Introduction
The Skills Manual represents the experiences and training that coalesce to form a character’s ability to do things. The Manual is designed to provide the tools to answer the question, “How well is the character able to manifest their potential?”.
As every character in Spectrum is a bespoke creation whose combination of capabilities is limited only by the player’s imagination, the Skills Manual provides players with the freedom to create versatile and dynamic characters, instead of relying on the concept of pre-made character classes or archetypes.
Interpretation of this Living Document
If you find yourself at a loss as to how a skill mechanic should be represented for a specific situation, here are the quick steps that we suggest:
- Don’t Panic.
- Take a quick pause in the game.
- The player/narrator explains what they are trying to do.
- Have a discussion and settle on something.
- FAFO (Fuck Around and Find Out)
- Email BCG and tell us about it. The benefit of the living document is that it will grow and adapt as needed.
Common Mechanics vs. Dramatic Moments
Throughout most stories the players will find their characters in mundane situations requiring a skill’s common mechanics tests. In most cases these tests represent the small discrete steps of building story tension by representing minor “risk of loss” scenarios. By being part of the general gestalt ebb and flow of the narrative these tests are rarely epic or pivotal narrative moments. For example, swimming across a small calm river to pick up a trail on the other side is a fairly mundane situation that the narrator may require a series of Swimming tests to determine how much time it takes for the party to cross. This potential loss of in-story time adds some small meaningful definition to the story but would likely be resolved with a few skill test rolls.
Sometimes, however, the narrative reaches a point where focusing on a skill test with a more powerful lens adds to the suspense and impact of the Story. These dramatic moments are for when seconds count, the stakes are higher, or maybe the characters are trying to salvage a truly foolish decision. During these dramatic moments, the common mechanics become optional, and all bets are off. For example, the Narrator may impose time limits to the roll forcing certain decisions to be made quickly. Alternatively, the players may suggest a certain goal point limit in order to allow them to achieve something truly epic, albeit outlandish in the context of physics and reality. Dramatic moments go beyond the simple “How do you want to do this?” by making the mechanics themselves add to the very tension of the moment.
During these dramatic moments, both players and narrators are encouraged to flex their narrative skills in proportion to the magnitude of the moment.
Anatomy of a Skill
Name: This is the title of the skill. As skills are a very broad category and this is a very finite game, Spectrum takes some liberties to combine skill genres. This is for simplicity of play as well as an attempt to keep the total number of skills vaguely manageable.
*: the asterisk denotes if a skill requires the declaration of specialization. The reason for the specification is that it starts to get rather silly to expect a character to have the full breadth of “Science” in their brains, but equally, it would be quite silly to list and specify every possible scientific specialization in this section. The happy medium is that we suggest narrators require their players to narrow down the specialty of a skill. Nothing prevents a character from having multiple independent ratings in the same skill. For example, a Scientist might have ratings 3 different ratings in Science to represent their studies of Chemistry, Physics, and Botany.
Associated Attribute: As described in the core skills section, each skill has an associated attribute. While it’s rare that a skill is truly a 1:1 with any given attribute, this relationship is not quite perfect (as with anything in the TTRPG space), but it is close enough for our purposes.
Skill Deficit: In much the same way that most beings are born with few skills or knowledge, beyond base survival instincts, hardwired in every skill begins at a deficit.
Higher deficits represent the increased difficulty or time and effort involved with developing that skill. For example, learning to swim is decidedly easier than learning to drive a fire truck.
Description: This is the basic description of what the skill covers. The description is meant to merely describe the basis of the skill rather than the total capability. For that reason, these descriptions have been intentionally left broad so as to allow wiggle room for both the players and narrators to facilitate fun and dynamic storytelling and gameplay.
Applications: The applications section for skills lists the two or three most common uses that we expect players to use. When common applications have an explanation of scope without any codified rules this usually represents that the skill uses the standard mechanic of rolling a skill test vs a difficulty as explained in the core rules. Certain skills, such as Craft and Repair, have dedicated mechanics that will need to be applied when using the skill.
They’re More What You’d Call Guidelines than Actual Rules
Neither players nor narrators should feel limited by what is listed in the “applications” section. Any skill can be as useful as a player or narrator can imagine (and successfully argue) it to be.
