Body Skills
These skills are training in athletics, dexterity, or endurance.
- Acrobatics (DX/Hard)
Default: DX-6
Useful for:
- Reducing effective fall distance by 5 yards
- Dodge bonus from Acrobatic Dodge
- Evading through enemies
- Acrobatic Stand for recovering from prone faster
- Breath Control (HT/Hard)
Default: None
Useful for:
- Increase time you can hold your breath by 50%
- Regain 1 FP in two minutes (does not stack with spells)
- Climbing (DX/Average)
Default: DX-5
See Campaigns pg349 for details. Double climbing speed for every positive Size Modifier level and halve for every negative Size Modifier level.
- Escape (DX/Hard)
Default: DX-6
Useful for:
- If tied up, Quick Contest between opponent's Knot-Tying and your Escape skill. Only one attempt allowed
- If handcuffed, Escape-4. If you dislocate your limb before your attempt, Escape -2
- Success: Unharmed
- Failure: You take 1d damage to the limb
- Critical Failure: You take enough damage to cripple the limb
- Fast-Draw (DX/Easy)
Default: None
Ready an item, stow an item, or swap equipment in hand as a Free Action.
- Hiking (HT/Average)
Default: HT-5
Useful for increasing the party's overland travel:
- If one or more is trained: One person rolls vs Hiking-3 to increase the travel rate by 20%
- If all are trained: All people roll unmodified Hiking. One success increases travel rate by 20%. All succeed increases travel rate by 40%.
- Holdout (IQ/Average)
Default: IQ-5 or Sleight of Hand-3
Useful for:
- Hiding from plain sight is a Holdout check
- Hiding from a patdown or search is a Quick Contest between Holdout and Search skills
- Attacking with a Hidden Weapon
- Jumping (DX/Easy)
Default: None
Jumping does not require a skill roll unless there are complications and you may use the calculations below without being trained.
For the below calculations, you may replace Basic Move with half your Jumping skill if you choose:
- High Jump (in Inches): (6 x (Basic Move + # of yards moved last second)) - 10
- Long Jump (in Feet): (2 x (Basic Move + # of yards moved last second)) - 3
- Knot-Tying (DX/Easy)
Default: DX-4 or Climbing-4
General knot-tying doesn't require a roll. Assume you take the time to get it right. Roll for:
- Quickly securing something with limited time
- If tying someone up. They may attempt to escape through a Quick Contest of your Knot-Tying vs their Escape. Only one attempt allowed.
- Lockpicking (IQ/Average)
Default: IQ-5
Requires Equipment: Lockpicks
One attempts takes one minute. Complex locks may require a DX-based roll. It's recommended to make a Per-based Traps roll to check if the lock is trapped.
- Shadowing (IQ/Average)
Default: IQ-5, Observation-5, or Stealth-4
Roll vs Shadowing every 10 minutes to follow a person through a crowd. Take a -2 penalty to your skill if you belong to a lineage that isn't common to the area. Failure means you lose them or they become aware of you. If the person is aware of you, roll a Quick Contest between Shadowing and their Vision:
- Successful by 5+ or Critical Success: They think they've evaded you and become unaware again
- Successful: They are still aware of you, but you are able to keep track of them
- Unsuccessful: You lose track of them
- Critical Failure: You lose them and are following the wrong person
- Sleight of Hand (DX/Hard)
Default: DX-6
Useful for:
- Performing "magic" tricks
- Cheating when gambling: Add your Margin of Success to your Gambling roll (Max: +5). If in dim light, +3. If there's a distraction, +3. If your opponent is trained in Sleight of Hand as well, -3.
- Picking someone's pocket (object cannot be more than X pounds)
- Sleight of Hand vs higher of target's Perception or Streetwise. If the target is distracted or asleep/drunk, +5 and +10 respectively. If the object is in an inside pocket or as small as jewelry, -5 and -10 respectively.
- Sleight of Hand vs higher of Vision or Observation for anyone who is watching you or the target.
- Snatching something X pounds or less in plain sight
- Normally uncontested roll
- Sleight of Hand vs higher of Vision or Observation for anyone watching you or the object. If in dim light, +3. If there's a distraction, +3.
