Skills

=SKILLS - 1 Point Per Level Increase= Heroes sneak into the closely guarded lairs of criminal masterminds, infiltrate alien computer systems, and build devices beyond the understanding of modern science. They can piece together obscure clues to a villain’s latest plot, run along tightropes, and pilot vehicles through obstacle courses, all in a day’s work. In this game they do so through the use of various skills.

SKILL BASICS
Skills are learned abilities, a combination of training (the skill) and natural talent (an ability rank). Each skill has a rank, used as a bonus to the die roll when using the skill. To make a skill check, roll:

d20 + skill rank + ability modifier + miscellaneous modifiers

SKILL RANK
Your rank in a skill, based on the points you have invested in that skill. If you have ranks in a skill you’re considered trained in that skill. You can use some skills even if you don’t have any ranks in them, known as using a skill untrained. Some skills may not be used untrained.

ABILITY MODIFIER
Each skill has an ability modifier applied to the skill’s checks. Each skill’s ability modifier is noted in its description and on Table: Skills. If you use a skill untrained, the ability modifier still applies to the skill check.

MISCELLANEOUS MODIFIERS
Miscellaneous modifiers to skill checks include modifiers for circumstances, and bonuses from advantages or powers, among others.

The higher the total, the better the result. You’re usually looking for a total that equals or exceeds a particular difficulty class (DC), which may be based on another character’s traits.

CRITICAL SUCCESS
If you roll a 20 on the die when making a check you’ve scored a critical success. Determine the degree of success normally and then increase it by one degree. This can turn a low-level success into something more significant, but more importantly, it can turn a failure into a full-fledged success!

ACQUIRING SKILLS
Give your hero skill ranks by spending character points: 2 skill ranks per character point. Skill ranks do not all need to be assigned to the same skill. You can split them between different skills. Characters can perform some tasks without any training, using only raw talent (as defined by their ability ranks), but skilled characters are better at such things. Those with the right combinations of skills and advantages can even hold their own against super-powered opponents.

SKILL COST
Every skill cost an increasing amount of points. The first level of any skill cost three (03) points. The second level cost six (06) points. The third level cost nine (09) points. This pattern continues.

To buy a single level of a skill you must have the previous level. For example your character must have level 1 in a skill before buying level 2 (6 XP points). Level 2 before buying level 3 (9 XP Points).

To buy multiple levels of a skill requires paying the cost for every level. For example. to buy three levels of a skill requires paying the 3 XP for the 1st level, plus 6 XP for the second level, and 9 XP for the third level. This would be a total of 18 XP.

HOW SKILLS WORK
When you use a skill, make a skill check to see how you do. Based on the circumstances, your result must match or beat a particular number to use the skill successfully. The harder the task, the higher the number you need to roll. (See Checks, for more information.)

UNTRAINED SKILL CHECKS
Generally, if you attempt a task requiring a skill you don’t have, you make a skill check as normal. Skill rank doesn’t apply because you don’t have any ranks in the skill. You do get other modifiers, however, such as the skill’s ability modifier.

Many skills can only be used if you are trained in them. Skills that cannot be used untrained are marked with a “No” in the “Untrained” column on Table: Skills and listed as “Trained Only” in their descriptions. Attempts to use these skills untrained automatically fail. In some cases, a skill may have both trained and untrained aspects; if you do not have any ranks in that skill, you can only use the untrained ones.

INTERACTION SKILLS
Certain skills, called interaction skills, are aimed at dealing with others through social interaction. Interaction skills allow you to influence the attitudes of others and get them to cooperate with you in one way or another. Since interaction skills are intended for dealing with others socially, they have certain requirements.

First, you must be able to interact with the subject(s) of the skill. They must be aware of you and able to understand you. If they can’t hear or understand you for some reason, you have a –5 circumstance penalty to your skill check (see Circumstance Modifiers in The Basics).

Interaction skills work best on intelligent subjects, ones with an Intellect rank of –4 or better. You can use them on creatures with Int –5, but again with a –5 circumstance penalty; they’re just too dumb to get the subtleties of your point. You can’t use interaction skills at all on subjects lacking one or more mental abilities. (Try convincing a rock to be your friend—or afraid of you—sometime.) The Immunity effect (see Powers) can also render characters immune to interaction skills.