Master Skill List
| NAME | ASSOCIATED ATTRIBUTE | SKILL DEFICIT |
| Academics* | Reason | -7 |
| Acrobatics | Agility | -10 |
| Animal Handling | Intuition | -10 |
| Animal Riding* | Agility | -7 |
| Appraisal | Reason | -10 |
| Athletics | Strength | -10 |
| Bow | Agility | -13 |
| Climbing | Agility | -5 |
| Conditioning | Endurance | -10 |
| Craft* | Finesse | -17 |
| Crew Served Weapon | Strength | -13 |
| Diving | Reason | -10 |
| Dodge | Agility | -3 |
| Engineering* | Reason | -17 |
| Etiquette* | Perception | -5 |
| Explosives | Reason | -13 |
| Handgun | Finesse | -13 |
| Intimidation | Martial | -5 |
| Investigation | Reason | -10 |
| Languages* | Intuition | -10 |
| Legerdemain | Finesse | -10 |
| Long Gun | Agility | -13 |
| Medicine | Reason | -17 |
| Meditation | Perception | -7 |
| Melee, Flexible | Martial | -13 |
| Melee, Grapple | Martial | -10 |
| Melee, One-Hand | Martial | -10 |
| Melee, Precision | Martial | -13 |
| Melee, Shield | Martial | -5 |
| Melee, Two-Hand | Martial | -10 |
| Melee, Unarmed | Martial | -7 |
| Navigation | Perception | -10 |
| Performance* | Finesse | -7 |
| Persuasion | Intuition | -5 |
| Read Nonverbal | Perception | -3 |
| Repair | Intuition | -13 |
| Science* | Reason | -13 |
| Search | Perception | -5 |
| Security* | Perception | -13 |
| Stealth | Finesse | -13 |
| Survival | Intuition | -17 |
| Swimming | Strength | -3 |
| Targeting | Perception | -13 |
| Throwing | Finesse | -5 |
| Vehicle | Finesse | -10 |
Academics*
Type: Reason
Initial Deficit: –7
Description: Represents formal or self-taught knowledge of a specified, non-scientific discipline such as history, law, literature, occultism, philosophy, or religion.
Common Applications
Research: A character uses this skill to gain information related to other Reason-based skills. Researching is an extended skill test in which each roll represents one hour. At the end of the skill test, the character receives an adjustment bonus to skill tests related to the researched Reason skill. This benefit is temporary and decreases by 10 points after every rest period.
Recall: The immediate recollection or recognition of a fact or reference to the character’s chosen discipline. This is performed as an instant skill check, with the required goal points being related to how esoteric or unrelated the information is.
Extrapolation: A prolonged academic effort, such as authoring a paper, piecing together philosophical principles of a manifesto, or unlocking the individual pieces of a syncretic occult ritual. This is resolved as an extended skill test. Each roll should represent a period of time between one hour and one week.
Acrobatics
Type: Agility
Initial Deficit: –10
Description: Represents contorting the body and defying one’s center of gravity. It includes actions like parkour, flips, difficult jumps, and using a slackline.
Common Applications
Balance: The practiced ability to maintain equilibrium in various situations and conditions. When a character experiences an event that could cause them to become unbalanced or fall, they may first make an acrobatics skill test subtracting the goal points generated from the unbalancing effect. Any remaining points in the effect are resolved normally.
Tumble: When the character lands, as from a fall or a jump, the character makes an Acrobatics test and mitigates one point of fall damage per goal point generated.
Maneuver: When performing a movement action, a character may make an Acrobatics test to avoid moving at reduced speed. The target number for this test is variable depending on the difficulty or dangerousness of the terrain.
Animal Handling
Type: Intuition
Initial Deficit: –10
Description: Represents the character’s ability to safely interact with, control, or train an animal. Note that riding an animal is covered by the Riding skill.
Common Applications
Interact: Animal Handling tests can be instant or extended skill tests. The target number is determined by the animal’s aggression and/or aversion towards the character. On a successful test the goal points generated in excess of the target number are treated as temporary contact points and the animal may allow the character to approach and interact with it.
Manage: The knowledge and ability to care for an animal. Normally this will not require a skill roll, but under certain circumstances, such as limited resources or severe environments, a roll may be required to determine if the character’s skill can surmount the negative elements.
Train: When the character shares a bond with an animal, they can attempt to train the animal to follow commands. These commands may consist of words, sounds, gestures, or some combination.
The amount of time it takes to train an animal involves many variables, such as intelligence, demeanor, proclivity, relationship, etc. Simple commands, such as “sit” or “backup” may take as little as one or two weeks while more involved behaviors can take many months. As a general rule training an animal is an extended skill test with each roll representing a week of regularly working with the animal. And training an animal to perform tasks with in-game mechanics should, in general, cost the character an experience point per skill point they wish the animal to have to perform the trained skill.
Animal Riding*
Type: Agility
Initial Deficit: –7
Description: Involves the activity of riding an animal in order to perform tasks such as increasing the speed of travel, traversing across long distances, or passing over rugged terrain.
Common Applications
Endurance: Represents when a mounted creature is used to traverse over long distances in a manner that is safe for the character and the animal. Skill use for this activity is usually an extended skill action where each roll represents some number of consecutive kilometers of riding. Goal points generated with this skill provide the mount and the rider with an adjustment bonus when performing exhaustion checks while riding.
Maneuvering (Reigning): Represents the character’s ability to guide a mounted creature, that is appropriately trained, to perform precise movement patterns while traversing various terrain and environments. This test is usually an instant test with the difficulty determined by the variables listed in the vehicle section.
Jumping: Represents the character’s ability to safely and predictably guide a mounted creature to jump over obstacles and gaps. This skill is an instant test performed while riding the mount and used when the character wants the mount to perform a jump action with the goal points generated, representing the rider’s ability to have the mount perform the jump in the specific manner that the rider desires.
Appraisal
Type: Reason
Initial Deficit: –10
Description: Represents the ability of a character to gauge the relative value of specific items within specific markets. Additionally, it allows the character to arrive at this conclusion by evaluating the item’s authenticity, provenance, and relative quality.
