DND 3.5 – Additional Skill Rules Compiled
May 9, 2011
About
There are a lot of skill uses spread out in the dnd 3.5 splat books. I haven’t found a complete list online, so I thought I’d make one for everyone to use.
I went through all of the expansion books I own and listed them below. I haven’t yet worked through the campaign setting books or any of the adventures, and I’m sure there’s more stuff in there. As I find it, I’ll update the table.
In the meantime, if you’re aware of anything out there that is “official”, send me the info and I’ll include it below!
Note on 3.0 Material
I have included the 3.0 material in the list below, but you should be aware that not all DMs allow 3.0 material.
Compiled List of Additional Skills
| Skill | Source Book | Page | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alchemy | Ghostwalk | 27 | New Alchemial Items |
| Appraise | Rules Comendium | 12 | Expanded rules |
| Balance | Complete Adventurer | 97 | Use Balance (at -10) in place of dex or str vs trip attacks |
| Balance | Complete Adventurer | 97 | Run across narrow surface, -20 |
| Balance | Races of the Wild | 145 | Move Through Trees (along branch or horizontal trunks) |
| Balance | Races of the Wild | 146 | Move along an unstable surface |
| Balance | Stormwrack | 83 | Balance on boats |
| Bluff | Drow of the Underdark | 45 | Deliver a secret message using drow sign language |
| Bluff | Evil Handbook | 56 | Play Dead: Pretend to be dead in combat |
| Bluff | Races of Stone | 130 | Heckle; make someone else’s perform worse |
| Bluff | Rules Comendium | 66 | Expanded rules, secret messages, heckling |
| Climb | Complete Adventurer | 97 | Climb at full speed, -20 |
| Climb | Complete Adventurer | 97 | Retain dex bonus while climbing, -20 |
| Climb | Dungeonscape | 47 | Climbing Squad: Aid others in climbing |
| Climb | Ghostwalk | 27 | Gain bonuses when ectoplasm on hands |
| Climb | Races of Stone | 130 | Repel down a wall |
| Climb | Races of the Wild | 146 | Climb rules for forest canopy |
| Climb | Stormwrack | 84 | Climb boat rigging |
| Concentration | Races of Stone | 130 | Resist heckling |
| Concentration | Rules Comendium | 33 | Expanded rules |
| Craf | Complete Adventurer | 97 | Appraise Quickly |
| Craft | Complete Adventurer | 97 | Quick Creation (+10 to DC) |
| Craft | Evil Handbook | 56 | Craft Shoddy goods: get more gold for sales |
| Craft | Ghostwalk | 27 | Make a body out of wood and metal for a ghost to inhabit |
| Craft | Heroes of Battle | 94 | Handle Siege Engines |
| Craft | Races of Stone | 131 | Create poems and music |
| Craft | Races of the Dragon | 97 | Some new Alchemy items |
| Craft | Stormwrack | 84 | Craft simple boats |
| Craft (Alchemy) | Eberon Campaign Setting | 46 | Additional substances; repair warforged |
| Craft (Poisonmaking) | Complete Adventurer | 97 | Long table, lots of poisons, lots of info |
| Craft (Poisonmaking) | Drow of the Underdark | 45 | Make some poisons |
| Decipher Script | Complete Adventurer | 98 | Create private cipher for documents |
| Decipher Script | Races of Destiny | 147 | Create a secret code for text |
| Decipher Script | Rules Comendium | 78 | Expanded rules |
| Diplomacy | Complete Adventurer | 98 | Haggle over prices |
| Diplomacy | Complete Adventurer | 98 | Mediate a disagreement between two other people |
| Diplomacy | Heroes of Battle | 94 | Bonuses to Rally Checks |
| Diplomacy | Rules Comendium | 66 | Expanded rules |
| Disable Device | Complete Adventurer | 99 | Add a “bypass element” to a trap for speedy bypass later |
| Disable Device | Complete Adventurer | 99 | Quickly Disable a device (full round, +20 DC) |
| Disable Device | Heroes of Battle | 94 | Sabotage Siege Engines |
| Disable Device | Rules Comendium | 44 | Expanded rules |
| Disguise | Ghostwalk | 27 | A ghost disguise itself as a living person; living person disguise as ghost |
| Disguise | Heroes of Battle | 94 | Make a group appear to be corposes |
| Disguise | Races of Destiny | 147 | Change the appearance of an object |
| Disguise | Rules Comendium | 67 | Expanded rules |
| Disguise | Eberon Campaign Setting | 46 | Impersonate a dragonmark |
| Escape Artist | Complete Adventurer | 100 | Quick Escape from bindings. (+10 DC, 5 rounds, or faster depending) |
| Escape Artist | Ghostwalk | 27 | Gain bonuses when covered in ectoplasm |
| Escape Artist | Rules Comendium | 50 | Expanded rules |
| Forgery | Complete Adventurer | 100 | Use Forgery to give +2 to Diplomacy or Bluff |
| Forgery | Rules Comendium | 78 | Expanded rules |
