Sleight of Hand
Key Ability: Dex | Trained Only: Yes | Armor Check Penalty: Yes
You can pick pockets, draw hidden weapons, and take a variety of actions without being noticed.
Check: Varies, see below. When you use this skill under close observation, your skill check is opposed by the observer's Spot check, or sometimes by a relevant profession check. The observer's success doesn't prevent you from performing the action, just from doing it unnoticed.
| Sleight of Hand DC | Task |
|---|---|
| As Perform | Entertainment |
| Opposed Spot Check | Conceal Object |
| 5 | Juggle two balls at once |
| +5 | Each extra ball added |
| +5 | Juggle awkward or dangerous objects |
| 10 | Palm a little object |
| 20 | Pickpocket a small object from a person |
| 25 | Cheat a professional, or cheat at a game |
| 30 | Light weapon juggling |
| 40 | Heavy weapon juggling |
Entertainment: You can also use Sleight of Hand to entertain an audience as though you were using the Perform skill. In such a case, your “act” encompasses elements of legerdemain, juggling, and the like.
Conceal Object: You can hide a small object (including a light weapon or an easily concealed ranged weapon, such as a dart, sling, or hand crossbow) on your body. Your Sleight of Hand check is opposed by the Spot check of anyone observing you or of anyone frisking you. In the latter case, the searcher gains a +4 bonus on the Spot check, since it's generally easier to find such an object than to hide it. A dagger is easier to hide than most light weapons, and grants you a +2 bonus on your Sleight of Hand check to conceal it. An extraordinarily small object, such as a coin, shuriken, or ring, grants you a +4 bonus on your Sleight of Hand check to conceal it, and heavy or baggy clothing (such as a cloak) grants you a +2 bonus on the check. Drawing a hidden weapon is a standard action and doesn't provoke an attack of opportunity.
Juggle: A DC 5 Sleight of Hand check lets you juggle two balls. Each additional ball raises the DC by 5. Juggling awkward objects, such as dishes or food, raises the DC by five. Juggling dangerous things, such as sharp objects, also raises the DC by five. These stack: juggling dangerous awkward items, like flaming sticks or greatswords, raises the DC by ten, total.
Palm a Little Object: A DC 10 check lets you palm a coin-sized, unattended object or make a coin appear. Performing a minor feat of legerdemain, such as making a coin disappear, also has a DC of 10.
Pickpocket: If you try to take something from a creature or plant something on a creature, you must make a DC 20 Sleight of Hand check. The opponent makes a Spot check to detect the attempt, opposed by the Sleight of Hand check result you achieved when you tried to grab the item. An opponent who succeeds on this check notices the attempt, regardless of whether you got the item. You cannot use this skill to take an object from another creature during combat if the creature is aware of your presence.
Cheat: If you try to cheat with misdirection and sleight of hand, for example, at games or gambling, you must make a DC 25 Sleight of Hand check. The opponent makes a Sense Motive, Spot, or Profession check to detect the attempt, opposed by your Sleight of Hand result. An opponent who succeeds on this check notices the attempt. Cheating at games gives you a +10 on a roll associated with the game. Cheating a target using a profession reduces your costs by 5% to 30% (1d6*5), but being caught at cheating changes the target's attitude to hostile and has significant in-game results, usually combat or legal action. Repeated failed cheating attempts can affect one's reputation.
Weapon Juggling: You can juggle a weapon in combat, tossing it from hand to hand repeatedly, using this single weapon in both right and left hands per the dual wielding rules to attack with two weapons. It is easier to do this with a light weapon, and cannot be done with a two-handed weapon. If you fail the check, you cannot use two-weapon fighting that round; if you fail by five or more, you drop the weapon.
Action: Most Sleight of Hand checks are normally a standard action. However, you may perform a Sleight of Hand check as a move action by taking a -20 penalty on the check. Trying to earn money by Entertaining in public requires anywhere from an evening's work to a full day's performance. A Weapon Juggling check is part of a full round combat action.
Try Again: Yes, but after an initial failure, a second Sleight of Hand attempt against the same target (or while you are being watched by the same observer who noticed your previous attempt) increases the DC for the task by 10.
Untrained: An untrained Sleight of Hand check is simply a Dexterity check. Without actual training, you can't succeed on any Sleight of Hand check with a DC higher than 10, except for hiding an object on your body.
Special: Halflings gain a +3 racial bonus on Sleight of Hand checks.