Skills

Skills in New Elysium represent varying actions that a character may take to achieve their goals. Each skill is an umbrella term of various actions that is called upon during a check. More detailed explanations of skills are located further on in this chapter.

Each individual skill will have a **skill bonus** attached to it which is added to check rolls of that skill type. Skills begin with a bonus of +0 and can be increased through leveling up to a maximum of +3.

## Specialization Skills

A few skills are an overall concept for many more specific skills. When you take a skill advance in those skills, you must select a specialization of that skill to apply your skill advance to. You may have more than one specialization in a skill with skill bonuses separate from your other specializations. Specialization skills will have their specializations listed in its description and noted in their title.

# Acrobatics

**Governing Ability:** Agility

**Perk Pool:** Dexterity

Quick movements, vaulting, falling, and flips. Acrobatics is governed by Agility and is used in situations where your character needs to perform some act of swift and elegant movement.

## Free Running and Vaulting

If a character wishes to traverse difficult terrain at a fast pace, including gaps or blockages to a maximum of 5 ft across and/or 5 ft tall, (beyond which Athletics is more appropriate), they can roll Acrobatics to attempt to move at full speed across said terrain. On a success, the character moves their full speed across the terrain. On a failure, the character simply moves across at the typical reduced speed.

## Landing

When a character falls and wishes to mitigate some of the damage taken from that fall, they will roll Acrobatics. On a success, they will reduce the damage taken by half. If the character scores a critical success, they reduce the damage by half or their agility score, whichever is higher.

## Wall Climbing

In addition, climbing, such as “wall climbing” between two close vertical surfaces, can be achieved. With a success, a character could climb in such a manner to a maximum of 10 ft per round. On a critical success, the character climbs 5 more feet per round.

This climbing can be continued with more checks on subsequent rounds, however if the character fails a roll, they begin to fall and must attempt to catch themselves by rolling another acrobatics check at the start of each of their next turns. On a success, they stop falling where appropriate to the amount of time they spent falling. On a critical success, they may move up an additional 5 ft from where they would stop falling.

# Athletics

**Governing Ability:** Body

**Perk Pool:** Strength

Athletics skill checks cover situations such as climbing, jumping, and swimming. Other examples include clinging to a surface, and forcing open a door.

## Jumping

With a successful Athletics check intended for vertical jumping, you can clear a height equal to double of your body bonus. On a critical success, clear triple your body bonus instead.

When long jumping from standing, a successful Athletics check clears a base of 5 ft. Clear up to 10 ft instead on a critical success. For every 10 ft of run up distance, add 5 ft to the distance cleared.

## Pushing, Dragging, and Lifting

When you push, drag, or lift more than your limit, you must make an Athletics check. On a success, you can manipulate 50 additional pounds beyond your limit. If you fail, make a fortitude defense check or gain a level of fatigue. Your limit is considered an activity that is a basic challenge without overexertion. Your limit for manipulating weight without an Athletics check is considered to be 50 x body bonus in lbs.

# Cast

**Governing Ability:** Intellect

**Perk Pool:** Program

Your cast skill is used to cast and sustain programs and make program attacks in combat using intellect. Programs are effects caused from a caster’s will resonating strongly with the domains of Nitis, then using that resonance to effect real space.

# Deception

**Governing Ability:** Charisma

**Perk Pool:** Social

Deception determines your capabilities in hiding the truth either with your words or actions. This includes misleading with ambiguity or just outright lying. Examples include fast-talking to distract someone, gain the upper hand in a trade, gamble, disguise yourself, ease someone with false assurances, or blatantly lying.

# Diplomacy

**Governing Ability:** Charisma

**Perk Pool:** Social

When you are attempting to make someone see you in a better light, you roll a diplomacy check. Examples are flirting, making a good first impression, persuading, assuring someone in distress, and even talking down a fight. Penalties or bonuses can exist depending on circumstances surrounding the check. For example, trying to diplomacy someone you have made hostile actions against will be much more difficult than normal.

