1.2.0 Skills

A character’s skills are the PC’s learned abilities. A newly-created character starts with a few relevant skills and may acquire more as they advance in level. NPCs do not have individual skills, instead relying on their combat stat line’s skill bonus when relevant. See section 2.3.0 for the rules for making skill checks.

1.2.1 Skill Levels

Skills are rated on a scale between level-0 and level-4. A character must reach a certain minimum experience level to develop a skill to level-2 or beyond.

Skill Level  
Level-0 Basic competence in the skill, such as an ordinary practitioner would have
Level-1 An experienced professional in the skill, clearly better than most
Level-2 Veteran expert, one respected even by those with considerable experience
Level-3 Master of the skill, likely one of the best in the city
Level-4 Superlative expertise, one of the best in the world

1.2.2 Gaining Skills in Character Creation

Characters gain skills from their Backgrounds as described in the section below and from a single free pick in section 1.7.4. Some Foci also grant particular skills. The first time a skill is picked or given, a character obtains it at level-0. The second time it is picked or given, the skill becomes level-1. The third and further times a skill is picked or given during character creation, the player instead picks any other skill that is not already level-1. No character can begin play with skills above level-1.

1.2.3 The Skill List

The following skills are standard to most fantasy campaigns. GMs may add or subtract from this list for specialized settings. Some skills may overlap at points in their application; the character may use either skill at their discretion.

  • Administer: Keep an organization running smoothly, scribe things well, plan out logistics, identify incompetent or treacherous workers, analyze records or archives, or otherwise do things that an executive or middle-manager would need to do.

  • Connect: Find or know people who are useful to your purposes, make friendships or social acquaintances, know who to talk to get favors or services, and call on the help or resources of organizations you belong to.Connect covers your PC’s ability to find the people you need, though convincing them to help may require more than this.

  • Convince: Persuade a listener that something you are saying is true.Naturally, the more implausible the claim or more emotionally repugnant it is to them, the more difficult it is to persuade them.Furthermore, how they act on their newfound conviction is up to them and their motivations, and may not be perfectly predictable.

  • Craft: Craft or repair goods and technology appropriate to the PC’s background and society.The Craft skill can be used for a wide range of artisan pursuits, though a GM is within their rights to keep the PC from building complex things that are too far away from their past background and experience.

  • Exert: Run, swim, climb, jump, labor for long periods, throw things, or otherwise exert your physical strength, stamina, and coordination.Even a PC with poor physical attributes might have a good Exert skill reflecting athletic training and expertise in making the most of their available talents.

  • Heal: Treat wounds, cure diseases, neutralize poisons, diagnose psychological health issues, and otherwise tend to the wounds of body and mind.The Heal skill cannot cure lost hit points directly, but it’s a vital skill in stabilizing Mortally Wounded allies or ensuring clean recovery.

  • Know: Know matters of history, geography, natural science, zoology, and other academic fields appropriate to a sage or scholar.While some sages might specialize in particular fields, most learned men and women in this age have a broad range of understanding, and will rarely be unable to even attempt to answer a question relevant to this skill.

  • Lead: Inspire others to follow your lead and believe in your plans and goals.Manage subordinates and keep them focused, loyal, and motivated in the face of danger or failure.A successful leader will keep their subordinate’s faith and confidence even when reason might make the leader’s plan appear questionable at best.

  • Magic: Cast or analyze magic and know things about famous mages or notable magical events.Classes that can’t cast spells obtain only intellectual and scholarly benefits from this skill.

  • Notice: Notice small details, impending ambushes, hidden features, or concealed objects.Detect subtle smells, sounds, or other sensory input.Notice cannot be used simply to detect a lie, but keen attention can often discern a subject’s emotional state.

  • Perform: Sing, act, dance, orate, or otherwise perform impressively for an audience.Compose music, plays, writings, or other works of performance art.Most performers will have a particular field they excel at, though polymaths might exist if the PC’s background is appropriate for such versatility.

  • Pray: Perform the clerical rites of your religion, and be familiar with the gods, demons, and taboos of major and minor faiths, and identify iconography and persons of religious importance.Pray also helps you know the state of local faiths and the important persons in their hierarchies.

  • Punch: Fight unarmed or with natural body weaponry.Punch, kick, grapple, or otherwise brawl without the benefit of man-made tools.This mode of fighting is inefficient at best without some special Foci to improve it, but it’s reliably non-lethal.

  • Ride: Ride an animal, drive a cart or carriage, or otherwise deal with land transportation.This skill also includes competence at mount care and tending, basic cart or carriage repair, judging good horseflesh, and other skills appropriate to a beast-rider of whatever society the PC comes from.

  • Sail: Sail or repair a ship, build small craft, navigate by the stars, read sea weather, manage sailors, and otherwise conduct the business of a professional mariner.This skill may apply to more esoteric means of vehicular travel in some societies.

  • Shoot: Fire a bow or crossbow or throw a hurled weapon.Maintain ranged weaponry and fletch arrows.

  • Sneak: Move silently, hide in shadows, avoid notice, pick pockets, disguise yourself, pick locks, defeat traps, or otherwise overcome security measures.

  • Stab: Fight with melee weapons or throw a hurled weapon.Maintain and identify weaponry.

  • Survive: Hunt, fish, navigate by the stars, mitigate environmental hazards, identify plants and wildlife, and craft basic survival tools and shelter.A PC’s Survive skill is most pertinent to the environments in their background, but the basic principles can be applied in all but the most alien environments.

  • Trade: Buy and sell at a profit, identify the worth of goods or treasures, deal with merchants and traders, find black-market goods and services, and know laws regarding smuggling and contraband.

  • Work: This skill is a catch-all for any profession that might not other wise merit its own skill, such as a painter, lawyer, farmer, or herdsman.The precise skill it represents will vary with the PC’s background.