Espionage
Espionage Skills
Detect Ambush
Training which develops an eye for spotting locations and terrain suitable for ambushes and being ambushed.
It also provides a rudimentary knowledge of guerilla tactics used by bandits and soldiers.
Base Skill: 30%+5 % per level of experience.
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Detect Concealment & Traps
This is a skill which enables the individual to spot and recognize camouflage, concealed structures, buildings, shelters, and caches of equipment, as well as concealed traps.
Detecting a trap enables the character to avoid or safely "spring" it without injury to himself or those around him. He cannot otherwise deactivate or reset traps.
Base Skill: 25%+5 % per level of experience.
Reduce the character's skill by half when looking for secret doors and compartments.
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Disguise
The character knows how to apply make-up, wigs, skin putty, dyes, and other special effects in order to alter or conceal his true appearance or that of somebody else. The ability to disguise oneself is different than impersonation (see below).
Base Skill: 25%+5% per level of experience.
Reduce the character's skill by half when he tries to determine whether or not somebody else is wearing a disguise.
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Escape Artist
The methods, principles, and tricks of escape artists. Includes muscle control (tensing and relaxing muscles), flexing and popping joints, knowledge of knots, and the ability to conceal small objects on the person.
The character can try slipping out of handcuffs, chains, ropes, straightjackets, etc. Note: Picking locks is a separate and distinct skill.
Base Skill: 25%+5% per level of experience.
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Forgery
The techniques of making false copies of official documents, signatures, passports, I.D.s, wax seals, and other printed or hand made documents, crests, or seals.
The forger must have an original copy to work from (or have total recall) in order to make an accurate copy. Literacy in one or more languages is a plus, otherwise the character is making a visual copy with no understanding of what the document says and is -15% on his skill roll.
Base Skill: 20%+5 % per level of experience.
Add a bonus of +2% if the character has the heraldry skill and +3% for the art skill. Note: Forgers can recognize other counterfeits at -10%.
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Imitate Voices & Impersonation
The ability t o imitate the voice, accent and expressions of another person or regional dialect. This skill is common among thieves and assassins, as well as demons and other villains.
The first number indicates the character's ability to change his voice and imitate accents, inflections and expressions from other regions. A successful roll means he has disguised his normal/true speaking voice and accent, and convincingly sounds like he is from another region or part of the world.
The second number indicates the character's ability to accurately imitate the voice, inflections and attitude of a specific person!
This is much more difficult, and the character will either need to know the person being imitated very well, or have spent hours studying him/her.
Base Skill: 36%/16%+4% per level of experience.
Impersonation Note: When combined with the disguise and intelligence skills, the character is able to completely impersonate a specific person or person of a particular occupation (soldier, knight, wizard, priest, etc.).
This is likely to include knowledge of the subject being impersonated, military procedure, dress, heraldry/rank, and will usually require speaking the language fluently.
This means the character can convincingly impersonate a general type of person/soldier/advisor with an accurate disguise, proper action, and language.
A failed roll means some element of the impersonation is flawed, most likely some incorrect behavior or character trait, or lack of information about the person being impersonated ("Tell me again what you said that night," etc.). Such "holes" will give the character away sooner or later. Thus, the longer a character remains under the eyes of others, the more likely that something will happen to reveal the character is an impostor. This is fun to role-play, so take advantage of it.
Base Skill:
- 16%+4% per level of experience for a regional disguise of an average local person (farmer, laborer, vagabond, etc.),
- 12%+4% to impersonate a person in a specific occupation (sheriff, guard, inspector, messenger, merchant, priest, etc.),
- and 10%+4% per level of experience to impersonate a specific, known person.
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Intelligence
This is specific training in the practices and principles of recognizing and analyzing sources of information about the enemy, observation techniques, counterintelligence measures and proper procedure. This includes the practical assessment of sights and sounds, estimation of ranges, what to report, handling prisoners of war, and handling captured documents and equipment (tagging and reporting to group leader or proper authority).
This means the character will be able to accurately estimate distances, the number of enemies, direction, purpose, and assess the importance of specific information.
