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Pathfinder Unchained / Background Skills / Expanded Skill Uses

Expanded Profession

Source Pathfinder Unchained pg. 53
A profession often encompasses many smaller areas of expertise, and these auxiliary skills can come in handy in situations beyond just making money or answering tradespecific questions. Below are some sample additional uses for Profession skills, and GMs are encouraged to create their own.
TaskProfession SkillDC
Determine hardness and hitpoints of a structureArchitect or engineer20
Prepare trail rations (takes 1 hour per day’s worth of rations)Baker or cook10
Obtain a legal permitBarrister or clerk15
Get someone released from jail who has been imprisoned for a minor crime1Barrister20
Ask a special favor from a judge (such as arresting someone)Barrister30
Brew alcohol of exceptional qualityBrewer20
Notice poison in a beverageBrewer25
Skin an animal and tan the hideButcher, shepherd, or tanner10
Slaughter and butcher an animalButcher, cook, or shepherd15
Reduce a legal fine or tax by half the result of the check in gp2Clerk20+
Cook a meal of exceptional qualityCook20
Notice poison in foodCook25
Find potential clients within an establishment or large groupCourtesan10
Assess a social hierarchyCourtesan15
Continue steering a vehicle when you take damageDriver or sailor5
Take cover (as the Ride skill) while steering a vehicleDriver or sailor15
Identify a non-creature plantFarmer or gardener10
Rejuvenate dying plantsFarmer or gardener15
Provide 1 day’s worth of food for yourself and others in the wild or trapperFisherman or trapper153
Recall the rules of a game of chanceGambler10
Get a hunch regarding whether a game is riggedGambler20
Reduce an average or lower cost of living by 50%Innkeeper153
Sate hunger or thirst for 1 dayHerbalist10
Identify common medicinal herbsHerbalist10
Identify rare medicinal herbsHerbalist15
Aid another on a Knowledge check using reference materialLibrarian5
Recall the name of a rare bookLibrarian15
Determine where an item was manufacturedMerchant104
Recall where a common good fetches a higher priceMerchant15
Safely deliver a childMidwife15
Safely deliver a child despite complicationsMidwife20
Grind a small piece of a nonmagical substance into powder hardnessMiller10+hardness
Identify common metal or semiprecious stoneMiner5
Identify rare metal or precious gemMiner15
Ignore half hardness when attacking a stone or metal objectMiner20
Increase carrying capacity for 8 hours as if Strength were 2 higherPorter15
Unload a vessel in half the normal timePorter20
Navigate a ship in fair conditionsSailor20
Pilot a ship safely through a hazardous seawaySailor25+
Determine which scribe wrote a documentScribe104
Copy a document (30 minutes per page; requires a blank book)Scribe10
Illuminate a manuscript (1 hour per page)Scribe20
Determine the quality of woolen textilesShepherd10
Determine whether a weapon or armor is of masterwork qualitySoldier10
Estimate the size of a military forceSoldier15
Identify advantages and disadvantages of a military formationSoldier20
Keep horses fed in the wildStable master10
Fit or remove barding in half the normal timeStable master15
Recognize damaged or sabotaged horse tackStable master20
Determine the quality of leatherwork (and tell if it’s masterwork quality)Tanner10
Aid another on an Escape Artist check to get out of a trap or snareTrapper5
Reset a trap in half the normal amount of timeTrapper20
Scavenge wood suitable for campfire or shelterWoodcutter5
Ignore half hardness when attacking wooden objectWoodcutter20
1 A major crime typically requires a trial involving a series of Bluff, Diplomacy, Intimidate, Profession (barrister), and Sense Motive skill checks, as well as appropriate Knowledge checks.
2 To a minimum of 25% of the original value.
3 Provide this benefit for yourself plus one other person for every 2 points by which your skill check exceeds the DC.
4 Increase the DC by 5 if the item is from a region the character is unfamiliar with, and by another 5 if it’s more than 20 years old. Exceptionally rare or ancient pieces can’t usually have their origin identified in this way.