New Skills

The Sword Art Dungeons (SAO) and Dragons Skill System is adapted from the 3.5E Dungeons and Dragons created by Wizards of the Coast, Inc however there are some significant differences. There are a lot more skills available in the SAO DnD than regular Dungeons and Dragons in order to incorporate the idea of increased customization of characters. There are no two characters with the same skill-set or build, your character will be unique.

Skills
There are a limited number of skill slots which can be utilized at any given time in Sword Art Online which unlock over time. At level one a player may begin by selecting 2 (unrestricted) skills, they gain a third skill at level 3, a fourth skill at level 6, a fifth skill at level 11, and an additional skill every level starting at level 13 until level 20. The maximum rank that any individual skill may be can is 100, with no skill being greater than 5x the character level of the player. This ensures that a player is a minimum of level 20 before they "master" a skill.

When selecting 3.5E character classes there is a "Class Skills" section which becomes irrelevant with this system. You are not limited by your class to which skills you wish to take.

Leveling a skill
A skill in SAO DnD levels differently than most 3.5E DnD Systems. Each skill has a certain number of points invested in it before it can increase in rank. The amount of points gained each campaign session will vary however there are certain amounts gained each time you level up. The Rank System Table is a useful resource for determining the amount of points required before you can increase in skill rank. Once a certain level in a skill is reached, there is the possibility that a new skill will be unlocked for you to take in the future. For example, the One-Handed Sword skill unlocks the skill Quick Change at a high enough level.

Unique skills
Even though there are a lot of skills available to players, there are a few which are restricted skills or unique skills. These skills required certain abilities or conditions to be met before they can be used.

Restricted skills are skills which require certain class features before they can be used. For example, the Martial Arts skill requires the improved unarmed fight feat before it can be taken and the Familiar Recovery skill requires that the individual have an animal companion (not a pet).

Unique skills are rare skills that have hidden prerequisites before they can be used. There are a liimited number of these skills located throughout Aincrad and are generally considered to be very powerful. However some come with a great price.

Using skills
When your character uses a skill, you make a skill check to see how well he or she does. The higher the result of the skill check, the better. Based on the circumstances, your result must match or beat a particular number (a DC or the result of an opposed skill check) for the check to be successful. The harder the task, the higher the number you need to roll.

Circumstances can affect your check. A character who is free to work without distractions can make a careful attempt and avoid simple mistakes. A character who has lots of time can try over and over again, thereby assuring the best outcome. If others help, the character may succeed where otherwise he or she would fail.

For more information on using skills click here.

Ranged
The text on this page is Open Game Content, and is licensed for public use under the terms of the Open Game License v1.0a by Wizards of the Coast, Inc. Some of the material on this page is owned and created by Jans Carton who wrote the Hypertext d20 SRDTM.