Skills
Each ability covers a broad range of capabilities and ways to interact with the world that are denoted as skills a creature can be proficient in. Each of these skills are further broken down into specific actions below, which may help guide how the skill can be used (and what rules are associated with that specific use). It should be noted that these uses are largely intended to be used as guides and do not embody every possible use of each and every skill. If a course of action doesn't fit under one of these skills, a DM may call for a general ability check (meaning no skill proficiency is added) or they may call for just a generic skill check.
Likewise, while most skills have a prevalent ability score they are used in conjunction with, this is not always the case, and sometimes proficiency in a skill may apply to an ability check with an unexpected ability. For instance, while Strength and Athletics are frequently interlinked, long-distance or endurance-based activities may require a Constitution (Athletics) check instead of a Strength (Athletics) check.
Trained vs Untrained Actions
Every action under each skill is denoted to be either "Trained" or "Untrained". Actions that are Untrained can be utilized by anyone, even if they do not have proficiency in the given skill. Trained actions can only be utilized if the character has proficiency in the skill.
Critical Successes and Failures
For the purpose of skill checks, critical successes and failures are not based on rolling a natural 1 or a natural 20. Instead, a critical failure results from a roll total that is 5 or more below the DC, and a critical success results from a roll total that is 5 or more above the DC. If your bonus is high enough, and the DC low enough, even a natural 1 can result in a critical success. Critically succeeding or failing on an ability check can result in additional benefits or detriments, depending on the check in question.