You can use interaction skills on groups of subjects at once, but only to achieve the same result for everyone. So you can attempt to use Deception or Persuasion to convince a group of something, or Intimidation to cow a crowd, for example, but you can’t convince some individuals of one thing and the rest of another, or intimidate some and not others. The GM decides if a particular use of an interaction skill is effective against a group, and may apply modifiers depending on the situation. The general rules for interaction still apply: everyone in the group must be able to hear and understand you, for example, or you suffer a –5 on your skill check against them. Mindless subjects are unaffected, as usual.

MANIPULATION SKILLS
Some skills, called manipulation skills, require a degree of fine physical manipulation. You need prehensile limbs and a Strength rank or some suitable Precise power effect to use manipulation skills effectively. If your physical manipulation capabilities are impaired in some fashion (such as having your hands tied or full use of only one hand), the GM may impose a circumstance modifier based on the severity of the impairment. Characters lacking the ability to use manipulation skills can still have ranks in them and use them to oversee or assist the work of others (see Team Checks).

SKILL BENCHMARKS
You can get a general idea of just how good a particular character’s skill bonus is using the general difficulty class guidelines given in The Basics along with the rules for routine checks (see Routine Checks).

For example, a +5 total skill modifier means the character can routinely achieve a result of 15 (a tough task). Safe to say the character is a pro, able to routinely handle tasks that would prove too much for someone less skilled. A character with a +10 skill modifier achieve a DC 20 (challenging task) on a routine basis, a real level of expertise, while a +15 modifier can routinely complete DC 25 (formidable) tasks. At the high end, a +30 skill modifier can routinely accomplishing the nigh impossible (DC 40 tasks)!

SKILL DESCRIPTIONS
This section describes the skills available to characters, including their common uses and modifiers. Characters may be able to use skills for tasks other than those given here. The GM sets the DC and decides the results in those cases. The format for skill descriptions is given here. Items that do not apply are omitted from the skill’s description.

SKILL NAME
The skill name line and the line below it contain the following information:
 * Skill Name: What the skill is called. GMs may feel free to change the names of some skills to better suit the style of their game, if desired.
 * Ability: The ability that applies a modifier to the skill check.
 * Trained Only: If “Trained Only” is included on the line below the skill’s name, you must have at least 1 rank in the skill in order to use it. If “Trained Only” is absent, untrained characters (those with 0 ranks in the skill) may use it. Some skills may have trained only aspects, in which case this notation is still listed, and the untrained aspects are called out in the skill description.

FINDING THE SKILL YOU WANT
If you don’t find a particular skill on the list, like climbing, bluffing, or search, remember that each skill covers a lot of ground. So, you’ll find climbing isn’t its own skill, but is listed as part of Athletics, while bluffing and search are under Deception and Investigation, respectively. When in doubt, read through the skill you think is most similar to what you’re looking for.
 * Interaction: If “Interaction” is included on the line below the skill’s name, it is an interaction skill.
 * Manipulation: If “Manipulation” is included on the line below the skill’s name, it is a manipulation skill.
 * Requires Tools: If “Requires Tools” is included on the line below the skill’s name, you need to have the proper tools to use the skill. Not having the proper tools is a –5 circumstance penalty to the skill check (see Circumstance Modifiers).

The skill name line is followed by a description of the skill and how it is used.

Under the Hood: Choosing Skills
There are a number of factors to consider when choosing skills for your character.

TRAINING VS. TALENT
In game terms there’s no difference between a character who has ranks in a skill because of extensive training and another whose skill ranks represent a natural talent or aptitude for the skill. Both are considered “trained” in the skill in game terms. For example, one character might have a high Persuasion skill based on the character’s extensive training in negotiation, debate, and management. Another character’s Persuasion skill may stem more from personal attractiveness or a knack for getting others to cooperate, while a third character may have a combination of the two. Feel free to decide for yourself what mix of training and talent your character’s skill ranks represent.

