Well
I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m still full from Thursday.
And the leftover turkey sandwiches Friday and Saturday. And the really
leftover turkey and yam casserole from Sunday. So in the spirit of
keeping myself from bloating any further, I’ll do what I can to keep
this week’s article short and to the point. So, this week I’ll be
babbling about what I consider to be skills all DMs should have and/or
strive to develop. In true geek fashion I’ll be keeping this in d20
skill format.

Adjudicate (Wis)
Adjudication is the skill of mediation. This skill is useful in rule disputes or determining the results of unexpected actions.
            Check:
Adjudicating a common or well-known rule is a DC 10. More obscure rules
or outlandish situations may require a DC of 20 or 25. Failure means
you adjudicate unfairly or unclearly. 
            A
rulebook containing the rule in question grants you a +2 circumstance
bonus on adjudicating rule disputes. A reference sheet increases this
bonus to +4. 
            Action: Adjudicating a rule or situation requires 2 full rounds, or 1 minute if using a rule book.
            Try Again:
No. You may only adjudicate a given dispute or situation once, though
each occurrence may be individually adjudicated if desired.
            Synergy: If you have 5 ranks in Memory you gain a +2 synergy bonus to Adjudicate checks.
            If you have 5 ranks in Annotate you gain a +2 synergy bonus to Adjudicate checks for rule disputes.
            If you have 5 ranks in Pronouncement you gain a +2 synergy bonus to Adjudicate checks.

Annotate (Int)
Annotation is used to create shortened and abbreviated let legible notes on everything from NPCs to rules to campaign updates.
            Check:
Any time you wish to jot a quick note down you may make an Annotate
check. The DC for this check is 10 + 1 per 3 words or integers in the
note you wish to create. You may always read your own successful
annotations. Failure in this check means either you cannot read your
note, or not enough information was noted. In either case, the note is
useless and the materials wasted.
            A notepad grants a +2 circumstance bonus to Annotate checks.
            Action: Annotating requires 1 round.
            Try Again:
Yes, though you must have some indication that your first attempt was
unsuccessful (such as a player commenting on your chicken-scratch
writing).
            Synergy: If you have 5 ranks in memory you gain a +2 synergy bonus to Annotate checks.

Balance (Int; Trained Only)
Balance is the art of balancing the game’s mechanics, especially in regarding to 3rd party creations and homebrew material.
            Check:
Balancing a class or race has a DC ranging from 15 (for normal
creations, i.e. a race of cat people) to 35 or even higher (for highly
unusual creations, i.e. a race of ephemeral flying spaghetti monsters).
Failure indicates you cause the creation to be overpowered or
underpowered.
            Action:
Balance checks require a minimum of 1 hour, but may take up to a day or
more. Each hour devoted to the study of the creation in question grants
a cumulative +2 insight bonus to the Balance check for that particular
creation, up to a +20 bonus.
            Try Again:
Yes, though each successive attempt on the same creation causes all
affected players to suffer a -2 morale penalty to Trust for the
duration of the campaign.

Basic Rhyming (Cha)
Basic Rhyming is used to create simple bardic songs and ancient prophecies alike.
            Check:
Basic Rhyming checks are made as part of a Craft (writing) or Perform
(poetry) check. The DC is 12 and increases by +3 per verse beyond the
first, as rhyming words become worse and worse, the song or prophecy
eventually needing a hearse to lift its curse before the players’
eardrums burst. Failure causes your players to cringe in mental pain
upon hearing the piece.
            Action: Making a Basic Rhyming check requires no action itself. It is made during a Craft (writing) or Perform (poetry) check.
            Try Again: Yes until a piece has been presented publicly, though you must have some indication that your initial attempt failed.
            Special: The writer and musician classes gain a +4 inherent bonus to Basic Rhyming checks.
            Synergy:
If you have 5 ranks in Craft (writing) or Perform (poetry) you gain a
+2 synergy bonus to Basic Rhyming checks when creating a piece using
the relevant skill.

Craft (Int)
Craft encompasses a
number of different sub-skills, each of which must be taken
individually. These skills are used to create products that can be
incorporated into the game, earning extra fun from your players.
            Check:
See the Craft skill in the PHB, except replace all earnings with fun,
and all costs with time/effort. The most common Craft skills are:
·        Class – creation of new classes and prestige classes.
·        Dungeon – creation of temples, dungeons, castles, caves, lairs, and any other imaginable structure your party can plunder.
·        Miscellaneous
– creation of items both magical and mundane, spells, abilities, NPCs,
and damn near everything else not covered in another Craft.
·        Race – creation of races and subraces.
·        World – creation of a homebrew world to run one or more campaigns in.
            Action: Does not apply. Craft checks are made by the day and week.
            Try Again: Yes, but each time you miss by 5 or more you waste half of the effort you put into the original attempt.
            Synergy: If you have 5 ranks in an appropriate Craft skill you gain a +2 synergy bonus to Balance checks made for that item.

