Skills

Each ability score covers a broad range of capabilities, including skills. A skill represents a specific aspect of an ability score, and an individual's skill ranks in a skill demonstrate a focus on that aspect. When you create your character, you gain skill points from your character's background, the Accomplishment table, and potentially through your ability origin picks if you pick the right tag.

For example, a Dexterity check might reflect a character's attempt to pull off an acrobatic stunt, palm an object, or move quietly. These aspects of Dexterity have an associated skill: Athletics, Subterfuge, and Stealth, respectively. A character who has skill ranks in the Stealth skill is excellent at Dexterity checks related to sneaking about.

## Skill Ranks and Skill Points

Skills are given as points, which can be used to purchase skill ranks. Which skill ranks you purchase should showcase your character's experience, talent, and training. Possessing no skill ranks in a skill results in making skill checks without adding your proficiency bonus to that skill check. To increase your aptitude with a skill, you need to acquire more skill points and trade them into skill ranks, which allows you to add your proficiency bonus in different capacities - depending upon the skill rank.

To obtain higher ranks, you must invest more skill points to reach the new level. If you cannot purchase the rank you want with your available skill points, you can store them until you can.

 Rank 1
 Rank 2
 Rank 3
 Rank 4
 Rank 5

***Your character may possess any number of skills with one to three ranks at level 1. At level 4 you may purchase skills of rank 4. Rank 5 can be purchased at 8th level if your character possesses a feat or an ability that explicitly states you are allowed to advance to Rank 5 in that particular skill***.

***Untrained***

* No added bonus other than your ability score modifier.
* You have never practiced the skill.

***Rank 1***

* Proficiency/2 (rounded up)
* You’ve dabbled in the subject as a beginner.

***Rank 2***

* Proficiency
* You feel adept with the skill.

***Rank 3***

* Proficiency \*1.5 (rounded up)
* You spent a considerable amount of time with the skill and you have become somewhat of an expert.

***Rank 4***

* Proficiency \*2
* You’ve become a master with the skill.

***Rank 5***

* Proficiency \*2.5 (rounded up)
* You have gone above the rank of master into legend.

## ***Skill List***

In parenthesis after the name of the skill, you will find one or two ability scores that the skill is usually used with. Which one applies depends on the circumstances and is ultimately up to the GM. Choose your character's skills per their backstory and affinities. ***Rank 5 can't be purchased through normal means. Instead, certain feats and abilities unlock this rank for one or more particular skills for a character***.

Skills with "Must Be Specified" conveys that the player must specify which specialization the character possesses with the skill when selecting it. What specializations can be chosen are hinted towards in the particular skill's description. Skills with "Must be Specified" can be taken several times with different specializations chosen at every new skill purchase.
Skills with "Spec" means that the ability scores used with the skill are highly varied and depend upon the specific circumstance. A task with the skill might also include several checks with different ability scores used. How these checks are handled is ultimately up to the GM.

##### *Academics (must be specified) (Int)*

All bodies of knowledge are considered Academics. The player is free to come up with their own fields of Academics beyond the examples presented here. The more niche the field is, the more detailed the information is. However, the more limited the answers will be.

Examples; A culture, chemistry, an Ennade, history or history about a place or specific time, law, nature, a Realm or the World, etc.

##### *Animal Handling (Cun/Pre)*

Animal Handling is both taking care of and handling domesticated animals, as well as dealing with wild beasts, understanding their behavior, and maybe even befriending them.

##### *Arts & Crafts (must be specified) (Spec)*

All arts and crafts you can imagine, the broader the term you select, the lesser mastery you gain in the fine details, just like how Academics works. The player is free to come up with their own field of art or craft.

The abilities this couples with will be determined by the art or craft in question; A blacksmith might require brawn to shape their piece, but a calligrapher's work is more a matter of Dexterity or even Cunning.

Examples; Acting, Smithing, Painting, Public Speaking, Weaving, Woodcarving, etc.

##### *Athletics (Br/Dex)*

Athletics is everything from jumping, swimming, climbing to acrobatics. You use Dexterity when the task requires more body control or agility. Use Brawn when shear strength is the dominating factor in the task.

