Subskills

Subskills are a narrow domain of knowledge and mastery that further refines a Skill. You can develop a Subskill only in skills you are proficient in. Subskills let you benefit from a bonus to skill checks depending on its level of mastery.

Subskills also let you reroll your skill check if the d20 result is within the Reroll range. If you roll with advantage, you reroll the higher result. You may reroll only once and you may choose between the two results.

 Expert
 Master

## **Starting Subskills**

You may choose a number of Trained Subskills from this section equal to your proficiency modifier. When your proficiency modifier increases, you learn a new Trained Subskill. Additional Subskills and advancement to Expert and Master level can only be gained via Subskill Training. You can also remove one skill proficiency to gain Trained Subskills in two separate skills you are proficient in.

## **Subskill Training**

Gaining new Subskills or advancing existing to Expert and Master level requires downtime and access to a teacher or source of knowledge. During a day of downtime with at least 4 hours of training or studying, you can make a skill check using the basic skill category of the Subskill. If you are trained by someone who has the same Subskill at a higher level than yours, you have advantage on the check. Depending on your result you earn a number of training points and once you acquire enough your Subskill advances to the next level. In campaigns where downtime is not possible, characters can spend 100 XP to make a training roll during a long rest as long as they spend 1 hour training or studying.

 10-14
 15-19
 20-24
 25-29
 30+

# **Strength**

Strength measures bodily power, athletic training, and the extent to which you can exert raw physical force. Below are the descriptions of each of the various Subskills that have to do with Strength, separated by Skill:

## **Athletics**

Athletics is broken down into four subskills: Climbing, Jumping, Mining and Swimming.

### **Climbing**

Scaling cliffsides or reaching rooftops, few characters have lasting careers without the use of climbing out of trouble.

### **Jumping**

Jumping allows characters to leap in great bounds horizontally, or try to attain great heights vertically. You can add your Focus bonus to your Strength score when calculating long and high jump distance.

### **Mining**

Extracting minerals and metals from the ground is a staple in worlds where iron and steel see kingdoms rise and fall. This is a new use of the Athletics skill. GMs should set DCs based on how long it would take, or how difficult it would be to extract valuables. Failure results in half yields.

### **Swimming**

Crossing rapid streams, avoiding falling off waterfalls, or keeping from being dragged under by harsh currents, few are the characters who stay dry forever.

# **Dexterity**

Dexterity measures agility, reflexes, and balance. Below are the various Subskills that have to do with Dexterity, separated by Skill:

## **Acrobatics**

Acrobatics is broken down into four subskills: Balance, Diving, Escapology, and Tumbling.

### **Balance**

Crossing narrow bridges, riding choppy seas, or running across ice, most characters actively avoid trying to fall prone.

### **Diving**

Sometimes a belly flop is fine, but most characters want to avoid taking damage when falling into water. Slipping unnoticed into water to evade a dock guard might come in handy for characters.

### **Escapology**

Between spider webs and being held captive by a hostile group of survivors, a quick Escape is sometimes the better part of valor.

### **Tumbling**

Avoiding damage from a big fall or sliding through an opponents legs, mobile characters can often find a need to tumble.

## **Sleight of Hand**

Sleight of Hand includes three subskills: Concealment, Juggling and Pickpocketing.

### **Concealment**

While pickpocketing is great for liberating things from less observant targets, Concealment is great for making sure perceptive individuals aren't going to notice objects you've hidden. The GM should set the DC based on the size of the object and how difficult it would be to hide.

### **Juggling**

Whether catching something to prevent it from falling or entertaining a crowd, it's not an uncommon skill for those with quick reflexes to pick up.

### **Pickpocketing**

Planting evidence or filling your pockets with the possessions of others, Pickpocketing is a staple in every major community.

### **Lockpicking**

Whether opening up a locked door to get inside to see the leader of a community, or opening up a lockbox to uncover what's inside, lockpicking can be a useful skill for your survivor to learn.

## **Stealth**

Stealth is broken down into two subskills: Camouflage and Tailing.

### **Camouflage**

Hiding in place like a cat stalking it's prey, Camouflage is a great tool for staking out targets or keeping your party hidden while resting.

### **Tailing**

Wanting to move and not be noticed isn't just for Scavengers and other such classes. Anyone can find it useful for tracking other survivors or even undead. Either way, if you plan to move and be hidden, Tailing is a useful skill to know.

# **Constitution**

Constitution measures health, stamina, and vital force. Below are the various Subskills that have to do with Constitution, separated by Skill:

## **Endurance**

Endurance can be broken down into three subskills: Environmental Adaptation, Pain Tolerance, and Running.

