Proficency
Every person is capable at being proficient at 5 skills. With your background you are given 2 and your bloodline gives you 1 which leaves you to select 2 of your own choosing. This allows customization options and also helps develop your character. Whether or not you are proficient in a skill mostly comes into play when you are playing online with a GM and a group of people and less so when you are playing on the forum via text based. However if one person for example is proficient in stealth and you are NOT proficient in Perception than you are much less likely to be able to detect them. A proficiency bonus applies itself in things you are proficient in and in can make up for shortcomings in your character.
A Proficiency bonus is added to the skills core group (aka stealth belongs to Dexterity). So if your skill in Dexterity is +1, your skill in Stealth is also +1, but lets say you are level 1 and proficient in stealth than your proficiency bonus is +1 making your stealth +2.
Using this knowledge and how it works also allows us to determine on the forums without a GM if certain things are possible or not. Lets say Player A is proficient in Stealth with a +5 and Player B is proficient in Perception with a +6 than that is a
1 tier difference as explained in the
Stat Rules.
Dueling Skills: Refer to skills that challenge one another and don't follow normal stat rules such as:
Stealth vs. Perception: This duel determines if you are detected when in stealth or how good you are at detecting someone that is in stealth.
Deception/Persuasion/Intimidation vs. Insight: This duel determines if you can deceive, persuade, or intimidate someone into doing what you want. The Insight skill determines your resistance to these attempts.
Sleight of Hand vs. Perception: This duel determines if you can pickpocket someone without being caught and if you can perceive someone trying to pickpocket or sleight of hand in front of you.