Questions tagged [proficiency]
For questions about a character's proficiencies. Broadly, proficiency refers to the ability to use a specific skill or piece of gear without taking penalties for not knowing what you're doing.
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Can someone explain what the "Proficiency Bonus" is in D&D 5e/Next exactly?
I am reading the 5e rules, and I keep seeing how you can add proficiency bonus to attack rolls checks with weapons you are proficient in and skill checks in skills you are proficient in, but I can't ...
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What is the point of a shield proficiency?
PHB describes the downsides of wearing an armor you are not proficient with:
Armor Proficiency.
Your class gives you proficiency with certain types of armor. If you wear armor that you lack ...
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What happens if I get the same skill from both my background and my class?
I made a trickster cleric with spy background. This caused an overlap of stealth and disguise. (Further compounded by me wanting to take hide in shadow ... which again granted me stealth.)
What ...
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I Roll To Seduce The Dragon! (or, Do doublings of proficiency bonus stack?) [duplicate]
Lets say there exist some enterprising young bard 3/ sorcerer 1 named Kirk.
Deciding to uphold (long past) family tradition, he has chosen to go out and have a little half-dragon of his own.
He ...
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How can you gain proficiency in a skill after level 1?
I have been reading the Basic Rules a couple times, but could not find any way to gain proficiency in skills past level 1.
For example, if I create a Rogue, I may chose 4 skills among 11:
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Do you have to be proficient in armour to use it?
Do you have to be proficient in armour to be able to actually wear it?
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Is there any way for my wizard to learn just sword proficiency?
Can a wizard learn a single weapon proficiency (similar to how they can learn a tool set or language, which use Training rules), or are costly and over-blown options like multi-classing, feats, or ...
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Are Monks proficient with unarmed strikes by default?
I can't find anything in the PHB that actually says that Monks are proficient with unarmed strikes by default. Their Proficiencies list just says simple weapons and shortswords. Their Martial Arts ...
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What values do I recalculate when I Wild Shape?
When I Wild Shape, I take a beast's STR, DEX, and CON scores. I keep my proficiency bonus and my INT, WIS, and CHA scores. I will focus this question on the assumption I'm proficient in Athletics, and ...
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Why do we assume that PHB rules apply to monsters?
The party is deep into my 5e-updated classic Greyhawk Giants series.
They are returning the body of a stone giant killed in the siege of Headwater to the stone giant's clan. The Thane of the Stone ...
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What are the choices for proficiency in a musical instrument?
The rules say the following regarding musical instruments (PH p.154):
Each type of musical instrument requires a separate proficiency.
Since this text is an annotation for the equipment list on ...
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How long does it take to read and learn from a book?
My party has stumbled upon an abandoned library. They've found some books that they want to read and study. I've told them if they read and study the books they'll gain a proficiency bonus for the ...
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How can a Cleric be proficient in warhammers?
I'm just starting to learn 5e, so I might miss something obvious.
The "Equipment" section of the Cleric description assumes that Cleric can be proficient in warhammers:
Starting Equipment
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How does Jack of All Trades interact with Reliable Talent?
The Bard's Jack of All Trades says you can add half of your proficiency bonus to rolls to skills that you otherwise can't add your proficiency bonus. And the Rogue's Reliable Talent feature lets them ...
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Is it possible to have a character with proficiency in all martial weapons without proficiency in Medium armor?
When thinking more about this question: Are the requirements of a Horn of Valhalla cumulative?, I started to wonder if characters could effectively use horns without being able to use their lesser ...
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How does a bat have +0 modifier to attack?
I am quite new to playing DND and I'm struggling to understand how a bat has +0 to attack. I'm clearly missing something, but as per my calculations:
A bat has a strength of 2 (-4 Modifier).
This is ...
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Would it be unbalanced for Dex-based Fighters to choose proficiency in Dex saving throws instead of Str saving throws?
Whilst building a Dex-based Fighter (an Arcane Archer), I decided to pick the Resilient feat at level 4 so that I could have proficiency in Dexterity saving throws, which makes sense given that they ...
