03. Skills

3. Skills

Your character must make many decisions, face many challenges, and accomplish many tasks during play. Most important actions are defined as skills your character can attempt. This section lists the most common skills, defines them, and relates them to tasks your character can attempt in play.

Defining Skills

A skill represents a specific set of knowledge and aptitude. Every skill is rated on a percentile scale from 0 to 100 (or higher). This is called a skill rating. The higher, the better.

The list of skills in this book is far from comprehensive: different games may demand additional skills, and the gamemaster is encouraged to create new skills as desired. Additionally, the gamemaster may wish to rename or reclassify skills, eliminating some, add new specialties (described below) or remove them, as appropriate.

Skill Specialties

Many skills are broad and require you to define a specialty, a more focused aspect of that skill. Art, for example, is a broad category, so it is divided into specialties such as Drawing, Painting, Sculpture, Writing, etc. These are listed after the skill name in parentheses. Thus, Melee Weapon (Sword) and Melee Weapon (Spear) are considered two different skills. At the gamemaster’s discretion, if your character lacks a skill rating in an appropriate specialty, you can use a related skill or specialty’s rating halved (rounding up), to make skill rolls.

For example, your character can use half their skill rating in Science (Astronomy) to make skill rolls that would normally require Science (Physics) or Science (Mathematics), as these are related skills. However, this astronomical acumen is useless if the gamemaster calls for a Science (Biology) or Knowledge (History) skill roll.

Using Skills

Whenever your character wishes to take an action or accomplish a task where the outcome is in doubt, you must declare the desired action. The gamemaster will then call for a D100 roll against the appropriate skill rating. In general terms, a D100 roll equal to or under the modified skill rating grants success at the task, while a roll higher than the rating fails.

The difficulty of the task or other circumstantial modifiers can adjust a skill’s rating up or down. The difficulty modifiers are Automatic (no roll required), Easy (the skill is doubled), Average (no modification to the skill), Difficult (the skill is halved), and Impossible (no roll, or a 01% chance at the gamemaster’s discretion). See Modifying Action Rolls for more information. If no modifier is indicated, assume the roll is at Average difficulty.

In most cases, the appropriate skill for a given action is obvious. Unforeseen circumstances, however, can lead to new uses of a skill. You are encouraged to find alternative applications of your character’s skills, but all such skill uses must meet with the gamemaster’s approval.

While many skills are oriented towards actions, they also indicate general knowledge of the kinds of tasks governed by that skill.

For example, a medieval warrior might use the Melee Weapon (Sword) skill instead of Appraise to judge a sword’s quality. The Martial Arts skill might similarly be used to know about the different dojos in a city and who their senseis are.

Secret or Concealed Skill Rolls

The gamemaster may also make skill rolls for your character, in cases where they do not want you to know the outcome of that skill roll or for you to know that a skill roll is being made at all. The gamemaster may wish to keep a copy of your character sheet on hand or may ask you for a list of your character’s current ranks in relevant skills (particularly Perception skills) so secret rolls can be made without alerting you and the other players that your characters might be missing something when the skill rolls fail. This method allows the gamemaster to use failed rolls to potentially mislead or misdirect you, which is a useful tactic for Perception or Mental-based rolls.

Some of the more obvious skill rolls that may be performed in secret, or without you being aware of the outcome, are as follows: Appraise, Art, Bargain, Command, Craft, Disguise, Etiquette, Fast Talk, Gaming, Hide, Insight, Knowledge, Language, Listen, Literacy, Medicine, Navigate, Perform, Persuade, Psychotherapy, Research, Science, Sense, Sleight of Hand, Spot, Status, Stealth, Strategy, Teach, Technical Skill, and Track. Other skills may also be performed secretly, depending on circumstances.

These rolls do not have to be completely secret, and the gamemaster may tell you that a roll is being made against a particular skill. Depending on play styles, you and the gamemaster may choose to make hidden rolls where you roll the dice in an area where you cannot see how they land, such as behind a gamemaster screen or other concealment.

If the skill is successful, the gamemaster should tell you that your character has successfully used the appropriate skill and allow an experience check, if applicable. If the skill roll fails, the gamemaster should inform, misinform, or refrain from informing you (and your character) of the outcome, as appropriate.

Skill Categories

Skills are divided into six skill categories:

• Combat skills measure proficiency with weapons and combat maneuvers.
• Communication skills govern conversation, reading, and interpersonal exchanges.
• Manipulation skills define tasks that require precise hand-eye coordination.
• Mental skills measure specific knowledge and individual judgment.
• Perception skills gather and interpret information from the environment.
• Physical skills govern feats of strength, agility, and athletics.

Skill categories serve as general guides to the kinds of actions a skill can accomplish, as well as offering a framework for you and the gamemaster to create new skills. Skill categories tie your character’s skill ratings to their most influential characteristic scores through category bonuses, an optional system.

New Skills

There are blank lines in the skills section of the character sheet. These are for new skills you or the gamemaster may create. For example, Chapter 4: Powers introduces an optional new skill called Projection, used in conjunction with many powers. You can suggest and define a new skill, but only the gamemaster can allow its use in your game.

Changing the Skill List

Just as easily as you and the gamemaster can create new skills, you can rename skills to fit a particular setting. For example, Fine Manipulation may be renamed Devise or Pick Lock for a medieval or fantasy environment. Your gamemaster may also choose to eliminate certain skills altogether if they do not fit their style of play. It is highly recommended that any such changes be determined before character creation and made clear, so you don’t select skills that may be ruled out or changed by the gamemaster.

Skill Category Bonuses

As described in Skill Category Bonuses, your character receives a bonus or penalty to skill categories based upon their characteristic scores. Apply the category bonus to every skill in that category, in addition to the listed base chance, if any, as listed in the skill description. See the Skill Category Bonus Table for the formulas used to calculate skill category bonuses.

Base Chances

Most reasonably healthy and physically fit people can swing a club, climb a tree, or speak their native tongue. Every skill, therefore, has a base chance associated with it: your character is assumed to have this basic rating in the skill before any additional skill points are added. If skill category bonuses (see Skill Category Bonuses) are being used, add (or subtract) them from each skill’s base chance.

A skill’s base chance depends greatly upon the era of a campaign: characters in a campaign set in medieval Europe have higher base ratings in Knowledge (Religion) than modern U.S. citizens, while U.S. citizens might have an advantage in Medical skills due to rudimentary first aid training in public schools and the workplace. Each skill description lists several base chances for different eras, as appropriate. The gamemaster should feel free to alter the base chances for skills to suit different settings.

Acting without Skill

Sometimes your character must attempt an action using a skill without any skill rating (0%). If the gamemaster agrees that succeeding at the task is possible, make a roll using one of these options:

• Skill Category Bonus: If using the optional skill category system, use the skill category modifier as the base chance. Raw talent can sometimes overcome a lack of training. If successful and the skill can be improved by experience, an experience check should be made.
• Wild Chance: Try, but with only a 1% chance of success or a last-ditch ‘Hail Mary’ effort of POW×1 if blind luck can be a factor, with the gamemaster’s approval. No experience check is allowed for this, as it is blind luck versus any sort of skill or natural talent.

Measuring Skill Ratings

Your character’s skill ratings define their capabilities during play. But what does a given skill rating mean in more general terms? Use the following guidelines as a guide to proficiency. At certain skill ranks and in non-critical or non-dramatic circumstances, a roll may not even be required—under routine conditions, characters at a certain level of competence can regularly perform these skills without needing to roll for success, though Automatic success does not merit experience checks.

Skill Rating Table

Skill Rating	Competency	Description
00–05%	Novice	A complete amateur with little hope of succeeding even at Easy tasks. You should roll each time your character attempts this skill, whether in a stress-filled situation or under ideal circumstances.
06–25%	Neophyte	Either a beginner or with a small amount of knowledge of the subject at hand. As they say, ‘Knows enough to be dangerous.’ Succeeds occasionally and may become overconfident as a result. Roll whenever your character attempts this skill, even if the task is Easy.
26–50%	Amateur	A little talent, some training, or hobby-level dabbling. Your character is barely qualified but can be entrusted with Automatic or Easy tasks. In non-stressful situations your character can perform routine activities using this skill without needing to roll.
51–75%	Professional	At 51%, your character can reliably make a living using the skill. They do not usually need to worry about failing Easy tasks and are experienced or proficient enough to serve as a leader or manager of others. A 51% is roughly equal to a bachelor’s degree in a specific discipline. Most skills cannot be raised above 75% through education or training alone: your character must advance further through practical use. Your character can usually perform routine or even complex activities relating to the skill and you are only required to roll when there is an element of risk, or when the chance of failure is dramatic.
76–90%	Expert	Advanced expertise in the given field: your character has a reasonable chance to succeed even at Difficult tasks. Only dedicated professionals attain such mastery of a given skill, and those that do are respected and relied upon for their expertise. Skills in this range correspond to an advanced degree (Masters or Ph.D.), or many years of experience. Most average characters cannot begin play with any skill higher than 75%. Your character should be able to perform complex and challenging actions relating to this skill under routine circumstances without rolling, assuming they take the time and have the proper facilities and/or equipment available.
91% or higher	Master	Few attain this level of mastery. Only the most difficult tasks are beyond their abilities, and their expertise has likely made these masters famous within their field and sometimes in the world at large. In routine situations your character can perform near miracles, and you will rarely need to roll the dice except at most difficult of tasks or in dire circumstances. If the optional Sanity rules are being used in a campaign, attaining a 91% rating in a skill instantly restores 2D6 SAN points, representing the self-confidence and discipline associated with mastering a skill (this is a one-time bonus). If your character begins with this skill rating or higher, there is no SAN gain.

Skill List by Category

A complete list of skills divided by category follows.