Fudge (Cha)
Like Craft, Fudge is a
skill that encompasses a number of sub-skills, each of which must be
taken individually. Fudging is used to pretend you know what you’re
talking about regarding some bit of minutiae. 
            Check: See the Knowledge skill in the PHB. The most common types of Fudging are:
·        Astronomy – pretending you know about constellations and celestial bodies… like Saturn, not Mila Jovovich.
·        Economics
– pretending you know about supply and demand, about trade routes and
trade winds, about market saturation and the intricacies of real estate.
·        Geology – pretending you know what makes mountain ranges, islands, weather patterns, ocean currents, and biospheres.
·        Military Logistics
– pretending you know about the needs of a standing army, what military
encampments look like, what they are doing and need during times of
peace, and when to apply the GI Bill.
·        Politics
– pretending you know about the subtle maneuverings of the members of
Council X, the reasoning behind a duke picking a bunch of ragtag
nobodies to clear his land of orcs instead of his trained and loyal
soldiers, and how –exactly- one is chosen to be the leader of a nation
if not by blood relation.
            Action: A Fudge check requires 1 minute.
            Try Again:
No, if you try to re-fudge something, you alert the players to your
original fudge, thereby negating all concurrent fudges about that
subject for 24 hours.
            Synergy: If you have 5 ranks in Pronouncement you gain a +2 synergy bonus to all Fudge checks. 
            If you have 5 ranks in a Knowledge sub-skill, you gain a +2 synergy bonus to Fudge checks of that sub-skill.

Memory (Int)
Memory is the skill of memorizing and remembering details you’ve previously concentrated on.
            Check:
In order to make a Memory check you must have been exposed to the
object of the Memory check at least once in the past. The DC equals the
DC of bardic lore checks. Failure indicates you cannot recall any
relevant information about the question you are attempting to answer.
            Action: A Memory check requires a standard action.
            Try Again: No. You may not try to remember a detail again until you’ve gained at least 1 additional rank in Memory.

Pronouncement (Cha)
Pronouncement is used to announce your decisions in an effective and impacting way.
            Check:
Pronouncement checks are opposed by a player’s Sense Loophole check. To
make a Pronouncement check, all you need to do is have a declarative
statement in mind. If you succeed this check, your pronouncement
becomes unwritten law. Failure indicates your players have found a way
to negate your pronouncement, or you caved in to their petulant
baby-whining.
            Action: A Pronouncement check requires a standard action.
            Try Again: Yes.
            Synergy: If you have 5 ranks in Adjudicate, you gain a +2 synergy bonus to pronouncements made to resolve disputes.

Verbose Description (Cha)
Using your incredibly
expansive vocabulary, you vividly describe to your anticipatory
listeners a scene or event in such magnificent and unfiltered detail
that even those with the basest amount of imagination are capable of
painting masterpieces in the canvases of their minds, with your nouns
as their brush and palette, your adjectives and adverbs their pigments,
and your verbs, articles, conjunctions and prepositions their graceful
brush strokes.
            Check:
A Verbose Description check is made as part of a Perform (oratory)
check, and is made at the same DC. Failure indicates your description
was underwhelming.
            Action: Does not apply. 
            Try Again: Yes.

Voice Alteration (Cha)
This is the skill of
altering your voice when speaking as NPCs, and is very useful in
bringing them to life. Note that unlike the Player version of this
skill, a DM’s Voice Alteration may include silly voices at no penalty.
            Check:
Choosing to emulate a known accent requires a DC 15 check. Emulating an
accent you know of, but have had little to no exposure to, requires a
DC 20 check. Creating a new accent requires a DC 25 check. Failure
indicates you emulate the wrong accent, or just sound silly.
            If you speak the language you are attempting to emulate the accent of, the DC of emulating that accent is 5.
            Action: Voice Alteration checks are instant actions.
            Try Again: Yes, though you run the risk of looking silly.
            Synergy: If you have 5 ranks in Memory, you gain a +2 synergy bonus to emulate accents you’ve heard before.

So there we
have it, ten skills that all DMs should invest skill points in at every
available opportunity. I’m quite sure there are plenty other skills out
there that other DMs have had need of as well, and I’d love to hear
about them! Until next time, keep your skills sharp!

- Liambic