### **Environmental Adaptation**

Over time, your body and mind have adapted to an environment. When using your Endurance skill to resist the naturally occurring effects of that terrain, you can use adaptation instead. For example, in a desert, you could use it to resist a lack of water or overwhelming heat. When picking this expertise, select one type of terrain or environment. You can take this expertise multiple times, selecting one new environment each time.

* Arctic
* Coast
* Desert
* Forest
* Grassland
* Mountain
* Nautical
* Swamp

### **Pain Tolerance**

Information is power, and to that end torturers consider information extraction an art. Pain Tolerance allows you to resist their craft. The GM should use Endurance or Pain Tolerance as the skill to resist Torture.

### **Distance Running**

Sprinting short distances is fine, but sometimes characters need to cover vast distances without rest. Distance Running allows you to maintain your pace. DMs should use Distance Running to allow characters to cover greater distances overland than usual, with failure resulting in exhaustion.

# **Intelligence**

Intelligence measures mental acuity, accuracy of recall, and the ability to reason. Below are the various Subskills that have to do with Intelligence, separated by Skill:

## **History**

History is broken down into 3 subskills: Appraising, Heraldry, and Law.

### **Appraising**

Knowing the quality of a gun or the sharpness of a blade allows you to understand exactly how ripped off you're going to get from the merchants in a community.

### **Law**

Knowledge of the rules and regulations of the new world, and the consequences when your party members break them.

## **Investigation**

Investigation contains three subskills: Cryptography, Information Gathering, and Deduction.

### **Cryptography**

Cryptography is used when someone wants to hide information inside something else. Characters can pick up the hidden meaning in a story, a password drawn into a painting, or a message left by a member of a fallen community.

### **Information Gathering**

Walking around a community, picking up rumors, is a common survivor past time. Plying locals with booze to get secrets out of them is a great cover for getting drunk in town.

### **Deduction**

The ability to see connections between seemingly random facts, and the process of reaching a decision or answer by evaluating known facts.

## **Nature**

Nature is broken down into 4 subskills: Cartography, Geography, Geology, and Poison.

### **Cartography**

There's a big difference between being able to read the lay of the land in person, and reading a map. Knowing how to create and read maps is especially important for survivors wanting to explore new lands.

### **Geography**

Knowing how and why mountains form, what rocks lay under the ocean and which side of trees moss tends to are all skills useful to those who trek through the wilds. You can read the lay of the land faster than any map.

### **Geology**

No survivor would be caught dead not knowing the differences between rock types. If you plan on delving through caves, it's advised you learn about Geology yourself.

### **Poison**

Is a substance safe to touch? To breathe? To apply to your weapon? Not all poisons are created equal and their dangerous nature means understanding them makes you much safer.

## **Religion**

Religion is broken down into two subskills: Gods and Beliefs.

### **Gods**

Knowing the gods of different religions might seem useless. But it could come in handy if you ever need to pray for someone to save your life.

### **Beliefs**

Knowing what different religions believe in could potentially come in handy, even after the end of the world. You wouldn't want to offend the wrong person and get yourself killed, now would you?

## **Tinkering**

Tinkering is broken down into three Subskills; Hotwiring, Hacking, and Mechanics.

### **Hotwiring**

If you can't find the keys to a car, you can attempt to hotwire it to get it running. This could be useful if you need to get away in a hurry or if you have to cover long distances. Be careful though. Failure to Hotwire could result in a car alarm that draws Zombies in your direction.

### **Hacking**

If you need to open the locked door of a government facility, then you can attempt to hack into a computer to get the door open, provided you have power.

### **Mechanics**

If you need to Tinker with a device to get it working, then knowledge of Mechanics might just prove useful to you. This could be used to fix a broken down vehicle, get a trap working, or even disable a trap.

## **Crafting**

Crafting is broken down into two Subskills: Woodworking and Metalworking.

### **Woodworking**

This could prove useful to build wooden walls to surround your base, or to create barricades for your windows. Woodworking could definitely come in handy.

### **Metalworking**

This could come in handy to build reinforced walls to surround your base, better barricades for your windows, or even an improvised shield.

# **Wisdom**

Wisdom reflects how attuned you are to the world around you and represents perceptiveness and intuition. Below are the various Subskills that have to do with Wisdom, separated by Skill:

## **Animal Handling**

Animal Handling consists of five subskills: Entomology, Falconry, Horsemanship, Kenneling, and Shepherding.

