Contortionist

Basic, Movement
Agility
The Contortionist skill is used to wriggle free from bonds, squeeze through a narrow opening, or slip out of chains.

Escape Bonds

Whenever you attempt to slip free from any kind of bonds, you make a Contortionist Test. The Difficulty depends on the Intelligence of the person who secured you in the first place. If their Intelligence exceeds your Agility Characteristic, the Test is Hard (–20). Other factors may worsen or diminish the Difficulty, such as whether simple manacles or complicated arbitrator restraint cuffs were used, or whether you were hastily secured or your captor took his time to ensure that you could not escape.

Escape Grapple

When you have been Grappled in combat, you may use the Contortionist skill to escape. Make a Contortionist Test opposed by the grappler’s Strength Test. If you win you break free, otherwise you remain Grappled.

Squeeze through a Tight Space

You can make a Contortionist Test to squeeze through a tight space, such as between the bars of your jail cell, past a cave-in blocking your path or through the air vents of a space hulk. The difficulty of the Test is set according to how tight the space is. The GM is well within his rights to rule that a space is simply too narrow to squeeze through, and common sense applies as always. Success allows you to squeeze through unhindered, whereas failure means that the opening is too narrow after all. If you fail by five or more degrees, you become stuck until you can pass a subsequent Contortionist Test or until someone helps you out of your predicament by dragging you out, greasing the passage and so on.

Most Contortionist Tests take one minute, with each degree of success reducing this time by ten seconds. Escaping a Grapple is a Full Action attempted during combat.

Hiding in Odd Spaces

You may make a Contortionist Test in place of a Concealment Test if you use the Skill to hide in an odd place, such as an air vent or oil drum.

Slippier than a Greased Kroot

The contortionist’s life is made all the more easier with the help of grease, helping him to slip out of hitherto impossible bonds. If you can first grease your body in some way, such as with oil, you gain a +10 bonus to all Contortionist Tests.