If your Diplomacy is Charisma +2, then a Diplomacy check is also a Charisma check.
Jones is correct above; if you have the Diplomacy skill based on Charisma, then your Diplomacy checks are Charisma checks. (If your Diplomacy is based on something else, or you don't have diplomacy at all, that won't be the case.)
I know the check has the Charisma trait, but don't know if it counts as "using" the Charisma skill because some cards reference using a specific skill instead of having a trait.
I'll let you in on a secret. There's no real difference between 'skill' and 'trait' in almost any circumstance at all - they're literally the same thing for the most part.
If you add the Melee trait to a check (for example, by using a weapon that has the Melee trait on it), even if you're not using your Melee skill (such as you're using your Strength), then that check is a Melee check. It might also be an Axe check, a Magic check, and any other trait listed.
For simplicity's sake, the designers don't reference things like "Fire checks" or "Axe checks", but a "Fire check" would mean the exact same thing as the sentence "a check with the Fire trait".
(In other words, if the Charisma trait is added to the check for any reason under the sun - it's a Charisma check. No need to second-guess it.)
Does that work for Seelah as well?
When you attempt a check before acting, you may use Divine instead of any listed skill.
All checks she makes with that power add the divine trait, yes?
And for Lini, and her first power, by using Survival, does that make it a survival check and and anything that modifies a survival check can be added, like a bat?
Does that work for Seelah as well?
When you attempt a check before acting, you may use Divine instead of any listed skill.All checks she makes with that power add the divine trait, yes?
And for Lini, and her first power, by using Survival, does that make it a survival check and and anything that modifies a survival check can be added, like a bat?
Correct! See this excerpt from the rulebook (and I recommend anyone curious to read the full section of the actual rulebook closely).
Determine Which Skill You’re Using. Choose a skill listed by the check. You may choose a skill that isn’t listed on your character card; when you use such a skill, your die is a d4.
Some powers allow you to use a particular skill for a specific type of check. These powers say things like “For your combat check, use Dexterity or Ranged.” You may use only one such power to determine which skill you’re using.
Other powers allow you to use one skill instead of another. These powers say things like “when you attempt a Perception check, you may use Knowledge” or “use Strength instead of Diplomacy.”
A few cards that can be used on checks don’t use any of your skills; they instead specify the exact dice to roll, or the result of your roll.
The skill you chose from the list, the skill you’re using, and any skill referenced by that skill, are all added as traits to the check. For example, if you choose combat from the list, then play a weapon that lets you use your Ranged skill for a combat check, and your range skill is “Dexterity +2,” the check is a Dexterity Ranged combat check. Your character’s traits are also added to the check (so if you’re Fumbus, your checks have the Goblin and Alchemist traits).
- Would include Lini's power with Survival.
- Would include Seelah's power with Divine.
- So the original 'type' of the check (you can consider "Combat" to be like a trait in its own right, if it was going to be a Combat check rather than a specific Skill check), the skill you end up using, and any skill referenced by that skill (like Wisdom is referenced by Lini's Survival skill, and Charisma is referenced by Seelah's Divine skill) are all added as traits, so it is all of those checks.
Let's look at a specific example to make this very clear.
This would work largely the same with Lini's power; you can just consider "Combat" to be a trait in and of itself so even though she uses Survival the Combat trait is still applied to the check. This means she can use a card that said "Add 1d4 to your combat check" or she could use a card that said "Add 1d4 to your survival check".
This is no different to using a normal weapon or attack spell - just because you're using Ranged or Melee or Arcane, the resulting check doesn't 'lose' the original Combat trait. Just as if you're replacing a check with Divine for Seelah's power in the example above, the check shouldn't ever lack either the Fortitude and Constitution traits by the same logic.