Skills

Skills are things your dog can do well. Think of them as verbs — when your character is asked what she is good at, she might say “I can balance, notice things, perform, and I know about history.” Skills are binary: You either have a skill or you don’t.

Whenever your dog takes an action that involves one of her six abilities, you can check to see if your character has a relevant skill for the roll. If so, you can add her proficiency bonus to the ability check in addition to whatever ability modifier is associated with the roll.

Your dog gets both skills listed with his background, and can choose two more from the list given with his calling.

The skills generally fall under certain abilities, but if you can justify a skill being used with another ability (and your Guide agrees), you can add your dog’s proficiency bonus as normal. For example, Persuade is usually a Charisma skill, but if an artisan is trying to convince a city official that she knows the legal ramifications of granting a cat Pugmire citizenship, Intelligence might be a more suitable ability. Sometimes, if your character doesn’t have the appropriate skill, you may roll as normal, without a proficiency bonus. Occasionally you may roll at a disadvantage, or not be able to roll at all (such as trying to read arcane writing without the Know Arcana skill). Each situation is up to the Guide to decide whether you can roll or not, and if you are at a disadvantage.

Strength Skills

 * Intimidate: This skill covers your character’s ability to influence someone through threats, physical violence, and other hostile actions.

Dexterity Skills

 * Balance: This skill helps your character stay upright in precarious situations, such as trying to balance on a tightrope, run across slippery ice, or stay upright on a high tree branch in a nasty storm.
 * Sneak: This skill covers your character’s ability to conceal himself from enemies, slip away without being noticed, sneak past guards, or conceal something on him.
 * Steal: This skill covers your character’s ability to take something from someone else without them noticing, as well as knowledge of bypassing locks, doors, and other barriers

Constitution Skills

 * Traverse: This skill covers your character’s ability to use his body to overcome physical obstacles, such as by climbing them, jumping over them, or swimming through them.

Intelligence Skills

 * Know Arcana: This skill represents your character’s ability to recall information and lore about magic, spells, masterwork relics, and the like, as well as read the language of the Old Ones.
 * Know Culture: This skill helps your character understand the nuances of dog society (such as the intricacies of the royal court), or to understand a different culture entirely. While all the uplifted species speak the same core language, Know Culture will allow your dog to understand a particular culture’s lexicon, secret codes, or euphemisms.
 * Know History: This skill represents your character’s ability to recall information about historical events, legendary people, and some of the more common myths of the lost civilizations of Man.
 * Know Nature: This skill represents your character’s ability to recall information about terrain, plants, animals, the weather, and natural cycles.
 * Know Religion: This skill represents your character’s ability to recall information about the Church of Man, rites and prayers, religious history, and even the religions of other nations.

Wisdom Skills

 * Handle Animal: This skill covers your character’s ability to calm down a domesticated animal, assure your mount isn’t spooked by nearby danger, or discern an animal’s intentions. Heal: This skill covers your character’s ability to stabilize a dying companion or diagnose an illness.
 * Notice: This skill covers your character’s awareness of his surroundings, noticing sudden changes in the environment, and his overall keenness of sense. Dogs value sight and smell equally, and sometimes a distinct smell is more useful than what a dog can see.
 * Search: This skill helps your character as he actively looks or smells for clues or hidden items, as well as deduce where they might be found. It’s different from Notice because the character is actively looking instead of reacting to stimuli.
 * Sense Motive: This skill helps your character determine someone’s true intentions. Whether uncovering a lie or predicting her actions, the dog observes his target’s body language, speech patterns, and mannerisms to learn the truth.
 * Survive: This skill represents your character’s ability to follow tracks, hunt game, identify signs that enemies live nearby, predict the weather, or avoid natural hazards.

Charisma Skills

 * Bluff: This skill helps your character to convincingly hide the truth. Whether verbally or through his actions, he can mislead others by ambiguity or outright lies.
 * Perform: This skill covers how well your character can please and delight an audience, whether it’s by storytelling, acting, dancing, music, or some other form of entertainment.
 * Persuade: This skill represents your character’s ability to influence someone through tact, social grace, diplomacy, or a generally positive nature.

Skills from Your Dog's Background
During character creation, your dog gets both skills listed with his background.

Skills from Your Dog's Calling
During character creation, your dog can choose two skills from from this list depending on her calling.