Combat	Communication	Manipulation	Mental
Artillery (various)	Bargain	Art (various)	Appraise
Brawl	Command	Craft (various)	First Aid
Energy Weapon (various)	Disguise	Demolition	Gaming
Firearm (various)	Etiquette (various)	Fine Manipulation	Knowledge (various)
Grapple	Fast Talk	Heavy Machine (various)	Literacy (Optional)
Heavy Weapon (various)	Language (various)	Repair (various)	Medicine
Martial Arts	Perform	Sleight of Hand	Psychotherapy
Melee Weapon (various)	Persuade		Science (various)
Missile Weapon (various)	Status		Strategy
Parry (various)	Teach		Technical Skill (various)
Shield

Perception	Physical	Physical
Insight	Climb	Projection (Optional)
Listen	Dodge	Ride (various)
Navigate	Drive (various)	Stealth
Research	Fly	Swim
Sense	Hide	Throw
Spot	Jump
Track	Pilot (various)

Alphabetical Skill List

An alphabetized list of all skills in this section follows. Each entry lists the category of the skill, and its base chance.

Skill	Category	Base %
Appraise	Mental	15%
Art (various)	Manipulation	05%
Artillery (various)	Combat	per weapon specialty
Bargain	Communication	05%
Brawl	Combat	25%
Climb	Physical	40%
Command	Communication	05%
Craft (various)	Manipulation	05%
Demolition	Manipulation	01%
Disguise	Communication	01%
Dodge	Physical	DEX×2
Drive (various)	Physical	20% or 01%
Energy Weapon (various)	Combat	per weapon specialty
Etiquette (various)	Communication	05%
Fast Talk	Communication	05%
Fine Manipulation	Manipulation	05%
Firearm (various)	Combat	per weapon specialty
First Aid	Mental	30%
Fly	Physical	DEXx4 or 1/2 DEX
Gaming	Mental	INT+POW
Grapple	Combat	25%
Heavy Machine (various)	Manipulation	01%
Heavy Weapon (various)	Combat	per weapon specialty
Hide	Physical	10%
Insight	Perception	05%
Jump	Physical	25%
Knowledge (various)	Mental	05% or 00%
Language (various)	Communication	INT (or EDU)×5 or 00%
Listen	Perception	25%
Literacy (optional)	Mental	00% or equal to Language
Martial Arts	Combat	01%
Medicine	Mental	05%
Melee Weapon (various)	Combat	per weapon specialty
Missile Weapon (various)	Combat	per weapon specialty
Navigate	Perception	10%
Parry (various)	Combat	per weapon specialty
Perform	Communication	05%
Persuade	Communication	15%
Pilot (various)	Physical	01%
Projection	Physical	DEX×2
Psychotherapy	Mental	01% or 00%
Repair (various)	Manipulation	15%
Research	Perception	25%
Ride (various)	Physical	05%
Science (various)	Mental	01%
Sense	Perception	10%
Shield	Combat	per shield
Sleight of Hand	Manipulation	05%
Spot	Perception	25%
Status	Communication	15% or various
Stealth	Physical	10%
Strategy	Mental	01%
Swim	Physical	25%
Teach	Communication	10%
Technical Skill (various)	Mental	05%
Throw	Physical	25%
Track	Perception	10%

Augments and Complementary skills

Some skills are closely related to others, and expertise in one field can benefit another. With your gamemaster’s permission, your character may temporarily add 1/5 of your rating in a complementary skill to your rating in another skill for skill rolls. Many complementary uses are noted in the skill descriptions that follow. You and the other players will doubtless devise more.

Only one skill may be complementary to another when used to assist any given roll. If multiple skills may be applicable or are used to try to get this bonus, the benefits do not stack—the player and gamemaster should choose the highest bonus to use, or whichever is most appropriate to the situation at hand.

If the main skill roll is a success, your character receives an experience check only to the main skill, not to the complementary skill used.

For example, your character has a Medicine skill of 65% and a Science (Pharmacy) of 40%. They are attempting to treat a diseased patient. As long as your character has sufficient medical supplies and medications available, they can add 8% (1/5 of their Science(Pharmacy) rating) to the Medicine skill rating, for a modified rating of 73%. Your character cannot add 1/5 of his First Aid or Science (Biology) skill on top of the Pharmacy bonus. In this case, the gamemaster rules that the Science (Pharmacy)skill is the most appropriate for the bonus.

An augment to a skill is similar but works in a slightly different fashion. If your gamemaster permits it, you can attempt a roll of one complementary skill to support , or augment, another primary skill roll.

• If the augmenting skill roll is successful, you may adjust the difficulty of the primary skill by one step, such as turning a Difficult roll into an Average one, or an Average task Easy.
• This cannot be done simultaneously with a complementary skill bonus, however, and only one degree of adjustment is possible.
• If the augment fails, the primary skill is adjusted by one step the opposite direction, such as a Normal skill becoming Difficult due to confusion or conflicting information.
• If successful with the augmenting skill roll, you may check it for experience as normal, as well as with the primary skill. If the primary roll fails, the augmenting skill does not receive an experience check.

You cannot augment a skill and use a complementary skill bonus simultaneously for the same skill roll.

Skill Ratings Above 100%

Your character’s experience bonus makes it possible to raise skill ratings above 100%. Skills higher than 100% use the standard systems to compute the chances of special or critical successes, as well as offering better odds of success at Difficult tasks or in the face of negative circumstantial modifiers. Additionally, if your character has a combat skill higher than 100%, they can take multiple attacks in a combat round, as described in Attacks and Parries Over 100%.

Describing Results of Successes

Generally, the results of skill rolls are obvious, but if in doubt, use the following guidelines when determining outcomes:

• A fumble usually means that the opposite of the desired result has been achieved, providing misleading information, creating some sort of setback, or even putting the character at a disadvantage.
• Failure means that the desired result is not achieved.
• A normal success means that a reasonable and average goal has been achieved. The gamemaster is the ultimate arbiter of the results, but the effect should be obvious.
• A special success has double the effectiveness of a regular success and/or provides additional information about the subject.
• A critical success has triple the effectiveness of a regular success, and/or provides considerable information about the subject.

As noted above, skills where outcomes are very specific and where detail is required, have retained the defined result.

Skill Descriptions

A comprehensive, alphabetical list of skills follows. Each entry contains the following information:

• Skill Name: The name of the skill.
• Base Chance: The skill rating all characters have in the skill, specialized by era if applicable.
• Category: The skill category the skill falls into, for purposes of general classification and optional category bonuses.
• Description: A brief description of the kinds of tasks that can be accomplished using the skill.
• Specialties: A listing of the skill’s distinct specialties, if any. Not all skills with specialties have them elaborated upon in a bulleted list—only those that are more mechanical in nature, such as Combat skills, are detailed in this manner.
• Effects: The results of a skill roll, for each degree of success, where required. In brief, a skill result is a fumble (the worst possible result, usually a roll of 99 or 00), a failure (a roll above your skill rating), a success (equal to or below your skill rating), a special success (1/5 or less of your skill rating), or a critical success (1/20 or less of your skill rating). Chapter 5: System explains this in detail. See also Describing Results of Success.
• Setting Notes: Additional information about the skill in different settings. If this entry is not present, the skill works unchanged in almost any setting.
• System Notes: Relevant rules or systems, if any.

Appraise

Base Chance: 15%

Category: Mental

Use this skill to estimate an object’s worth, be it an old painting, a gemstone, a weapon, or a riding horse. Failure means they have no idea, while a fumble yields false information. A special or critical yields additional information.

Art (various)

Base Chance: 05%

Category: Manipulation

Use this skill to create a work of art in paint or sculpture, or to compose a story, poem, or musical work. A critical or special success yields a timeless classic of considerably more value and prestige, a failure is mediocre hackwork, and a fumble may harm the creator’s reputation. You would use Perform for acting, dancing, singing, or playing a musical instrument.

Specialties: Calligraphy, Composing, Conceptual Art, Digital Art, Drawing, Painting, Photography, Poetry, Sculpture, Sketching, Songwriting, Writing, etc.

Setting Notes: Art is universal, though it may have era- or setting-specific specialties.

Artillery (various)

Base Chance: As per weapon specialty

Category: Combat

Use this skill to fire massive field pieces and heavy vehicular weapons, essentially any weapon too large for a single person to move or maneuver, such as a cannon, trebuchet, or ballista.

Specialties: Specialties are equivalent to types. See Artillery in Chapter 8: Equipment for artillery types.

Effects: See the Attack and Defense Matrix and the Missile Weapon Fumbles Table for specific effects.

Setting Notes: Suitable for many settings, ranging from siege engines to modern or futuristic artillery and vehicular weapons. In most settings, a military background is required to learn this skill.

System Notes: Many large weapons require a crew to operate; attempting to use one alone is a Difficult action or may be Impossible. It may take multiple rounds or even turns to load and prepare a weapon system between shots. Many large weapons employ automatic fire or shoot explosive ordinance. See Autofire and Explosion. All shots go somewhere; the gamemaster should decide where missed explosive or energy shots impact.

Bargain

Base Chance: 05%

Category: Communication

Use this skill to haggle over prices, and whenever opposing opinions meet in negotiation and compromise. Use opposed skill rolls to decide important deals, and simple skill rolls for trivial attempts (saving money on equipment or lodgings, for example). Bargaining is about compromise: use Fast Talk or Persuade to resolve arguments that are absolutely won or lost. A fumble might mean turn a merchant into an enemy, success means you get a deal, and better results yield higher discounts or more favorable conditions for your side.

Brawl

Base Chance: 25%

Category: Combat

Use this skill for unarmed combat: kicks, punches, head butts, etc.

Effects: See the Attack and Defense Matrix and the Natural Weapon Attack and Parry Fumbles Table.

System Notes: Brawling can be used to parry (see Parry) but a successful parry inflicts minimum weapon damage on the parrying arm or leg, as appropriate. Using Brawl against a foe that has grappled your character (see Grapple) is Easy. Used in conjunction with Martial Arts and with the Natural Weapon and Unarmed Combat powers from Chapter 4: Powers.

Climb

Base Chance: 40%

Category: Physical

Use this skill to climb up or down walls, trees, cliffs, or any other surface. Ample hand and footholds are assumed to be present: modify the difficulty based on conditions or the surface being climbed. Fumbling means you fall hard (see Falling), failing means you’re stuck or you fall (gamemaster choice, based on circumstances), and superior successes let you climb faster and farther.

