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Skills

In addition, there are two skills that are composites, allowing you to choose between several of your core skills to determine their effectiveness. The composite skills are listed below.

Languages and Literacy

Learning and speaking a new language is very difficult, but well within the development of your character. Every language has 2 training levels. The first training allows you to communicate simple things in the language. Usually sentences of 5 words or less, and usually in broken speech. If you take a second level of training, you may not be fluent, but you can fully converse in the language.

You start with a fluency in the default language of your race (as defined by your campaign world or race) with Training 2. You also gain a number of Trainings for each bonus in the Learning Skill of your character (and you lose an Aspect slot for each point you are negative). If you have 3 advancements of Learning, and an Intellect of +2, you have 5 language Trainings you can allocate. Whenever you advance your Learning Skill, you also gain a new language training!

If you have Aspect Literacy, you are literate in all the languages you speak to the same degree of fluency as your training.

Literacy. There are only a few written scripts. There is Runic, Heiroglyphic, Draconic, Infernal, and Celestial. Draconic contains both a phonetic and a symbol system that contains more than 20,000 symbols. Most common people write in the phonetic draconic script, which requires you to speak the language to understand the meaning. So having literacy with any language that has a written script in the phonetic draconic allows you to read the language. Draconic itself is a spoken language as well, and the written language is glyphic.

Default Languages

Skill Check

In general the process of testing a skill uses the standard game mechanic. You simply roll a d20 adding the skill modifier and any other situational bonuses you might have. If you meet or beat the DC of the test, you succeed in the skill.

If you roll a natural 20 on a skill check, you add 1d6 to your total to determine success and failure. If you roll a natural 1 on a skill check, you subtract 1d6 from your total to determine success and failure.

Opposed Skill Roll

Similar to a Skill Check, a skill test matches your skills against those of one or more opponents. When doing an Opposed Skill Roll, both you and your opponent add in your CLM to your result to determine success or failure. For instance, there are two kinds of skill rolls, active or passive.

Passive Opposed Skill Roll. Your opponent was not specifically preparing for this challenge. In these cases (the most common case in combat), the contest is:

Active Opposed Skill Roll. Perhaps you and an opponent are pulling on opposite sides of the same rope to pull the other into a chasm. There are times where it makes sense to actively have two people roll against one another to determine success. In this case, you both do a Skill roll:

DC Ratings and skill checks

There are many examples of skill DCs given with each skill. However, some context might be good. Here are examples of the range of most skills. These examples are only a few ideas to assess what might be a good DC.

DC 5 is considered easy. Most people will be able to accomplish this task 75% of the time.

DC 10 is of moderate difficulty. Many tests in the standard scale will test against DC 10. This represents a slightly better than 50% success rate.

DC 15 is difficult. Most people would normally fail this test. A skilled person would consider this difficult. This is a difficult level of knowledge for the standard scale.

DC 20 represents something very few people would normally be able to accomplish.

DC 21 Only a trained or gifted person would be able to normally accomplish as a difficult task.

DC 23 represents a skill only a skilled artisan would normally be able to accomplish.

DC 25 represents a skill that only a master artisan or a specialist would be able to accomplish. Near impossible for the heroic scale, and very difficult even for the epic scale.

DC 30 represents a skill check that is bordering the astral tier. Only an epic character would have a reasonable chance of succeeding here, and only if they were exceptionally skilled at this.

DC 35 represents a skill check that is on the astral tier. A secret known to a single deity and written in one tome on your home plane.

Agility (DEX)

With agility you will learn to dodge your opponents strikes, tumble through combat avoiding blows, and more. Agility incorporates the aspects of balance, speed, and reaction time and is a predominantly defenseive skill, providing the backbone behind many of your stealth skill checks.

Speed and Reaction time. Your Agility Skill modifier directly factors in to your reaction time for initiative in combat! Agility also affects two of your defenses: Armored Defense and Agility Defense. This will help you dodge your opponents weapon strikes, spells, and more!

Athletics (BOD)

With agility you will learn to dodge your opponents strikes, tumble through combat avoiding blows, and more. Agility incorporates the aspects of balance, speed, and reaction time and is a predominantly defenseive skill, providing the backbone behind many of your stealth skill checks.

Speed and Reaction time. Your Agility Skill modifier directly factors in to your reaction time for initiative in combat! Agility also affects two of your defenses: Armored Defense and Agility Defense. This will help you dodge your opponents weapon strikes, spells, and more!

Athletics (Bod)

Athletics helps you in many feats of strength, including running, jumping, swimming, and more.

Fast Movement, Jumping, and Swimming. You learn and train on running long distances.

Core Strength. Use to attack, bend bars, lift and carry heavy loads.

Lifting heavy objects. You can lift 20 pounds x the result of your Athletics Skill Check.

Carrying capacity. See the section on Adventuring.

Cunning

Cunning is your measure of diplomacy, being able to bluff and generally shield your thoughts and emotions, as well as how witty and agile you are in conversation.

Cunning is a composite skill, allowing you to choose the best of either your Intuition Skill Modifier or Reasoning Skill Modifier to use as this skill modifier.

Bluff. You can attempt to hide your reaction or even outright lie using Cunning against your opponents Perception Defense. How well you roll and how believable your tale is indicates how well your story or defense is received.

Diplomacy. Your ability and skill of speech extends into diplomacy as well. Fast talking your way out of a situation and bringing peace to warring states is also the province of Cunning.

Endurance (BOD)

Your ability to withstand damage from attacks, poisons, and shock are only the beginning of what Endurance provides.

Hit Points. Endurance contributes directly to your Hit Points. Characters gain an Endurance Skill Modifier x 3 bonus to their total maximum hit points.

Resistance to poison. Your Endurance Defense is the target of many harmful spells as well as toxins that affect your body.

