Surprise, Spot Hidden, Listen (A little help here!)

[shadowspawn]

I'm not sure when to apply a characters level to these checks. Obviously a Rogue gets his level applied but does say a Cleric get to apply his level to a listen roll? Also, I'm inclined to combine stats for some of these abilities.
It would be nice if these rules were in one place as every character tries to do these things.

For Example:
Surprise (WIS + DEX / 2)
Listen (WIS + CON / 2)
Spot (WIS + INT / 2)

So You'd get a CB of 18, 16, 14, or 12 depending on primes etc.

[gideon_thorne]

I'm not sure when to apply a characters level to these checks. Obviously a Rogue gets his level applied but does say a Cleric get to apply his level to a listen roll? Also, I'm inclined to combine stats for some of these abilities.
It would be nice if these rules were in one place as every character tries to do these things.

For Example:
Surprise (WIS + DEX / 2)
Listen (WIS + CON / 2)
Spot (WIS + INT / 2)

So You'd get a CB of 18, 16, 14, or 12 depending on primes etc.

Well, the general rule is that a character cannot add their level if its an ability of another class. So no, a cleric would not add their level if they were using a rogues listen check.

Surprise is a wisdom check and is covered on page 128.

As for wisdom checks in general, see page 124. The circumstances as to whether a character would add their level or not are mutable, and mostly determined by the background of the character, or even if a roll is needed.

[Omote]

Simple rule: ALWAYS add level to all siege checks, EXCEPT if the abilitiy being checked is an ability already covered by another class. In the latter case, you never get to add the PCs level to the check.

~O