System Notes: Generally, climbing is at 1/5 the MOV rate, and animals with natural climbing ability can move at their full MOV rate. Climbing ladders is Automatic. Very tall ladders or trees is Easy. Climbing without using your character’s feet is Difficult. For extended climbs, the gamemaster should call for a skill roll once every minute, or 10 meters of climbing. Your character can take no other action while climbing, and all actions taken while clinging to a surface are Difficult, with any fumble causing a fall.

Command

Base Chance: 05%

Category: Communication

Use this skill to inspire, direct, and coordinate subordinates, guiding them in complex tasks and improving the effectiveness of the group. Military officers, noblemen, politicians, and business executives are made or broken based on their ability to manage and lead. Personality, a strong voice, and an iron will are invaluable tools of command. A fumble incites insurrection, failing is uninspiring and confusing, and success allows you to add 1/5 your Command skill as a complementary skill bonus to all your subordinates for each round you command them, so long as they follow your orders. Roll every round in combat, or every turn in mass combat.

System Notes: Used primarily in combat, though it can extend to corporate negotiations, etc. Artillery, Heavy Weapon, Melee Weapon, Missile Weapon, and Strategy are the most appropriate skills to receive this benefit.

Craft (various)

Base Chance: 05%

Category: Manipulation

Use this skill to construct or make things, from a chair to a meal to a house. Specialized tools are often required for this skill, and it takes time and raw materials. This skill can also be used to identify how an object was made, and possibly identify the crafter who made it. A fumble destroys the material and yields nothing useful, success means it works, and a better quality of success yields a finer, sturdier, or more valuable version of the thing being made, perhaps with additional qualities like a +10% or +20% to its efficacy when used, higher hit points, etc. This is about function and practicality: fashioning objects solely for aesthetical purposes falls under Art.

Specialties: Blacksmithing, Carpentry, Ceramics, Cooking, Leatherworking, Locksmithing, Metallurgy, Stonemasonry, and others as appropriate.

System Notes: Using Craft without the proper tools is Difficult. See Chapter 8: Equipment for more information about making, modifying, or repairing equipment. Possession of a fine item of clothing or gear may even increase CHA while the item is worn or displayed.

Demolition

Base Chance: 01%

Category: Manipulation

Use this skill to store, transport, set, and detonate explosives, from kegs of gunpowder to dynamite, Molotov cocktails, advanced plastic explosives, and anti-matter bombs. Anyone can simply set off a bomb: this is to achieve a specific effect with the explosion; collapse a building safely, destroy a bridge, or blow the door of a safe without harming the contents. Demolition also covers knowledge of appropriate accessories for explosives, including primer cord, fuses, and detonators. Use Science (Chemistry) to produce explosive compounds or Technical Skill to fashion other explosives. A fumble blows things up in your face, a failure means the desired effect is not achieved (a misfire or dud), and superior successes yield more impressive results, whether more damage, less collateral damage, special effects like Knockback, additional area of effect, etc.

System Notes: With a skill rating of 60%+, normal uses of this skill automatically succeed. Unstable explosives (sweaty dynamite) may call for a Demolition every round they are being handled or used. Demolishing a massive structure (bridge, dam, bunker, or building) is Difficult unless your character has access to blueprints or plans of the target. Trying to use this skill without appropriate tools (fuses, etc.), or using explosives outside your character’s normal field of expertise may be Difficult or even Impossible. Some types of explosives such as grenades might be used without this skill. See Chapter 8: Equipment for explosives and their effects.

Disguise

Base Chance: 01%

Category: Communication

Use this skill to employ posture, costume, voice, and other tricks to appear as a different person, or a different kind of person. Dim light, theatrical makeup, and significant facial alterations (a haircut or wig, false beards or a quick shave) can add up to a +20% bonus, at the gamemaster’s discretion. Onlookers who scrutinize your disguised character or engage them in conversation can make and opposed Spot or Insight skill check against your character’s Disguise roll to see through the ruse. Your disguised character can use their Fast Talk skill for the opposed check if they engage the onlooker in conversation, distracting them from close scrutiny. A fumble is blatantly obvious, a failure doesn’t fool anyone who gives a second look, and superior successes may even add a complementary bonus to Communication rolls against those being fooled, or makes detection more difficult.

System Notes: Using this skill to impersonate a particular kind of person (soldier, policeman, etc.) is a normal action. Impersonating someone vastly different (other species, alternate body type, another gender, etc.) or a specific well-known person (a noble, a celebrity, etc.), or attempting a disguise without appropriate clothing or props is Difficult. The gamemaster may assign additional penalties for cultural or language barriers, or if multiple Difficult conditions apply. Too much of a stretch may simply be Impossible.

Dodge

Base Chance: DEX×2

Category: Physical

The best defense in combat, as any combatant knows, is to not be there. Dodge allows your character to evade incoming attacks, using agility to avoid or minimize injury.

Effects: A successful Dodge roll modifies the result of a successful attack, turning it into a failure. A special result for a Dodge roll modifies an attack two steps (a special success becomes a failure), and a critical success on a Dodge roll modifies a successful attack three steps (a critical attack becomes a failure). See the Attack and Defense Matrix and the Natural Weapons Attack and Parry Fumbles Table for specific effects. A successful Dodge roll cannot reduce an incoming attack’s success lower than failure.

System Notes: As described in Dodge in Chapter 6: Combat, your character may either Dodge or Parry in a combat round but cannot do both. If your character is attacked by many foes, they may make multiple Dodge attempts in a round, but each roll after the first is made at a cumulative –30% penalty to the skill rating. Some missile attacks are Difficult or Impossible to dodge (see Dodging Missile Weapons).

Drive (various)

Base Chance: 20% or 01% (see below)

Category: Physical

Use Drive to steer, maneuver, and control a ground vehicle, whether pulled by animals or powered by an engine. For common vehicles, the base chance is 20%, for unknown/uncommon vehicles, it’s 01%. A fumble when driving normally means the vehicle may not start, or a collision or crash. Success means your character gets where they’re going, or is able to correct a bad condition (like a slide or spin), and superior successes mean more distance covered in less time, less fuel used, or some other benefit.

Specialties: Automobile, Bicycle, Carriage, Cart, Chariot, Dogsled, Motorcycle, Truck, Sleigh, etc.

Setting Notes: Adjust the base chance by the user’s familiarity where appropriate, but when in doubt, assume that base principles apply.

System Notes: Most day-to-day driving is an Automatic task—a Drive roll is only required under adverse conditions or for extraordinary driving (speeding through a busy downtown area, chasing another vehicle, etc.). To tail another vehicle without being noticed, use an opposed Drive roll vs. the other driver’s Spot. To resolve vehicle chases, see Chases.

Energy Weapon (various)

Base Chance: As per weapon specialty

Category: Combat

Use this to fire any kind of hand-held directed energy or beam weapon (lasers, blasters, disruptors, etc.).

Specialties: Energy Pistol, Energy Rifle, etc. Specialties are equivalent to types. See Weapon Classes in Chapter 8: Equipment for firearm types.

Effects: See the Attack and Defense Matrix and the Missile Weapon Fumble Table for specific effects. Energy weapons usually impale.

Setting Notes: Energy weapons usually only appear in futuristic settings. Anyone from a culture without them must make a Difficult Idea roll to figure out how to use one, and perhaps only after seeing it used. Failures or fumbles can be disastrous, to the weapon or the user! A military background may be required to learn this skill.

System Notes: Some energy weapons have a minimum STR and DEX requirement to use the weapon, as per the weapons tables in Chapter 8: Equipment. Energy weapons do not use damage modifiers but can be used for aimed attacks. They cannot be dodged, though target movement and orientation can impose penalties to the shot, as described in Dodging Missile Weapons. Blocking energy shots with the Shield skill is Difficult.

Etiquette (various)

Base Chance: 05%

Category: Communication

Most cultures, castes, or groups have social rules and codes of behavior. Proper dress, modes of speech, specific behaviors, body language, or even trials by combat can all play a part in a group’s etiquette. Use this skill whenever your character needs to behave appropriately, whether attending a Victorian dinner party, an important job interview, or joining an organized crime family. Etiquette rolls might gain an audience with an important nonplayer character or impress others with your knowledge of their social mores. A fumble represents a disastrous faux pas, a fail does not impress, and success or better yields superior results and improves one’s reception.

Specialty: By group. To learn the manners of a second group, learn a second Etiquette skill with that specialty.

System Notes: The gamemaster should only call for Etiquette rolls in important circumstances: for example, the first time interacting with an important group, a significant occasion, or when trying to advance status within the group.

Fast Talk

Base Chance: 05%

Category: Communication

The preferred weapon of salesmen, spies, or con artists, use this skill to convince a target quickly of something they may not believe, or convince them to make a rapid decision against their better judgment. Use this to bluff one’s way past a doorman or make a hard sell go quickly. Fast Talk is quick to use, and usually temporary: a few minutes and a successful Idea roll later, and the target may come to their senses. To truly change someone’s mind, use the Bargain or Persuade skills. A fumble usually draws hostility, failing gets you nowhere, and success or better has improved effectiveness, or even convinces someone permanently of your position.

System Notes: Good roleplaying and/or an effective argument might make a Fast Talk attempt Easy, just as poor roleplaying and/or a flimsy argument might make it Difficult. Trying to Fast Talk a target after a first attempt at Bargain, Fast Talk, or Persuade fails is Difficult.

Fine Manipulation

Base Chance: 05%

Category: Manipulation

A measure of steadiness and hand-eye coordination, this skill covers any careful use of the hands and fingers. Use it when picking locks, disarming a trap, tying or untying knots, and disassembling mechanical devices. A fumble bungles things, perhaps breaking or jamming the item being manipulated. Superior successes take less time, make it easy in the future, show no signs of tampering, or some other similar benefit.

System Notes: Using this skill without appropriate tools, where required, is Difficult.

Firearm (various)

Base Chance: As per weapon specialty

Category: Combat

This skill measures accuracy with firearms, and provides familiarity with handling, maintenance, and basic repairs.

Specialties: Machine Gun, Pistol, Revolver, Rifle, Shotgun, Submachine Gun. Specialties are equivalent to types. See Weapon Classes in Chapter 8: Equipment for firearm types.

