sleight of Hand Legerdemain Sleight of Hand has been expanded upon significantly, and includes updated rules for theft that work in conjunction with the remainder of the system. The skill has been renamed Legerdemain.
Speak Language Various The ability to recognize patterns in written language can be applied to languages both living and dead. Because it is easy to characterize this way and lacks value on its own, this skill has been expanded upon with the Decipher Script skill in the new Ciphers skill. The ability to speak languages is useful for those who spend a lot of time with other peoples, and has been moved into the Cultures skill.
Spellcraft Various Spellcraft has been forked into three different skills (which have also merged with the remnants of some knowledge skills) for three different styles of caster. It retains most of its uses, and has not been generally expanded upon as casters don’t need the assistance.
Spot Perception Spot was a significantly useful skill on its own, but generally only showed up in the game to notice something that the DM wanted players to know, or to oppose a Hide check. Because Hide has been merged with Move Silently, and boosting Spot on its own proves to be extremely challenging, it has been merged into a new Perception skill with Listen.
Survival Survival Survival retains its original focus and has been expanded upon. It has also subsumed the Use Rope skill.
Swim Athletics Swim has been combined with Climb in a new Athletics skill. This skill interacts with a revised overland movement and running system to allow for cross-country runners and triathletes.
Tumble Acrobatics Balance has been combined with Tumble into a new Acrobatics skill. The two are thematically similar, and together the two can be boosted into relevance.
Use Magic Device Various Aside from being poorly designed, this was one of the most powerful skills in the old system. It has been reworked, but it has also been very split up. The functions it used to include have been merged into other skills; it is more difficult to be a master of every magical item now, though easier to use level-appropriate items of types related to your field.
Use Rope Survival Use Rope did little before, and it is not possible to provide it sufficiently scaling options. It has been subsumed into the Survival skill.

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