| Forgery | Stormwrack | 84 | Examples of uses for forgery |
| Forgery | Eberon Campaign Setting | 46 | Forge an arcane mark |
| Gather Information | Evil Handbook | 57 | Make criminal contacts (thug, fence, assassins) |
| Gather Information | Heroes of Battle | 94 | Gain strategic advantage in a large battle |
| Gather Information | Races of Destiny | 148 | Learn overview of a command structure of an organization |
| Gather Information | Rules Comendium | 67 | Expanded rules |
| Handle Animal | Complete Adventurer | 100 | Teach an animal a trick (more tricks) |
| Handle Animal | Complete Adventurer | 101 | Train an animal for a purpose |
| Handle Animal | Drow of the Underdark | 46 | If you have the Vermin trainer feat, program vermin to act |
| Handle Animal | Heroes of Battle | 94 | Teach animal to work as part of a team |
| Handle Animal | Masters of the Wild | 18 | New Tricks |
| Handle Animal | Races of Stone | 131 | Get new uses for tricks; some new tricks available |
| Handle Animal | Races of the Dragon | 97 | Train, handle, and rear draconic animals |
| Handle Animal | Races of the Wild | 146 | new Tricks |
| Handle Animal | Stormwrack | 84 | More Tricks |
| Handle Animal / Animal Empathy | Ghostwalk | 27 | -4 to deal with ghost animals |
| Heal | Complete Adventurer | 101 | Determine what killed a dead creature |
| Heal | Ghostwalk | 27 | -2 when healing ghosts |
| Heal | Heroes of Battle | 94 | A few new uses |
| Hide | Complete Adventurer | 101 | Blend into a crowd |
| Hide | Complete Adventurer | 101 | Move between cover |
| Hide | Complete Adventurer | 102 | Tail someone |
| Hide | Ghostwalk | 27 | Ghosts get +4 to hide |
| Hide | Heroes of Battle | 95 | Describe Comflauge Netting |
| Hide | Masters of the Wild | 19 | Tail Someone |
| Hide | Song and Silence | 36 | Tail Someone, Sneak up on Someone, Blend into Crowd, Sniping, Hiding while invisible |
| Intimidate | Heroes of Battle | 95 | Boss around lower raning soldiers |
| Intimidate | Rules Comendium | 68 | Expanded rules |
| Intimidate | Tome of Battle | 27 | Duel of Wills: Give someone -2 to initiative and -1 on rolls against you |
| Intuit Direction | Ghostwalk | 27 | Ghost can intuit direction to her physical body |
| Jump | Stormwrack | 85 | Jumping in water, jumping out of water |
| Knowledge | Heroes of Battle | 95 | Misc uses |
| Knowledge (Arcana) | Book of Eldritch Might Vol 1 | 30 | Identify potions and scrolls |
| Knowledge (Arcana) | Magic of Incarnum | 33 | Know stuff about the mysteries of incarnum |
| Knowledge (Arcana) | Tome and Blood | 20 | Recognize Magical Phenomena |
| Knowledge (Architecture & Engineering) | Complete Warrior | 122 | DC 20: reveal weak aspect of a building you can see well |
| Knowledge (Architecture & Engineering) | Stormwrack | 85 | Know stuff about building ships |
| Knowledge (Geography) | Stormwrack | 86 | Navigation on a ship |
| Knowledge (ghost lore) | Ghostwalk | ||
| Knowledge (History) | Complete Warrior | 122 | DC 15: Know how an army organizes itself |
| Knowledge (History) | Complete Warrior | 122 | DC 20: Know about an historical battle at current location |
| Knowledge (humanoid culture) | Evil Handbook | 57 | Know stuff about a particular race when you run into a tribe for the first time |
| Knowledge (Local) | Complete Warrior | 122 | DC 10: Identify military unit by heraldy, local area only |
| Knowledge (Local) | Tome of Battle | 28 | Answer questions about martial practitioners and traditions |
| Knowledge (Nobility & Royalty) | Complete Warrior | 122 | DC 10: Identify military unit by heraldy & other details, distant area only |
| Knowledge (Nobility & Royalty) | Races of Destiny | 148 | Discover the levels of bureaucracy within a royal household |
| Knowledge (Religion) | Races of Destiny | 149 | Understand the structure of a church, cult, or religion sect |
| Knowledge (the planes) | Magic of Incarnum | 33 | Know stuff about the mysteries of incarnum |
| Listen | Races of Destiny | 149 | Clarify overheard conversation |
| Listen | Races of Stone | 132 | Determine distance of individuals underground |
| Listen | Rules Comendium | 114 | Expanded rules |
| Listen | Stormwrack | 87 | Listening on Water |
| Misc | Dungeon Master’s Guide | 33 | Some guidelines for using skills in place of others |
| Misc | Unearthed Arcana | 82 | Lots of stuff about different things; Complex skill use |
| Misc | Forge of War | 130 | Teamwork Benefits: skill and feat requirements |
