Incompetent
Bonus: 5 Karma
An Incompetent character possesses a total lack of knowledge or ability with a certain Active skill group— or, perhaps worse, they have some vague knowledge or the skills contained in the group, but they have neither the coordination nor the comprehension to come anywhere close to carrying it off properly. No matter how much effort they put into this area, they simply cannot grasp it—it would take a miracle for them to somehow, someday advance to the level of “poor” in those skills.
Incompetent may not be applied to Language or Knowledge skills. The Incompetent character is treated as having skill level of “unaware” for all skills in the skill group (see the Skill Rating Table, p. 131, CRB).
In some cases, a Success Test may be required for tasks most people take for granted. Characters may not possess that skill group for which they have the Incompetent quality. If gear grants a bonus or requires the use of a specific skill in which the character is Incompetent, the character gains no benefits from the gear.
Gamemasters are free to reject any choices that would prove irrelevant or exploitative in actual play, such as Incompetent: Outdoors in a campaign based entirely inside an arcology. (This should go without saying, but just in case: Characters may never choose Incompetent for any skill group that they are physically incapable of using. A non-magician cannot take Incompetent in Sorcery, Conjuring, or Enchanting; a non-technomancer cannot be Incompetent in a skill that requires Resonance; and so on.)
Incompetent may be purchased only once.
CRB 81