Dungeons & Dragons: Expertise, Explained

thegamer.com:

In Dungeons & Dragons, a character's skill proficiencies can define where a character excels outside of combat and can make or break how a character may fair in a given situation. The ability to add a character's proficiency modifier can help a character more reliably succeed at a certain type of check, such as a Ranger with proficiency in Survival being adept at traversing the wilderness.

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However, simply being proficient in a skill still leaves room for error. For those looking to be a master of a certain type of skill, there's Expertise. As Expertise is an incredibly useful trait for any character to have, we're going to explore everything you need to know about it, from what it does to how to gain it.

While straightforward, Expertise is an incredibly useful trait that can benefit any character in D&D, especially those players looking to be incredibly skilled within a specific area. Normally, if a character is proficient in a given skill, they simply add their proficiency bonus in addition to the ability score modifier at hand when making a given skill check. For reference, a character has a proficiency bonus determined by their level which can be seen here:

However,if a character gains Expertise in a skill, that character instead adds double their proficiency bonus any time they'd make a skill check of the corresponding type. It's important to note that as Expertise is applied to a given skill, not an ability score, it would only apply to that type of skill check, not all rolls that would use that given ability score. For example, a character with Expertise in Intimidation would be able to add this sizable bonus to Intimidation checks, but not