Common Applications
Identify: This can be an instant or extended skill test, depending on the character’s familiarity with the subject matter. The difficulty is determined by the narrator related to the context of the test and the item, as well as the esoteric nature of the item to be identified.
Provenance: Related to determining the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. This is almost always an extended skill test with the time represented by each roll being highly variable, depending on such factors as the character’s access to research materials and the size of the market in question, and could range from minutes to days.
Value: For purposes of this skill, characters are assumed to possess some degree of knowledge about the market for items associated with skills in which they have at least one skill point.
Athletics
Type: Strength
Initial Deficit: –10
Description: Reflects the character’s abilities to perform strength-based activities.
Common Applications
Jumping: The character’s trained skill at leaping and jumping.
Running: The character’s trained ability to sprint.
Lifting: The characters’ trained ability to lift and move weight.
Bow
Type: Agility
Initial Deficit: –13
Description: Represents the ability to use devices that incorporate mechanical advantage to propel arrows or bolts to damage a target.
Common Applications
Reactive: Represents the quick acquisition and firing in order to hit a target, prioritizing speed over accuracy. This type of attack can be performed as a simple action.
Precision: Represents the character taking the time they need to make a shot with the ranged weapon, prioritizing accuracy over speed. This type of attack can be performed as a complex action and provides 1 ► to the skill column used for the attack.
Technique: Represents the various learned maneuvers that can be used with this weapon.
Climbing
Type: Agility
Initial Deficit: –5
Description: Ascending steep, vertical surfaces using handholds, muscle coordination, and balance.
Common Applications
Scale: Represents the character ascending or descending a non-horizontal surface from a starting point to a stopping point. The “Stopping point” does not necessarily imply the full height of a surface, it can also represent a ledge, an anchor point for a rope, or even just an area where the character chooses to stop and catch their breath.
In most cases, scaling a surface will require multiple instant skill tests to represent the climber traversing the various sections of a surface and its multiple changing variables. To succeed, a character must generate goal points equal to or greater than the difficulty rating of the climb. When a character fails to generate enough goal points, they compare the generated goal points to the difficulty. If the generated goal points are greater than half the difficulty, this represents the character making no forward progress. If the goal points are less than half the difficulty, this represents the character experiencing problems in the climb, and they must make an immediate reflex check and add the resulting goal points to their climbing goal points. If adding the two numbers brings the total to greater than half the difficulty, then the character has managed to stave off disaster and may continue the climb. If the new number is still less than half the difficulty, then the character has lost their grip and falls.
Anchor: The act of securing a rope and/or system to a stationary object capable of supporting the load attached to it. Anchors can be natural elements, such as trees or rocks, artificial elements, such as beam clamps or removable swivel bolts, or they can be man-made, such as structural beams and apparatus.
Conditioning
Type: Endurance
Initial Deficit: –10
Description: Skills developed that improve the character’s ability to sustain physical activity for extended periods of time.
Common Applications
Perseverance: Represents the skill to tolerate the discomfort associated with physical activity. When appropriate, the narrator can allow the player to perform a skill test and add the generated goal points, as an adjustment, to a resistance check.
Stamina: Represents the developed ability to perform physical activities for extended periods of time. When appropriate, the narrator can allow the player to perform a skill test and add the generated goal points, as an adjustment, to an exhaustion check.
Recovery: Represents the skills associated with recovering from physical exertion faster and with fewer complications. When appropriate, the narrator can allow the player to perform a skill test and add the generated goal points, as an adjustment, when rolling to regain Will points.
Craft*
Type: Agility
Initial Deficit: –17
Description: Represents the character’s ability to create a finished product from individual parts or components as well as create said individual parts and components. This includes the creation of functional items (such as armor) as well as purely aesthetic ones (such as paintings).
Crafting an item requires access to all the individual components, any necessary tools, a suitable space in which to perform the work, and time, time, time. Craft is almost always an extended skill test. The default amount of time assumed for each roll ranges from minutes to days.
Because the infinite number of items that can be crafted constitute an infinite number of requirements, we make no effort to delineate them, and we leave this task to the Narrator. Painting a portrait might only require paint, a canvas, brushes, an easel, a model, and an hour. While crafting a watch would require hundreds of small pieces, advanced tools, magnifiers, sufficient light, a workbench, and several days. There are no set mechanics that define what an item’s constituent components cost, acquiring the individual parts simply costs what it costs;
Craft tests suffer ◄ 1 to ◄ 3 if the character does not have access to the full range of tools that would normally be required to craft the item, such as when trying to craft a horseshoe without access to a proper smithy. Another one to three penalty shifts should be added when the skill test takes place in an environment that is not conducive to crafting; origami is especially difficult while under mortar fire. These penalties are cumulative and should increase when the character’s access to tools or environments is more severely limited.
A character may substitute a Craft test for a Repair test whenever they attempt to repair an item that they are also capable of crafting. This test still requires appropriate tools and conditions.