### **Entomology**

Your knowledge of insects and arachnids allows you to identify the small ones and know what insects are safe to eat. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

### **Falconry**

Working with majestic birds, you can train them to send messages to other communities or find food and resources.

### **Horsemanship**

Many a survivor has swung a blade from horseback, but these creatures need to be trained to wade into battle. Understanding your mount will go a long way towards keeping it from flinging you off.

### **Kenneling**

While others know how to deal with animals and even ride them, learning kenneling will allow you to keep and breed them. Many communities will have large kennels of canines with which to hunt.

### **Shepherding**

While not as glamourous as an eagle, wolf, or horse, the shepherd deals with herding groups of animals. A rider can calm a horse, but a shepherd can calm a whole herd of cows, sheep or goats.

## **Insight**

Insight is broken into two subskills: Empathy and Combat Sense.

### **Empathy**

Empathy will let you understand how someone else is feeling without having to press them.. A more subtle art, certainly.

### **Combat Sense**

Everyone knows to take the high ground, but there are hundreds of battlefield strategies that can keep survivors alive. Likewise, understanding that your opponent also knows these tricks is an equally useful tool.

## **First Aid**

First Aid is broken down into four subskills: Apothecary, Massage, Forensics, and Veterinary.

### **Apothecary**

Ointments, medicines and unguents are all different ways of solving what ails the common man. Being trained in the skill allows you to separate real cures from snake oil.

### **Massage Therapy**

Physical therapy is not only a useful skill medicinally, but many a powerful survivors has had their ear swayed when they were in good moods during a skilled massage.

### **Forensics**

Looking at a battlefield and being able to determine which side won, where the victors went and who might have survived takes as sharp a wit as being able to look at a corpse and determine the cause of death. Such a skill can help keep the same fate from befalling the survivors.

### **Veterinary**

While many medicines apply in a general way between humans and horses, understanding the specific differences between the two can help you apply medicine to animals.

## **Perception**

Perception is broken into three subskills: Eavesdropping, Guarding, and Tasting.

### **Eavesdropping**

Listening through a door, from a distance, or around a corner is not an easy task. Another one of those skills that survivors find useful.

### **Guarding**

You have an ever-watchful eye that can spot movement or any other irregularities around you. You keep a perfect watch, able to tell friend from foe and patiently guard your surroundings.

### **Tasting**

Wow, you can really taste the poison! Every survivor will be glad they have you to keep them from eating something that can get them killed.

## **Survival**

Survival consists of 10 subskills: Find Water, Fire Mastery, Fishing, Foraging, Regional Navigation, Rope Mastery, Skinning, Tracking, Trapping, and Weather Sense.

### **Find Water**

It's recommended that characters take time to drink a few times in a day. In some of the more dangerous regions of the world that can be hard to do. Being trained to find water can help mitigate this risk.

### **Fire Mastery**

One of the basics of survival, you know how to start, stop, or enlarge a fire. Also, you can easily determine how long a fire has been burning.

### **Fishing**

Let others eat berries. Find yourself some of that delicious flaky food. A staple in any port location, many survivors will supplement their dried foods with fish.

### **Foraging**

If you're going to end up eating berries, it's a good idea to know the difference between the ones that will make you feel better and the ones that will leave you sick.

### **Region Navigation**

Can't see the forest for the trees? An ocean all around you and no idea where you are? Take some time to learn how to navigate the world and never feel lost again. When picking this skill, select a region from the Regional Lore expertise. You can take this skill multiple times, selecting a new region each time.

### **Rope Mastery**

You might not want to kill your foes, but they certainly can't be allowed to walk around freely. Why not tie them up with a rope? Or tie off a rope as an impromptu ladder.

### **Skinning**

Animals need to be skinned before becoming the leather armor that ends up protecting your more lightly armored friends and warming more northern peoples. It is recommended for GMs to set the DC based on how difficult removal is and to reward failures with lower yields.

### **Tracking**

Not everyone can be so lucky as to track foes through wet mud or snow. Being skilled in spotting the tell-tale signs of your prey through the best and worst of conditions is useful to most groups.

### **Trapping**

If the whole 'slowly chase animals and shoot them with arrows' thing isn't working for you, try luring them with some bait into a trap! It is advised that the GM sets the DC based on how plentiful creatures are in the area.

### **Weather Sense**

Storm's a brewin' and you can tell! Know what the weather will be like in a few hours or even a few days, if you're really good at it.

## **Cooking**

Cooking can be broken down into three Subskills: Baking, Recipes, and Recognizing Ingredients.