Further intelligence training includes a working knowledge of indigenous guerilla warfare, enemy practices, appearance, and current activities. This enables the character to recognize suspicious activity as guerilla actions and identify guerilla operatives and spies. For Example: A particular type or design of a booby trap, weapon, armor, mode of travel, or method of operation may be indicative of a particular race (wolfen, ogre, goblin, etc.) or a particular group of bandits active in the area. It may be up to the character to confirm the existence of the enemy and their strength, numbers, and current location.
Another area of training made available to intelligence is the identification of enemy troops, officers, and foreign advisors. This means the character leams the many distinguishing ranks and marks that identify specific military units, special forces, groups, gangs, and leaders of the enemy.
Such identification can pinpoint and confirm enemy operations, goals, and movement, as well as confirm outside intervention/aid. Note: A failed roll in any of the areas of intelligence means that evidence is inconclusive, or that the character has incorrectly assessed the information/situation and is uncertain.
A failed roll involving individual clues may mean the character has dismissed it entirely as being meaningless (G.M.s use your discretion).
Base Skill: 30%+4% per level of experience. Add +2% if the heraldry skill is also known.
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Pick Locks
The character knows the methods and tools for picking/opening key and basic tumbler type locks.
The character can also try to deactivate a trap, if he knows about it in advance, but does so at half his normal lock picking skill ability.
It takes 1D6 melee rounds for each attempt to pick a lock.
A failed roll means the lock holds; try again.
A second failed roll means that the lock is beyond the character's present skill level and cannot be opened!
The character can try again after a week or so but at -10% (psyched out).
He can try again at full skill proficiency after reaching a new level of experience.
Base Skill: 30%+5 % per level of experience. The character can try to deactivate traps without triggering them at half his normal skill ability.
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Pick Pockets
An ability to remove items form a person without their being aware of it.
If a pick pocket attempt fails, the item has NOT been removed and there is a 67% likelihood of the intended victim recognizing the intent of the action.
Base Skill: 25%+5% per level of experience. The character can try to deactivate traps without triggering them at one third his normal skill ability.
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Sniper
This skill represents special training in long-range bow and arrow attacks and marksmanship. Any type of long-range bow (300 foot/91.4 m range or better) can be used for sniping.
Base Skill: Adds a bonus of +2 to strike on a carefully aimed shot ---counts as two arrow shots.
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Track Humanoids
Visual tracking is the identification of tracks, and following the path of men or animals by the signs they leave on the ground and vegetation.
Tracking is a precise art, requiring much practice. The skill includes the evaluation of tracks, indicating whether the person being tracked is loaded down with equipment, running, moving slowly (by measuring the space between steps), and so on.
By this means, the tracker can estimate the person's rate of movement, apparent direction, the number of persons in the party, and whether the person knows he is being followed.
Other methods of tracking require recognizing other telltale signs, such as blood and other stains, broken and displaced vegetation, overturned rocks, waste, litter (such as bits of clothing, empty bottles, butts or ash from cigars or pipes, food scraps and bones, wrappers, soiled bandages and signs of a campfire), and even odors carried by the wind.
Likewise, the tracks of riding animals and wagons can reveal much, such as the size and type of the animal or wagon, the weight of its load, speed, direction, etc.
Counter-Tracking techniques are also known, such as covering one's trail, misdirection, parallel trails, avoiding obvious pitfalls like littering and so on.
A failed roll means that the signs are inconclusive, vague or misleading. Additional signs must be found to verify or clarify (roll again).
Three consecutive failed rolls means the tracker has completely lost the trail. Roll once every 40 yards/meters when following a trail, unless it is very obvious (like a caravan of wagons, or company of soldiers/120+ troops).
Characters attempting to follow a skilled tracker who is deliberately trying to conceal his trail suffer a penalty of -25% to stay on him. However, the character engaged in counter-tracking techniques travels at slow speeds, about half that of a casual rate of speed (or 1/4 his maximum speed).
Base Skill: 25%+5 % per level of experience for both the tracking and counter-tracking abilities. The character trained in tracking humanoids can also attempt to track animals but at half his normal skill ability.