| Move Silently | Ghostwalk | 27 | +2 when you have ectoplasm on your feet. DC 10 balance for fast movement |
| Open Lock | Complete Adventurer | 102 | Quick (+20 DC, as move action) |
| Open Lock | Rules Comendium | 44 | Expanded rules |
| Perform (Weaon Drill) | Complete Warrior | 121 | Do flashy stuff with your weapon, no defined use+ |
| Profession | Heroes of Battle | 95 | Aim an indirect-fire catapult |
| Profession | Races of the Dragon | 97 | Mining |
| Profession (Sailor) | Stormwrack | 87 | Profession (sailor) and related checks |
| Ride | Races of Stone | 132 | Rules for mounts underground |
| Ride | Rules Comendium | 88 | Expanded Rules; Mounted Combat |
| Ride | Stormwrack | 88 | Aquatic Mounts, swimming a horse |
| Search | Rules Comendium | 114 | Expanded rules |
| Search Team | Dungeonscape | 47 | Search as a team with some time-saving benefit |
| Sense Motive | Complete Adventurer | 102 | Assess Opponent’s strength |
| Sense Motive | Oriental Adventures | 58 | Apprais other guy’s abilities in an iaijutsu duel |
| Sense Motive | Rules Comendium | 68 | Expanded rules |
| Sleight of Hand | Complete Warrior | 122 | Make an opponent flat-footed, but requires dagger and quickdraw feat |
| Sleight of Hand | Races of Stone | 133 | Make verbal and somatic components of spellcasting less obtrusive |
| Sleight of Hand | Rules Comendium | 117 | Expanded rules |
| Sleight of Hand (Pick Pocket) | Song and Silence | 37 | Hide Weapon |
| Speak Language | Drow of the Underdark | 46 | New Language: Drow Sign Language & Script |
| Speak Language | Drow of the Underdark | 46 | Fluency in Drow Sign Langauge gives +2 bonus to Spellcraft to ID spell being cast |
| Speak Language | Heroes of Battle | 95 | New Language: battle signals |
| Speak Language | Eberon Campaign Setting | 46 | Additional languages |
| Speak Languages | Ghostwalk | 28 | New Languages: Heshar, Pek, Salak |
| Speak Languages | Oriental Adventures | 58 | More languages for an oriental setting |
| Speak Languages | Rules Comendium | 78 | Expanded rules |
| Spellcraft | Drow of the Underdark | 46 | DC 15: Must know drow sign language; use dancing lights to communicate over distance |
| Spellcraft | Magic of Incarnum | 34 | Identify a shaped soul meld |
| Spellcraft | Races of Stone | 133 | Use Read Magic to identify the effects of a rune circle |
| Spellcraft | Rules Comendium | 138 | Expanded rules |
| Spellcraft | Tome and Blood | 19 | Expanded Explanation |
| Spellcraft | Eberon Campaign Setting | 47 | Identify dragonmarks and the spell-like abilities carrying it. |
| Spot | Ghostwalk | 28 | DC 5: recognize a ghost |
| Spot | Heroes of Battle | 96 | Count troops, locate commander, locate artillery |
| Spot | Rules Comendium | 114 | Expanded rules |
| Spot | Stormwrack | 89 | See things on the ocean |
| Survival | Complete Adventurer | 103 | Trailblazing – Move faster in poor conditions |
| Survival | Races of Destiny | 149 | Keep safe and fed in an urban setting at no cost |
| Survival | Races of Stone | 133 | Some underground rules |
| Survival | Races of the Wild | 147 | Create trail signs for people following you (hidden messages) |
| Survival | Races of the Wild | 147 | Find / read trail signs left by another |
| Survival | Stormwrack | 89 | Survive on sea without provisions |
| Swim | Complete Adventurer | 103 | Accelerated Swimming |
| Swim | Stormwrack | 90 | Deep Diving |
| Tumble | Complete Adventurer | 103 | Free Stand |
| Tumble | Complete Adventurer | 103 | Ignore Falling Damage |
| Tumble | Complete Adventurer | 103 | Sprinting Tumble |
| Tumble | Oriental Adventures | 58 | Extreme uses (DC 30+) |
| Tumble | Oriental Adventures | 58 | Additional bonus to AC when fighting defensively |
| Tumble | Rules Comendium | 94 | Expanded rules |
| Tumble | Song and Silence | 37 | Variant Checks |
| Use Rope | Complete Adventurer | 103 | Quick Knot-Tying |
| Use Rope | Rules Comendium | 50 | Expanded rules |
| Wilderness Lore | Ghostwalk | 28 | -5 when tracking ghosts |
1) I know this was published 8 years ago, so there’s a high likelihood you don’t care about this project anymore, but you’re still paying for the site so here goes:
2. You list in a number of places here an “Evil Handbook”, though this doesn’t seem to exist and neither “Exemplars of Evil” or the “Book of Vile Darkness” have anything of the sort. Could you please clarify the source?
Hey, this is the book: http://quagkeep.blogspot.com/2012/01/aeg-evil-hide-in-plain-sight.html
Thanks for keeping this post alive! I was looking for new skill uses last night on Reddit.