### **Baking**

Food is scarce in the wasteland that the world has become. But the food you can find, why not bake it into a delectable meal in keep you and your groups' stomachs satisfied.

### **Recipes**

Just because you can cook, doesn't mean that you can make complex recipes out of ingredients you find in the world.

### **Recognizing Ingredients**

You can spot ingredients, such as mushrooms and berries, from a mile away. And you know just how to use them too!

# **Charisma**

Charisma measures your ability to interact well with others. It includes such facts as confidence and eloquence, and it can represent a charming or commanding personality. Below are the various Subskills that have to do with Charisma, separated by Skill:

## **Deception**

Deception is broken into five subskills: Acting, Boasting, Disguise, Fast Talking, and Mimicry.

### **Acting**

From impressing audiences to tricking hostile survivors , the skill of Acting can be plied widely across the world.

### **Boasting**

Drunks from taverns across the world, trained or otherwise, flood the ears of passers-by with the Boasting skill. Of course, every single boasted tale is absolutely factual as well!

### **Disguise**

This is the ability to apply pigments, makeup, and prosthetics to literally make someone look unlike themselves. The GM should set the DC according to how difficult it would be to make the target look like something else.

### **Fast-talk**

Your lips are just as quick as your wits, and combining both throws people off of the intent of your words and directly where you want them (provided they don't notice your duplicity).

### **Mimicry**

Changing your voice to make yourself sound like someone else could be a great way to trick survivors into letting you into their community. Of course, sounding like someone isn't enough to convince people you are them but it's a start.

## **Intimidation**

Intimidation is broken into two subskills: Torture and Savagery.

### **Torture**

Extracting information from a source by force. The GM should use a Constitution or an Endurance (Pain Tolerance) roll to set the DC for using this skill.

### **Savagery**

Talking to cannibals, hostile survivors, cultists, and other so-called 'uncivilized' societies requires a different set of skills.

## **Performance**

Performance is broken down into seven subskills: Comedy, Dancing, Entertainment Mastery, Pantomime, Oratory, Poetry, and Singing.

### **Entertainment Mastery**

You have mastered a form of entertainment appropriate to specific situations. When picking this subskill, select a style. You can take this subskill multiple times, selecting one new style each time. You can use this subskill to perform in a way that is particularly fitting to specific situation. If you use an instrument you are proficient with, you gain advantage to your skill check.

* **Tavern Music -** jolly songs of simple nature
* **Ceremonial -** fit for weddings, funerals or other rituals
* **Storytelling -** telling great stories that inspire others
* **Emotional -** music that makes people laugh or weep
* **Concerto -** exquisite performance for the high classes

### **Comedy**

Comedy is a great way to endear yourself to your audience. Of course, the wrong joke to the right crowd could end very poorly.

### **Dancing**

Dancing is a universal sign of civilization. From the smallest kid to the largest adult, everyone seems to have their own culturally significant way to cut a rug.

### **Pantomime**

This is the ability to pantomime actions and have others understand what you're conveying, such as communicating with party members without resorting to whispering. The GM should set the DC according to how difficult that action would be to convey without any other items.

### **Oratory**

A booming voice, echoing through a large room, catches the attention of all. The oratory skill lets you say what needs to be said with a significant amount of panache.

### **Poetry**

It's not for everyone but to the right target, Poetry is like the Massage skill for the soul.

### **Singing**

Functionally similar to playing an instrument but requiring an entirely different set of skills, singing is often said to be one of the most difficult instruments to perfect.

## **Persuasion**

Persuasion consists of six subskills: Bargaining, Debate, Etiquette, Leadership, Provocation, and Seduction.

### **Bargaining**

Honest merchants prefer a fair bargain versus a cunning tongue. The best deals are the ones which benefit everyone.

### **Debate**

You might be right, and they might be wrong, but if you don't understand the best way to express that then you'll truly have your work cut out for you.

### **Etiquette**

While your usual skills of persuasion will work with the commoners, nobles and gentry will require a much more refined touch. That's when it's time to break out your Etiquette skills to impress.

### **Leadership**

Anyone can send a group of survivors into battle against another community. A leader will be there to inspire them to stay on the battlefield when the going gets tough, or to ignore their exhaustion when they're tired. The GM should set the DC based on how loyal that group is to the leader as well as what the leader is asking of that group.

### **Provocation**

Your cunning words cut deeper than your blade, and it is a fair reason to make anyone react angrily, violently, or emotionally against their best interests.

### **Seduction**

If you've got it, flaunt it. Of course there's no promise that you are what your target is looking for, but nothing ventured, nothing gained.