- Passive Income Generation
- Stealth (DX/Average)
Default: DX-5 or IQ-5
Useful for:
- Uncontested roll to move through an area or hide yourself normally
- Stealth vs higher of Observation or Perception to go somewhere that's being watched/guarded. Roll only the highest person's Observation or Perception, but give +1 for each other person keeping watch in the area.
- Many of the Element of Surprise actions
- Swimming (HT/Easy)
Default: HT-4
Useful for:
- Calm waters don't require a roll
- Turbulent waters require a Swimming roll at a penalty the GM applies (larger distance and higher turbulence make it more difficult). Success means you reach your target. Failure means you are in the water, lost 1 FP and must attempt another roll.
- Dangerous waters are the same as turbulent with a larger penalty, but failure costs 1 FP and 1 HP.
- Throwing (DX/Average)
Default: DX-3
Useful for:
- Throwing a Throwable Explosive, a Smoke Bomb, or any other palm-sized object. Apply normal Range Penalties. Gain +4 if targeting a hex on the ground. On failure, use Scattering Rules.
- Dropping anything straight down, whether flying by or standing above. This has no range penalty, but you may still benefit from +4 if you are just attempting to target the ground. On failure, still use the Scattering Rules.
Creation and Art
These skills are for crafting equipment or expressing your artistic mind.
- Alchemy (IQ/Very Hard)
Default: None
Requires Equipment: Portable Workspace Kit or Workspace in town
This is the skill used to create Potions and Poisons . The higher you have this skill, the more potions and infusions your Aura can endure at a time.
- Armoury (IQ/Average)
Default: IQ-5
Requires Equipment: Backpack Toolkit (Appropriate Skill) or Smith/Workshop in town
Must Specialize. This is the skill that you roll against to Build, repair, or improve weapons, shields, and armor. You must specialize by:
- Body Armor- for armor that goes on the body
- Heavy Weapons- for any seige weapons or equipment that uses Artillery or Gunner skills
- Melee Weapons- for any weapons intended for striking in melee combat, shields, or weapons that can use the Thrown Weapon skill
- Missile Weapons- for any non-combustion based projectile weapons like crossbows, bows, slings, etc.
- Small Arms- for any combustion based projectile weapons like pistols, muskets, ets.
- Artist (IQ/Hard)
Default: IQ-6
Must Specialize. This is the skill of visual arts. Affected by Cultural differences The possible specialties include:
- Body Art- for applying mundane tattoos, piercings, scarification, and one of the necessary skills for applying Enchanted Tattoos
- Calligraphy- for making beautiful writing (literacy not required)
- Illusion- for creating believable or evocative illusions (note: all illusions....)
- Painting- for all forms of painting or drawing on any kind of medium
- Sculpting- for creating three-dimensional art from ivory, clay, stone, metal, wood, etc.
- Camouflage (IQ/Easy)
Defaults: IQ-4 or Survival-2
This is used for concealing yourself against being spotted. When you hide something or someone, roll vs Camouflage. Any attempt to see through the camouflage must roll Vision or Observation to beat your Camouflage roll.
- Carpentry (IQ/Easy)
Default: IQ-4
Requires Equipment: Backpack Toolkit (Builders) or Workshop in town
This skill is used for creating any kind of basic wood construction.
- Dancing (DX/Average)
Default: DX-5
This skill is used to perform dances appropriate to your culture. Affected by Cultural differences
- Disguise (IQ/Average)
Default: IQ-5
This is the skill for altering your clothing, makeup, and prosthetics to hide your identity. While equipment isn't necessary, you gain a +1 benefit for using one on top of the quality modifier for the equipment. What this skill can do is:
- A basic roll will only fool the inattentive
- To fool those looking for intruders, spend 30 minutes and roll a Quick Contest of your Disguise roll vs their Perception.
- To pretend to be a specific person, you must also succeed an unopposed Acting roll.
- Enchant (IQ/Very Hard)
Default: None
Requires Equipment: Portable Workspace Kit or Workspace in town
This is the primary skill for creating Enchantments.