- Assemble / Disassemble: Represents the character’s ability to create an object by accurately assembling its prefabricated constituent components. The goal points required to assemble an object are dependent on the size of the object and its inherent complexity and is often performed as an extended action with the time represented by each roll left to the Narrator’s discretion. Failure to generate goal points on an assembly roll does not require the character to start from scratch but simply to disassemble and reassemble that particular component.
- A LIGHT GREY DARK GREY color result represents some level of damage caused to the component due. A BLACK color result means the component is destroyed. Note that not all items can be completely or even partially disassembled without damaging components.
- Fabrication: This represents the character’s ability to create a product from raw materials. Simple items will require a single Craft skill roll to create, while complex items will require multiple rolls. A failure to produce the required number of goal points or LIGHT GREY DARK GREY or BLACK color result means the crafting attempt has failed. Depending on the item being crafted, the materials used may be lost or destroyed.
Some Assembly Required
When determining the number of goal points needed to craft an item, consider the size and complexity of the item. A small marble bust vs a 3-meter-tall statue will require a significantly different amount of goal points to create, despite using the same tools, materials, and techniques.
Crew Served Weapons
Type: Strength
Initial Deficit: –13
Description: The ability to use a weapon system that is designed to be used by two or more individuals. Examples include; ballistae, trebuchets, machine guns, automatic grenade launchers, mortars, anti-tank guns, shoulder-launched missile weapons, etc.
Common Applications
Reactive: Represents the quick acquisition and firing in order to hit a target, prioritizing speed over accuracy.
Precision: Represents the character taking the time they need to make a shot with the ranged weapon, prioritizing accuracy over speed.
Technique: Represents the various learned maneuvers that can be used with this weapon.
Diving
Type: Reason
Initial Deficit: –10
Description: Skills used to perform activities underwater with or without the use of specialized equipment.
Common Applications
Freedive: Represents the activities of underwater diving that relies on breath-holding until resurfacing rather than the use of breathing apparatus.
Scuba: Represents the use of breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface breathing gas supply, and therefore has a limited but variable endurance.
ADS: Represents the use of an atmospheric diving suit, a small one-person articulated submersible which resembles a suit of armor, with elaborate pressure joints to allow articulation while maintaining an internal pressure of one atmosphere.
Dodge
Type: Agility
Initial Deficit: –3
Description: Represents the character’s ability to purposefully move their body out of an attack’s path.
Common Applications
Evade: The character rolls their skill, and the resultant goal points are subtracted from an attack roll.
Technique: Represents the various learned maneuvers that can be used with this skill.
Engineering*
Type: Reason
Initial Deficit: –17
Description: The use of natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to solve technical problems and improve systems. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more specialized fields of engineering.
Common Applications
Analyze: Uses the character’s skill to determine the workings of a system related to their field of study. This can be used to predict outcomes, determine strengths or weaknesses of the system, or to possibly recreate the system. In order to analyze an existing system, the character must have some method in which to access its structure or inner workings.
Analyzing is usually an extended skill check with each roll reflecting minutes to hours. Once the required goal points have been generated, the character has spent enough time to gain adequate knowledge on how the system functions.
Design: Represents the use of a specific applied science to plan or draft the concepts required to have an object or system built.
Designing is usually an extended skill check with each roll reflecting hours to days. Once the required goal points have been generated, the character has completed the design and is then able to, if they have the appropriate skills, build the object or system or draft the design in such a way that someone else with the appropriate skills can build it for them.
Modify: Represents the character’s ability to, with enough data in regards to the object or system’s functioning, plan positive or negative changes to a system. In order to modify an existing system, the character must have access to enough data as to how the system works.
Modifying is usually an extended skill check with each roll reflecting hours to days. Once the required goal points have been generated, the character has completed the design and is then able to, if they have the appropriate skills, modify the system or draft the design in such a way that someone else with the appropriate skills can build it for them.
Etiquette*
Type: Perception
Initial Deficit: –5
Description: The ability to recognize and act in accordance with the social expectations of a group or culture. The character should only be required to perform a skill check when they are in situations where the dynamics of their interaction may be surpassing their skill in etiquette.
Common Applications
Vernacular: The character is able to communicate using the appropriate verbiage pertaining to a specific group or culture.
Behavior: The character understands and is able to perform the appropriate actions pertaining to a specific group or culture.
Customs: This reflects the character’s knowledge regarding the customs and rituals pertaining to a specific group or culture.
Explosives
Type: Reason
Initial Deficit: –13
Description: Reflects the character’s ability to utilize explosive systems in order to maximize damage to a target. Examples include grenades, Claymore mines, shaped charges, bombs, etc.
Skill checks are usually extended, with each roll representing seconds to minutes and the difficulty rating reflecting the intricacies of the task at hand.
Common Applications
Attack/Set: Using an explosive device to cause damage to a target. This can represent lobbing a grenade, setting up a claymore mine, or the careful application of charges to demo a building.
Improvise: Represents the assembly and use of an explosive device using unconventional resources.
Disarm: Represents the ability and action to render an explosive device unusable or inactive.
Handgun
Type: Finesse
Initial Deficit: –13
Description: Covers the use of guns designed to be used one-handed, such as revolvers, flintlock pistols, magazine pistols, etc, to fire bullets that inflict ballistic damage.