LIFE SKILLS
When allocating skill ranks for your character consider not just the character’s role as a hero but also the various other skills the character may have picked up in day-to-day life. For example, most adults have some sort of Expertise skill as their occupation with at least 3 to 5 ranks (more if they’re especially good at their job). Some people pick up ranks in Perception, although most get by using the skill untrained. Characters working with technology may have the Technology skill even if it doesn’t apply to their powers. A particularly well educated person may have various Expertise skills for jobs they don’t even hold. These additional skills help round out a character and provide some background color and—who knows?—they may turn out to be useful in an adventure at some point!

ADVENTURING SKILLS
Also give some thought to the skills your character needs to be effective in game play. Some are obvious, especially if they’re part of your character concept. A scientist is likely to have ranks in Technology. A pilot should have Vehicles, while a doctor should have Treatment in addition to Expertise: Physician. Beyond the obvious and life skills of your character consider “utility skills” like Insight, Perception, and Stealth, which many characters find useful. A few ranks in such skills may be a smart investment.

Agility
Trained Only

Use Acrobatics to flip, dive, roll, tumble, and perform other acrobatic maneuvers, as well as keeping your balance under difficult circumstances.

BALANCING
You can keep your balance and move along a precarious surface at your ground speed minus 1 rank with a successful Acrobatics check against the surface’s DC. A degree of failure indicates you spend your move action just maintaining your balance and do not actually move, while two or more degrees of failure means you lose your balance and fall.

You are vulnerable while balancing. If you accept a +5 increase to the Acrobatics DC, you are not vulnerable.

If you fail a resistance check while balancing, make another immediate Acrobatics check against the original DC to avoid falling.

MANEUVERING
You can make Acrobatics checks for various acrobatic stunts or maneuvers, from back flips to jumping over an opponent (to get behind them), flipping up onto a ledge, tumbling through obstacles, and so forth. The GM sets the DC. Success means you accomplish the maneuver, while failure means you do not, and two or more degrees of failure usually means you slip and end up prone (and may suffer additional effects, depending on the stunt). A successful acrobatic maneuver may provide you a circumstance bonus on certain follow-up actions, if the GM sees fit.

STANDING
You can make a DC 20 Acrobatics check to go from prone to standing as a free action rather than a move action. A failed check means you remain prone.

TUMBLING
You can make an Acrobatics check (DC 5) to lessen damage from a fall, reducing the damage by 1 per degree. A fall reduced to rank 0 damage does no damage and you quickly roll to your feet as a free action. Otherwise, you are prone at the end of a fall.

ATHLETICS
Strength Use Athletics for physical feats like climbing, jumping, riding animal mounts, and swimming.

CLIMBING
With a successful Athletics check, you can climb along a slope, wall, or other steep incline at your ground speed rank minus 2 as a move action. A perfectly smooth, flat, vertical surface can’t be climbed without the Wall-crawling effect of Movement (see Powers).

A failed Athletics check indicates you make no progress, and two or more degrees of failure means you fall from whatever height you attained (unless you are secured with a safety harness or other equipment). Make an Athletics check to catch yourself (DC equal to the initial check + 10). Someone else within arm’s reach can also make an Athletics check to catch you with the same DC. If your attempt to catch someone else gets more than one degree of failure, you fall as well.

Since you can’t easily move to avoid attacks, you are vulnerable while climbing unless you accept a +5 increase in the DC. Any time you fail a resistance check while climbing, make an immediate Athletics check against the DC of the climb. Failure means you fall.

At the GM’s discretion, certain kinds of climbing attempts might require tools like ropes, pitons, harness, and so forth. Attempting such a climb without tools incurs a –5 circumstance penalty.

FALLING
A fall inflicts damage rank 4 plus twice the distance rank fallen, to a maximum of rank 16 damage. A fall with a damage rank of 0 or less, such as a fall of 6 feet or less, inflicts no damage. You are prone at the end of a fall. You can use Acrobatics to lessen the damage from a fall.

JUMPING
The result of an Athletics check is the distance (in feet) you can clear in a running long-jump. If you make a standing jump, divide the distance in half. If you make a vertical jump (straight up) divide the distance by 5, and if you make a standing vertical jump, divide it by 10.

Your Athletics bonus + 10 is the base distance you can jump under routine circumstances. So a hero with a +10 Athletics bonus can make a routine long-jump of 20 feet, a standing long-jump of 10 feet, a vertical jump of 4 feet, and a standing vertical jump of 2 feet on a routine basis.