# Knowledge

**Governing Ability:** Intellect

**Perk Pool:** Mental/Program

Lore checks determine your recollection of historical events, important people, corporate wars, and even ancient legends. Some examples of information obscurity (with at least +1 skill) are:

**Common:** +2. **Uncommon:** +0, **Specialized:** -2, **Unorthodox:** -4, **Rare:** -6, **Well Guarded Secret:** -8

In order to recall this information, your character must have reasonably had an opportunity to be exposed to the information. You can’t recall information out of thin air no matter how well you roll.

A character can attempt to research information they do not know if they have a reasonable source of that information or a way to find that information through various sources. In this case, an extended test will be required. Depending on how rare this knowledge is, the test could range anywhere from several hours or even days. Research can be done even if the character does not have the specialization for that Knowledge, but will not progress as quickly as those with higher ranks.

# Performance

**Governing Ability:** Charisma

**Perk Pool:** Social

Performance rolls determine how you can delight people with some sort of show. This can include-- but isn’t limited to-- music, dancing, acting, storytelling, tricks, speeches, and even alongside other skills to give them a sense of flair. The specialization for Performance could be all manner of entertainment, and such are not listed here. See Downtime for more information.

# Pilot

**Governing Ability:** Agility

**Perk Pool:** Exploration

The Pilot skill is used to fly or drive any vehicle, from ships and shuttles to cars and hover bikes. Under normal conditions, pilot checks or even training in the pilot skill are not required to operate most vehicles. Certain specialized craft or those deemed outside the average understanding of a person (helicopters, fighter jets, etc) may require varying levels of skill training or skill checks to operate normally.

Rolling a pilot test is done for evasive maneuvering (see Combat), piloting in hazardous conditions, and moving at dangerous speeds. When you are chasing another vehicle, you will make opposed pilot tests. The winner will either close or widen the gap between the vehicles by up to 50 ft or 100 ft on a critical success.

In combat, a pilot test is usually an action, but depending on the complexity of what the pilot is attempting, it could take more focus and thus take longer. Maneuvers such as continuing at a normal speed or maintaining a heading are free actions.

# Insight

**Governing Ability:** Sense

**Perk Pool:** Social

Insight is used to determine the intentions of someone, such as searching for a lie or hidden emotions. This skill set includes reading body language, speech patterns, and flashes of emotion. Insight is usually opposed by the target’s deception check, though this is not the only circumstance to use Insight.

# Intimidate

**Governing Ability:** Varies

**Perk Pool:** Social

When you are trying to influence someone through dominant presence, threats, hostile actions, and even physical violence or torture, you will use Intimidation. Depending on the way you are trying to intimidate, you can use this skill with varying ability scores. For example, roughing up someone for information could be used with Body. On the other hand, using black mail to get what you want could be seen as an Intellect check.

## Interrogation

Interrogations fall under use of Intimidation as well, seeing as these can also take many forms and generally require applying fear and stress upon someone for information. When you make an Intimidation check to interrogate, you roll opposed to the target’s willpower resist.

On a success, you gain a number of questions equal to the ability score you used that the target must answer truthfully. Keep in mind, the answers will be given in the truth that the target understands and could therefore be inaccurate.

## Torture

Torture is a possibility for getting information, but is a double-edged sword. When using tortuous methods, roll an opposed willpower defense check with the subject or a medicine check against their willpower defense. If you succeed, you gain a +2 bonus to the interrogation check. When torture is used, however, any answers given by the subject do not have to be true, and can simply be what the torturer wants to hear rather than reality.

# Medicine

**Governing Ability:** Intellect

**Perk Pool:** Mental

A medicine check is used to stabilize someone who is bleeding out, treat wounds, diagnose and treat ailments, and even determine what weapon was used to create a wound. Medicine isn’t used for immediate healing of Vitality, but the use of combat drugs and stims can heal vitality instantly.

## First Aid

When a character is bleeding out, you can roll a Medicine check to stabilize them at -1 for each level of Blood Loss on the target. On a success, you remove a level of Blood Loss from the character. On a critical success, remove 2 levels of Blood Loss instead. When a level of Blood Loss is removed, it is converted into a level of Fatigue.

