Skills

Skills

Using Skills

Combat skills

General skills (5 ExPts): these are the traditional skills found in most ttrpg, such as stealth or survival, representing the character’s ability in performing actions.

Subskills (2 ExPts): general skills usually have subskills associated with it. As their name implies these are some form of skill that we be required to perform a general skill. For example hide is a subskill of stealth, while hunting is a subskill of survival.  The official subskills are listed in the general skill’s description.

Knowledge Skills (2 ExPts): Knowledge skills are often subskill of generals skills, such as crafts or scientist, but they can also be purchased as stand alone skills.  

Vocational Skills (15 ExPts): vocational skills are special abilities one gains when purchasing a Profession kit. It is a bonus which applies to rolls in performing that profession. This represents the advantage that professionals have over those who perform skills as a hobby. 

Weapon Group (25 ExPts): Weapon group skill levels add to the bonus the player gains when the character uses a weapon from that group. It is primary used for attacking, but can also apply to other events such as tricks.

Wep Spec (10 Expts): weapon levels can also be purchased for individual weapon types.

Combat Sense (15 Expt): This represents one’s experince in combat, as well as training. Each level of combat expertise gives +1 to initiative and active DEF.

Armor Group (15 expt): there are three armor groups, light, medium and heavy, each with its own levels. these levels remove the penalties to dex and str skills. a level also counts as a point of str for min str requirements. there are some armor which create their own group but these are usually special power or magical armors.

Buying Skills

To acquire skill a person must practice or be trained or both. In the game system, this is represented by experience points spent. Though once game play starts the GM may require time spent training as well as experience spent.

           

General Skills

General skills add to the dice roll in the same way as vocational bonus, except they add to rolls in that skill.

Purchase/Improve: skills cost 5 ExPt per lvl.

Offset skills: Some skills, such as Offhand Use or Blind Fighting, are called offset skills because they do not give bonuses to doing something but rather offset the penalties associated with some action. While these skills are like others in that they have no upper limit, it will be rare for characters to develop them beyond the maximum penalty which it offsets. For example, using a weapon in the character’s off hand is used with a -8 to the role, so most character is going to develop Off-Hand Use only to level 8.  Offset skills are italicized

Synergy Bonus )syn):

Category Skill: These skills need to be defined. Such as artist skill in which a character would list as Art: painter, or a science skill which is listed Science: biology. In addition to having to be defined, the some of the skills vary in the characteristic that they use. For survival: temperate forest, would be an intelligence role to know if a plant is edible or to make a trap, or it could be a dexterity to get enough food by hunting, or even an ego role when it comes to sleeping with strange sounds in the night.

      

     

           

Climbing         (Str)

            The ability to climb shear surfaces such as cliff faces or wall. Gear is not required to use this skill, though it is useful  in the case of a fall.

Combat Sense (Dex)

            Experience and training gives a indebt sense of combat. This skill is added to the characters dex for determining the character’s initiative.

In addition, it also represents the characters ability to react rapidly to changes in their environment. Basically, it is the skill used to see if the character is taken by surprise by the actions of others. (see the Perception and Noticing things section in the Game Mechanics chapter. 

Concealment (Int)

            The ability to hide things in the environment or on one’s person.

This skill also is the ability to use camouflage effectively.

            Concealment creates the target number for observation and search

Concentration (combat, ego)

            The concentration skill is how well the character can ignore distractions while performing their tasks.

It is used most often to ignore or lessen status affects.

Contortionist  (Dex)

            Being able to fit oneself through small opening, being able to escape being bound by ropes or performing tasks in odd positions.

Conversation  (Cha)

            This skill is the ability can be used to leave a good impression with people, but more often in gaining information from a person with out them knowing that the character is doing it.  It often used in conjunction with Persuasion by both con artist and sales people to allow them to persuade without appearing to being pressuring.

Craft   (category)

            Craft skills are those which make a product, such as a blacksmith or a basket weaver. Taken alone they can represent a serious hobby or could be used to find employment as a worker in that craft. Being a category skill, one must purchase it for each separate craft. 

Criminology (Int)

A useful skill for those who are trying to catch rouges, and for rouges knowing how to prevent from being caught. Criminology is the understanding and ability to use (or avoid) techigues used by law-enforment. This skill can be used as a complementary skill for observation while looking for clues at a crime sceene, or with SS; medicine for forensic medicine.

Cryptography (Int)

            Cracking and making codes for secret messages, the Crypography skills are also useful for understanding writings when parts of it are missing.

Demolitions     (Int)

            Demolitions is a neccerary skill when the character is dealing with explosives.

Diplomacy       (Cha)

            Similar to both persuasion and trading, the Diplomacy skill is used when attempting to form an agreement between two other parties. Generally, diplomacy works in long term negotiations, maintaining and repairing relationships between two groups rather than individuals.

Disable Device (Dex)

            When a character discovers a trap, they can choose to bypass it or try to disable it. This skill is also useful in sabotaging or otherwise breaking an item in a way in which may not be obvious that the damage was intentional.

Discernment (Per)

Directly opposed to Bluff, the Discernment skills is the characters ability in determine the motivation, mood and reasoning of other people.

20        knowing if someone can be bribed.

Disguise           (Cha)

            Disguise is the skill which gives the character the ability to appear like someone, or something else.

Driving (dex)

            This skill is used in the operating of land vehicles. The character is assumed to be proficient with  normal vehicles such as cars.

