The Skills List
Updated 2017-12-30
Skills are defined widely, but their practical use is constrained by whether a character has relevant Aspects – which is to say relevant background and experience – to the task in hand.
Base values are given as a couple of Attributes, add them to get a starting skill; sometimes you get a choice to reflect different styles of skill. Experience overrides natural ability though.
Skills
The Everyone Skills
Everyone, and some things, have these skills irrespective of Aspects. They may be overshadowed by the specifically chosen skills. A character does not have to use the specific Dodge skill if Acrobatics or Combat skill is better, but it is still there.
- Brawl
- Str + Siz
- The unscientific application of fists and boots to a problem.
- Dodge
- Dex * 2
- Getting out of the way —
- Grapple
- Str + Dex
- Getting up close and personal in matters of joints, twists, restraints and throws.
The Chosen Skills
The main set of skills can be shaped by Aspects (q.v.) which may define the relevance of a skill. The skills list is not prescriptive so discuss any special requests.
- Athleticks
- Str + Con
- Climbing, jumping, running, swimming.
- Acrobaticks
- Str + Dex
- Tumbing, balancing, swinging, bending, twisting and flamboyant dodging.
- Burly
- Str plus one of Con, Siz as preferred
- The burly physical skills often associated with Aspects such as Carpenter, Builder, Navigator, Porter, Bouncer, and so on.
- Combat
- two of : Dex, Str, Int
- Ultima Ratio Regum, or, The Final Argument of Kings : force of arms. Which arms, and how they are used, rather depends upon a character’s Aspects. The essence of Combat skill rather than the Burly Trades is that others are shooting back…
- Criminal
- Dex + Int
- Sneaking, filching, prising, burglarise – the clearly criminal skills and techniques that are more physical than the coneying, confidence, blackmail and such from the Social repetoire, and the sure knowledge, contrasted with the Handy Trades, that the hangman’s noose dangles close by in the future. This a pretty much an urban skill set; in the countryside game poaching, though another hanging offence, is covered by Survival, below.
- Handy
- Dex plus one of Int or Str
- The dexterous handy physical skills of Aspects Furniture Maker, Builder, Barber/Perruquier, Surgeon, Watchsmith, et cetera.
- Learning
- Int * 2
- Chance of knowing, or finding, relevant mundane facts in relevantly Aspected fields. Herein lies formal or classical education, wide travel, a library or correspondence – for the likes of the cleric, the lawyer, the learnéd person… The professional skills to contrast with the practical, physical trades.
- Performance
- two of Cha, Dex, Will
- Suitable for Aspects such musician, singer, actor, advocate… blurs into Social skills for closer more intimate performance, but if there is a general audience…
- Philosophy
- Int + Will
- An esoteric name for a Learning skill, but with the suitable Aspects this is the skill area for practitioners of magia. (The aspect requirement is to allow for scholars not necessarily being practitioners.)
Disclosure : risky fails… - Social
- Cha + Will
- How smooth an operator a character is : comfort, intimidate, ingratiate, encourage, put down, inspire, deflect, deceive, evaluate… How Social skills can be applied can be flavoured by Aspects .
- Survival
- Con + Will
- Outdoor survival, living off the land. Which lands will reflect Aspects though probably default to English (temperate, North European) countryside.
Q & A
Q. Perception skills?
Ans : Skills are wide based and cover the relevant perception checks. A watchmaker might use the Handy skill to notice something about a clockwork, or a mysterious ticking or just notice a watch out of place. The same watchmaker would use the Social skill to notice something about a person’s behaviour and character.