In Dungeons and Dragons 5e, gaining a tool proficiency requires a trainer capable of teaching you that proficiency and 250 days of training to master the proficiency. There is also a training cost of 1GP/day of training required.
However, in order to demonstrate growing proficiency with a tool in game terms, the following hybrid system will be used.
Levels of Competency
As you learn a new tool proficiency, you gain escalating competency in its use, from rudimentary understanding of the tool, to basic usage understanding, adequate skill, advanced capability, and finally mastery of the tool.
You are considered to have
Mastery with any of the tool proficiencies present on your character sheet at the start of the game. In addition, some particular class features or spells may grant you temporary or permanent proficiency in a particular tool. However, for tools you have not mastered at the start of the game, learning them requires progression through escalating levels of competency. Competency is gained in the following order:
Rudimentary,
Basic,
Adequate,
Advanced, and
Mastery. Each level has a corresponding DC for tasks using the tool, which use an appropriate ability score modifier to determine pass or fail. Tool competency challenges are divided into two types:
Simple Usage and
Complex Usage. See below for descriptions of the language competency levels and types of translation.
- Rudimentary Competency is your first exposure to the tool via the hands of a trainer, and is gained after only a small amount of familiarity. Rudimentary Competency is granted to a player character after 10 full days of studying with a qualified trainer who has mastery of the given tool and is a pre-requisite to later skill levels.
- Basic Competency is gained after training and independent study for a total of 60 days, and represents the ability to understand the fundamentals of a given tool's capability and usage. Those with Basic Competency can use a tool to complete crafting relevant to the tool at a Basic level of quality.
- Adequate Competency is reached at 120 days of study, and represents an ability to craft items using the tool at an Intermediate level of quality.
- Advanced Competency is reached after 180 days of study, and represents an ability to craft items using the tool at an Advanced level of quality.
- Mastery is reached after 250 total days of study, and represents complete mastery of the tool and the ability to craft Masterwork level of quality items.
- Simple Usage refers to
- Complex Usage refers to
Developing Tool Proficiency
Grasping the basics of a new tool is hard work, and requires guidance by either a trainer proficient in the tool or some other form of instruction, such as a book, which details how to use the tool appropriately. Therefore, hiring a trainer is the first step to gaining Rudimentary Competency in the tool's use.
Your DM will instruct you on what may be necessary to hire a trainer for a particular tool - it can be recruiting someone you know works with the tool, such as a specialized crafter, during downtime, or may require investigation in order to find a suitable trainer. Once a suitable trainer is located, there is a minimum starting cost of 50 GP of time and supplies from the trainer, and you must spend 5 days in dedicated training with the chosen trainer (assuming 8 hours of work a day) in order to gain Rudimentary Competency. No intelligence check is necessary for the most basic level of tool competence, only the GP cost and time.
Once you have gained the first level in competency in a tool, there are several ways to progress and continue to advance competency levels. The most common way to do so is simply to use the tool regularly in practice, which takes 1 hour per day for the total number of days needed to reach the next level of competency. For example, if you have rudimentary competency in a tool and practice crafting with it for a minimum of 30 days, you are ready to move onto the Basic level of competency.
However, as your competency increases, your time at study and ability to understand the concepts needed to fully grasp the tool's varied uses also increases. Upon reaching the necessary study time to reach Adequate Competency, instead of gaining the new competency level immediately, you must succeed on an ability check associated with the tool with a set DC in order to gain the new competency level. On a success, you gain the next competency level immediately; on a failure, you must practice for an additional 5 days and attempt the check again. Each failure requires an additional 5 days of practice before the check can be repeated. Follow the same steps to advance competency for each further level. Spells or temporary effects that boost or give advantage on ability checks do not apply to competency checks for advancing tool competency.
In addition to 1 hour of practice per day, using the tool in particular situations, such as exploring or adventuring and succeeding on a check with the proficiency gains you an additional hour worth of practice, up to a total of one additional hour per day.
