Talk:Skill Examples (5A)

Diagnose

As an action, you can examine a creature and determine several facts about the poison, disease, or condition affecting her and a rough estimate of their hit points (25% crippled, 50% injured, 75% battered, or mostly unharmed). You cannot use this skill to know the hit point totals of creatures, merely there relative health in relation to those hit points.

The DC is 10 + the spell level or 10 + 1/2 the challenge of the creature that inflicted the harm. On a successful check, you determine the nature of the problem, the future effects, the amount of potential harm or hindrance it will cause (for example how much damage it will do), and its potential duration. A successful diagnosis grants you advantage on subsequent attempts to aid the victim. A misdiagnosis causes disadvantage to such skill checks.

Crypto

Investigation can be used to read, write, and break encrypted messages. Codes are classed by the amount of time it takes to read or write a coded message-the more complex the code, the longer it takes write or to decipher a message. A check against the minimum DC is needed to code or decode such a message.

Breaking a code requires ten times as much time as coding/reading a message and requires an Intelligence (Investigation) check against the passive Intelligence (Investigation) of whoever encoded the message. On a success you identify what code the message is in, but you cannot read the message. Reading the message has a DC of twice the minimum DC plus the passive Intelligence (Investigation) of the encoder. For each message you have identified as belonging to this code, the DC is reduced by one, but this bonus can never exceed the minimum DC. If you actually have a code page or book for this crypto, there is no ceiling on the code-breaking bonus you can accrue.

Coding examples	Time to Code	Minimum DC
A memorized code	1 action	5
A code requiring a page of text	1 minute	10
A code requiring a book	10 minutes	15