##### *Deception (Pre/Man)*

The Deception Skill is a social Skill that persuades, intimidate, seduce, and anything in between, but only when the character believes themselves to be lying. Deception is used when trying to persuade someone of an untruth, intimidate someone when you don't believe yourself better, or seduce someone you're not attracted to. If the attempt uses words, it relies on manipulation. For body language, presence is used.

##### *Empathy (Man/Com)*

Empathy allows characters to work out the motivations and emotions of those they interact with and manipulate those feelings to their advantage. Composure is primarily used when trying to understand emotions and intentions, and Manipulation is used when trying to nudge them. Examples could be consoling someone grieving, revving up a crowd, or an interrogation attempt with a suspect.

##### *Investigation (Cun)*

The investigation skill is understanding cause and effect. Connecting evidence from a murder scene to a working theory, combining prior research into a comprehensive conclusion, or understanding a trap's mechanism and realize how to disarm it.

##### *Leadership (Pre/Man)*

Leadership is the knowledge or experience of leadership techniques, as well as the confidence needed to effectively lead and coordinate groups. Once again, attempts relying on speech use Manipulation, and body language uses Presence.

##### *Medicine (Int/Cun)*

To diagnose and grasp what is ailing a creature is Medicine coupled with Intelligence, but performing surgery or first aid is used with Cunning.

##### *Occult (Int/Cun)*

The Occult Skill represents knowledge of the supernatural elements of the Soul and beyond, such as Soul Mastery, Soul Magic, Magic Rituals, etc. When attempting to recal details about the Occult, Intelligence is utilized. For purposes of forming conclusions about magic, solving puzzles or applying knowledge of the Occult, this calls for Cunning.

##### *Perception (Int/Com)*

Perception is all about spotting things that are out of the ordinary or are of interest to the character. For example, spotting a trap before you spring it. However, Investigation is the skill to use when you want to understand what the trap does and how to disarm it.

Perception is used with Intelligence when perceiving something that is out of the ordinary, finding clues at a murder scene, seeing through illusions, or noticing that your drink doesn't taste as it should. On the other hand, Composure is conjoined with Perception when the character needs to be stalwart and vigilant. Examples can be; traveling through a forest and after a few hours noticing a twig being snapped suspiciously, a guard on a night shift noticing that a particular shadow flickering in the corner of their eye, or picking out the whispering of an incantation in a loud crowd.

##### *Persuasion (Pre/Man)*

Persuasion is the opposite of Deception, used when the character believes they are honest. Persuasion is selected when trying to persuade someone of the truth, intimidate someone when you believe yourself better, or seduce someone you're attracted to. Presence is used for body language, Manipulation for speech.

##### *Subterfuge (Dex/Cun)*

Subterfuge is all things shady, of luring and fooling people for your gain. Subterfuge includes shadowing, creating disguises, forging, sleight of hand, lock-picking, etc. Dexterity coupled with Subterfuge is used for manual work, such as picking pockets or locks. Where quick thinking is called for, such as shadowing a person or forging documents, Cunning is used instead.

##### *Stealth (Dex/Cun)*

Stealth showcases the character's ability to go unnoticed, hide, and sneak. Sometimes going unnoticed requires more mental prowess than physical. If so, Stealth is joined with Cunning, for when you need to hide in plain sight or slip between shadows. Dexterity is coupled with Stealth when it is a feat of agility, sneaking silently up to a turned back, moving silently over gravel, or jumping across rooftops with an unknowing crowd below.

##### *Survival (Int/Cun)*

Survival is the ability to understand and overcome the challenges of more or less inhospitable environments. This often means finding food and shelter in the wild, crafting basic tools from things found in nature, foreseeing pitfalls such as poison edibles, sandpits, etc., navigating unknown territory, reading the weather, and tracking. Practical Survival, such as tracking animals, crafting shelter or noticing pitfalls, uses Cunning. Knowledge of survival or the wild, such as identifying poisonous and edible plants, identifying animals or deciding how much provisions are needed, requires Intelligence.

### Nonstandard skill uses

The skill and ability combinations above are only examples and suggestions, not hard and fast rules. A GM is free to call for a check of any skill and ability combination they feel appropriate. Striking a bodybuilder pose might call for an *Athletics(Pre)* check, and recognizing a confidence trick might call for a check of *Subterfuge(Int).* In this case, as with every other, you would add the bonus from your skill ranks to the ability modifier, as usual.