A character that has already flat-lined cannot be stabilized but may be revived. In order to revive a character, you must use the Revive action and roll Medicine at -1 for each round beyond the first that the character has been flat-lined. On a success, the character is revived at 0 vitality. On a critical success, they are revived and gain 1 vitality.

## Treatment

Injuries and traumas will require extended Medicine tests to treat. You can roll a Medicine check to heal a character once per day in addition to their natural healing. On a success, the character heals an amount of vitality equal to your Intellect. If the character was bleeding out within the last 24 hours, the character heals an amount of vitality equal to half your Intellect instead. If the character has flat-lined in the last 24 hours, they heal for 1 vitality if the roll scores at least 50 points, but only 1 point maximum.

# Melee Weapons

**Governing Ability:** Body

**Perk Pool:** Strength/Dexterity

When attacking with a melee weapon, you will use your body ability score in the skill check. When attacking with a blade melee weapon, you may use your agility score in place of your body score for attacks. Checks with attacks are against your target’s evasion defense. See Combat for more details on making attacks.

# Search

**Governing Ability:** Sense

**Perk Pool:** Exploration

Your search skill is used to spot, hear, track, or detect something. You may hear a distant conversation, find a person in a crowd, or spot a concealed weapon. Search is not appropriate for a character passively detecting something, rather when they are *actively* trying to detect something. When it comes to passive detecting something, use the character’s Awareness Defense (see Defense in Combat).

# Ranged Weapons

**Governing Ability:** Agility

**Perk Pool:** Dexterity

When attacking with a range weapon, you will use your agility ability score. Checks with attacks are against your opponent’s evasion defense. See Combat for more details on making attack rolls.

# Sleight of Hand

**Governing Ability:** Agility

**Perk Pool:** Dexterity

Sleight of Hand is rolled when you try quick and hidden use of your hands, such as planting an item on someone, concealing an object, picking locks, or pick-pocketing. This skill is opposed by Awareness Defense.

# Stealth

**Governing Ability:** Agility

**Perk Pool:** Dexterity

Make a Stealth check when you want to conceal yourself, sneak past something, be unnoticed, or ambush someone without being seen or heard. Your stealth roll is contested by the Awareness Defense or Search of any creature actively searching for you or signs of your presence. When actively moving and attempting to avoid detection, a character moves at half its base speed.

# Survival

**Governing Ability:** Sense

**Perk Pool:** Exploration

Survival covers the skills and techniques required to live off of the wild land including foraging, navigating, constructing rough tools, or using materials in creative ways to aid in survival. The environment will apply bonuses and penalties to any Survival Check in it. For example, attempting to track someone in wet ground may gain a +1 bonus, whereas tracking someone through a city street could suffer a -1 penalty.

When attempting to forage or in other ways live off wild lands, a successful Survival check allows a character to gather food, water, and shelter for a number of characters (including themselves) equal to their Sense bonus. This subsistence is considered to be Normal (see Downtime). On a critical success, those characters are able to subsist for an additional day without another Survival check or consider the day’s subsistence as one step higher.

# Tech

**Governing Ability:** Intellect

**Perk Pool:** Mental or Program

Tech allows a character to repair computer systems or use advanced techniques in computer systems. Typical use and circumstances of computers and technology does not require a test. However, unusual or unfamiliar technology, repair, hacking, tech programs, or extreme circumstances will require a check. You may also repair very broken systems with an extended check. Tech does not cover building technological items or programs, as a relevant Trade skill should be used for such crafting endeavors.

Determining the purpose of a complex or unfamiliar system takes about 1 minute with a successful check. Actually interfacing and using that system may take several minutes or even hours. Tech is also used to control robotic systems. See Gear for more information, but in general Tech is used for giving orders to droids.

# Trade

**Governing Ability:** Intellect

**Perk Pool:** Mental

Trade is used during downtime as your character needs time and focus to craft their goods or earn money through a profession. Details on Trade are listed in Downtime including rules for crafting and earning money over time.