RUNNING
You can make a DC 15 Athletics check as a free action to run faster: one or more degree of success increases your ground speed rank by +1 for one round.

SWIMMING
A successful DC 10 Athletics check allows you to swim your ground speed rank minus 2 as a move action. If the check fails, you make no progress through the water during the action. With more than one degree of failure, you go under. If underwater, you must hold your breath to avoid drowning (see Suffocation).

CLOSE COMBAT
Agility

A hero might have Close Combat: Swords, but Close Combat: Melee Weapons is too broad. Close Combat: unarmed is an option, meaning skill with unarmed strikes like punches and kicks. However, this bonus does not apply to other forms of unarmed combat maneuvers, including, but not limited to, grabbing or tripping.

The bonus from a Close Combat skill applies only to attack checks with the particular attack, not to defenses. For a broader bonus to attack checks that is less than simply raising Fighting rank, see Close Attack advantage in the Advantages.

Close Combat: Chained/Hinged Weapons
This version of Close Combat is for the use of weapons designed to on a flexible and/or hinged manner.

Close Combat: Melee Weapons, Long
This version of Close Combat is for the use of weapons that are 2/3 (66.00%) of the user's body height or longer.

Close Combat: Melee Weapons, Short
This version of Close Combat is for the use of weapons that are under 2/3 (65.99%) of the user's body height or shorter.

Close Combat: Unarmed, Grappling
This version of Close Combat is for the use of unarmed combat techniques designed to achieve chokes, holds, joint-locks, and/or throws.

Close Combat: Unarmed, Lower Body Strikes
This version of Close Combat is for the use of unarmed strikes with the foot, knee and/or leg.

Close Combat: Unarmed, Upper Body Strikes
This version of Close Combat is for the use of unarmed strikes with the arm, elbow, and/or head.

EXPERTISE
Intellect • Trained Only

Under the Hood: Character Expertise vs. Player Expertise
Expertise skills measure what your character knows about various things, whether you know anything about them or not. It’s fairly easy to measure what a hero knows by making the appropriate skill check or looking at the routine check value of (bonus +10).

However, players may know things their characters do not, either because of the player’s life experience or knowledge of the game and its rules (and source material). In this case the Gamemaster may prefer players limit themselves to only what Expertise skills their heroes have rather than what they may or may not know about a given situation. The GM may bend this rule by allowing a player to spend a victory point to have a character act upon something he or she would have no way of knowing, calling it a “hunch” or a “lucky guess” (a version of the inspiration rule). See victory points.

If there’s a question as to how to handle an issue of player versus character expertise in the game, consult your Gamemaster.

Expertise is a broad skill encompassing knowledge and training in a variety of specialized fields, particularly professional disciplines and scholarship. Each is considered a separate skill and training in each is acquired separately, so a former police officer turned district attorney might have Expertise: Police Officer and Expertise: Law, each with their own ranks, for example.

If you are trained in an Expertise, you can practice and make a living at it. You know how to use the tools of that trade, perform the profession’s daily tasks, supervise untrained helpers, and handle common problems. For example, someone trained in Expertise: Sailor knows how to tie basic knots, tend and repair sails, and stand a deck watch at sea. The GM sets DCs for specific tasks using the guidelines provided in The Basics under Checks, keeping in mind that most job-related checks should be considered routine (see Routine Checks).

You can also make Expertise checks to see if your character knows the answer to a particular question related to the area of expertise, such as a scientist confronted with a technical issue, or a lawyer considering a legal question. The DC is 10 for easy questions, 15 for basic questions, and 20 or higher for difficult questions. You can usually answer questions as a routine check, and the GM may make a check for you in secret, so you won’t know whether or not your character’s skill is entirely up to the task.

Expertise covers all areas except those tasks specifically covered by other skills. So, for example, a police detective is going to be trained in Investigation (and probably Insight and Perception) in addition to Expertise: Police Officer, the same for an intrepid reporter with Expertise: Journalism. A scientist might be trained in Technology alongside Expertise: Science, a doctor needs training in Treatment along with Expertise: Physician, and a trial lawyer is going to want skill in Insight and Persuasion (and possibly Deception) along with the training in the law that comes with Expertise: Lawyer.