- Explosives (IQ/Average)
Default: IQ-5
Requires Equipment: Backpack Toolkit (Explosive) or Workshop in town
This is the skill used to Create Explosives. A successful roll can also be used to place them most effeciently. When using explosives for demolition, roll vs Explosives to increase the damage dealt to the object by 10% times the margin of success (max of 50%).
- Herbalism (IQ/Very Hard)
Default: None
Requires Equipment: Herbalism Kit or Workshop in town
Requires Naturalist. This is the primary skill for making Herbal Concoctions.
- Jeweler (IQ/Hard)
Defaults: IQ-6 or Smith-4
Requires Equipment: Backpack Toolkit (Jeweler) or Smith/Workshop in town
This is the skill used to create ornate pieces of jewelry.
- Leatherworking (DX/Easy)
Default: DX-4
Requires Equipment: Backpack Toolkit (Leatherworking) or Workshop in town
This is the skill used to create pieces of leather equipment.
- Masonry (IQ/Easy)
Default: IQ-4
Requires Equipment: Backpack Toolkit (Builders) or Workshop in town
This is the skill to create stone constructions. This can also be used to determine the structural integrity of any cave, natural stone formations, unnatural stone formations, etc.
- Musical Influence (IQ/Very Hard)
Default: None
This skill lets you increase the reaction of those listening to you play music by +1 per Margin of Success (max of +3, max of +4 if critically succeeded). You may also use this skill in place of Ritual Magic for Incantation Magic if you have the "Musical" modifier for those levels.
- Musical Instrument (IQ/Hard)
Default: Between Instruments at -3
Requires Equipment: Instrument
Must Specialize. The ability to play an instrument well enough to please an audience. Affected by Cultural differences
- Drum
- Harp
- Horn
- Stringed
- Whistle
- Woodwind
- Poetry (IQ/Average)
Default: IQ-5 or Literature-5
The ability to create and appraise creative works of written art. Affected by Language and Cultural differences
- Sewing (DX/Easy)
- Singing (HT/Easy)
- Smith (IQ/Average)
- Symbol Drawing (IQ/Hard)
Esoteric
These skills are the ability to allow your internal energies interact with the external world. These are not magical skills, but they may look like it to an untrained observer.
- Autohypnosis (IQ/Hard)
- Blind Fighting (Per/Very Hard)
- Body Control (HT/Very Hard)
- Breaking Blow (IQ/Hard)
- Esoteric Medicine (Per/Hard)
Default: Per-6
Must Specialize Each attempt consumes one charge from an appropriate Esoteric Medicine Kit, but otherwise works exactly as First Aid above. Additionally, each specialization may add a buff or remove a debuff if certain conditions are met. -
- Primal: If on a single healing roll you heal 6+ or you roll a 6 on the healing roll and you're infected with a disease, the disease will be identified as if you had successfully Diagnosed it and it will be reduced one step (example: Symptomatic reduced to Minor).
- Divine: If on a single healing roll you heal 6+ or you roll a 6 on the healing roll and you're currently suffering from a penalty to be healed (the cumulative -3 from Minor Healing, Major Healing, Spirit Mending, etc.), then you can reset this penalty. You can only benefit from this once per day.
- Outsider: If on a single healing roll you heal 6+ or you roll a 6 on the healing roll you don't consume a charge from your Esoteric Medicine Kit, and if you're missing a charge, you may also add 1 charge to that Kit.
- Enthrallment Skills
Requires: Charisma 1+ and Public Speaking 12+
For more specific instructions, go to Characters pg191.
You start with a Public Speaking roll to gather your audience, then attempt a Quick Contest of one of the below skills vs each audience memeber's Will:
- Persuade (Will/Hard)
Default: None
When you have an audience, you may attempt to make them more agreeable to you. You may add the Margin of Victory from each Quick Contest of Persuade vs Will to each audience member (for +3 reaction maximum). This takes a minute and costs 2 FP.
