Trait Focuses

Focuses, Talents, Specializations, Quirks, & Stunts

As noted in Pony Creation, a focus is an area of expertise within a larger ability. A pony with Charm (D8) and the Creative Flair: Deception talent is a good communicator in general, but excels at fooling others. If you have a focus, you get to role its die when making a test related to it. The Narrator will usually let you know what focus applies to each test, but if it isn’t clear don’t be afraid to ask if a focus applies. You can learn more about ability tests and how focuses apply in Playing the Game. Descriptions of the trait focuses follow. The Narrator has the final call on whether a focus applies to a given test.
Click on the links below for a complete list of focuses in the game.

• Creative Flairs
• Keen Knowledges
• Special Skills

Improving Focuses

Focuses grant an extra die to roll on one’s ability tests. For more powerful ponies, that measure of focus is not always enough to win the day or to set your ponies apart from others with similar training. Therefore, ponies can upgrade these as they level to further improve their rolls. Use the same rule as though they were any other talent.

Optional: Trade Focuses

Tails of Thedastria is not the game of everyday life in Thedastria. It’s about adventurers facing grave threats in extraordinary circumstances. This is why, while there are focuses to cover trade skills, they are quite broad. There is one focus—Smithing—that covers armorers, weaponsmiths, goldsmiths, and so on. This is not an accurate simulation of the differences between artisans, but nor is it meant to be. For the purposes of most Tails of Thedastria games, the Smithing focus is enough.
Some players, however, may want finer distinctions than the current focus list provides. Maybe it’s important to you that your pony’s skills are specifically those of a weaponsmith, rather than a common blacksmith. If you want to do that and your Narrator agrees, you can take almost any medieval trade you can think of and turn it into a focus. You just need to figure out the most appropriate trait (most will likely be Charm). These focuses will be much narrower than most in the game, but if that suits your pony concept (or an NPC’s nature, in the case of the Narrator) the option is open to you.

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