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Is There A Non-Homebrew Way To Add Proficiency to Initiative?
I know in some homebrew classes, such as Matt Mercer's Gunslinger Archetype, you can add your proficiency bonus to your initiative modifier. Are there any ways of doing this in the official rulebooks?
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Does proficiency in both simple and martial weapons mean my character is proficient in all weapons?
So I am building my first D&D character, it's a Barbarian Mountain Dwarf, and I'm trying to figure out what weapons he is proficient with, but in the Barbarian section it says that he his ...
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Does a Druid in Wild Shape add their own Proficiency Bonus to the physical attribute of the Beast for Skills?
The PHB entry on Wild Shape states: "You also retain all of your skill and saving throw proficiencies, in addition to gaining those of the creature."
Does this mean you add the character's ...
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Are there rules for using gaming sets?
Just started DMing, and in a moment of hubris had a NPC challenge the party to a game of cards… which one of the PCs was proficient in. When asked the reasonable question of "ok what now," I realized ...
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Can you gain a proficiency bonus, without being proficient?
I'm asking with a particular eye on the Rogue's level 11 feature, "Reliable Talent":
Reliable Talent
By 11th level, you have refined your chosen skills until they approach perfection. ...
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Is your proficiency bonus a class feature?
The shapechange spell question has raised a difference in opinion on whether or not the proficiency bonus is a class feature.
The crux of the issue is that shapechange allows the character to retain ...
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Do you gain any proficiencies when multi-classing other than weapon and armor?
When multi-classing, do you gain any other proficiencies outside of weapon and armor. In particular do you gain saving throw proficiencies?
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Why is allowing players to stack their skill proficiency bonus overpowered?
I am the DM for a campaign and play with the following house rules:
When gaining proficiency in any skill (during character creation, taking the Skilled feat, etc.), you may choose a skill more than ...
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How can a Forge Cleric obtain proficiency with swords at first level?
I am about to start a campaign of D&D 5th edition. I have a character in mind, a blacksmith with a thing for swords, who became a cleric worshiping a sword god. Mechanically this translates to a ...
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What's the advantage of being proficient with a Disguise Kit over the Deception skill?
In one instance, a player uses his Disguise kit proficiency to craft a well-made disguise, and then whenever someone makes a check to see though it, he adds his proficiency bonus plus relevant ability ...
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Are there mistakes on the pregenerated Starter Set wizard and ranger character sheets?
I am returning to D&D having not played since first edition and am trying to get my head around the character building process before I try and explain it to some new players.
I have been ...
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Does multiclassing into Cleric grant Domain Bonus Proficiencies?
I know that the Multiclassing Proficiencies are listed on p. 164 of the Player's Handbook:
Proficiencies
When you gain a level in a class other than your first, you gain only some of that class's ...
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Does the Tavern Brawler feat grant proficiency when the character is not proficient otherwise?
This is a bit challenging to phrase, so I'll use an example.
A human wizard with the Tavern Brawler feat gets fed up with a unruly Gnome and snaps off a heavy gate post to stab him with. The DM ...
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After a Ghost possesses an armored character, is it basically limited to a single attack per turn with disadvantage?
The Possession trait of the ghost says:
Possession (Recharge 6). One humanoid that the ghost can see within 5 feet of it must succeed on a DC 13 Charisma saving throw or be possessed by the ghost; ...
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How does Expertise work?
Bards get Expertise at level 3. How does this work?
For example, if I have a standard proficiency bonus of +2, and if I have proficiency in Perception with a Wisdom ability modifier of +2, then my ...
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Does Bard's Jack of all Trades increase passive checks?
Jack of all Trades increases all ability checks in which the bard is not proficient.
Passive checks are ability checks. (PHB5e p.54 & 175, respectively)
Does that mean I can add half my ...
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When throwing a melee weapon without the thrown property is the proficiency bonus still added to the attack?
The rules for improvised weapons state that you can throw a melee weapon even if it does not have the thrown property for 1d4 damage:
If a character uses a ranged weapon to make a melee attack, or ...