Effects: See the Attack and Defense Matrix and the Missile Weapon Fumbles Table for specific effects. Firearms usually impale (see Chapter 8: Equipment for details).

Setting Notes: Any character unfamiliar with firearms must make a Difficult Idea roll to figure out how to use one if they have not seen it in use. Failures or fumbles can be disastrous, to the weapon or the user!

System Notes: Some firearms have a minimum STR and DEX requirement, as per the weapons tables in Chapter 8: Equipment. Firearms do not use damage modifiers, and can be used for aimed attacks.

First Aid

Base Chance: 30%

Category: Mental

Use this skill to stop bleeding, bandage wounds and treat minor burns, set a broken limb, resuscitate someone who’s drowning, or revive an unconscious person. It extends to triage and rudimentary medical care but has little effect on poisons, diseases, or subtle physical ailments: these must be treated with the Medicine skill, though your gamemaster may allow a Difficult roll for emergency treatment of poison or disease. First Aid takes a full combat round and cannot normally be performed while in combat. If interrupted, the attempt must be restarted.

Effects: First Aid has specific effects:

• Fumble: The patient takes 1 general hit point of damage, and their condition remains unchanged.
• Failure: No effect, and no further First Aid attempts may be made.
• Success: One of the following (player choice): * Heal 1D3 hit points to a single wound or injury. * A character at 0 or negative hit points in this or the previous round, can be restored to life if their hit point total is brought to 1+. * Reviving an unconscious character. * Stopping bleeding damage from a bleeding special success or any other ongoing damage to a hit location (see Hit Points per Hit Location).
• Special: As above but healing 2D3 hit points.
• Critical: As above but healing 3+1D3 hit points.

System Notes: Keep track of individual injuries, as First Aid can be used on each injury, potentially healing it up to the amount of hit points the injury inflicted. Only one attempt may be made per wound. Hazardous or unsanitary conditions may make rolls Difficult. Your character may add 1/2 of their Medicine skill rating and 1/5 of their Science (Pharmacy) skill rating as a temporary bonus to First Aid rolls. Modern medical equipment (painkillers, bandages, or medicine) may add up to a +20% bonus to skill ratings, while futuristic medical technology (artificial spray skin, medical scanners, nanotech healers) can make all First Aid rolls Easy.

Fly

Base Chance: DEX×4 or 1/2 DEX (see below)

Category: Physical

For beings with wings, the appropriate gear (antigravity belt, rocket boots, etc.), or flight powers, use this skill to maneuver in the air without a vehicle. Use Fly to perform aerial maneuvers or acrobatics without losing control, outmaneuver a foe in aerial combat, or fly in poor weather conditions. Base chance is DEX×4 for winged creatures; 1/2 DEX for all others. For jet packs, hang-gliders, etc. use the Pilot skill. See Aerial Combat and Chases for more information.

Effects: Fly has specific effects:

• Fumble: Stall and perhaps even fall. Winged characters must make a successful Stamina roll or suffer 1D3–1 points of damage from a sprain or strain. A device stalls or fails and cannot keep your character aloft. The flyer falls one round per altitude level above the ground. Make a Difficult Fly roll to stay aloft—failing means a crash (see Falling).
• Failure: Off course or drops to an undesirable altitude. Goes nowhere.
• Success: Completes the desired maneuver or holds position in a chase
• Special: Completes the desired maneuver and gains a +10% bonus to the next Dodge, Fly or attack roll made in aerial combat.
• Critical: Completes the desired maneuver and gains a bonus of +25% to the next Dodge, Fly or attack roll made in aerial combat.

System Notes: Short, uneventful flights under normal or moderate conditions are Automatic. See Weather Conditions for modifiers to flight. Stamina rolls are required for long-range flights, with the characteristic multiplier decreasing by one every four hours or fraction thereof spent in the air. Normal flight does not expend fatigue points, while maneuvering or stressful flight is a strenuous activity. Flying while wearing armor or heavy gear incurs a penalty equal to your character’s current ENC total (see Encumbrance). A flying character carrying a heavy object must match their STR against the SIZ of the carried object on the resistance table to stay aloft.

Gaming

Base Chance: INT+POW%

Category: Mental

Use this skill while playing games, from chess or backgammon to gambling contests involving cards, dice, or other random or strategic elements. Gamblers make their living using this skill, but to most others it is merely a source of entertainment. A fumble cleans you out and potentially puts you into debt, failure means you lose the round, success yields a minor win, and superior successes reap greater benefits and perhaps even improves one’s status.

System Notes: Use this to resolve games where skill and strategy play some part, with other players making an opposed roll. To cheat, use Sleight of Hand or Fast Talk, opposed by Observe or Insight. Utterly random outcomes use Luck rolls.

Grapple

Base Chance: 25%

Category: Combat

Use this skill for wrestling or any fighting where the goal is to subdue a target without causing harm. Usually this is non-lethal, but it can be used to deliver real harm.

Effects: Grappling has specific effects:

• Fumble: Roll on the Natural Weapons Fumble Table.
• Failure: The target eludes being held, or an attempted escape fails.
• Success: The target is grappled, attacker can apply one grapple effect (see Grapple Effects below) next round if the hold is maintained.
• Special: The attacker automatically succeeds in their next Grapple roll to maintain the hold and gains a +3 characteristic bonus on any resistance rolls for grapple effects made this round.
• Critical: The attacker automatically succeeds in their next Grapple roll to maintain the hold, and the target’s characteristics are halved in any resistance rolls for grapple effects during the remainder of that combat round.

System Notes: The attacker must make a Grapple successfully to establish a hold on the target. Successful attacks grab a random hit location (if that system is used). Grapples can be parried with the Grapple skill: if the defender parries with a weapon or shield, the attacker automatically grabs the weapon arm or shield arm if the Grapple roll is successful. Once a hold is established, the attacker must make a successful Grapple roll each round to maintain the hold. Taking any action other than one of the grapple effects breaks the hold. Once held, the target can attack their attacker if they have a limb free, using Brawl or any small weapon (knives or handguns). If both hands are free, the target can attempt to Grapple back.

Multiple attackers can attempt to grapple a single target, though no more than two attackers can hold any one location. Combine the STR ratings of both attackers in all contested tests.

Grapple Effects

An attacker with a hold on their target can attempt any of the following effects, one per round, beginning the round after the Grapple takes hold. Some effects can only be used if the attacker has grabbed a specific body part (see below). As some effects involve specific hit locations, the gamemaster may need to interpret results.

• Change Hold (Any): Match DEX vs. DEX on the resistance table. If successful, the attacker shifts hold to a different hit location of choice. If unsuccessful, the target can take an action, though the attacker still has a hold on the original location.
• Disarm Target (Arm): The attacker matches STR+SIZ vs. the target’s STR on the resistance table. If the attacker succeeds, the target drops anything in that hand, and the arm remains immobilized. If unsuccessful, the target hangs on to the held item(s), though their arm remains immobilized. The attacker retains the hold.
• Grab a Second Location (Arm/Leg): The attacker tries to grab and hold another hit location of their choice. Match the attacker’s DEX vs. the target’s DEX+SIZ on the resistance table. If the attacker wins, they grab the second location and keep the already held limb trapped. If unsuccessful, the target immediately matches their STR vs. the attacker’s STR on the resistance table to break all holds. The attacker can hold as many locations as they have hands.
• Injure The Target (Head/Chest/Abdomen): The attacker elbows, gouges, or squeezes, inflicting 1D3 damage plus their damage modifier to the target (general or to the held hit location). The target may immediately match their STR vs. the attacker’s STR on the resistance table to break the hold.
• Immobilize Limb (Arm/Leg): Match the attacker’s STR vs. the target’s STR on the resistance table. If the attacker wins, no action can be taken with that limb until the hold is broken. If unsuccessful, the target can take an action, though the attacker still has a hold on the limb.
• Immobilize Target (Head/Chest/Abdomen): Match the attacker’s STR vs. the target’s STR on the resistance table. If the attacker wins, the target can take no action at all until the hold is broken. If unsuccessful, the target can still take actions, though the attacker still has a hold.
• Knockdown Target (Head/Chest/Abdomen): The attacker automatically overbears the target, dragging both characters prone. The target must make an Agility roll or suffer 1 point of general damage (or to a random hit location).
• Strangle Target (Head): The target must make a CON×1% roll each round or suffer 1D3 damage to their general hit points. The target may immediately match their STR vs. the attacker’s character’s STR on the resistance table to break the hold. Once the attacker begins strangling, they do not need to make further Grapple rolls each round to maintain the hold. The target must attempt to break free (see Choking, Drowning, and Asphyxiation).
• Throw Target (Special): Match the attacker’s STR+DEX against the target’s SIZ+DEX on the resistance table. Throwing a target releases any hold. If the attacker is successful, the target is thrown 1D6 meters, is automatically knocked down, and must make an Agility roll or suffer 1D6 general damage (or to a random hit location). A roll of DEX×1% allows them to land on their feet without taking damage. If the roll is unsuccessful, the target is not thrown and may take an action, though the attacker retains a hold. A throw may be attempted with any limb held, but a successful roll with the head simply inflicts 1D6 points general damage (or to the head hit location) and does not result in a throw.

Heavy Machine (various)

Base Chance: 01%

Category: Manipulation

Use this skill to operate any machine larger than a person and any wheeled vehicle heavier than a moving van, such as a forklift, tank, bulldozer, crane, locomotive, or operate the engines on a large seagoing vessel. Heavy Machine also covers basic care and preventative maintenance, though once a heavy machine fails, a Repair skill is required to fix it. For aircraft, use the Pilot skill. A fumble results in a crash, engine troubles, and/or property damage, while failure means the machine doesn’t do the desired task. Successes and superior successes indicate greater effectiveness.

Specialties: By vehicle type (Armored Vehicles, Boilers, Bulldozers, Cranes, Engines, Turbines, etc.).

System Notes: Generally, heavy machines are unable to participate in chases, but certain kinds of machines can be used as weapons, doing 3D6 to 6D6 damage, based on the size of the device. Using this skill outside normal performance is Difficult, as is operation and maintenance in extreme conditions.