- Sway Emotions (Will/Hard)
Requires Persuade 12+
Default: None
When you have an audience, you may attempt to make them feel an emotion you want them to feel. This takes 10 minutes and costs 4 FP. The mood change will last 1 hour. The appropriate emotions to inflict are:
- Anger, Bordom, Depression, Disgust, Fear, Greed, Hate, Jealousy, Joy, Love, Lust, Patriotism, Peace, Sadness, or Unrest
- Suggest (Will/Hard)
Requires: Persuade 12+
When you have an audience, you may attempt to make them perform a simple action for you. "Kill the king" is acceptable, "Kill the king if they don't do as we demand" is not. Everybody in the audience who fails the Quick Contest of Persuade vs Will must attempt to carry out your order to the best of their abilities (the audience gains +5 to resist if it endangers them and +3 if it's against their personal code). This takes 20 minutes and costs 6 FP. It lasts 10 minutes, but if you stick with your audience and continue making uncontested Suggest rolls, you may extend the duration.
- Captivate (Will/Hard)
Requires: Suggest 12+
When you have an audience, you may attempt to make them do anything you want them to do! You tell a story so intricate and exciting that the audience believes they are actually inside it. This allows you to give them any orders and they will follow them as best as they understand it. If you ask them to do something dangerous or against their code, they may attempt to break out at Will-5, otherwise they will continue. This takes 30 minutes and costs 8 FP. It lasts until the subject falls unconcious, you fall unconcious, you attack the subject, or the subject reaches 1/2 Max HP to injury.
- Exorcism (Will/Hard)
- Flying Leap (IQ/Hard)
- Invisibility Art (IQ/Very Hard)
- Kiai (HT/Hard)
- Light Walk (DX/Hard)
- Mental Strength (Will/Easy)
- Power Blow (Will/Hard)
- Pressure Points (IQ/Hard)
- Pressure Secrets (IQ/Very Hard)
- Push (DX/Hard)
- Throwing Art (DX/Hard)
Knowledge
These skills are useful for answer questions about the world or applying concrete knowledge to it.
- Area Knowledge (IQ/Easy)
Default: IQ-4
Recommended for Home Town
Must specialize by small settlement/district of large city. This will tell you people or groups in charge, know important locations, or find trusted merchants and traders. You may use this to find out about a wider area at a penalty listed below:
- No Penalty: Small settlement/City district
- Area Knowledge-2: Surrounding wilderness and nearby settlements/Rest of city
- Area Knowledge-4: Other small settlements or cities within the county
- Area Knowledge-7: County the city or settlement inhabits
- Area Knowledge-10: Any other county within the Region
- Archaeology (IQ/Hard)
Default: IQ-6
Must specialize by Region. One roll gives all the information about:
- Identifying ancient ruins and objects
- Figuring out what civilizations may have used them for
- Warning the group as to what kind of traps may be in the area
- Cooking (IQ/Average)
Default: IQ-5
Preparing regular food does not require a Cooking roll. Use this skill if you would like to make a more complicated meal that's more pleasing to the consumer. You may also use this skill to attempt to hide any poisons in a meal you've prepared, giving the target a -1 to their Perception to notice the poison.
- Diagnosis (IQ/Hard)
Default: IQ-6
Useful for:
- Finding out what disease or poison is affecting someone
- Finding out what internal problems a person has died from
- Dungeon Butcher (IQ/Average)
Default: IQ-5
This is the skill used to find Magical Components from creatures you've killed
- First Aid (IQ/Easy)
Default: IQ-4, Esoteric Medicine
You can spend 30 minutes and a First Aid Kit charge to heal 1d-3. This will stop any bleeding and can only be done while the person is Reeling (at 1/3 HP or lower). If the target is above Reeling, you may only attempt First Aid once per day, and it will only heal 1 HP maximum (you may use a much cheaper Bandage for this First Aid attempt).