The ability modifier for Expertise is typically Intellect, but some areas of expertise may call for different abilities, perhaps depending on the task involved. For example, a technical expert might rely on Intellect to answer questions and handle day-to-day procedures, but need Dexterity to perform the actual functions of the job. Performance skills, such as acting or music, may rely on Presence. The GM sets the ability modifier as needed for the specific Expertise check.

Characters with expertise in a profession are also assumed to be licensed or certified to practice it, if necessary. Problems like licensing issues, professional rivalries, and so forth can be handled as complications (see Complications).

The GM may allow some Expertise checks to be made untrained, especially for “unskilled” areas, measuring broad general knowledge and life experience, but even then an untrained Expertise check cannot be routine, and the character can only handle easy or basic tasks or questions (DC 10-15).

Sample Areas of Expertise The following are examples of suitable areas of Expertise. This list is by no means exhaustive, the GM should feel free to add to or modify this list as needed to suit the game and the characters in it.

Art, Business, Carpentry, Cooking, Criminal, Current Events, Dance, History, Journalism, Law, Law Enforcement, Medicine, Military, Music, Magic, Philosophy, Politics, Popular Culture, Psychiatry, Science, Sociology, Streetwise, Theology

Defaulting to Related Areas of Expertise On occasion, the GM may decide that training in an Expertise skill provides some ability to deal with tasks covered by other, related, skills with a circumstance penalty to the skill check.

Example: Figuring out a particular clue involving a government conspiracy requires an investigation or expertise: Politics check. However, the GM allows a hero to substitute an Expertise: Law check with a –2 circumstance penalty, as the knowledge is related, but outside the character’s specific field. Expertise: Journalism might suffer a –5 penalty, but could still be useful (especially if the character works a legal or political beat as a reporter), while Expertise: Cooking is no help at all, and cannot be used for the check (unless the player comes up with a very clever explanation!)

INVESTIGATION
Intellect • Trained Only

You know how to search for and study clues, gather information through interviews and surveillance, and analyze evidence to help solve crimes. The GM may make investigation checks for you in secret, so you do not know exactly what you have found, or if you may have missed something.

SEARCH
You can search an area for clues, hidden items, traps, and other details. Perception allows you to immediately notice things, while an Investigation check allows you to pick up on details with some effort.

To determine how long it takes to search a given area, take the total area measurement (in square feet, yards, or miles), find the time measurement for that distance, and add 2. So searching 60 square feet (roughly an 8 ft. by 8 ft. room) takes the time rank of 60 feet (rank 1), plus 2, or 1 minute (time rank 3). Searching a square mile takes the time rank of 1 mile (rank 8), plus 2, or two hours (time rank 10).

The DC for an Investigation check to find a concealed object is usually opposed by the Stealth or Sleight of Hand check of the character who hid it.

GATHER EVIDENCE
To collect a piece of evidence for analysis, make an Investigation check (DC 15). If the check succeeds, the evidence can be analyzed (see Analyze Evidence.) If the check fails, an analysis can be done, but with a –5 penalty for highly unfavorable circumstances. With more than one degree of failure, the evidence is ruined and no analysis can be done. On the other hand, two or more degrees of success provide a +2 circumstance bonus to later analysis.

ANALYZE EVIDENCE
You can make an Investigation check to apply forensic knowledge to evidence. This function of Investigation does not give you clues where none exist. It simply allows you to extract useful information from evidence and clues you have found.

The base DC 15, modified by the time elapsed since the evidence was left, and whether or not the scene was disturbed. Success gives you information based on the clue (and determined by the GM). Two or more degrees of failure may provide misleading or confusing evidence, also at the GM’s discretion.

GATHER INFORMATION
You know how to make contacts, collect gossip and rumors, question informants, and otherwise get information from people.

By succeeding at a DC 10 Investigation check taking at least an hour, you get a feel for the major news and rumors in an area. This assumes no obvious reasons exist why information would be withheld. The degree of the check result determines the completeness and detail of the information. Information ranges from general to protected, and the DC increases accordingly for the type of information, as given on the table.

General information concerns local happenings, rumors, gossip, and the like.

Specific information usually relates to a particular question.

Restricted information isn’t generally known and requires you to locate someone with access to the information.

Protected information is even harder to come by and might involve some danger, either for the one asking the questions or the one providing the answers.

