Spells that give bonuses to skill checks?

[kaneki83]

Hey there, newbie here. I've been scrolling through the spells, both high and low level, and I noticed a severe lack of spells that give bonuses to skill checks. Are there really no such spells around? Does someone know one I might have missed? Something maybe like enhance ability for dnd 5e maybe?

My actual goal would be to make a ritualist character, therefore I need all the bonuses to those checks I can get.

Thanks for the help and patience.

[Lightning Raven]

There as been a paradigm shift between the previous edition (and other d20 systems) and Pathfinder 2e, this has had a direct impact in the spell design. This means that while these spells still exist, they are more limited.

Off the top of my head I can only think of Knock, but I'm sure there are more.

There are, however, other ways of having a lot of skills to cover all your bases, since with the reduction of skill and some classes that gain a lot of them, you can actually be trained in every single skill if you're a Rogue with lots of intelligence, for example (Investigators also can have quite a lot).

A good thing about PF2e is that you don't need to be a particular class in order to be a ritualist, so you can pick any flavor of class you want and advance your character in the Ritualist Archetype

[Castilliano]

I don't think it's severe so much as intentional. PF2's shy about bonuses because they're more impactful in the crit/fail system, plus they're relatively bland (albeit desirable).
There's Heroism if the casting takes short enough time, which I don't think any are (!).
The Toil Domain (if you can get access to it, it's not in PFS) has a Focus Spell to cover failures.
Impeccable Flow, Uncommon & only 1 minute (!) which seems about normal for these sorts of things (I found others). That just won't work for Rituals.

So yeah, no spell seems to last long enough, so the Toil Domain as a Reaction might be all (if the domain's allowed and if a Ritual's failure is considered to occur at one specific point in time.)

Rituals are meant to be hard for their level, so there's that. You're going to need the Ritualist Archetype for best results. PF2 tries to be overt about its bonuses so people don't have to hunt/have system mastery in order to get the best numbers. Heroism in fact is an outlier lasting as long as it does (10 minutes is abnormal for buffs) and in ramping up, and that's partly tradition and partly "this is the spell that does this".

[gesalt]

Ritualist already covers your circumstance bonus meaning all you need are item and status bonuses.

The rules for rituals state:

"ritual rules wrote:

At the ritual’s culmination, you must attempt the skill check listed in the Primary Check entry to determine the ritual’s outcome

So as long as you have an outside caster to time it right, you can have heroism up on the ritual casters for the actual check.

AoN even provides convenient links on the skill pages for where you can get your item bonuses too.

[cavernshark]

For a Ritualist, I agree with the others than you'll generally want to pursue some items that permanently boost the skills you need and invest in archetypes or class feats that more generally prepare you for them. Rituals are meant to mostly be team events though so you shouldn't have to be able to do them yourself nor should you expect them to work every time (nothing works like that in 2e).

There are scattered spells that give bonuses to skill checks, but as with items, usually just one skill at a time or for a particular purpose. The main exception being Heroism (a level 3 Occult/Divine spell).

Bullhorn Gives a +1 status bonus to attempts to Coerce or Performance at a large venue
Healing Plaster Gives a +1 item bonus to treat wounds checks at spell level 3
Read the Air Gives a +1 status bonus to diplomacy checks to make an impression.
Guidance Gives +1 status bonus to one skill check.

Pocket Library Gives +1 status bonuses to Recall Knowledge checks
Thicket of KnivesGives a +2 status bonus to Deception checks.
Heroism Gives a blanket +1 status bonus to all skill checks.

There's also a wide range of spells that don't directly boost a skill, but do so obliquely.

Negate Aroma makes stealth more effective against certain foes.
Share Lore Lets you transfer Lore training so someone else can roll.

[breithauptclan]

gesalt wrote:

So as long as you have an outside caster to time it right, you can have heroism up on the ritual casters for the actual check.