- At First Aid 12, add +1 to the healing roll
- At First Aid 15, add +2 to the healing roll
- At First Aid 18, add +3 to the healing roll
- At First Aid 21, add +4 to the healing roll
- At First Aid 24, add +5 to the healing roll
- Heraldry (IQ/Average)
Default: IQ-5 or Savoir-Faire (High Society)-3
Allows you to identify any noble houses or marauder clan and possibly what kind of operations they run or styles of completing them. This is affected by Cultural Differences
- Hidden Lore (IQ/Average)
Default: None
Must specialize. Roll vs this skill to find out information about a very specific set of information. There are some optional specialties that are IQ/Easy instead:
- Abominations: Any magically altered creatures that are generally hostile to mortals and the rituals and factions that make them
- Constructs: Any magically animated being that is a homogeneous solid, liquid, or gas
- Dragons: Any of the original draconic species that inhabited the world before the Celestials came
- Undead: Any creature that used to be alive, was killed, and now is not dead anymore
- Spirit: Any insubstantial being. This has Optional Specializations:
- Mortal Spirits: The souls of mortals that have died and have not moved on
- Primal Spirits: Any insubstantial beings that originate from one of the Primal Celestials' realms
- Divine Spirits: Any insubstantial beings that originate from one of the Divine Celestials' realms
- Outsider Spirits: Any insubstantial beings that originate from one of the Outsiders' realms
- Primals: Any beings, factions, or rituals related to the Primal Celestials. This has Optional Specializations:
- Eternal Flame: Anything associated with the Eternal Flame's realm
- Frozen Deep: Anything associated with the Frozen Deep's realm
- Tempest: Anything associated with the Tempest's realm
- Earth Shaper: Anything associated with the Earth Shaper's realm
- Untamed Wild: Anything associated with the Untamed Wild's realm
- Divines: Any beings, factions, or rituals related to the Divine Celestials. This has Optional Specializations:
- Gala: Anything associated with the Gala's realm
- Bastion: Anything associated with the Bastion's realm
- Ferryman: Anything associated with the Ferryman's realm
- Weaver: Anything associated with the Weaver's realm
- Scribe: Anything associated with the Scribe's realm
- Outsiders: Any beings, factions, or rituals related to the Outsiders. This has Optional Specializations:
- Invalid: Anything associated with the Invalid's realm
- Trials of Man: Anything associated with the Trials of Man's realm
- Traveler: Anything associated with the Traveler's realm
- Chaotic: Anything associated with the Chaotic's realm
- Veil: Anything associated with the Veil's realm
- Literature (IQ/Hard)
Default: IQ-6
Useful for:
- Recall myths and legends and any people, creatures, or locations covered by them as well as what they are capable of
- Writing a fiction or nonfiction book
- Naturalist (IQ/Hard)
Default: IQ-6
Useful for:
- Tell dangerous plants from safe plants
- Find shelter in a storm
- Tell what the weather will be like soon
- Identify plants, animals, and hybrids
- Find herbs for Herbalism
- Navigation (IQ/Average)
Default: IQ-5
This skill is for using maps to their fullest. Useful for:
- Using a map to find your way to a destination off any road or path
- If you have proper tools, you may use this skill to make a map.
- Using stars, landmarks, and terrain to locate your position on a map
- Observation (Per/Average)
Default: Per-5 or Shadowing-5
The skill of watching something without looking like your watching something. Useful for:
- Monitor a location, group of people, or your immediate surroundings for concealed or tactically significant details
- Locate any deliberately hidden people, objects, or places with Quick Contest between Observation vs Stealth, Shadowing, Camouflage, or Sleight of Hand
- Aiding an ally who is being attacked
- Religious Ritual (IQ/Hard)
Default: Theology (Same)-4
Must Specialize. The skill to successfully perform masses, weddings, funerals, etc. You may perform a 10 minute ritual to charge 2 yard radius area with a chosen Celestial's magic, giving everyone in the area a +1 to effective skill on all spells in that Celestial's spell list until you leave the area:
- Steana: The rites, rituals, and practices that belong to the people of Steana. The Celestial worshipped is the Trials of Man.
- Research (IQ/Average)
Default: IQ-5 or Literature-3
The skill to find answers to questions you don't have answers for. This requires access to some form of library or other repository of knowledge.
- Search (Per/Average)
Default: Per-5
Useful for:
- Finding hidden objects on a person with a Quick Contest of Search vs Holdout
- Finding objects hidden from view with a Quick Contest of Search vs Camouflauge or Smuggling
- Smuggling (IQ/Average)
Default: IQ-5
No roll required for a casual inspection. Quick Contest of Smuggling vs Search to hide an object from a thorough investigation.