Common Applications
Reactive: Represents the quick acquisition and firing in order to hit a target, prioritizing speed over accuracy.
Precision: Represents the character taking the time they need to make a shot with the ranged weapon, prioritizing accuracy over speed.
Technique: Represents the various learned maneuvers that can be used with this weapon.
Intimidation
Type: Martial
Initial Deficit: –5
Description: The ability to manipulate others’ behavior through the use of duress, coercion, and fear.
Common Applications
Insult: The use of disrespectful, scornful, or abusive remarks or actions in order to frighten or overawe a person in order to make them do what one wants.
Posture: The use of body language to frighten a person in order to make them do what one wants.
Threaten: The ability to overtly state one’s intention to perform hostile actions against someone in retribution for something done or not done.
Investigation
Type: Intuition
Initial Deficit: –10
Description: The ability to discover and piece together information about a person or event. This skill is used to search for physical clues, track down the names and contact information of persons of interest, and draw conclusions about the “bigger picture” of a mystery.
Common Applications
Forensics: Analyzing the scene of a crime or other mystery using scientific methods or tools is an extended skill test, the target number of which depends on the size of the scene and the obscurity of its clues. Each roll should generally represent minutes to hours. Achieving success on the test allows the character to uncover relevant clues at the scene.
Interrogate: The act of interacting with a person or persons to acquire data, which could include visiting job sites, chatting with known associates, or questioning a suspect in a small room with a light shining in their eyes. In the latter example, the Narrator may decide that an associate who isn’t inclined to answer questions may require the character to make an Allure, Intimidation, or Persuasion test to earn their cooperation.
Analyze: The act of observation in order to discover details about a target. This is usually performed using an extended skill test with the target number determined by the availability of data. For example, details about someone with a significant social media presence, a large social network, or a high-profile job are likely easier to uncover than details about a private, unemployed loner who avoids posting anything about themself online. Each roll should represent minutes to hours and include such activities as checking public records, performing background checks, and perusing publicly shared information.
Languages*
Type: Intuition
Initial Deficit: –10
Description: Reflects the character’s fluency in a chosen language other than their native tongue. The character should only be required to perform a skill check when they are in situations where the concepts being communicated surpass their skill in the language.
Common Applications
Articulate: Represents fluency when communicating, using verbal or gestures, in a specific language.
Read: Represents fluency in specific written language.
Translate: The ability to communicate in one language and transform the concept accurately in a different language. When translating, the character defaults to the lower skill level of the two languages.
Legerdemain
Type: Finesse
Initial Deficit: –10
Description: Represents the character’s ability to perform dexterous fine motor movements, usually with the intent to hide or deceive.
Common Applications
Sleight of Hand: Refers to the use of fine motor skills when used by performing artists in different art forms to entertain or manipulate.
When performing this action, the observer makes a Search skill test. If the Goal Point result of the skill test exceeds that of the opponent’s goal points, the opponent does not notice the character’s true actions.
Obfuscation: The act of hiding one’s actions or focus, with the target number set by the observer’s Search or Awareness check to the context of the situation.
Pickpocket: Involves stealing from the person or victim’s pocket without them noticing the theft at the time. It may involve considerable dexterity and a knack for misdirection.
When performing this action, the opponent makes an Awareness test. If the Goal Point result of the skill test exceeds that of the opponent’s Awareness test, the opponent does not notice the character’s actions. The Narrator may determine that the Pickpocket test is best represented in initiative order. The test then becomes an extended skill test, with each roll represented as a simple action while within initiative.
Long Gun
Type: Agility
Initial Deficit: –13
Description: Covers the use of guns that are designed to be held by both hands and braced against the shoulder, such as rifles and shotguns.
Common Applications
Reactive: Represents the quick acquisition and firing in order to hit a target, prioritizing speed over accuracy.
Precision: Represents the character taking the time they need to make a shot with the ranged weapon, prioritizing accuracy over speed.
Technique: Represents the various learned maneuvers that can be used with this weapon.
Medicine
Type: Reason
Initial Deficit: –17
Description: Represents the ability to diagnose and treat illness and injury.
Common Applications
Diagnose: Used to determine the nature of a patient’s illness or injury. A successful diagnosis must be made before any other application of Medicine may be attempted. Diagnosis is rolled as an extended skill test, with a target number established by the standard guidelines for Goal Point requirements – the less obvious the source of a patient’s symptoms, the higher the target number. Each roll should represent between three seconds and one hour. Success on the test allows the character to determine the following information about the patient:
- The patient’s maximum and current Life
- Any conditions suffered by the character, as well as their number of condition points
- The presence of any other adverse effects, such as broken bones
Stabilize: An extended skill test used in initiative order to stabilize a character with negative Life to prevent the character from losing one additional point of Life every round. The patient is stabilized when the character achieves a number of Goal Points equal to the current negative Life of the patient. Each roll represents three seconds of work, and the patient continues to lose one point of Life at the beginning of each of their turns until the necessary Goal Points have been accumulated.
Treatment: Used to treat diagnosed ailments that do not require surgical intervention. Cleaning and bandaging wounds, setting broken bones, and administering pharmaceuticals all fall under the purview of this skill. Medicine tests generally require the use of medical equipment and medications.
