General Skills
Skills in this category are available across all Technology Levels. When allocated for an actor in a particular setting, the skills in this section reflect the knowledge and techniques relevant to the era represented by the setting’s Technology Level.
Assassination
Knowledge and understanding of the subtle application of lethal attacks against biological actors appropriate to the current era.
The actor must have a basic understanding of the target’s anatomy & biology if the target is of a different species. This may be determined by the GM based on the prevalence of knowledge of that species and the nature of the attack, or if the actor has other related skills applicable to that species such as First Aid or Biology.
If the actor has spent all available AD on the Watch action directed at a particular biological actor, and within 1 minute then spends all AD on an attack against that actor, any allocated dice may be added to the attack action, and for that attack all successes bypass any armor as if they were sixes.
Biology
Knowledge and understanding of biological sciences appropriate to the current era.
Chemistry
Knowledge and understanding of chemical sciences appropriate to the current era.
Dance
Training in a variety of culturally-relevant dance styles. Skill may be used directly to resolve tests of dance performance, and skill dice may be added to Dodge actions.
Engineering
Knowledge and understanding appropriate to the current era of engineering, and for both Stabilizing and Healing a damaged machine or construct actor. The tools and consumable supplies used for constructs, which vary by the type of construct are described below.
Engineering Tools & Supplies
| Object Type | TEC | Example | Tools | Supplies |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wooden | 1 | Wagon, Catapult | Wheelwright’s Tools | Woodworking |
| Forged | 1 | Wood stove, Siege tower | Smith’s Tools | Blacksmithing |
| Fabricated | 3 | Bicycle, Steam engine | Machinist’s Tools | Steelworking |
| Electronic | 4 | Electric car, Computer | Electrician’s Tools | Electrical |
Espionage
Knowledge and techniques related to spycraft appropriate to the current era.
This skill applies to any tests to evaluate the security of organizations and systems and how to breach them, methods and practices for covert operation “in plain sight,” and establishing and “running” operative networks.
First Aid
Knowledge and techniques appropriate to the current era for Stabilizing an injured biological actor.
History »
Knowledge of history and historical contexts relating to the society or historical era of the skill's specialization.
Jury-Rigging
Knowledge and understanding appropriate to the current era for Stabilizing a damaged machine or construct actor.
Linguistics
Knowledge and understanding appropriate to the current era of the evolution and interrelation of languages. Skill dice are applied to any test to determine the identity and history of an unknown language.
Skill dice may also be added to rolls to offset difficulty penalties involved in use or understanding unallocated language skills.
Lock Picking
Knowledge and understanding appropriate to lock designs of the current era, and how they can be defeated. Skill dice are applied to any test to defeat a lock of known type, given appropriate or improvised tools.
When using improvised tools, subtract 1 die from attempts to defeat locks. On a failure with no successes, the improvised tool breaks.
Medicine
Knowledge and understanding appropriate to the current era for both Stabilizing and Healing an injured biological actor.
Pharmacology
Knowledge of drugs and medications, their interactions and toxicology, and uses in medicine.
Allocated dice may be added to any Healing tests, and to any tests utilizing the Poisons skill.
Physics
Knowledge and understanding of physics appropriate to the current era.
Poisons
This skill covers the identification, preparation, and application of poisons appropriate to the current era.
The actor must have a basic understanding of the target’s anatomy & biology if the target is of a different species. This may be determined by the GM based on the prevalence of knowledge of that species and the nature of the attack, or if the actor has other related skills applicable to that species such as First Aid.
Research Methods
Knowledge and understanding of research methods used in the current era.
Strategy & Tactics
Knowledge of decision-making in warfare appropriate to the current era.
This skill applies to any tests to evaluate terrain and identify points of strategic and tactical significance, identify moments of tactical opportunity and how to exploit them, and to weigh comparative strengths and weaknesses between opposing forces.