Skills and Sub-skills

Skills define the things your character is good at; things in which he or she has received training. The skills are very broad in a lot of places, covering realms of general ability. Athletics, for example, covers virtually all athletic activity, and the higher your rank, the more physically capable you are.

Skills also include Sub-skills, which are specific tricks and training that, taken individually, all fall under the broad skill, but that can't be performed by those who haven't studied them specifically. Scaling Walls is a good example of an Athletics sub-skill: anyone with Athletics can climb trees, clamber up rocks and get over low, crudely constructed walls. Those with the Scaling Walls sub-skill can ascend professionally mortared brick walls, or up sheer cliff faces, or other barriers that would leave their companions trapped below. Sub-skills are more specific and more impressive, but aren't as generally useful. The Skills Appendix includes an up-to-date listing of sub-skills for each skill.

As a Player, you have the option of developing new Sub-Skills once play starts. These don't cost any more than the other sub-skills, but do indicate specific tricks or shticks your character would develop within the skill that the mass of 'humanity' would not. Save these for once play starts; no one wants to clutter up the character creation process with developing new stuff.

Many of the skills require that you specify the skill somewhat. Anything marked with a (___) in the skill title means you must select an area in which you were trained. The standard options for this specialization appear in the description.

Some of the skills are things that you must have been taught; there are a lot of things that one does not simply 'pick up on the road', no matter how good you are. In having had a teacher, you have connected yourself with the larger web of society within the Republic. Anyone taking a Faith other than standard Raelism, Guild Secrets, Lore, Training or Wisdom skills should think for a few seconds about where the character learned them and how. This is going to net you allies, enemies and connections no matter how you do it. Having Guild Secrets (Thieves) doesn't automatically make you a member of the local guild, although it could. You might be from a different guild, or have been trained by an outcast thief in secret, or what have you. Any of these choices does put you in the sphere of interest for the local guild, be it friend or foe, like it or not. Keep that in mind before you stack up on these 'connected' skills.

You have 13 ranks to split up among your skills and sub-skills. You can't spend more than 3 ranks in any one skill or sub-skill to start. Designate two of your skills as your character's Talents (see Adepts, Talents and Karma, above). Remember that you can't have more ranks in Sub-skills than you have in the Skill, and can't have more ranks in any one sub-talent than you have in the Talent. If your character is human, select one of your sub-skills as your Gift.

Add your rank to the appropriate Attribute's Score (appearing in [brackets] in the chart) to find your skill step. Use this step when using the skill. Sub-Skills work the exact same way; the rank of the sub-skill is not added to the skill, but directly to the attribute. Athletics allows climbing at Agility + Athletics step; Scaling Walls allows difficult climbing at Agility + Scaling Walls, not Agility + Athletics + Scaling Walls!

Skill	Description	Default
Athletics [Agility]	Character's skill with running, jumping, climbing trees or cliffs, swimming and other basic athletic ability. Swimming doesn't default.	Agility
Charm [Charisma]	Character's skill with verbal communication, from wit and taunting to rhetoric and diplomacy.	Charisma
Craft [Mind]	Character's skill with mending and maintaining the tools of her trade, and with building or fixing basic equipment and devices.	Mind-2
Durability [Endurance]	Character's physical stamina, ability to endure damage and resist death. Replace Endurance Step with Durability Step for death and unconsciousness ratings.	Endurance
Faith (___) [Spirit]	Character's knowledge of a church's tenets and teachings. This may be to the Raelite faith, or to any of the gods. The default is a branch of Raelism.	Spirit-1
Gaming [Mind]	Character's skill with dice, cards, and other games of strategy and chance.	Mind-2
Guild Secrets (____) [Varies]	Character's knowledge of one of the guilds and their skills. Prominent examples include the Smiths', Thieves', Physicians', and Entertainers' Guilds.	*
Healing [Mind]	Character's skill at performing emergency healing. This is basic first aid and knowledge of elementary herbalism, not medicine or surgery.	Mind-3
Horsemanship [Agility]	Character's skill with riding and caring for horses, and by extension her ability to fight when mounted.	Agility-3
Knowlege [Mind]	Character's general knowledge and education; your base skill with history, philosophy, mathematics and other scholarly pursuits.	Mind-1
Language Skills [Mind]	Character's skill with languages. Each point indicates passing fluency/literacy in another language.	Mind-1
Lore (____) [Varies]	Character's knowlege of one of the types of magic, their history, uses, and operation. The default is Beast Lore; others include Elementalism and Sorcery.	Spirit-2 with Beast Lore
Melee Combat [Agility]	Character's general skill with weapons.	Agility-1
Missile Combat [Agility]	Character's general skill with ranged combat, from thrown weapons to bows.	Agility-1
Performance [Charisma]	Character's skill with storytelling, singing, musical instruments and other entertainment.	Charisma-2
Presence [Charisma]	Character's skill with non-verbal communication, specifically making impressions or intimidating people.	Charisma
Sailing [Mind]	Character's ability to handle waterborne craft.	Mind-3
Stealth [Agility]	Character's ability to move and hide so as to escape detection.	Agility-2
Training (____) [Varies]	Character's deeper knowledge of one of the specialized branches of training. Options include Archery, Battle, Fencing, and Magic.	*
Unarmed Combat [Body]	Character's general skill in fighting without weapons. This is brawling, boxing, and wrestling.	Body-1
Wisdom (____) [Mind]	Character's knowledge of an environment or community. These are usually Rural, Urban, Society, and Wilderness. Select one as default.	Mind-1

   

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