The most common use of medicine is treatment provided during periods of rest to optimize recovery. During a rest period the character can choose to forgo their own revitalization to perform a medicine test. The goal points generated are added to the other characters’ recovery of Life and Will.
Resuscitate: Used to bring a character from the Dead to Dying status condition.
Meditation
Type: Perception
Initial Deficit: –7
Description: The ability to still one’s mind and calm emotions through focused and deliberate mindfulness. The character must establish personal, consistent parameters for their meditation – sitting in silence, chanting to themself that fear is the mind-killer, or taking a cigarette break are all equally valid methods, as is any other recurring ritual that brings the character peace.
Common Applications
Calm: As a complex action, the character may negate a number of Fear Points equal to the number of Goal Points achieved.
Recover: A character may use meditation to recover Will once in between rest periods and must spend 1 minute of interrupted meditating. Upon completion of the meditation, the character regains an amount of Will equal to the number of Goal Points achieved.
Focus: As a complex action, the character may ignore a number of distraction points equal to the goal points generated.
Melee, Grapple
Type: Martial
Initial Deficit: –10
Description: Reflects the character’s ability to use fighting techniques based on throws, trips, sweeps, clinch fighting, ground fighting, and submission holds. Grappling does not commonly include striking or the use of weapons.
Common Applications
Shoot: The character attempts to engage an opponent in a grapple.
Escape: The character attempts to disengage from a grapple.
Technique: Represents the various learned maneuvers that can be used while engaged in a grapple.
Melee Weapon, Flexible
Type: Martial
Initial Deficit: –13
Description: Represents the character’s ability to effectively utilize flexible weapons such as chains, whips, rope darts, etc, in melee.
Common Applications
Strike: To hit forcibly and deliberately with the intent to cause damage to the target.
Block: The action of interfering with an attack through interposing an object between the attack and the target.
Technique: Represents the various learned maneuvers that can be used with this weapon.
Melee Weapon, One-Handed
Type: Martial
Initial Deficit: –10
Description: Represents the character’s ability to effectively utilize weapons, swords, clubs, axes, daggers, etc., that are designed to be used one-handed.
Common Applications
Strike: To hit forcibly and deliberately with the intent to cause damage to the target.
Block: The action of interfering with an attack through interposing an object between the attack and the target.
Technique: Represents the various learned maneuvers that can be used when performing melee attacks without a weapon.
Melee Weapon, Precision
Type: Martial
Initial Deficit: –13
Description: Covers the subset of weapons, foils, sabers, stilettos, etc. that are designed to inflict damage through strike placement and technique in place of strength.
Common Applications
Strike: To hit forcibly and deliberately with the intent to cause damage to the target.
Block: The action of interfering with an attack through interposing an object between the attack and the target.
Technique: Represents the various learned maneuvers that can be used with this weapon.
Melee Weapon, Two-Handed
Type: Martial
Initial Deficit: –10
Description: Represents the character’s ability to effectively utilize weapons, great swords, great clubs, polarms, etc. that are designed to be used with both hands.
Common Applications
Strike: To hit forcibly and deliberately with the intent to cause damage to the target.
Block: The action of interfering with an attack through interposing an object between the attack and the target.
Technique: Represents the various learned maneuvers that can be used with this weapon.
Melee, Unarmed
Type: Martial
Initial Deficit: –7
Description: Focuses on close-quarters striking that incorporates using fists, kicks, elbow strikes, knee strikes, headbutts, and any other parts of the striker’s body that may inflict damage.
Common Applications
Strike: To hit forcibly and deliberately with the intent to cause damage to the target.
Block: The action of interfering with an attack through interposing an object between the attack and the target.
Technique: Represents the various learned maneuvers that can be used when performing melee attacks without a weapon.
Navigation
Type: Perception
Initial Deficit: –10
Description: The ability to use maps, compasses, landmarks, celestial bodies, coordinates, and/or electronic devices to discern answers to the following questions: Where am I? How did I get here? Where can I go from here? How do I get there? Additionally, it allows the character to create usable maps based on the answers to these questions.
Common Applications
Position: The character’s ability to determine the location of a target in relation to their position or to determine either position in relation to a target.
Course: The ability to determine the route by which to travel to a desired location using a map or set of instructions.
Map: The skill used to create an accurate representation of a geographical location, usually on a flat surface of an area.
Performance*
Type: Finesse
Initial Deficit: –7
Description: Represents the character’s ability to entertain a crowd such as through use of either a musical instrument or the character’s voice to create rhythmic, pleasing sounds, interpretive dancing, reciting a soliloquy, etc.
Common Applications
Composing: The ability to create a complete set of works to be performed by the character or others, such as play, song, or speech.
Emoting: Goal points generated represent the character’s ability to convey feelings and depth using nonverbal cues.
Execution (the act of using the medium): May be an instant or extended skill test depending on the length and complexity of the piece to be performed. The quality of the performance is dictated by the number of Goal Points achieved.
Persuasion
Type: Intuition
Initial Deficit: –7
Description: Represents the character’s ability to bring others to believe the truth of something, irrespective of its actual truth or falsehood.
