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Pathfinder Unchained / Simple Monster Creation / Step 8: Skills

Choosing Skills

Source Pathfinder Unchained pg. 240
Picking a monster’s skills should be simple. Typically, a monster should have master skills that match its highest ability modifiers. For example, if you have a monster with a high Dexterity modifier, consider Acrobatics, Escape Artist, and Stealth when choosing its master skills. If you find yourself unsure of which skills to give a monster, or if you draw a blank after selecting a few especially important ones, you can skip the rest of the skills step. A table listing the skills appears below for easy reference. To make it faster to select a monster’s spells, the table is divided into the most useful combat skills in the left-hand column and all other skills in the right-hand column. Combatants typically choose only combat skills.

Table 5-8: Skills

Combat Skill	Noncombat Skill
Acrobatics	Appraise
Climb	Bluff
Escape Artist	Craft
Fly	Diplomacy
Heal	Disable Device
Intimidate	Disguise
Perception*	Handle Animal
Ride	Knowledge (arcane)
Sleight of Hand	Knowledge (dungeoneering)
Spellcraft	Knowledge (engineering)
Stealth	Knowledge (geography)
Swim	Knowledge (history)
Use Magic Device	Knowledge (local)
	Knowledge (nature)
	Knowledge (nobility)
	Knowledge (planes)
	Knowledge (religion)
	Linguistics
	Perform
	Profession
	Sense Motive
	Survival

* Perception defaults to the good modifier for all monsters.

Archives of Nethys

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Choosing Skills

Table 5-8: Skills