Who doesn’t love a bonus, especially one that grows as your character levels?

What Is A Proficiency Bonus?

A proficiency bonus isa bonus you get to a roll.

Man looms behind a woman studying by light

Candlekeep Mysteries by Clint Cearley

It also applies tospell save DCs!

You donotadd your proficiency bonus to damage rolls.

How Does Proficiency Work?

Dungeons And Dragons: A Tiefling Caster, Human Fighter, Rogue Halfling Cleric, and a Elf Ranger together ready to fight.

The Deck of Many Things by Craig J Spearing

You’ll likely take proficiency inPersuasion or Deception, making the bonus you had to the roll larger.

This tends to make your characterspecialized towards certain skill checks in a party.

Some characters maymulticlass, making proficiency seem more convoluted.

A goblin laying out cards from a deck of many things in D&D art.

The Deck of Many Things by Craig J Spearing

Instead,your combined level(level 13)would help calculate your proficiency bonus.

Calculating Proficiency

Here’s where the math gets a bit tricky.

Luckily, you have a chart that tracks your proficiency based on your character’s level.

Two rogues hide by a well during a heist

Concept Art from Keys From the Golden Vault via Wizards of the Coast

Just what your character is proficient in!

Tocalculate this on your own, take your total character level and divide it by four.

Round up, and add one.Virtual Table Topscan often do this for you,such as D&DBeyond.

A Tavern Bard Performing The Lute To A Group Of People In A Tavern In D&D Artwork

Tavern Bard by Rob Rey

Using Proficiency For Passives

Passive abilities areabilities that don’t require rolls to use.

When the bartender asks how the party is doing, the paladin takes note that he seems especially nervous.

This is an example of a character’s passives at work.

Tabletop

Anything further than an initial tick that something is wrong may require a roll, though!

Think of a passive as a tip-off!

You have three passives: Perception, Insight, and Investigation.Perception and Insight use theWisdommodifier, while Investigation usesIntelligence.

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