Common Applications
Allure: Represents the character’s ability to be charming, beguiling, and seductive in social interactions.
Deceive: Represents the character’s ability to hide or misrepresent their thoughts, goals, or motivations.
Motivate: Represents the character’s ability to elicit a specific feeling or action/behavior from a person.
Read Nonverbal
Type: Perception
Initial Deficit: –3
Description: The ability to observe and discern nonverbal communicative cues, such as body language and tone of voice, as a means of gauging a speaker’s disposition or truthfulness.
Common Applications
Empathize: The ability to discern the substance or context of a target’s feelings through their actions.
Intonation: The ability to discern the speaker’s attitudes and emotions, through the variation in pitch, focused expression, or the flow of discourse.
Body Language: The skill used to discern the substance or context of a target’s feelings through their physical behaviors, as opposed to words. Such behavior includes facial expressions, body posture, gestures, eye movement, touch, and the use of space.
Repair
Type: Intuition
Initial Deficit: –13
Description: This skill represents the ability to restore functionality to a damaged system. A character may apply the Repair skill to systems commonly associated with any skill in which they have a positive skill rating. For example, a character with an Excellent Repair who has placed at least one skill point in One-Handed Melee would roll on the Excellent Column when attempting to repair a sword.
If a character uses the Repair skill on a system associated with a skill in which they have a negative skill rating, they must add the skill’s negative base to their Repair score before attempting the roll. For example, a character with a Repair of 17 who has no skill points in Handgun would add -10 to their Repair score performing the Repair test with an adjusted score of 7.
Repair tests suffer one penalty shift if the character does not have access to the full range of tools that would normally be required to repair the object. Likewise, they suffer one penalty shift when the test takes place in an environment that is not conducive to repairing, such as when trying to repair a piece of armor in the field or performing a tracheotomy with a ballpoint pen. These penalties are cumulative, and may, in the Narrator’s discretion, increase when the character’s access to tools or environments is more severely limited.
Common Applications
Triage: Allows a character to recognize the severity of targets condition and what part of the target requires repair.
Mend: Reflects the character using the repair skill to improve the working order of the target system. This may be represented by restoring integrity to an item or mending the tissue of an organic target.
Mending is commonly an instant skill test with the difficulty related to the extent of damage and complexity of the system or item. The timeline related to each roll is highly contextual, with each roll representing minutes, hours, days, or even weeks. Any points generated that surpass the difficulty are subtracted from the condition rating.
Temporize: This represents the use of the skill to apply a stopgap treatment to temporarily restore the target to a working condition, like wrapping duct tape around a broken ax handle. Temporizing is an Extended action in which the character rolls their skill test until the goal points generated meet or surpass the difficulty established by the Narrator.
Science*
Type: Reason
Initial Deficit: –13
Description: The knowledge and study of the natural and social world following a systematic methodology based on evidence.
Common Applications
Measure/Experiment: The act of objectively establishing facts through testing and experimentation.
Analyze: Details the attempt to discern detailed information regarding the functioning and physical nature through an analytical process that involves systematic observation, data collection, and interpretation. This process usually requires an extended skill test. In some instances, it may be appropriate for this examination to take place in a normal or casual environment, while more complex observations may require laboratory equipment for meaningful study.
Predict: Using the knowledge of the system to predict outcomes. The more information the character possesses, the easier the skill test.
Search
Type: Perception
Initial Deficit: –5
Description: Represents a character’s ability to perceive things that are hidden, obscured, or otherwise unlikely to be casually noticed. Unlike Investigation, Search does not involve the character’s ability to draw conclusions or correlate data; rather, it involves the character’s ability to see, hear, smell, taste, or feel persons, creatures, or objects within a given space.
Common Applications
Spot: This is the ability to detect a target that is obscured, hidden, or difficult to detect. Using the search skill in this way is usually an instant skill check. In the case of a target actively sneaking, hiding, or obfuscating, such as with Legerdemain, it is a contested roll, and the person who achieves the most Goal Points is victorious.
Find: When a character attempts to search an area for something that is not actively hiding – such as a hidden switch or a secret door – the target number for the test is established using the standard guidelines for Goal Point requirements.
Security*
Type: Perception
Initial Deficit: –13
Description: Represents the character’s knowledge related to measures that are designed to detect or deny unauthorized access to resources and to protect said resources from detection, tampering, damage, or harm.
Common Applications
Intrusion: This skill represents the character’s ability to access places that are designed to be off-limits by recognizing and bypassing security measures.
A character may “case” the building, structure, or area into which they intend to intrude by making the appropriate security skill test in order to determine the location and general nature of security measures. The target number is the number of Goal Points the person setting the security measures achieved if they attempted to conceal the security measures. This application of the skill may be rolled as either an instant or extended skill test, at the Narrator’s discretion.
Disarm: This skill represents the character’s ability to disable security measures. When picking a lock or otherwise attempting to disable a security measure, the difficulty rating is determined by the rating of the mechanism that acts as a barrier to entry. The skill test is rolled as an instant skill test, and when the test involves multiple steps, such as cracking the combination of a safe, each roll represents a step in the process.