Failure on the Investigation check means you waste time turning up nothing of value. An additional degree of failure means you also alert someone who may be interested in your inquiries, perhaps even someone you are investigating!

SURVEILLANCE
You can set up surveillance of a particular area, watching from a stationary location. The DC of the subject’s Stealth check to evade your notice is equal to the result of your Investigation check. For actively following a subject, see Tailing in the Stealth skill.

PERCEPTION
Awareness

Use this skill to notice and pick up on things. Discerning details—such as clearly hearing conversation or reading fine text—requires at least three degrees of success on the Perception check.

In general, you have a –1 circumstance penalty to Perception checks for every 10 feet between you and what you are  trying to perceive. So hearing a noise from 50 feet away is a –5 modifier to your Perception check, for example.

The GM usually makes Perception checks secretly so you don’t know whether there was nothing to notice or you simply failed to notice it. The common sorts of Perception checks are:

HEARING
Make a check against a DC based on how loud the noise is or against an opposed Stealth check. Normal conversation is DC 0, a soft noise DC 10. Listening through a door is +5 DC, +15 for a solid wall. While you’re asleep, hearing something well enough to wake up is +10 DC.

SEEING
Make a check against a DC based on how visible the object is or against an opposed Stealth check. Something in plain sight is DC 0, while something subtle or easily over-looked may be DC 5, 10 or more. Visual perception is also used to detect someone in disguise (see the Deception skill) or to notice a concealed object (see the Sleight of Hand skill).

OTHER SENSES
You can make Perception checks involving other sense types as well (see Powers for more on sense types). Noticing something obvious to a sense is DC 0. Less obvious things are DC 10 or so, hidden things DC 20 or more, and discerning details requires at least three degrees of success, as usual.

You can make a Perception check every time you have the opportunity to notice something new. As a move action, you can attempt to notice something you failed (or believe you failed) to notice previously.

Various sensory effects provide modifiers on Perception checks (see Powers).

QUICKDRAW
Quickdraw is the measure of a person's physical speed. The ability to strike or draw a weapon quickly.

Quickdraw, Firearms
The ability to strike or draw a firearm quickly.

Quickdraw, Melee
The ability to strike or draw a melee weapon quickly.

Quickdraw, Unarmed
The ability to use an unarmed strike quickly.

RANGED COMBAT
Dexterity

You’re trained with a particular type of ranged attack, giving you a bonus to your attack checks with it equal to your skill rank (see Attack Check in The Basics and in Action & Adventure). Each ranged attack is a separate Ranged Combat skill with its own rank, and encompasses a single weapon or power, although an array may be considered one power, at the Gamemaster’s discretion (see Arrays in Powers for more information).

So a hero might have Ranged Combat: Guns or Ranged Combat: Fire Control, but Ranged Combat: Powers is too broad. Ranged Combat: Throwing is an option and includes both thrown weapons and objects a character simply picks up and throws.

The bonus from a Ranged Combat skill applies only to attack checks with the particular attack, not to defenses. For a broader bonus to attack checks that is less than simply raising Dexterity rank, see Ranged Attack advantage in Advantages.

Ranged Combat: Archery
This version of Ranged Combat is for the use of weapons designed as bows.

Ranged Combat: Handguns
This version of Ranged Combat is for the use of weapons designed as single or double hand fired hand guns.

Ranged Combat: Long Guns
This version of Ranged Combat is for the use of weapons designed as shoulder-fired guns.

Ranged Combat: Missiles & Rockets
This version of Ranged Combat is for the use of weapons designed as rockets.

Ranged Combat: Thrown
This version of Ranged Combat is for the use of throwing weapons.

SLEIGHT OF HAND
Dexterity • Manipulation

You can perform dexterous feats of legerdemain such as palming small objects, picking pockets, slipping out of restraints, and so forth. Stage magicians use Sleight of Hand legitimately as a performance skill, but it is most commonly known for its criminal applications.

CONCEALING
You can use Sleight of Hand to conceal a small item on your person, making your check result the DC of an Investigation or Perception check to find it.

CONTORTING
You can use Slight of Hand to contort your body. Make a DC 30 Sleight of Hand check to fit through a tight space wide enough for your head but too narrow for the width of your shoulders, or to reach through an opening wide enough for your hand, but too narrow for your arm.