Advanced Progression
While practicing consistently over time is the most direct way of gaining proficiency with a new tool, those with higher ability scores can potentially take shortcuts and practice more decisively to advance through the competency ranks faster. Once you have reached half of the necessary practice time to advance to the next competency level, you can attempt to leap ahead in your proficiency. Make an ability check with the associated ability score for the tool, with the DC given for Advanced Progression - on a success, you are able to advance to the next competency level immediately. On a failure, you must continue practicing as normal for the full number of days required for competency to advance.
Using Trainers to advance progression
Another effective way to shorten the time required to gain a tool proficiency is to recruit a trainer and work with them consistently. Consistent training after you have gained rudimentary competency in a tool has a base cost of 2 GP per hour of training, and each hour of training completed with a trainer counts as a day of training towards your next level of competency. You may only train a maximum of four hours a day with a given trainer, and after those four hours you gain one level of exhaustion.
Competency and Translation Table
| Competency |
Competency DC |
Advanced Progression DC |
Days Required for Competency (total) |
Simple Usage DC |
Complex Usage DC |
| Rudimentary |
None |
None |
5 |
DC 16 |
Cannot Attempt |
| Basic |
None |
DC 18 |
30 |
DC 14 |
DC 16 |
| Adequate |
DC 12 |
DC 21 |
60 |
DC 12 |
DC 14 |
| Advanced |
DC 14 |
DC 23 |
90 |
Pass |
DC 12 |
| Mastery |
DC 16 |
DC 25 |
125 |
Pass |
Pass |
Types of Tools
Some tools are much more common or easy to learn in than others - this corresponds to some tools being more complex, more archaic, or just not well used in the world. Because of this, tools are divided into three types:
Common,
Uncommon, and
Obscure.
Keep in mind that how commonly used a tool is in the world is not the only factor that decides its complexity. Some tools, such as Smiths' Tools, are quite common in Totalis Terra, but are also complex to learn and master, meaning that it falls in the
Uncommon category.
As tools become more uncommon or harder to master, the DC for checks related to tool competency escalate. In addition, tools that are uncommon or obscure are much harder to find trainers for in the world, especially outside of areas of known for that type of craft.
In practical terms, add +2 to any competency or advanced progression DCs for uncommon tools, and +4 to those checks for obscure tools. There is nothing added to the DC of usage checks for these tools based on how uncommon or common the tools is, the escalating difficulty only applies to the difficulty learning the tool, not the use of it once competency is gained.
| Common (Straight DC) |
Uncommon (+2 DC) |
Obscure (+4 DC) |
| Calligrapher's, cartographer's, painters, potters, brewers, cooks, carpenters, masons, woodcarver's, herbalism, cobbler's, leatherworker's, weaver's |
navigator's, glassblowers, jewelers, smith's, alchemist's, disguise, forgery |
Tinker's, poisoner's, thieves |
Additionally, some tools work similarly enough to each other that an understanding of using one makes it easier to learn another, represented by
Proficiency Groups: mastery over other tools in the same group will impact advancement in similar tool competency, lowering the DC if you have mastery over another tool in the same proficiency category. While attempting to gain competency in a tool where you have mastery in another tool in the same proficiency category, all competency and advanced progression DCs are reduced by 2. Mastery of multiple tools within the same group stacks this benefit, reducing the DC by 2 for each mastered tool in the same group.
| Artisan |
Edible |
Soft Material |
Hard Material |
Medicinal |
Subtle |
| Calligrapher's, Cartographers, Painter's, Navigators |
Brewer's, Cook's |
Cobbler's, Leatherworker's, Weaver's |
Carpenter's, Mason's, Woodcarver's, Glassblower's, Smith's |
Herbalism, Poisoner's |
Thieves, Alchemists, Disguise, Forgery, Tinker's, Jeweler's |
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