Shield
Type: Martial
Initial Deficit: –5
Description: Shields are used to intercept or deflect specific attacks by means of active blocks, as well as to provide passive protection by closing one or more lines of engagement during combat. The shield skill describes the character’s ability to actively and accurately use a shield to protect themselves from incoming attacks.
Common Applications
Block: The action of interfering with an attack by interposing the shield between the attack and the target.
Technique: Represents the various learned maneuvers that can be used with this weapon.
Stealth
Type: Finesse
Initial Deficit: –13
Description: Represents the character’s ability to sneak or go unnoticed by others. Hiding, moving silently, and other efforts to avoid detection are the purview of this skill.
A character who wants to avoid being noticed may roll Stealth as an instant contested skill test. The target number for Stealth tests is set entirely by the Search or Awareness result of the entity (person, camera, animal, etc) the character is attempting to avoid.
If the entity is not actively looking for the sneaking character, the entity rolls its Awareness. If the entity generates less goal points than what the character’s sneak roll generates, the character remains hidden. If the entity actively seeks the sneaking character, they roll their Search skill instead.
A single Stealth test remains in effect until the sneaking character encounters a state change. Environmental factors and/or gear factor into the application of bonus and penalty shifts. These shifts may be applied to either the Stealth test or the opponent’s Search/Awareness test, depending on the circumstances, as decided by the Narrator.
Common Applications
Hide: Represents the character’s ability to keep out of sight or conceal themselves from view or notice.
Sneak: Represents the character’s ability to maneuver while avoiding the notice.
Disguise: Represents the character’s ability to change their appearance or identity so as to not be recognized. This is usually an instant skill test with the roll representing minutes to hours. Goal points generated represent the difficulty to detect the character’s identity.
Survival
Type: Intuition
Initial Deficit: –17
Description: Represents the ability to locate and gather the necessary food, water, and shelter to stay alive in environments that are inhospitable to the character’s life. It also allows characters to track animals and perform basic orienteering.
A character with any points in survival is capable of discerning the cardinal directions by observing the stars in the night sky and the location of sunrise / sunset. Additionally, they are capable of making basic judgements about the lay of the land based on its geographical features.
Common Applications
Forage: Represents the character’s ability to find and obtain food, water, and other vital resources from a specified environment. Foraging is an extended skill test. In general, each roll represents one hour.
Hunt: Represents the character’s ability to track, trap, and predict game in the wild.
Shelter: Represents the ability to construct resources that assist the character in mitigating negative environmental factors. This could represent creating a hut to keep out the rain, fabricating primitive clothing from local resources, building a fire for heat, etc.
Swimming
Type: Strength
Initial Deficit: –3
Description: Swimming represents a character’s ability to propel their body through sufficiently deep water and otherwise avoid drowning.
Common Applications
Diving: To plunge below the water’s surface intentionally without sustaining damage.
Speed: The distance, in meters, that a character can swim in a single 3-second round is calculated by dividing the goal points generated with a complex action swim test by 5. For example, if a character generated 10 goal points, they would swim 2 meters within a 3 second round.
Distance: Swimming for distance involves an extended skill test with each roll in the Swimming test representing 1 minute. In that time, the character swims a distance in meters equal to the number of Goal Points achieved, with a minimum of 1 meter. For example, if a character generated 10 goal points, they would swim 10 meters in 1 minute.
Targeting
Type: Perception
Initial Deficit: –13
Description: Involves the character’s ability to calculate the various ballistic factors required to hit targets accurately using direct and indirect firing weapons at extreme ranges that require optical magnification and ballistic calculations.
Common Applications
Ranging: Represents the skill of estimating the distance between the character and a target or between two discrete locations.
Calculate: The application of trigonometry and physics to determine the appropriate trajectory for direct or indirect fire weapons.
Throwing
Type: Finesse
Initial Deficit: –5
Description: Represents the character’s ability to propel an object, javelin, dart, rock, sling bolt, etc., through the air with force and intent by the forceful movement of the arm and hand in order to cause damage to the target.
Common Applications
Strike: To throw an object forcibly and deliberately with the intent to cause damage to the target.
Lob: Represents a character attempting to throw an object a long distance to a designated location (outfielder throwing to home plate).
Technique: Represents the various learned maneuvers that can be used with this weapon.
Vehicles
Type: Finesse
Initial Deficit: –10
Description: Represents the character’s ability to pilot a specific type of vehicle beyond its typical or ideal operating conditions. For example, a character who wants to drive their car down to the corner store would not need an appreciable skill in driving. Now, if a character is involved in a high-speed pursuit and is trying to lose their tail, that would be a call for a Vehicle skill.
Common Applications
High-Speed Maneuver: Represents the character’s ability to quickly maneuver their vehicle in response to changing environmental conditions, such as skidding on ice, or dodging a pedestrian that walked blindly into traffic.
Evade and Pursue: Represents the ability to quickly pilot a vehicle in an effort to chase down or escape from a similarly fast moving target.
Ram: Intentionally ramming into another vehicle or object with the intent to cause the most amount of damage to the target while minimizing damage to the character’s vehicle and/or person.