Emergency Medicine  (Int)

            at lower levels Emergency Medicine is simply first aid, stopping bleeding, bandaging wounds etc. When combined with other skills, can also be used for treating poisoning (KS: Poisons), administering medication (KS: medications) etc.

Escape Artist  (Dex)

            This skill allow the character not only to wiggle free of ropes, but even to get out of manibales.

Etchcraft         (Int)

            EtchCraft is a measure of skill in the crafting of magical sigils and glyphs.

Etiquette (Category)

            The category skill allows the character to know how to act (int) and the ability to act (Cha) in the approapate way according to the group they are in. The skill is used directly for the practice of complex and rare rituals of the chosen category. In general use, Etiquette represents how likable the character is within the chosen category.

In an area in which the character has spent enough time to get to know ‘everyone’ they receive a +1 to all other Cha based skills for every 5 levels of Etiquette the character has.

            As with other category skills, each category must be purchased separately (Borguiese, High-Society, Low-Town, a subgroup (such as the masons, military, or the Night Culture )

Ey’on Craft (Int) 

This skill is used for the repair of ion devices. It also allows the determination

Forgery           (Int)

            Creating counterfite money, a false will, or a replica of a priceless piece of artwork all fall within this skill.

Knowledge skill related to the item being forged is a Complimentary skill.

Gather Information    (Cha)

            Gather Information is the skill used when a character is trying to gain information from a group of area instead of an individual.

Interrogation  (Cha)

            As the name implies this is the skill is used to gain information from an individual. Intimidate, persuasion, and conversation to also have.

Intimidate       (Cha)

            This skills allows the character to appear threatening, and can be used as a means to ‘bully’, persuading the target individual in performing as the character desires by the threat of force. 

Knowledge skill (category) (Int)

            Knowledge skills range widely and can be as general as History to detailed as the eating habits of English peasants of 1420s London.

Lip reading     (Int)

            The character with the skill of lip reading can attempt to understand what another person is saying while they are whispering or at a distance where they normally would not be able to hear. They must be able to speak the language and see the speakers mouth clearly.

Lock-picking   (Dex)

            Lock picking, as the name implies is the ability to pick locks. Tools are almost always requires, and the locks that can be picked are those which are commonly found in the game setting.

Mimicry          (Cha)  

This is the skill to imitate the verbal communications and body language of another person or creature.  It is most often used to mimic the noises that animals make, but is also used to imitate the voices of other people.

Stealth (Dex)

            Stealth in the art of remaining unnoticed

            This is the skill in moving silently, moving when heads are turned, ducking behind pillars and into shadows at the right time. It is used whenever the character wants to go from one point to another unnoticed.

Using this skill requires that the character moves at no more than ½ their movement rate

Navigation       (Int)    

            Navigation is the ability to plot a course from one spot to another, and for determining the location of the character in location. Maps or a corresponding KS: Area greatly lower the difficulty of using this skill. 

Observation (Per)

            While awareness represents the characters ability to notice things in the general sense, observation represents how well a character is picking up small details with their perception. Basically this is the skill in noticing clues and signs in their environment. And when something is a bit our of place.  

            This skill is opposed to concealment and disguise And is complimentary skill to appraisal, conversation and tracking,

Offset Skills

            The offset skill is not a skill in and of itself but skill given by special abilities which offset certain penilitys, such as the blindsight skill which offsets the penalty for fighting with low or no visibility, or the off-hand skill which lowers the penalties when the character uses their off-hand.

Oratotion        (Cha)

            This skill is the training to speak before a crowd. It can also be used for influencing a group as well, and is added to a characters Charisma roles for trying to influence an audaniunce. .

Piloting (Dex)

            This skill represents training and experiencing in operating air and space vehicles.

Perception

Persuasion      (Cha)

            Persuasion is the characters attempt to ‘charm’ a person into doing what it is that they want. It works very much like intimidation, except it uses pleasing words instead of threats of force.

            Tn

+0        Something that the NPC would be doing anyway.

+5        Something that the NPC wants to be doing. Convincing that woman in the bar that you are the one she came looking for which to have a one-night stand with a stranger. 

+10      Something that the NPC would not mind doing

+15      Something that the NPC normally would not do

+20 or more     Something that the NPC is highly opposed to doing 

+5        Incurs nonviolent risk to the NPC. The loss of job or serious harm to reputation..

+10      Incurs violent risk to the individual being bribed. Risk of lose their life  

+10      Will cause physical harm or death:

+5        Considered a direct betrayal of their duties and responsibilities (followers only)

Riding (Dex)

            That skill of being able to control a mount.

            Levels in riding also count as an offset skill for attack penalties associated with mounted combat.

Science skill (category) (Int)

            Science skills allow a character to do research and experimentation in a specific area of knowledge. . 

Shadowing (Int)

            The art of shadowing is art of going unnoticed in social situations. It is used most often in folling people through crowded streats, but can also be used in the attempt to observe a person in a group, such as at a party, without drawing any undo attention.  

Sleight of hand             (Dex)  

From picking pockets to presidistation, to slipping a poison into a drink are examples of what sleight of hand allows a character to do. This skill I opposed to observation \.

Spell craft       (Int)

            Spell Craft represents the characters ability and skill in manipulating raw radiation  An important skill for wizards as it allows them to change the spells that they have memorized, and is also used in magic contests.