ESCAPING
Make a Sleight of Hand check to slip out of various restraints. This takes at least a minute per check.

You can also make a Sleight of Hand check to plant a small object on someone, slip something into their pocket, drop something into their drink, place a tiny radio tracer on them, and so forth. To plant the object, you must get a check result of 20 or higher, regardless of the opponent’s check result. The opponent notices the attempt if his check result beats yours, whether you succeed in planting the item or not.

Escaping from a grab is an Acrobatics or Athletics check. See Grab in Conflict and Contorting, previously, for details.

LEGERDEMAIN
Minor feats of sleight of hand, such as making a coin or playing card “vanish,” have a DC of 10 unless an observer is focused on noticing what you are doing. When you perform this skill under observation, your check is opposed by the observer’s Perception check to see if they notice the trick.

STEALING
To covertly take something from another person make a Sleight of Hand check (DC 20). Your target makes a perception check and notices the attempt if his check result beats yours, whether you succeed in taking the object or not.

Example: The Elastibandit is robbing a museum of some of its valuables when a security guard passes by while making his rounds. The bouncing Bandit has no fear of the rent-a-cop, so he decides to have some fun. He has Skill Mastery for his Stealth and, unsurprisingly, the guard doesn’t notice him slither closer, but then Elastibandit decides to try and steal the guard’s gun without being noticed. Bandit has Sleight of Hand +12 and adds that to the roll of a die. A whopping 19 plus 12 for a total of 31! The guard, with a Perception skill of only +5, doesn’t have a prayer of noticing his gun being eased out of its holster, but the GM rolls anyway and gets a total of 20. A good roll, but no enough.

STEALTH
Agility

You’re skilled in going unnoticed. While using Stealth, you can move at your speed rank minus 1 with no penalty. Faster than that, up to your full speed, you take a –5 circumstance penalty to your Stealth checks.

HIDING
If you have cover or concealment, make a Stealth check, opposed by an observer’s Perception check, to hide and go unnoticed.

If others are aware of your presence, you can’t use Stealth to remain undetected. You can run around a corner so you are out of sight and then use Stealth, but others know which way you went. You can’t hide at all if you have absolutely no cover or concealment, since that means you are standing out in plain sight. Of course, if someone isn’t looking directly at you (you’re sneaking up from behind, for example), then you have concealment relative to that person.

TAILING
You can use Stealth to tail someone at your normal speed. This assumes you have some cover or concealment (crowds of people, shadows, fog, etc.). If the subject is worried about being followed, he can make a Perception check (opposed by your Stealth check) every time he changes course (goes around a street corner, exits a building, and so on). If he is unsuspecting, he only gets one Perception check for the scene. If the subject notices you, make a Deception check, opposed by Insight. If you succeed, you manage to pass off your presence as coincidence and can continue tailing. A failed Deception check, or being noticed a second time, means the subject knows something is up and reacts accordingly.

TECHNOLOGY
Intellect • Trained Only • Manipulation • Requires Tools

Technology covers operating, building, repairing, and generally working with technological devices and equipment. Without the proper tools or equipment, you take a –5 penalty to Technology checks for highly unfavorable circumstances.

OPERATING
Most routine operations of technological equipment don’t require a skill check and can be done untrained. Using an unfamiliar device does require a check, with the DC determined by how foreign or unusual the device is, from simple (DC 10) to highly advanced (DC 25 or more).

BUILDING
The difficulty and time required to make an item depends on its complexity, as shown on the Building Items table. If your Technology check succeeds, you have made the item after the necessary time. If the check fails, you did not produce a usable end result, and any time and materials are wasted. More than one degree of failure on the check may produce an accident or other unfortunate side-effect at the GM’s discretion.

REPAIRING
You can also use Technology to repair damaged items, with a –5 to the DC to build the item and –2 to the time rank required. So you can perform repairs on a complex item in eight hours (time rank 12) with a DC of 20. Failure on the check means you spend the time, but make no progress. Two or more degrees of failure may indicate further damage to the item or an accident similar to building it.

You can reduce the time rank to build or repair an item by 1 by taking a –5 penalty to your skill check.

