Exclusive Sneak Peek!
New College Life d20 Modern Setting
By Gwendolyn F.M. Kestrel and Andy Collins

New Skills

College Life introduces the following skills in addition to the ones in Chapter 4 of the Player's Handbook.

Computer Use (Int; Trained Only)

This skill functions like Gather Information, acquiring news, facts, and rumors through electronic means.

Retry: Yes, but it takes several hours for each check.

Knowledge (Int; Trained Only)

This skill replaces the one from the Player's Handbook.

• Arts and Literature (various useless bits of information, mostly useful for playing trivia games)
• History (various useless bits of information, mostly useful for playing trivia games)
• Major (information specific to a particular college major such as architecture, engineering, or geography) The character must have declared a major before taking this skill. Only one major is allowed, unless you take either the Change Major or Double Major feat. For instance, a student may choose chemistry as a major. Knowledge (chemistry) becomes a class skill. Later, if the character changes her major to physics (using the Change Major feat), she acquires Knowledge (physics) as a class skill, but keeps Knowledge (chemistry). She retains all ranks acquired in Knowledge (chemistry). Future ranks of Knowledge (chemistry) are purchased as a cross-class skill.
• Nature (plants and animals, seasons and cycles, weather)
• Occult (ancient mysteries, magical traditions, arcane symbols, folklore)
• Social Life (cool people with whom to hang out, places to party, where the free beer is)
• Sports (athlete and team statistics, world records)

Check: Answering a question within your field of study has a DC of 10 (for really easy questions), 15 (for basic questions), or 20 to 30 (for really tough questions).

Retry: No. The check represents what you know, and thinking about a topic a second time doesn't let you know something you never learned in the first place.

Special: An untrained Knowledge check is simply an Intelligence check. Without actual training, a character only knows common knowledge.

Party (Con)

College life is full of parties and festivities.

Check: Each hour spent drinking/dancing/cavorting at a party requires a check. Thriving at most parties has a DC of 10. More intense events, such as a fraternity keg party, call for a higher DC. The GM rolls the check. If the check succeeds, you enjoy the next hour. If the check fails by up to 4, you made some small social gaffe, but survived the hour. If you fail by 5 or more, something goes terribly wrong. This might mean throwing up in the punch bowl or falling asleep and waking later to find that someone has put clown makeup on your face.

Retry: Yes, though you must be aware that you have failed in order to try again.

Special: If you have five or more ranks in Party, you gain a +2 synergy bonus on Knowledge (social life) checks related to parties.

Protest (Cha; Trained Only)

A fuzzy uses this ability to express his displeasure with activities that run counter to his ideals. It has no effect on nonfuzzies. Fuzzies can use it to help change each other's minds on a particular issue.

Check: You can change other fuzzies' behavior with a successful check. The DC is typically 10 + the target's ranks in Protest. Any bonuses a target may have on saving throws against mind-affecting abilities increase the DC.

Retry: Generally, retries do not work. Fuzzies don't seem to understand this, though, and frequently spend considerable time trying to get people to change their views.

Sports (Con)

You are trained in a team sport such as basketball, football, or hockey; an individual sport such as cross-country skiing or hurdles; or a competitive physical art such as ballroom dancing or figure skating.

Sports is actually a number of separate skills. For instance, you could have the skill Sports (soccer). Your ranks in that skill don't affect any checks you happen to make for basketball or figure skating, for example. You could have several Sports skills, each with its own ranks, each purchased as a separate skill.

Corporate sponsorship gives a +2 circumstance bonus to Sports checks.

Retry: Retries are allowed, but they don't negate previous failures, and the task becomes more difficult either because the opposition is more aware of your tactics or the judges were unimpressed. (Increase the check DC by +2 for each previous failure.)

Technical Balderdash (Int; Trained Only)

A techie uses this ability to communicate with other techies or to flummox nontechies.

Check: Among techies, this skill functions like the Innuendo skill. In addition, against nontechies, it functions like the Intimidate skill.

Retry: Retries do not work, except when trying to transmit a message to other techies.

Special: If you have five or more ranks in Bluff, you get a +2 synergy bonus to Technical Balderdash checks.

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