I'm sure I'm not the only GM that does this, but if the spells duration doesn't last for the entire time that the skill's action is being done, then its bonus wouldn't apply to the skill check. So a 6 hour long ritual with skill checks that happen at the end isn't going to be helped by a 10 minute duration buff to the skill checks.

I'm not sure that this is actually stated explicitly in the rules though.

[Ascalaphus]

breithauptclan wrote:

gesalt wrote:

So as long as you have an outside caster to time it right, you can have heroism up on the ritual casters for the actual check.

I'm sure I'm not the only GM that does this, but if the spells duration doesn't last for the entire time that the skill's action is being done, then its bonus wouldn't apply to the skill check. So a 6 hour long ritual with skill checks that happen at the end isn't going to be helped by a 10 minute duration buff to the skill checks.

I'm not sure that this is actually stated explicitly in the rules though.

It is:

Casting Rituals > Checks wrote:

As with other downtime activities, fortune and misfortune effects can’t modify your checks for the ritual, nor can bonuses or penalties that aren’t active throughout the process.

[AlastarOG]

Most illusory disguise line of spells (illusory disguise, veil, etc) give +4 status bonus to checks to impersonate as well as add your level if you're untrained.

That won't help you during rituals though, unless....

[Castilliano]

AlastarOG wrote:

Most illusory disguise line of spells (illusory disguise, veil, etc) give +4 status bonus to checks to impersonate as well as add your level if you're untrained.

That won't help you during rituals though, unless....

That would be a most interesting Ritual. :-)

[Perpdepog]

I don't know of any spells that can help with rituals, and I've checked before, but an item you would definitely want to keep an eye out for when you're high enough level is the Stone Circle. It can tip someone's failure up into a success, which is really important when casting rituals. Granted it only works on rituals of 5th level or lower until you get the greater version, but still handy.

YYMV with this tactic, but something else I'd consider doing is asking your GM about taking Ritual Lore as a skill, so you can use it in lieu of other skills when casting a ritual. My game group and I don't see any problem with it, since the lore is limited to recognizing rituals and in helping perform your own, but different GMs will have different opinions there, and may place a greater or lesser importance on rituals in general in their game.

Castilliano wrote:

AlastarOG wrote:

Most illusory disguise line of spells (illusory disguise, veil, etc) give +4 status bonus to checks to impersonate as well as add your level if you're untrained.

That won't help you during rituals though, unless....

That would be a most interesting Ritual. :-)

Perhaps someone is modeling for a Simulacrum ritual?

[AlastarOG]

The best way to cast rituals is to convince other people to cast rituals!

[Unicore]

I think a couple of APs do it, but a really great way to make a character who casts rituals often is to talk to your GM about using down time to build a sanctum, or a summoning circle or other special place where your rituals are cast. If your GM is supportive of the idea, these are easy things to make happen and can help ground a character in a setting. If the GM is not supportive of the idea, it gives you a strong hint that the GM doesn't really expect you to be able to cast rituals all that often, or is already concerned about the effect it will have on their game balance, and it might be a good idea to re-think your character for that campaign, as you might find ritual casting to be something that you have actively built your character around but never get to do.

[Guntermench]

AlastarOG wrote:

The best way to cast rituals is to convince other people to cast rituals!

Convince your GM to let a Skilled familiar participate. Summoner into Familiar Master or Witch dedication into Ritualist for Flexbile Ritualist. Do four person rituals 'by yourself'.

[kaneki83]

Lightning Raven wrote:

There as been a paradigm shift between the previous edition (and other d20 systems) and Pathfinder 2e, this has had a direct impact in the spell design. This means that while these spells still exist, they are more limited.

Off the top of my head I can only think of Knock, but I'm sure there are more.
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There are, however, other ways of having a lot of skills to cover all your bases, since with the reduction of skill and some classes that gain a lot of them, you can actually be trained in every single skill if you're a Rogue with lots of intelligence, for example (Investigators also can have quite a lot).
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A good thing about PF2e is that you don't need to be a particular class in order to be a ritualist, so you can pick any flavor of class you want and advance your character in the Ritualist Archetype

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