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Would an artifact that enhanced proficiency be too over-powered?
I am the DM of 5e, and during my campaigns I try to allow characters to get an artifact — a legendary magical item — as a sort of personal side quest to build their character. This is something that ...
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When using the Proficiency Dice optional rule, how should they be used in determining a character's Spell Save DC?
Previously, I've allowed my players to use the proficiency dice optional rule (DMG, pg. 263). When I was asked how they should calculate their spell save DCs with the proficiency dice, I had them just ...
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Do monsters have proficiency with all weapons and armors?
As a bit of background, my players befriended a kobold and gave him a javelin (instead of the dagger a kobold usually have, according to his stat block). They later also gave him a leather armor for ...
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Do proficiencies with one thing from multiple different sources stack?
In D&D 5e it is possible for a character to receive proficiency in the same skill, tool, weapon and/or armor more than once via Class, Race, and/or Background.
Do any of these proficiencies ...
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If a feature gives proficiency in a skill you are proficient with, can you always choose any skill to replace that proficiency?
Page 125 of the PHB in the rules for backgrounds we have this statement:
If a character would gain the same proficiency from two different sources, he or she can choose a different proficiency of ...
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Variant Half-Elf: is this meant to be Keen Senses AND another trait?
The Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide says:
Some half-elves in Faerûn have a racial trait in place of the Skill Versatility trait. If your DM allows it, your half-elf character can forgo Skill ...
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Is there a way for a Rock Gnome Artificer to have double proficiency with Tinker's Tools?
Background
I want to make a Rock Gnome Artificer (from Unearthed Arcana) but there is something I'm not happy about with the character I'm planning.
Rock Gnomes (PHB, p. 37) get proficiency with ...
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Under what conditions would I NOT add my Proficiency Bonus to a Spell Attack Roll (or Saving Throw DC)?
For physical attacks, the scenario where you don't add your Proficiency bonus to an attack roll is relatively clear-cut: when you don't have proficiency in a weapon. If you're a Sorcerer trying to ...
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Do features that allow you to add twice your proficiency bonus, under some other name, stack with Expertise?
Do features that allow you to add twice your proficiency bonus, under some other name, stack with Expertise?
For instance, dwarves' racial Stonecunning trait, with bards' Expertise as applied to ...
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Does the Rogue's Reliable Talent feature work for thieves' tools, since the rogue is proficient in them?
Does the Rogue's Reliable Talent work for thieves' tools, since the rogue is proficient in them?
On PHB, pg. 96, it says when Reliable Talent is applicable:
Whenever you make an ability check that ...
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How does the Cleric's Blessings of Knowledge feature interact with the rules for gaining proficiency when already proficient in a skill?
Scenario:
I am a level 1 Half-Elf Monk, using a combination of my Monk starting skill proficiencies and Skill Versatility racial features to start with proficiency in Arcana, History, Religion, and ...
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When do you add the proficiency bonus?
I am very new to D&D, but I cannot seem to find when to add the proficiency bonus. From what I can tell from the character sheet, there is a proficiency bonus for a specific task, and another (on ...
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How does a character proficient in the Medicine skill help other characters recover from diseases, injuries, or similar effects?
Recuperating is described as a downtime activity option on Basic Rules Version 1.0, page 71:
You can use downtime between adventures to recover from a debilitating injury, disease, or poison.
...
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How to calculate passive perception?
For Christmas my kiddo got the D&D Starter Set and we've been going though it and the full rules we downloaded online. I'm having a hard time figuring out how the example listed in the rules gets ...
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Does multi-classing into Fighter give you heavy armor proficiency?
A lot of build guides I've seen suggest you should dip into Fighter in order to get heavy armor proficiency. But that doesn't seem right since the multi-class rules in the PHB (p164) does not list ...
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Proficiency bonuses and multiclassing: highest, add all together, or what?
When you multiclass, do you only use the highest proficiency bonus of any of the classes you have, do you add together all the proficiency bonuses from any classes you might have levels in or do you ...
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