Shock Check. Your Endurance Skill modifier is the basis of your rolls to withstand massive damage, being able to wake up, and more.

Distance Running. You may run a distance equal to your Endurance Skill check if unencumbered. If you are moderately encumbered, you can run half this distance. You may not run if encumbered otherwise.

Intuition (PRE)

Intuition is a very powerful skill. With this skill, you can train animals, intimidate opponents, a knack for knowing where to out information, gain insight into others and their intended actions, sense deceit or lies, and even control lycanthropy. It is your ability to heal wounds, understand spiritual energies, and even handle poisons.

Train Animals. You can attempt to train an animal such as a horse, dragon, etc.. For every week you work with an animal, make a d20 + Intuition Skill modifier vs. the beasts Willpower Defense + 5. With a success, you manage to train the animal and/or teach it a single trick. Tricks for the most part must be simple, such as sit, stay, come, attack, guard, and heal. You may take Aspect Beast Trainer to make a roll including your CLM modifier.

Healing. You can tend to anyone during or after combat and with a successful Intuition Skill check to bandage, stabilize, or support them while they are fighting off shock, poison, and more.

Handle Poison. Not only do you have the knowledge to heal, but also the knowledge to apply and use poisons. With a Intuition Skill check DC 15 you can safely apply, handle and successfully use a poison. You may of course take Aspect Handle Poison and not have to make this check. Failing a check means that you mishandled the poison, and the effective attack bonus of the poison is reduced by -4. Intimidate Opponent. You can scare or intimidate an opponent by using the following check:

If you succeed, your opponent becomes more cooperative through fear.

Share damage for a mount or animal companion. You can absorb part of the damage that a mount or animal companion would take at will as a triggered action whenever they take damage by making a Intuition Skill Check. You may choose to reduce the damage your mount or animal companion takes up to the amount you roll on your skill check - 10. You then apply the damage to yourself. Apply any damage reduction the mount has after you absorb damage. Note that the mount or animal companion must take at least 1 point of damage, and so must you. In order to use this ability you must be adjacent to or on your animal companion or mount.

Intimidate Opponent. You can make an Intuition Attack Roll against an Opponents Willpower Defense to intimidate them and get information. Your opponent gets a +5 bonus if they feel you will kill them anyways.

Shield Thoughts. With your Cunning Skill you can also hide your mind against powerful magics.

Sense Motive. Using your Intuition, you can sense whether an opponent is honorable or deceitful, hiding information, being misleading, and more. If you wish to Sense Motive, it is an opposed roll, your

A Sense Motive result of less than 10 means that you just don’t know or that things are unclear. If you beat your opponents DC by 5, you may gain some additional insight into the motivations of your opponent as well.

Learning (INT)

Learning Skill incorporates your general knowledge, learning, ability to speak languages, and memory. There are many aspects that require a roll based on your Learning Skill in order to determine what you know. If you wish to determine your knowledge of a religious symbol or right, determine the nature of a beast you are about to fight, or recall your knowledge of local laws, this is the skill for you.

General Knowledge. You have picked up a lot of general knowledge along the way. Your Learning Skill check to determine your knowledge of local customs, laws, locations, religions, and other disciplines you have been exposed to is

This level of knowledge does not let you attempt any knowledge skill a difficulty above DC 20. You may also only make a Learning Skill Check for any of the following disciplines:

Undertaking a discipline. You may add an aspect to your character to undertake a discipline in many fields of study. If you undertake a discipline, you automatically have knowledge of anything in that field with a DC of 10 + your Learning Skill modifier. You do not need to roll! You are also able to roll to attempt knowledge that has a DC above 20.

Perception



Perception incorporates all your core physical senses: touch, smell, sight, hearing, and and taste. It also incorporates your ability to not have those senses fooled by magics and creatures that are capable of great stealth. Many Perception Skill checks are opposed by Stealth or Intuition Skill attacks.

Perception is a composite skill, allowing you to choose the best of either your Stealth Skill Modifier or Reasoning Skill Modifier to use as this skill modifier.

Here are a few samples of tests of several of your perceptions.

Reasoning (INT)

Reasoning covers a wide range of talents, including your ability of deduction, inference, logic, and more. It is your measure of sanity, wits, and is also the primary skill governing arcane knowledge.

Reasoning is a defensive skill. People attempting to mislead you, change your outlook, or otherwise manipulate you will attack your reasoning with their wits or magical ability.

Arcane casting. Reasoning boosts your capability of casting arcane spells.



Stealth (DEX)

A composite of your ability of masking traces of your presence, and detecting subtle signs that are at the limits of your perception, stealth is a powerful skill. With stealth, you can hide and move quietly, camouflage yourself, pick up on subtle visual and audible clues and details, and learn subtle forms of combat.

Accuracy. There are a number of Aspects that rely on Stealth for accuracy. Not only can Stealth be used for accuracy in striking with light weapons, but you can also do more damage!

Pick pocket. You can attempt to pick pockets without having the aspect at a -5 modifier, and cannot attempt a DC above 20.

Camouflage. You may attempt to hide in shadows as follows:

Stealth is very important for many subtle forms of combat, and as such there are a number of aspects and powers that require a decent Stealth modifier in order to add to your portfolio.

Balance. With an Stealth Skill check you can balance on a ledge, walk on a wire, move across icy floors, and navigate dangerous terrain. A high agility skill can give you the aspects to master many of these skills. Here are some common Stealth tasks and their DC to successfully accomplish.



Willpower (PRE)

Willpower is your mental fortitude. It also is the force and power behind your spells. It is also the basis of your Willpower Defense.

Willpower Defense. Your willpower defense will be targeted for many fear causing effects as well as mental control and domination.