Spellbook
By Tom Kristensen

How many times have you wished you could make a skill check with the benefit of "taking 20" but didn't actually have the time? Pesky things -- like giants beating on your character with clubs while poisoned gas fills the room -- tend to rush you, often spoiling your skill checks with a hasty, ill-timed roll. Or DMs, maybe a bunch of goody-two-shoe PCs are running amok in your villain's den of iniquity, foiling all his (your?) evil plans.

Well, fret no more! For the next two months, we bring you a couple of divine spells that answer your prayers (horrible pun quite intended). This month's spell is for the players.

Guidance of the Avatar
Divination
Level: Clr 2
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Touch
Target: Creature touched
Duration: 1 minute or until discharged
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: Yes

Your deity's chosen avatar imbues the subject with divine power. The creature gets a +20 competence bonus on a single skill check and must choose to use the bonus before making the roll to which it applies.

About the Author

Tom Kristensen is an editor on the D&D Worlds team at Wizards of the Coast. He lives on the east side of Lake Washington with his wife, daughter, and three cats. He has played D&D for over 20 years with the same group of guys and has an embarassingly large collection of unpainted miniatures that he keeps promising his fellow gamers he'll paint . . . one of these days.