- Surgery (IQ/Very Hard)
Default: First Aid-12
Requires Equipment. Useful for:
- If someone fails a Death Check by 5 or less, you may attempt a Surgery roll to stabilize the victim. This takes 1 hour.
- If someone has a temporarily crippled limb, you may attempt a Surgery roll to accelerate the recovery process, changing the time from months to weeks. This takes 2 hours.
- Survival (Per/Average)
Default: Per-5 or Naturalist-3
Must Specialize. Allows you to care for yourself and up to 10 people in the terrain type. This allows you to do any kind of action that's deemed appropriate for survival in these terrains:
- Arctic
- Cave Expanse
- Desert
- Islands/Beach
- Jungle
- Lake: Must be able to live underwater
- Mana Wastes
- Mountain
- Ocean: Must be able to live underwater
- Plains
- River: Must be able to live underwater
- Sky Islands
- Swamp
- Volcanic Surroundings
- Woodlands
- Tactics (IQ/Hard)
Default: IQ-6
Useful for:
- Gives you information on your opponent's Battle Plans
- Gives you the likely plan an known enemy will use to assault a location
- Allows placement of people under your command if your party and the opposing party surprise each other before combat
- Teaching (IQ/Average)
Default: IQ-5
If you have Teaching at 12+, you may help others Improve Through Study.
- Theology (IQ/Hard)
IQ-6 or Religious Ritual (Same)-4
Must Specialize. The study of the Celestials, cosmology, doctrines, and scriptures of the Region's religions:
- Steana: The common knowledge of the religious orders that are practiced by the people of Steana. The Celestial worshipped is the Trials of Man.
- Tracking (Per/Average)
Default: Per-5 or Naturalist-5
Useful for:
- Unmodified roll to track someone or something through the wilderness. The older the trail or the wetter the climate, the more difficult the roll will be.
- If following someone trained in Tracking, roll a Quick Contest of Tracking skills to follow the path successfully
- Traps (IQ/Average)
Default: IQ-5, Lockpicking-2, or DX-5 (DX is only for disarming or resetting a trap)
Useful for:
- Per-based Traps roll to detect traps or detection devices
- Disarm or reset a trap
- Build a new trap
- Urban Survival (Per/Average)
Default: Per-5
Useful for:
- Surviving in urban environments
- Finding important transportation spots like manhole covers, easily scaled ledges, holes in walls, etc. in familiar or unfamiliar cities
- Finding cheap, discarded items for free
Social
These are the skills used to interact with other living things in a nonviolent way.
- Acting (IQ/Average)
Default IQ-5 or Public Speaking -5
Useful for:
- Convince people you are feeling a way you are not, Quick Contest of Acting vs Body Language to avoid someone looking too close
- Unopposed roll to impersonate a person (goes well with a Disguise roll)
- Play Dead
- Animal Handling (IQ/Average)
Default: IQ-5
Useful for:
- Roll once per day to train an animal a new command. This takes (8 - Animal's IQ + # of commands already known) days. Advance an extra day for every critical success. Here are some possible Commands
- Calm down a panicking animal
- If you are fighting a creature you have Animal Handling at 15+ for, they have -1 to attack and defense rolls against you. If Animal Handling at 20+, they are at -2.
Animal Handling categories:
- Fish/Mollusks
- Arthropodes
- Avians
- Reptiles/Dragons
- Mammal Omnivores/Herbivores
- Mammal Carnivores
- Body Language (Per/Average)
Default: Detect Lies-4
Useful for:
- Unopposed roll to tell the emotion of the subject, Quick Contest between Body Language vs Acting if they are attempting to hide
- To tell if someone is lying, Quick Contest between Body Language vs Acting
- Carousing (HT/Easy)
Default: HT-4
Useful for:
- A successful roll lets you increase the target's Reaction by +2 for the purposes of Requesting Aid. A failed roll instead gives a -2.
- When determining Intoxication level you may roll vs this instead of HT
- Connoisseur (IQ/Average)
Default: IQ-5
Must Specialize. This the skill used to determine the value of something found. A successful roll gives you the general price of an object, any notable characteristics about it, and a +1 to Merchant when trying to buy or sell it.