Heavy Weapon (various)

Base Chance: As per weapon specialty

Category: Combat

Use this skill to operate explosive weapons or large direct-fire weapons that push the limits of portability, such as includes bazookas, rocket launchers, heavy machine guns, tripod-mounted laser cannons, and others. Use the Artillery skill for heavier ordnance such as cannons, siege engines, or vehicle- or pintle-mounted weapons.

Specialties: Heavy weapons fall between traditional weapons and artillery and are often used to deliver explosives. Specialties are by weapon type, and include Bazooka, Flamethrower, Mini Gun, Rocket Launcher, etc. See Weapon Classes in Chapter 8: Equipment for more details.

Effects: See the Attack and Defense Matrix and the Missile Weapon Fumbles Table for specific effects. Heavy weapons usually impale or knockback.

System Notes: Most heavy weapons employ automatic fire, or shoot explosive ordinance. See Autofire and Explosions. All missed shots go somewhere; the gamemaster should decide where missed explosive shots impact.

Hide

Base Chance: 10%

Category: Physical

The art of concealing an object or oneself from view. Your character should use this skill to escape during pursuit, keep an object from easy detection, or avoid surveillance. A fumble draws immediate attention, failure means that Spot roll to find the hider becomes Easy, a success requires a Spot roll to be found, and superior successes either make the Spot roll Difficult or Impossible.

System Notes: Hide checks are opposed by the Spot of an observer or searcher. Adequate cover is essential; hiding in scant cover is Difficult, and a total lack of cover (wide open, broad daylight) makes it Impossible. Special clothing or gear (face paint, camouflaged clothing, etc.) can add a bonus of up to +20%, depending on its quality. Environmental conditions may offer additional bonuses. Someone hiding should keep as still as possible; moving while using Hide Difficult, and moving more than a meter in a combat round requires both Hide and Stealth rolls. Hide is only effective against visual and aural detection; advanced sensors may find a hiding character by body heat, or a keen nose might find them using the Sense skill.

Insight

Base Chance: 05%

Category: Perception

Use this skill to evaluate another person’s character, emotional state, and motives based on body language, speech patterns, and other intangible factors. Insight allows a gambler to sense a bluff, or a detective to sniff out a lie. A fumble provides misleading information, failure yields nothing, success lets you know what the target might be thinking, and superior successes reveal to you their innermost thoughts (within reason).

System Notes: This skill can be opposed by Etiquette, Fast Talk, or even Persuade. Using this skill on close friends, family members, or spouses is Easy. If using the Personality Traits system, Insight can determine the strength of those traits in general terms (such as “Very selfish”, for example).

Jump

Base Chance: 25%

Category: Physical

Use this skill to leap for height or distance, jump over obstacles. Under normal circumstances, a reasonably fit human can jump their height horizontally and half their height vertically from a standing position, and roughly three meters horizontally with a running start. A fumble results in a fall (1D6 general hit point damage or to a hit location), a success results in a jump as described above, a special success increases the amount by 50%, and a critical success doubles it. Jump can also reduce falling damage by 1D6 per level of success (normal success by –1D6, special by –2D6, critical by –3D6).

System Notes: A standing jump requires 1 DEX rank. A running jump uses the same DEX rank as normal running movement. Performing flashy or showy jumps (somersaults, flips, etc.) is Difficult.

Knowledge (various)

Base Chance: 05% or 00% (see below)

Category: Mental

This skill represents experience or academic study of a branch of knowledge. Use a Knowledge skill to remember pertinent facts, to analyze or identify clues, make logical suppositions, and recall impressive trivia. For more scientific ones, see Science. A fumble results in misleading and inaccurate falsehoods, and successes yield more useful and detailed information.

Specialties: Accounting, Anthropology, Archaeology, History, Law, Occult, Religion, etc. (see nearby list) The gamemaster should determine whether the Knowledge skill has a base chance of 05% for specialties that are common, or 00% for those requiring research and study to even have a rudimentary understanding of.

Setting Notes: In fantasy and historical settings, only a small subset of specialties exist. As settings grow more modern, specialties increase.

System Notes: The optional EDU characteristic and Knowledge roll cover most common knowledge—specialized information is represented by an appropriate specialty of a Knowledge skill.

Knowledge Specialties

The following list of specialties is by no means comprehensive and should be expanded as needed. Some specialties have subspecialties, specific focuses on a single subject within that field. Write them like this on your character sheet: Knowledge (Group/Templars) or Knowledge (Templars), as desired.

Academic Lore (Ancient Eras Only): In eras when the whole of written knowledge can be contained in a single library, this represents how ‘learned’ one is. Use it like a Knowledge roll for nearly any area of knowledge.

Accounting: Use it for analyzing bookkeeping, financial analysis (debt, bankruptcy, wealth, net worth, etc.), and to identify financial irregularities (strange spending, embezzlement, or odd windfalls).

Anthropology: The study of cultures, including customs, art, and behavior. Use it to identify a person or artifact’s native culture or to determine a culture’s social mores and behaviors.

Archaeology: The study of ancient and vanished cultures. Use it to identify an artifact from a dead culture, spot a fake, or conduct an excavation and make reasonable inferences about the history of a site or region.

Art History: The study of art from various eras and places, including style, famous artists, and specific works. Use it to identify the origin of a piece of art, spot a fake, or attribute a work to a known master.

Blasphemous Lore: The study of horrific occult secrets and ancient evils. The more of this knowledge your character has, the less their grasp on sanity. See the optional Sanity rules for more information. Blasphemous Lore skill begins at 0%, not 05%, and cannot be increased with experience.

Business: The study of entrepreneurial practices, guild regulations, corporate laws, and management techniques for a commercial enterprise. Use it to identify major players in a field or market, predict economic trends, and turn a profit.

Espionage: Knowledge of spy organizations, famous or notorious spies and agents; methodology, notable figures, organizations, tactics, etc. Use it to know about agencies and their modus operandi. Codebreaking is handled with Science (Cryptography).

Folklore: Knowledge of the customs, stories, lyrics, tall tales, and legends of a particular people or region. Use this skill to identify or remember elements of a folk tale or fable, whether rustic or supernatural.

Group/Subspecialty: General information about a particular culture, nationality, group, club, or social class. Use this skill to identify a member of that group, know ‘who’s who’ within that group, and remember social customs and mores of the group.

History: The study of past events and eras. Use this skill to remember the significance of any place, person, event, or object, or to correctly guess when an object or document was made.

Law: The study of legal practice and precedent. Use this skill to judge the legality of a proposed action, find legal precedents, free oneself from trouble with the authorities, or build a case for or against a criminal.

Linguistics: The study of language itself, from the foundations of grammar and vocabulary to how societies shape languages. Use this skill to identify unknown languages or puzzle out a few words or grasp a basic meaning, although this skill is no substitute for the appropriate Language skill.

Literature: The study of significant prose, poetry, and essays, usually from a single culture. Use this skill to properly identify a quote or allusion to a specific work, identify when and where an unknown fragment might have been written, attribute a mysterious work to a known author, spot a literary fake, or quote ominously appropriate passages from famous works of literature.

Occult: Knowledge of magic, obscure legends, and so-called ‘secret history’ that covers everything from arcane philosophies to modern conspiracy theories. Use this skill to realize the significance of alchemical or astrological symbols, identify which magical tradition created a ritual workspace, know the names of powerful spirits, or identify the secret factions conspiring to manipulate a situation.

Philosophy: The study of existence and its meaning, from basic logic to existentialism, nihilism, and beyond. Use this skill to remember the precepts of a particular philosophy, identify the philosophical leanings of an author or speaker’s argument, and to engage in philosophical debate.

Politics: The study and knowledge of political systems or other means of governance imposed upon or elected by the citizenry. Use this skill to understand the major power blocs in an area, how to influence the political structure, and how citizens will react to political change or influence.

Region/Subspecialty: General information about a specific city, region, or nation, including important people, local landmarks, and regional history. Use this skill to find cheap lodgings in a bustling city, remember the best roadside inn in the province, understand local politics, or find specific merchants or tradesmen.

Religion/Subspecialty: Details of the mythos, liturgy, and practices of a specific religion. Use this skill to avoid violating taboos, recall the laws and obligations of a faith, successfully debate points of theology, identify regalia or religious texts, sort orthodoxy from heresy, or properly lead a religious ceremony.

Streetwise: Knowledge of the shadier segments of a society, from the protocols of the poor to the ways of the criminal underworld. Use this skill to find a safehouse, identify a fence for stolen goods, or know who to ask for other semi-legal or illegal favors.

Language (various)

Base Chance: INT×5 (or EDUx5) or 00% (see below)

Category: Communication

The ability to communicate verbally in a language, either one’s native language or another. Other languages can be learned in the home, at school, on the streets, or at school, depending on the culture and upbringing. Most characters begin knowing their own language at INT×5. Bilingual characters must have spent skill points on another language skill. Day-to-day conversation in one’s own Language is Automatic and does not require a skill roll. Skill rolls are only required when communicating difficult concepts or in difficult and unusual situations, such as translating. This skill covers verbal communication—reading and writing use Literacy. A fumble means disastrous misunderstanding, while successes yield smooth and sometimes eloquent communication.

Specialties: Per language. Each specialty applies to a single language; if you wish for your character to learn an additional language, they must build up an additional Language skill.

System Notes: If the EDU optional rule is used, choose the higher of INT×5 or EDU×5 for the base chance. Understanding obscure dialects or ancient varieties of a language is Difficult. Complex or long documents or conversations with several salient points might require multiple language rolls to understand, one for each point. See the Language Fluency Table for details about how skill rating impacts communication and fluency.