JURY-RIGGING
You can also attempt jury-rigged, or temporary, repairs. Doing this reduces the repair DC by an additional 5 (for a total of –10 to the DC to build the item), and allows you to make the Technology check as a standard action. However, a jury-rigged repair can only fix a single problem, and the repair only lasts until the end of the scene. The jury-rigged item must be fully repaired thereafter, and cannot be jury-rigged again until it is fully repaired.

DEMOLITIONS
Careful placement of an explosive against a fixed structure can maximize damage by exploiting vulnerabilities in the structure. This requires at least a minute and a DC 10 Technology check. The GM makes the check, so you don’t know exactly how well you have done until the explosive goes off. For every two full degrees of success, the explosive deals +5 damage to the structure. Failure means the explosive does not go off as planned, while more than one degree of failure means the charge goes off while you are setting it! In all cases, the explosive deals normal damage to all other targets.

You can make an explosive device more difficult to disarm. To do so, choose a disarm difficulty class before making your check to set the detonator. Your DC to set the detonator is the desired disarm DC. Failure means the explosive fails to go off as planned. Two or more degrees of failure mean the explosive goes off as the detonator is being installed!

Disarming an explosive also requires a Technology check. The DC is usually 10, unless the person who set the detonator chose a higher disarm DC (previously). If you fail the check, you do not disarm the explosive. With more than a degree of failure, the explosive goes off. Setting or disarming a detonator is a standard action.

INVENTING
If you have the Inventor advantage (see Advantages), you can use Technology to create inventions, temporary devices. See Inventing for details.

SECURITY
You can use Technology to disarm or sabotage various security devices, including locks, traps, and sensors. This takes at least a minute, possibly longer, at the GM’s discretion. The GM makes your Technology check secretly so you don’t necessarily know right away if you have succeeded. The Gamemaster sets the DC of the check based on the level of security:

Failure on your skill check means nothing happens, but you can keep trying. More than one degree of failure sets off the security or trap, if it is possible to do so.

TREATMENT
Intellect • Trained Only • Manipulation • Requires Tools

You’re trained in treating injuries and ailments. The check DC and effect of Treatment depend on the task:

If you do not have the appropriate medical equipment and supplies, you take a –5 circumstance penalty on your check. If your subject has a particularly unusual biology (an alien, for example) you may also suffer a circumstance penalty.

You can use the Treatment skill on yourself, but only to diagnose, provide care, or treat disease or poison. You take a –5 circumstance penalty on checks when treating yourself.

DIAGNOSIS
You can diagnose injuries and ailments with an eye toward further treatment. This takes at least a minute. At the GM’s discretion, a successful diagnosis provides a +2 bonus for favorable circumstances on further Treatment checks.

PROVIDE CARE
Providing care means treating an injured patient for a day or more. If successful, the patient further reduces the recovery time by 1 rank (see Recovery in Action & Adventure). You can provide care for up to your Treatment rank in patients at one time.

REVIVE
You can remove the dazed or stunned conditions from a subject (see Conditions in Action & Adventure). The check to revive is a standard action. A successful check removes the condition. Other conditions the patient may have remain, so reviving someone incapacitated due to fatigue still leaves the patient exhausted, for example, while awakening someone incapacitated due to damage still leaves the patient staggered. You can’t awaken a dying character without stabilizing him first (see the following).

STABILIZE
As a standard action, a successful Treatment check stabilizes a dying character.

TREAT DISEASE AND POISON
You can treat a character afflicted with a disease or poison. Each time the character makes a resistance check against the ailment, you make a Treatment check. One degree of success provides the patient with a +2 circumstance bonus to the resistance check, three or more degrees of success provides a +5 circumstance bonus.

VEHICLE POLITING
Dexterity • Trained Only • Manipulation

Use this skill to operate vehicles, from ground vehicles like cars to boats, planes, or even spaceships!

Routine tasks, such as ordinary operation of known vehicles, don’t require a check and may even be done untrained for some vehicles, particularly common ones like cars. Make a check only when operating the vehicle in a stressful or dramatic situation like being chased or attacked, or trying to reach a destination in a limited amount of time.

You can also make Vehicle checks to perform various maneuvers with a vehicle: Note that the Vehicles skill does not cover riding animal mounts.

Vehicles Piloting: Space Vehicle
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