Combat Active Skills

When the punching and the kicking and the shooting starts, these are the skills you use. All Combat skills are linked to Agility unless otherwise noted. For more on how skills are used in combat, refer to the Combat chapter, p. 158, CRB.

ARCHERY

Archery is used to fire string-loaded projectile weapons. An archer is familiar with many different styles of bow and the multitude of arrows that can be used to maximum effect.
Default: Yes
Skill Group: No
Specialisations: Bow, Crossbow, Non-Standard Ammunition, Slingshot

AUTOMATICS

The Automatics skill covers a specific subset of firearms larger than handheld pistols but smaller than rifles. This category includes submachine guns and other fully automatic carbines.
Default: Yes
Skill Group: Firearms
Specialisations: Assault Rifles, Cyber-Implant, Machine Pistols, Submachine Guns, Carbines

BLADES

Slice and dice! The Blades skill includes the use of all handheld slashing and stabbing weapons. You can use a range of edged weapons including daggers, swords, and axes.
Default: Yes
Skill Group: Close Combat
Specialisations: Axes, Knives, Swords, Parrying

CLUBS

Clubs governs the use of all hand-held bludgeoning instruments. With this skill you can turn any blunt item, be it a baseball bat, crutch, or mace, into a weapon.
Default: Yes
Skill Group: Close Combat
Specialisations: Batons, Hammers, Saps, Staves, Parrying

EXOTIC RANGED WEAPON (SPECIFIC)

Sometimes a regular gun or blade won’t do the job and you need something fancier. Or weirder. This skill must be taken once for each unusual ranged weapon you want to use. Some examples include blowguns, gyrojet pistols, flamethrowers, and lasers.
Default: No
Skill Group: None
Specialisations: None

HEAVY WEAPONS

The term heavy weapon is designated for all projectile weaponry larger than an assault rifle, such as grenade launchers, machine guns, and assault cannons. This skill is exclusive to handheld and non-vehicle-mounted weaponry—if you’ve got a gun mounted on or in a vehicle, use Gunnery.
Default: Yes
Skill Group: None
Specialisations: Assault Cannons, Grenade Launchers, Guided Missiles, Machine Guns, Rocket Launchers

LONGARMS

The Longarms skill is for firing extended-barrel weapons such as sporting rifles and sniper rifles. This grouping also includes weapons like shotguns that are designed to be braced against the shoulder.
Default: Yes
Skill Group: Firearms
Specialisations: Extended-Range Shots, Long-Range Shots, Shotguns, Sniper Rifles

PISTOLS

This skill category includes all types of handheld pistols, including tasers, single-shots, semi-automatics, and revolvers.
Default: Yes
Skill Group: Firearms
Specialisations: Holdouts, Revolvers, Semi-Automatics, Tasers

THROWING WEAPONS

Throwing Weapons is a broad-based attack skill that can be used for any handheld item that is thrown by the user as a weapon.
Default: Yes
Skill Group: None
Specialisations: Aerodynamic, Blades, Non-Aerodynamic

UNARMED COMBAT

Unarmed Combat covers the various self-defence and attack moves that employ the body as a primary weapon. This includes a wide array of martial arts along with the use of cybernetic implant weaponry and the fighting styles that sprung up around those implants.
Default: Yes
Skill Group: Close Combat
Specialisations: Blocking, Cyber Implants, Subduing Combat, or by specific Martial Art