Language Fluency Table

Skill Rating	Fluency
01–05	Knows only a few dozen words, can count to 10. May only communicate simple ideas. Complex communication (Bargain, Persuade, etc.) is out of the question. For example, “Food. Please sell me.”
6–25	Gets across simple requests, enough to be understood and survive day to day. Complex communication (Bargain, Persuade, etc.) are Difficult. For example, “How much moneys for this leg of lamb?”
26–50	Assured communication. The speaker can speak better than a child, getting most ideas across. Communication skills are not restricted, but certain actions may still be Difficult. For example, “How much? But this lamb was much cheaper yesterday!”
51–75	Allows speaker to tell stories, sagas, songs, etc. Idioms and jokes become accessible. Can pass for native. Complex communications are now rolled at the speaker’s full skill ranking. For example, “Look at this cut! The lamb was rotten before it was butchered and is clearly not even worth the sweat of the laborer who carried it here.”
76–00	The language of poets, philosophers, scientists, and diplomats. Not only can the speaker pass for native, but they can also mimic one or more local dialects. Jargon and obscure forms of speech come easily. For example, “Surely the assessment of this specimen of provender could be reevaluated in light of its advanced state of decomposition.”

Listen

Base Chance: 25%

Category: Perception

Use this skill to hear, interpret, and understand sounds, whether murmurs behind a closed door, furtive whispers, stealthy footfalls, and snapped twigs. Use this skill to see if a noise wakes a sleeping character, or to see if they can recognize a specific sound or voice. The normal range for hearing a human voice speaking at a polite volume is 15 meters—louder voices carry farther, and quieter ones have a shorter range. A fumble means a misunderstanding or complete ignorance of a sound, while successes yield awareness and information about its source.

System Notes: Listen is both active and passive skill: your character can attempt to Listen for suspicious noises, or the gamemaster can call for Listen rolls when appropriate. Oppose Listen with Stealth to resolve attempts to sneak past a wary or unwary listener. The gamemaster may choose to make Listen rolls secretly and inform you of the result, to avoid giving anything away if the roll fails.

Literacy (various)

Base Chance: 00% or equal to Language (Own/Other) (see below)

Category: Mental

The ability to read and write is taken for granted in the modern era: in previous ages, reading and writing were products of elite education and signs of distinction or status. In modern societies, the base chance for Literacy is equal to a character’s base Language (Own) or (Other) unless otherwise desired. A fumble means a disastrous misunderstanding, failure means meaning is lost, successes yield critical information or nuances, even renown for work produced.

Specialties: By language. Each specialty applies to single written language; additional languages are separate Literacy specialties. In modern societies, Literacy is always equal to your Language skill.

System Notes: Understanding obscure dialects or ancient varieties of a written language is Difficult. Complex or long documents (such as books) with multiple salient points might require multiple Literacy rolls, one for each point.

Martial Arts

Base Chance: 01%

Category: Combat

This represents study and mastery of a specific fighting style. Use this skill to make specific moves and strikes that cause maximum damage to the target. Martial Arts is always used in combination with another skill: Brawl, Melee Weapons, Missile Weapons, or Grapple, as appropriate. This skill is not necessary to make those attacks—it represents a greater level of training that allows greater effectiveness.

Specialties: By martial arts tradition: boxing, capoeira, escrima, fencing, jeet kune do, karate, kenjutsu, kickboxing, kung fu, kyujutsu, pugilism, savate, etc. The gamemaster may limit the types of combat skills that can be paired with a Martial Arts, such as only allowing Missile Weapons (Bow) with kyujutsu, for example.

Effects: Martial Arts is not rolled separately when making an attack. Roll against the primary skill and compare the result to the Martial Arts skill. Results have these effects:

• Fumble: Use the appropriate fumble result (see the attack and fumble tables in Chapter 6: Combat).
• Failure: If the rolled result is above the Martial Arts skill rating but still equal to or below the combat skill, the attack hits normally. Attacks rolled above the combat skill miss, regardless of the Martial Arts skill rating.
• Success: If the rolled result is less than or equal to both Martial Arts and the combat skill, roll for base damage twice and total the result. Your character’s damage modifier is never doubled.
• Special: As above. For a special success, the additional base damage roll is added to the effects of the combat skill’s special result, if any.
• Critical: As above. If the combat roll is a critical success, the target’s armor protection (natural or worn) is ignored, and the additional base damage roll is added to the effects of the combat skill’s special result, if any.

System Notes: The Martial Arts skill works in conjunction with one other combat skill, and usually with a narrow range of specialties for that skill. This power can be used in conjunction with the Natural Weaponry mutation and the Unarmed Combat power.

If multiple attacks are made in a round, the attacker must allocate the Martial Arts skill accordingly, dividing it as desired between the multiple attacks, or applying it only to a single attack.

For example, if your character has Brawl 120% and Martial Arts 46%, and is making two attacks at 60% in around, you must choose to divide the Martial Arts skill between these two attacks (23% each, or some combination equaling 46%), or choose to have it apply to only one of the attacks.

Due to its relative power, the gamemaster may rule that the initial skill rating in this skill be limited, that increases to this skill may be limited to training rather than normal experience, that training may be incredibly difficult to obtain, or all three of these conditions.

Medicine

Base Chance: 05%

Category: Mental

Use this skill is used to diagnose and treat serious injuries, treat diseases, counter poisonings, and make general health recommendations, as well as perform surgery and advise long-term care for chronic health conditions.

Effects: Medicine has specific results:

• Fumble: The patient takes 1 general hit point (for injuries) while treating injuries, or loses characteristic point (for poisons or illness), and their condition remains unchanged.
• Failure: The patient’s condition does not change, and a second attempt can only be performed on the next day.
• Success: Pick one of the following effects (player choice): * Any effect of a successful First Aid roll. * The patient’s healing rate doubles from 1D3 to 2D3 hit points per week. * Ongoing characteristic or hit point damage from poison or disease is halted. * A poisoned or diseased character is stabilized and recovers 1D3–1 hit points or characteristic points per week. This result can only be picked once per week of treatment.
• Special: As above, but an injury is healed by 2D3 hit points, or 1D3 characteristic points are recovered.
• Critical: As above, but a wound or injury is healed by 1D3+3 hit points, or 1D3+1 characteristic points are recovered.

System Notes: Each use of Medicine applies to a single malady: once it has been treated and is completely cured, additional successful Medicine rolls have no effect. Other wounds or maladies, however, can be treated. Unsafe or unsanitary conditions may make Medicine rolls Difficult. Special equipment or medicine may add up to +20% to the skill rating, while futuristic medical technology (artificial spray skin, medical scanners, nanotech healers) make Medicine rolls Easy. Treating common and non-life-threatening ailments is Automatic.

Melee Weapon (various)

Base Chance: As per weapon

Category: Combat

Use this skill to wield a particular type of weapon in hand-to-hand combat, whether attacking or parrying.

Specialties: Specialties are equivalent to weapon classes. See Weapon Classes of Chapter 8: Equipment. Each specialty applies to weapons from that category of weapon only: but the gamemaster may allow use of a similar weapon class as if Difficult. If successful, make an experience check. If the experience roll is successful, start a new skill with a specialty at that rating, plus the gained experience.

Effects: See the Attack and Defense Matrix and the Melee Weapon Attack Fumbles Table and the Melee Weapon Parry Fumbles Table in Chapter 6: Combat for specific effects.

System Notes: Your character can attempt more than one parry per round, but each roll after the first is made at a cumulative –30%. At the gamemaster’s discretion, your character can wield a weapon from a related or similar weapon category, with the roll being Difficult.

Missile Weapon (various)

Base Chance: As per weapon

Category: Combat

Use this to wield any hand-held self-propelled missile weapon such as bows, crossbows, throwing axes, spears, throwing stars, javelins, blowguns, spear guns, or even boomerangs. For grenades, use Throw.

Specialties: Specialties are equivalent to weapon classes. See Weapon Classes of Chapter 8: Equipment. Each specialty applies to weapons from that category of weapon only: but the gamemaster may allow use of a similar weapon class as if Difficult. If successful, make an experience check. If the experience roll is successful, start a new skill with a specialty at that rating, plus the gained experience.

Effects: See the Attack and Defense Matrix and the Missile Weapon Fumble Table for specific effects. Arrows and pointed weapons usually impale. If you wish to know where a missed missile weapon attack goes, see the Throw skill.

System Notes: All missile weapons have a minimum STR and DEX required to use the weapon, as listed in Chapter 8: Equipment. Typically, the attacker’s damage modifier is halved for missile weapons, and for entirely self-propelled weapons (blowguns, crossbows, etc.), the damage modifier is not applied. Missile Weapon can be used for aimed attacks.

Navigate

Base Chance: 10%

Category: Perception

Use this skill to find the way to a destination whether with a compass, sea charts, the stars, or simply using perception, memory, and intuition as a guide. A fumble means one is hopelessly lost and subsequent roll by anyone to become un-lost is Difficult. Failure means delays and a slowed rate of travel, while successes mean finding one’s way effectively and even making better-than-expected progress.

System Notes: Attempt a Navigate skill roll every four hours of an ongoing journey. Use of a map or compass may improve the skill ranking by up to +20%. Navigating in a featureless landscape (at sea, in darkness or bad weather, in a desert, or in dense jungle) without instruments or maps is Difficult. Advanced navigational aids (global position service technology, etc.) or familiarity with the area make Navigate attempts Easy.

Parry

Base Chance: As per weapon

Category: Combat

Use this skill to use a weapon or shield to parry or block an incoming attack. This skill is covered in detail in Chapter 6: Combat. Refer to the Attack and Defense Matrix for more information. The gamemaster may rule that a particular attack cannot be parried, such as from a vastly larger attacker (double or more the defender’s SIZ, for example) or when the attacker is using an area or sweep attack.

Specialties: Specialties are equivalent to weapon or shield classes. See Weapon Classes of Chapter 8: Equipment. Each specialty applies to weapons or shields from that category of weapon only: but the gamemaster may allow use of a similar weapon class as if Difficult. If successful, make an experience check. If the experience roll is successful, start a new skill with a specialty at that rating, plus the gained experience.

Effects: See the Attack and Defense Matrix and the Melee Weapon Parry Fumbles Tables in Chapter 6: Combat for specific effects.

System Notes: Your character can attempt more than one parry per round, but each roll after the first is made at a cumulative –30%. At the gamemaster’s discretion, your character can parry with a weapon or shield from a related or similar category, with the roll being Difficult.