- Gems and Jewelry
- Weapons (affected by Cultural Familiarity)
- Armor
- Religious Artifacts (Primal)
- Religious Artifacts (Divine)
- Religious Artifacts (Outsider)
- Detect Lie (Per/Hard)
Default: Per-6
This is the skill to catch key words, mismatched names, etc. to determine if something is a lie or not. Useful for:
- To tell if someone is lying to you, roll a Quick Contest of Detect Lie vs their IQ or Fast-Talk if appropriate
- To tell if something written is a forgery, roll a Quick Contest of Detect Lie vs the writer's IQ and apply language and cultural penalties normally
- Diplomacy (IQ/Hard)
Default: IQ-6
This is the skill of negotiating and compromising. If you have this skill at 20+, gain a +2 bonus on all Reaction Rolls. Useful for:
- Making a deal with another person
- Trying to talk a possible hostile down from initiating combat
- Predict the possible outcome
- Fast-Talk (IQ/Average)
Default: IQ-5 or Acting-5
If you have this skill at 20+, you gain a +2 on all Reaction Rolls. This skill is the ability to speaking quickly to confuse a target and getting them to do something against their better judgement. You must roll Quick Contest of Fast-Talk vs the higher of Detect Lies or Body Language where appropriate in order to successfully confuse.
- Gambling (IQ/Average)
Default: IQ-5
Useful for:
- To determine the winner of a game of chance, roll a Quick Contest of Gambling skills
- You may roll unmodified to get an idea of how skilled at gambling an opponent is, or a Quick Contest of Gambling vs Acting if the target is attempting to look more or less skilled for whatever reason
- Gesture (IQ/Easy)
Default: IQ-4
A successful roll lets you convey a simple message without making a sound. Language differences don't affect the roll, but Cultural differences do.
- Intimidation (Will/Average)
- Leadership (IQ/Average)
Default: IQ-5
Useful for:
- Organizing and leading anyone under your command
- Rallying any people under your command when they are routing
- Keeping your allies on target
- Coordinating Attacks
- Merchant (IQ/Average)
Default: IQ-5
When buying or selling, the Reaction Table is used to determine the price the merchant will offer. You may roll a Quick Contest of Merchant skills to make the price better by 10% of selling price per Margin of Success. If you have any points in Merchant, their Reaction towards you will be at +1 and +2 if you have Merchant skill at 20+.
- Mimicry (IQ/Hard)
Default: IQ-6
Must Specialize. This allows you to successfully immitate sounds made by other living things. This can act as a successful Acting roll for something or someone that cannot see you.
- Animal Sounds
- Bird Calls
- Speech
- Mount (DX/Average)
Default: DX-5
The ability to serve as a mount. If your skill is greater than your rider's Riding level, they may use the average of the two skills (round up). To throw an unwelcome rider, win Quick Contest of Mount vs their Riding skill.
- Public Speaking (IQ/Average)
IQ-5 or Acting-5
This skill is useful for gathering a crowd's attention and proceeding to give a speech, entertain a group around a campfire, incite or calm a riot, or put on a "court jester" act.
- Riding (DX/Average)
Default: DX-5 or Animal Handling (same)
Must Specialize. Make a skill roll when you first try to mount a riding animal and again each time something happens to frighten or challenge your mount.
- Fish/Mollusks
- Large Arthropodes
- Large Avians
- Large Reptiles/Dragons
- Large Mammal Omnivores
- Large Mammal Carnivores
- Savoir-Faire (IQ/Easy)
Default: IQ-4
Must Specialize. This skill allows you to blend into a appropriate subculture. Each specialization works between cultures, but does suffer from cultural familiarity.
- High Society
- Martial Organization
- Criminal Organization
- Servant
- Sex Appeal (HT/Average)
Default: HT-3
Useful for:
- Getting someone that finds you attractive to do what you want
- Use as a Reaction Roll for anyone that finds you attractive
- Streetwise (IQ/Average)
Default: IQ-5
This is the social aspect of Urban Survival. Useful for:
- Locating any illegal operations and services
- Use as a Reaction Roll when dealing with someone from the underworld or "bad neighborhood"
