Skills by Category

Skill Table

Difficulty is E for Easy, A for Average, H for Hard, or VH for Very Hard.
Skills marked with † require specialization.

ANIMAL

These skills let the user interact with animals in some way – or, in the case of Mount, let a beast interact with his rider. To study animals in the lab, learn Natural Sciences skills such as Biology/TL, Paleontology/TL, and Physiology/TL.

ARTS/ENTERTAINMENT

This list doesn’t attempt to answer the thorny question of who’s an “artist” and who’s an “entertainer.” It simply gathers together the professional skills of musicians, visual artists, and screen, stage, and street performers – and the directors and technicians who accompany them – and lets the show go on.

ATHLETIC

The skills below are useful to athletes and action heroes alike, as they deal with surmounting physical obstacles and performing feats of strength, speed, and endurance. See pp. B349- 357 for rules for such activities.

BUSINESS

Executives, politicians, speculators, and traders aren’t typical “adventurers” . . . but money makes the world go round. A hero who can pull the right strings will find that life is much easier! These skills deal with money and influence. Career businessmen often have Social skills as well.

COMBAT/WEAPON

Combat is deadly and complex enough that each form of armed and unarmed combat merits its own skill. Most adventurers will have at least one of these skills. Professional warriors will know several. For weapon statistics, see pp. B268-281. Combat rules are on pp. B362-417. The unusual abilities of cinematic martial-arts masters are Esoteric skills.
See List for Ranged Medieval Weapons - Stats & Costs
See List for Firearms - Stats and Costs (and Rules)

Melee Combat

See Italicized for unarmed fighting.

Ranged Combat

CRAFT

Craft skills deal specifically with doing the work necessary to turn raw materials – cloth, leather, metal, stone, wood, etc. – into finished goods. Complex machines are the realm of Design/Invention (p. 3) and Repair/Maintenance (p. 5) skills.

CRIMINAL/STREET

Members of any profession might sell their skills for a dishonest buck, but a few skills are common among criminals and rarely learned by honest folk. These often overlap Police and Spy skills. In some times and places, being trained in the technological skills on this list may be a Secret (p. B152) for anyone but a government agent.

DESIGN/INVENTION

These skills deal with conceiving new artifacts and technology; see pp. B473-479. Use Architecture/TL for buildings, Bioengineering/TL for biotech, Computer Programming/TL for software, Engineer/TL for machines, and Pharmacy/TL for drugs. Maintaining technology calls for Repair/Maintenance skills; using it generally requires Combat/Weapon, Technical, or Vehicle skills.

ESOTERIC

Esoteric skills let the user direct bioenergy, chi, psi, or another force that originates within his mind or body. They are to skills as exotic and supernatural advantages are to advantages. The GM decides which Esoteric skills exist in his campaign. He may require prerequisite advantages, such as Trained By A Master, even for skills that don’t specifically list such requirements.

EVERYMAN

Most of these skills fall into other categories, too. What they have in common is that in cultures and TLs where they exist at all, almost everyone will know two or three of them – including any hero who didn’t grow up under a rock!

KNOWLEDGE

These skills represent knowledge of an activity, place, group of people, or body of research. They needn’t be obscure; you could find hundreds of people with Area Knowledge (U.S.A.), Games (Card Games), and Professional Skill (Plumber) in downtown New York! Expert Skills are by definition arcane, though, and Hidden Lore might even require an Unusual Background (p. B96).

MEDICAL

Medical skills are for treating injury and affliction; see pp. B423-425. They are the job skills of medical professionals – doctors, nurses, psychiatrists, etc. – and first responders such as army medics and paramedics. In some settings, barbers, herbalists, midwives, and even torturers will know some of these skills.

MILITARY

Military forces often have members with every skill imaginable, but a few skills are rare outside the armed services. The GM may make Military Rank (p. B30) or Security Clearance (p. B82) a prerequisite for certain technological skills on this list. Most military personnel also know Combat/Weapon skills and a few Technical and Vehicle skills.

NATURAL SCIENCES

These skills attempt to explain the natural world, from subatomic particles to galaxies. Those who study manmade artifacts have Design/Invention skills, those who study medicine have Medical skills (above), and those who study the cultures of sapient beings have Social Sciences/Humanities skills.

OCCULT/MAGICAL

Occult/Magical skills deal with gods, magic, spirits, and similar otherworldly forces. They are the professional skills of priests, shamans, and wizards – any of whom might also learn spells or other working magic. Unusual forces that originate within the user are the focus of Esoteric skills.

OUTDOOR/EXPLORATION

Heroes often travel vast distances, living off the land and pushing back the frontiers. The skills below are useful for these purposes and common among explorers, pioneers, prospectors, and rangers. Most outdoorsmen also know Animal or Vehicle skills: Riding for their horse, Boating for their canoe, and so forth.

PLANT

These skills deal with growing things. Unlike Animal skills, this category includes both lab study and practical skills. Not every botanist is a farmer, but since plants aren’t free-willed, theory isn’t too far removed from practice.

POLICE

Day-to-day police work mostly involves Social skills (below), but officers also learn skills that are rare outside the underworld (Criminal/Street skills), military (Military skills), or intelligence agencies (Spy skills). The GM may make Legal Enforcement Powers (p. B65) or Police Rank (p. B30) a prerequisite for the technological skills below. See also Combat/Weapon and Vehicle skills.

REPAIR/MAINTENANCE

These skills cover installing, repairing, and modifying electrical or mechanical devices. Inventing such things requires Design/Invention skills; using them calls for Technical skills. To work with raw materials instead of manufactured gadgets, learn Craft skills.

SCHOLARLY

Skills relevant to reading, writing, research, and lecturing are common among sages, professors, and other learned folk. A scholar might know any or all of the skills below, if they exist in his world. These usually accompany skills from the Design/Invention, Natural Sciences, Occult/Magical, and Social Sciences/Humanities groups.

SOCIAL

Social skills all involve one individual or group trying to relate to another. Some are basically “hands off” (e.g., using Current Affairs (People) or Heraldry to recognize someone famous). Others – notably the Influence skills discussed on p. B359 – actively seek to affect others’ actions or emotions.

SOCIAL SCIENCES/HUMANITIES

These skills study the “world of the mind”: the behavior, beliefs, civilizations, and social systems of intelligent beings. They might analyze the past, try to understand the present, or attempt to predict future behavior. The systematic study of the natural world is covered by Natural Sciences skills.

SPY

Spy skills cover the specialized “tradecraft” of intelligence and security officers. They blur into Criminal/Street, Military, and Police skills – all of which are common among spies with suitable backgrounds. Rank (p. B29) or Security Clearance (p. B82) is often a prerequisite for certain technological skills on this list. Cinematic spies will also know Combat/Weapon skills!

TECHNICAL

These skills cover the operation of specialized technology other than vehicles (which use Vehicle skills). They are common among those trained in Military, Police, and Spy (above) skills – which heavily overlap this category – and those with Design/Invention, Medical, and Natural Sciences skills (and their assistants).

VEHICLE

Vehicle skills cover the training needed to operate anything from a covered wagon to a starship – including steering the thing, basic maintenance, loading cargo, and plotting courses. Specialist crew will possess other skills: Technical skills for radiomen and sensor operators, Repair/Maintenance skills for engineers, Combat/Weapon skills for gunners and marines, and so forth.