Perform (various)

Base Chance: 05%

Category: Communication

Use this skill to perform, whether acting, dancing, playing an instrument, singing, or exhibiting some other forms of artistic expression. A fumble is a humiliation, failure is uninspiring, while successes yield positive attention, cheers, and perhaps critical acclaim and financial rewards. If recorded and distributed, it may continue to inspire and earn far after the original performance.

Specialties: Act, Conduct Orchestra, Dance, Juggle, Orate, Play Instrument (subspeciality), Recite, Ritual, Sing, etc.

System Notes: Successful use of the Perform (Ritual) skill may augment a magic power or cause it to have additional benefits, at the gamemaster’s discretion.

Persuade

Base Chance: 15%

Category: Communication

Use this skill to convince someone that a particular idea or belief is right, correct, or otherwise acceptable , regardless of their original opinion (if any) whether through Socratic logic, structured debate, fiery oratory, empathy, or brute intimidation. Listeners may be convinced to take action or grant a request. Like Fast Talk, truth is irrelevant. Unlike Fast Talk, the effects of successful persuasion last indefinitely, until another Persuade roll or dramatic experience shifts the subject’s opinion. A fumble means the subject may become hostile, embracing the opposite of the desired opinion. Failure is unconvincing. Success sways their opinion, and superior successes yield even better results.

System Notes: Using Persuade across a language barrier (if both speakers have lower than 50% in the language) is Difficult, as is convincing someone of something that runs counter to their personality or core beliefs. The gamemaster may reward effective arguments or good roleplaying with a bonus of up to +20%. Depending on circumstances, Persuade could take minutes, hours, or even days, and extended efforts may take multiple rolls to complete.

Pilot (various)

Base Chance: 01%

Category: Physical

Use this skill to steer, maneuver, and control a vehicle through the air, on or under the water, or in space. Larger vehicles may require multiple pilots, and a roll should be made every four hours when not in combat, and once per round during combat or when performing vehicular maneuvers.

Specialties: Airplane, Airship, Balloon, Boat, Helicopter, Hovercraft, Jet Aircraft, Jetpack, Starship, Submarine, etc. At the gamemaster’s discretion, a pilot may pilot a vessel with a similar specialty as if Difficult. If successful, make an experience check. If the experience roll is successful, start a new skill with a specialty at that rating, plus the gained experience.

Effects: Most day-to-day piloting is Automatic—roll only under adverse conditions or for extraordinary situations. A fumble almost inevitably causes an engine to stall or even crash, failing means the destination is not reached in the desired timeframe, success gets where one desires, and superior successes yield more expert piloting and results. See Aerial Combat and Chases for more information, and the Chase Trouble Table for mishaps.

Projection

Base Chance: DEX×2%

Category: Physical

This optional skill is used by power-using characters to target power-based attacks. It is described in Chapter 4: Powers and only used in games with appropriate powers.

Psychotherapy

Base Chance: 01% or 00% (see below)

Category: Mental

Use this skill to evaluate and treat mental illness or trauma, particularly restoring lost points of Sanity. In practical terms, Psychotherapy can be used to prescribe drugs and medications, which over time can suspend, treat, and even reverse debilitating psychoses or mental illnesses. Medication and intensive questioning can probe the depths of a damaged psyche and bring back hope from terror and despair. See Sanity for more information.

Effects: Psychotherapy has specific effects:

• Fumble: One of the following occurs (gamemaster choice): * The patient must make a new Sanity roll, for a loss of 1/1D3 SAN. * An existing form of insanity becomes more intense, develops some new symptom, etc. * The patient trades one type of insanity for another: a phobia might lessen, but at the cost of an addiction to mood-stabilizing drugs.
• Failure: The treatment has no effect. The patient remains the same and does not recover any lost SAN or heal from any trauma.
• Success: The treatment takes hold, with one of the following effects: * After a month of treatment, the patient regains 1D3–1 SAN. This skill cannot increase the patient’s SAN above POW×5 minus any appropriate penalties for knowledge of blasphemous or unspeakable horror. See Maximum Sanity for details. * The underlying cause of an insanity is properly diagnosed. * Once the source of an insanity has been diagnosed, it can be treated. Separate rolls must be made for each mental illness treated.
• Special: As above, but the SAN gain is 1D3.
• Critical: As above, but the SAN gain is 1D3+1.

System Notes: This skill is primarily for games where Sanity is used. Treatment requires four to five hours of therapy per month per indefinite insanity. At the gamemaster’s discretion, Psychotherapy may be used to manipulate a personality trait much as if it were a SAN score, shifting it positively or negatively by the same number of points based on the rolled result above.

Setting Notes: Psychiatric counseling is a relatively modern concept. For settings where psychological treatment does not exist, the base chance is 00%.

Repair (various)

Base Chance: 15%

Category: Manipulation

Equipment and other objects get damaged or stop working. Use Repair to fix them or make slight modifications and adaptations.

Specialties: Electrical, Electronic, Engineering, Hydroelectric, Mechanical, Structural, Quantum, etc.

Effects: A fumble damages the item further and could even hurt the one making the repair attempt (1D3 hit points for either, for example) and makes further repairs Difficult. Failure accomplishes nothing, success restores 1D3 hit points and the item becomes usable again or returns to working order. Superior successes yield similar benefits, perhaps using the First Aid skill and the gamemaster’s judgement as a guide. A critical may even improve the item in some small way, such as adding to its total hit point, armor points, or adding a slight bonus when it is utilized.

Research

Base Chance: 25%

Category: Perception

Use this skill to locate and identify potential sources of information in a library, archive, or network. Successful rolls yield the desired information from books, documents, articles, databanks, archives, or websites, with superior successes granting additional or more specific information. Despite the wide range of types of resources, the principles are the same. An attempt at this skill takes four hours normally, though electronic methods are much faster. A fumble leads to a disastrous misunderstanding and results in faulty information. Failure wastes time without any solid results or provides the barest minimum of information after twice the normal amount of time.

System Notes: The gamemaster is advised to make a failed Research roll take longer, give slightly misleading or complicated information, raise some sort of alarm or unwanted attention, or some other setback than simply not yielding any results. Failure is rarely enjoyable in games, and for mysteries, inaccessible clues are a dramatic dead-end.

Ride (various)

Base Chance: 05%

Category: Physical

Use this skill to ride, handle, and care for of a specific kind of living animal. With Ride your character can steer a mount through special maneuvers or rough terrain, coax it to top speed, or to keep control if it rears or stumbles. A fumble causes a loss of control of the mount, perhaps resulting in being thrown to the ground for 1D6 hit points of damage (general or to a random hit location). A successful Jump roll subtracts 1D6 from the damage total, while the mount gallops away at top speed. Failure causes the animal to balk, and successes yield it performing as desired or even exceeding expectations. Superior successes may yield bonuses to combat actions while mounted.

Specialties: By animal type. See Chapter 11: Creatures for example mounts. At the gamemaster’s discretion, a similar type of animal may be ridden as if Difficult. If successful, make an experience check. If the experience roll is successful, start a new skill with a specialty at that rating, plus the gained experience.

System Notes: Resolve races between the same breeds of animals using opposed Ride checks. Combat and Ride skills must be 50%+ to fight normally in mounted combat. If the Ride skill is less than 50%, a Ride check is required every round to keep control of the mount. If the combat skill is less than 50%, all attacks are Difficult. Even if both skills are higher than 50%, use the lower of the two skill ratings for attacks and parries. If the mount falls, collapses, or dies, treat the rider as if they have been thrown. See Mounted Combat for more information.

Science (various)

Base Chance: 01%

Category: Mental

Use this skill to know scientific information and principles from a particular field, and to observe phenomena and draw data-based conclusions. Related information includes the history of the science, familiarity with the equipment and methodology, and an awareness of significant figures and schools of thought in that specialty.

Specialties: Astronomy, Behavioral Science, Biology, Botany, Chemistry (or Alchemy), Cryptography, Genetics, Geology, Mathematics, Meteorology, Natural History, Pharmacology, Physics, Planetology, Psychology, Quantum Mechanics, Xenobiology, Zoology, etc. At the gamemaster’s discretion, skill with a related specialty may be rolled as if Difficult, though a successful roll does not yield an experience check or the chance to begin a new skill with that specialty.

System Notes: Many Science specialties require specialized equipment, measuring instruments, computers, or even a laboratory. Science rolls can take anywhere from 30 minutes to weeks or months, at the gamemaster’s discretion: four hours for an experiment is a good average. Attempting a Science roll without sufficient time or equipment is either Difficult or Impossible.

Sense

Base Chance: 10%

Category: Perception

The skill primarily governs taste, touch, and smell; but can extend to some of the less commonly known other senses (physical orientation, gravity, pressure and balance, temperature, etc.). Use it to notice or identify a particular type of stimulus that is not sight (Spot) or sound (Listen), such as finding an item in the dark by touch, identifying a mysterious odor or faint taste, feeling a hairline fracture, etc. At the gamemaster’s discretion, this might even extend to a “sixth sense” or intuition. A fumble is disastrously misleading or reveals complete ignorance of the stimulus, failure is simple failure to notice, and various degrees of success yield more accurate perception.

System Notes: Like Listen and Spot, Sense is both active and passive: you can request your character to make a Sense roll, or the gamemaster can call for a roll in appropriate situations. Strong or familiar stimuli are Easy rolls to Sense, while faint or unfamiliar ones is Difficult.

Shield

Base Chance: As per shield type

Category: Combat

Use this skill to block incoming attacks with a shield or other appropriate implement. All shield blocks follow the same rules for parrying: see Shields and Parry in Chapter 6: Combat. One can attack with a shield, treating this skill as if it were a Melee Weapon skill. Damage ratings are given for shields in the weapons lists. Shields do crushing special results, can cause knockbacks, and can be used for aimed attacks.

Effects: See the Attack and Defense Matrix and the Melee Weapon Parry Fumbles Table.

System Notes: Shield blocks are parries. A character may make more than one shield roll in a round, but each additional roll incurs a –30% penalty to the shield or parry skill rating. Large shields can provide cover against missile or even firearms attack.

Sleight of Hand

Base Chance: 05%

Category: Manipulation

Use his skill to manipulate small objects (dice, cards, coins, wallets, letters, etc.) in a misleading manner or without attracting attention, such as when picking pockets, cheating at cards, or performing stage magic. A fumble is glaringly obvious: whether the item is dropped, or the would-be thief is caught with their hand in the target’s pocket. Failure means nothing is accomplished, and a unsuspecting target succeeding in an Idea roll may realize that they are being duped.

System Notes: The skill is opposed by Spot where appropriate. Once an object has been palmed or taken, use Hide to hide it from a concerted search.

Spot

Base Chance: 25%

Category: Perception

Use this skill to search a room for potentially important details, find a hidden compartment, notice a fleeting detail, recognize a disguised foe, or spot enemies lying in ambush. A fumble is a hugely distracting misperception or mistaken impression, and different degrees of success yield more useful and pertinent information.

System Notes: Spot is both an active and a passive skill: your character can make a Spot roll to actively search or examine, or the gamemaster can call for a Spot roll to see if your character notices a fleeting detail. Hiding or deliberate concealment requires an opposed Spot vs. Hide test to resolve. Spot is also often opposed vs. Disguise or Sleight of Hand. In complete darkness, Spot is Impossible, and low light or thick fog makes it Difficult.

Status

Base Chance: 15%

Category: Communication

Status is a measure of reputation, professional credentials, social class, prosperity, fame, and even personal honor. Use this skill to influence others by throwing weight around, such as convincing a bank to make a cash loan or forgive a debt, intimidating a nonplayer character to grant a favor, convincing a vendor to settle for an I.O.U., or pressuring authorities into keeping a matter quiet. A fumble is a faux pas of the greatest magnitude, causing shame, drawing unwanted attention, and has the absolute reverse of the desired effect. Successes yield the sought-after results or even additional favors and consideration. Status is not wealth, however, and while they are often connected, they are not intrinsically tied to one another.

Specialties: Each specialty represents a single social class, profession, social group, or area of influence.

System Notes: Status only operates within a given area, by specialty, and using it outside the area of influence is Difficult. Status is not improved with experience, training, or other improvement. The gamemaster should offer Status as a reward for loyal service, daring deeds, or extraordinary merit between scenarios. One point per adventure is reasonable, with extraordinary deeds or achievements increasing the gain to 1D3, 1D4, or possibly even 1D6 points. Similarly, failure, scandals, misdemeanors, and social improprieties can lower Status. Status can be used to impress, but also to serve as a means of determining renown. Your character rolls against another’s Status to identify them, and a nonplayer character may roll against your character’s Status to determine what, if anything, they know about the character.

Status Skill, Social Status, & Character Wealth

As described in Creating a Character and Character Professions, Status can have a dramatically affect social standing and wealth. Below are three tables that assign a social rank and average wealth based on Status, with a maximum wealth for that Status. As one earns Status, their position and fortune will likely improve. Your gamemaster should revise these tables or create new ones, as desired.

Prehistoric Status

Status	Social Rank	Wealth Rating	Maximum Wealth
01–15	Slave (Lower Class)	Poor	Poor
16–95	Tribesperson (Middle Class)	Poor	Average
96–00	Nobility (Upper Class)	Affluent	Wealthy

Ancient/Dark Age/Medieval/Imperial Status

Status	Social Rank	Wealth Rating	Maximum Wealth
01–39	Lower Class	Destitute	Destitute
40–43	Lower Middle Class	Poor	Average
44–47	Middle Class	Average	Average
48–49	Upper Middle Class	Average	Average
50–75	Upper Class	Affluent	Affluent
76–95	Nobility	Affluent	Wealthy
96–00	Monarchy	Wealthy	Wealthy

Victorian/Western/Pulp/Modern Status

Status	Social Rank	Wealth Rating	Wealth Cap
01–14	Lower Class	Destitute	Poor
15–29	Lower Class	Poor	Average
30–39	Lower Middle Class	Average	Affluent
40–75	Middle Class	Average	Affluent
76–95	Upper Middle Class	Affluent	Wealthy
96–00	Upper Class	Wealthy	Wealthy

Status may also affect the initial equipment your character begins with. At the gamemaster’s discretion, you may make Status rolls to determine if your character begins with better gear than their wealth level and profession indicate. See Starting Equipment in Chapter 8: Equipment. Status rolls made before play are not eligible for experience checks.

Stealth

Base Chance: 10%

Category: Physical

Use this skill to sneak through an area without drawing attention. No cover is required, but a light tread, confidence and discipline are both called for. To avoid being seen while immobile, use Hide. A fumble draws unwanted attention, a failure means that no progress is made, and the character is obvious to anyone who looks, while successes offer successive degrees of concealment.

System Notes: Stealth assumes slow movement. Moving farther than 1/2 one’s MOV in a combat round is Difficult. Environmental factors (ambient noise, thick carpets, creaky floors, etc.) or gear (soft-soled shoes, noisy armor, bulky equipment, etc.) can modify Stealth rolls, at the gamemaster’s discretion. Stealth is opposed by Spot or Listen, as appropriate.

Strategy

Base Chance: 01%

Category: Mental

Use this skill to guide forces in battle, from a small squad to a massive army or fleet, organize and coordinate logistics for an army, plan and execute a large scale military enterprise, and determine what another strategist might be thinking. This skill also assumes a basic knowledge of military history and tactics, and significant figures therein. A fumble represents a military disaster and might lead to utter defeat, while various degrees of success yield strategic advantages and may mean bonuses to morale and combat effectiveness.

System Notes: Massive military engagements should be resolved in abstract, with an opposed Strategy roll between the opposing leaders influencing the outcome (multiple rolls may be required for larger or longer engagements). Using Strategy in unfavorable conditions (outnumbered, poorly supplied, etc.) is Difficult. This skill is often used alongside Command: Strategy represents the plan, Command is how clear it is conveyed to those who must execute it.

Swim

Base Chance: 25%

Category: Physical

Use this skill to move through or under water. Generally, Swim rolls should only be used for dangerous or stressful situations. Floating, dog paddling, and treading water under normal conditions are Automatic. A fumble means that you begin drowning (see Choking, Drowning, and Asphyxiation). Once your character begins to drown, only a Difficult Swim roll or outside assistance can get them back to the surface to breathe again. Success means normal maneuvering in the water, while superior successes mean additional speed and maneuverability.

System Notes: In calm waters, Swim rolls are only needed once per turn. Swimming in rough waters requires a Swim check each round. Swimming while carrying something requires an Effort roll or a STR resistance roll, depending on the situation. Specialized equipment (floats, swim fins, etc.) offers modifiers of up to +20%. Actively swimming costs 1 fatigue point per turn. Resolve races in the water as opposed Swim rolls, costing 1 fatigue point per round. Subtract any ENC a swimmer has from their Swim rating. If their ENC exceeds their STR, they sink and must shed weight or drown. Armored characters have a penalty applied to Swim (see Armor). To remove armor in water, make a Swim roll once per combat round per point of the highest value of the armor (maximum roll if random armor values are used). Natural armor or armor conferred by a power has no penalty in water.

In underwater melee combat an attacker uses the lower of their combat or Swim skill ratings to resolve attacks, and trying to Dodge is Difficult. Only impaling weapons are useful—all others do 1D3–1 points of damage per hit. Water resistance also adds 3 points of armor value to any target. See Underwater Combat for more information.

Teach

Base Chance: 10%

Category: Communication

Use this skill whenever your character attempts to train or teach information or technique to another, using lecture, exercise, or physical sparring. A fumble is retrograde and causes students to perhaps lose 1D2 skill points if they do not make an Idea roll to recognize the shoddy teaching, while success teaches as per the normal rules for training and superior successes improve skill training to 1D6 (special) and 1D6+2 (critical).

System Notes: To teach a particular skill, the teacher must have twice the student’s skill rating, or a skill rating of 50% (whichever is lower). See Skill Training for more detail.

Technical Skill (various)

Base Chance: 05%

Category: Mental

Use this skill to operate and maintain advanced technological devices such as computer systems, robots, or other high tech devices. It can also be used to modify devices to improve their performance or use them for a new purpose outside their parameters. A fumble potentially breaks the device or jams it in some way, while successes and superior successes causes the mechanism to perform as designed, or beyond expectations.

Specialties: Clockwork, Computers, Cybernetics, Electronics, Robotics, Sensors, Siege Engines, Traps, etc.

Setting Notes: The Technical skill in fantasy or historical settings covers traps, clockwork or geared devices, siege engines, etc.

Throw

Base Chance: 25%

Category: Physical

Use this skill to hit a target with a thrown object, or to throw a weapon otherwise not balanced for throwing (such as throwing a greatsword or shield). This covers improvised thrown objects, grenades, sticks of dynamite, weapons not usually thrown, or non-weapons. Lassos are also covered by this skill, as well as catching items. If the weapon is made to be thrown, use Missile Weapon.

Effects: Throw has specific effects:

• Fumble: The object is dropped or lost. In combat, use the Missile Weapon Fumbles Table.
• Failure: The object misses and goes 1D6 meters in a random direction.
• Success: The object lands where intended. Roll damage normally, if any.
• Special: The object lands where intended and does the special damage type as appropriate to its shape (see Special Successes).
• Critical: The object lands where intended to exceptional results, ignoring armor and doing critical damage, if appropriate.

System Notes: Add 1/2 damage modifier (round up) to a thrown weapon’s base damage. Most items can be thrown the thrower’s STR in meters, and range beyond that is Difficult. Thrown objects can be aimed.

Track

Base Chance: 10%

Category: Perception

Use this skill to identify tracks or follow a trail—whether person, vehicle, or animal&mdashlover the ground, through brush, snow, and across broken ground. A fumble loses the trail and perhaps the tracker themselves. Various degrees of success yield better results, including potentially being able to assess information about the subject being trailed or predict accurately where they are going.

System Notes: A Track roll takes 1D3 minutes, and an extended tracking attempt may require multiple rolls. Depending on the environment, the roll may be Difficult (a rainy night) or Easy (a bright snowy day). If a trail is lost, finding it again is Difficult. Trying to conceal one’s tracks is an opposed Track roll. Advanced equipment may add up to +20% to the skill rating.