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Chapter 6: Skills


[ | Rolling Skills | Expert Skills | How Weapon Skills Work | Choosing Skills | Creative | Engineering | Espionage | Mystical | Physical | Pilotry | Science | Technical | Technology | Weapons (Melee) | Weapons (Ranged) | Wilderness | ]

Wilderness Skills

Agriculture

This is how you care for a large bulk of land. You know how seasons and weather patterns affect crops, what crops can be grown together, and various tricks and tools which can be used to take good care of tilled land. You know how to process grains, pick vegetables, and techniques for producing stronger yields.

    Talents
    • Irrigation.
    • Crop Cycles.
    • Harvesting.
    • A particular cash crop.
    Perks
    • You have +20kg to your Max Lift.
    • +1 Shock.
    • Expected harvest is increased by 15%.
    Expert Performance
    • You increase expected harvest by X%. This cumulates (not compounds) as it is used each week before the actual harvest.

Animals

This skill involves the taming, training, and domesticating of any animal. At the higher levels, you can determine the desired food sources and stimuli for strange creatures with some observation. You also have some empathy, recognizing sickness and pain. If their injury or illness is grave, you will need to combine with Medicine or some other skill that can aid them.

In the future, on alien worlds, there could be some strange beasts indeed.

    Talents
    • Zoology.
    • A particular category or genus of animals.
    • A specific region.
    Perks
    • +3 Perception for checks when interpreting animal signals and emotions.
    • +1 Command.
    • +1 Charisma.
    Expert Performance
    • Training an animal takes less time by using Pace.
    • +X Charm with animals.
    • Animals recover (X*10)% faster from injury and illness under care.

Artisan

You create wooden and stone works with your own hands. Pottery, handles, and small tools are just some of the things you do. You know how to make leather, strings, bows, any item of wood, clay, or tanned furs. You don't work a forge, but other devices (such as a cutting wheel) to create your goods.

You combine with Visual Arts for sculpting, Construction for beautiful patterned walls, Metallurgy or Blacksmithing for necklaces, and Tailoring to create leather and cloth armour. You can also make basic mace weapons and whips.

    Talents
    • Pottery.
    • Woodcrafts.
    • Jewelry.
    • Leather.
    Perks
    • +1 Strength.
    • You can handle 20 more minutes/seconds of Work.
    • +1 Perception.
    Expert Performance
    • Any tools made will give the user +X/2 to Pace on their own skill rolls.
    • Any artwork made will have +X Charm.
    • Leather armour has +X/2 to Prevent and Soak.
    • Weapons have +X/2 damage.

Botany

This is the study of plants, including flowers and fruits, to know what types will grow together. You also know the lifespan and season of many different varieties. You understand and can identify the various plants in a given habitat. At higher levels, you have also studied fungi, moss, and subterrenean plantlife.

Botany can have a greater scientific approach by combining with Chemistry. Your concoctions are medicinal or poisonous in nature. At the lower levels, you at least know what's edible and what's dangerous in familiar areas.

    Talents
    • Any particular genus of plant.
    • A category within fruits or vegetables.
    • Poisons.
    • Holistic medicine.
    • A particular region or habitat.
    Perks
    • You add 2 to the Active Resists of any poison/medicine made.
    • New breeds grown have +3 Charm when properly consumed or simply seen.
    • +2 against poison checks.
    Expert Performance
    • Plants cared for have improved health and resilience by (X*10)%.
    • Plants grown have +X Charm to impress onlookers (or potential gourmands.)

Fishing

This is the ability to track, identify, and clean fish. The only real difference between this skill and hunting, is that this one takes place on water. You know how to operate equipment to handle bigger targets and how to use a net to catch fish. You also know what fish are in season and their usual migration patterns.

    Talents
    • Netting.
    • River.
    • Bottom-Fishing.
    • Preserving.
    Perks
    • +2 to Strength checks for pulling.
    • +2 Ki.
    • +1 Strength.
    Expert Performance
    • Fish meat keeps fresher for (X*10)% longer.

Hunting

You can track game, identify creatures based on tracks and nearby clues, and can skin and prepare a carcass. At the higher levels, no animal escapes you as a resource. You know how to use every part of it. You also know all the associated traps, what animals are good to eat, and which are too dangerous. This can be used to hunt humans.

You'll need to combine with Animals to deal with predators and may need Navigation to avoid being lost in the wilderness.
    Talents
    • Skinning.
    • Trapping.
    • A specific habitat (desert, jungle, tundra.)
    Perks
    • You have +2 Perception against ambushes in the wild.
    • +1 Speed.
    • +2 against poison checks.
    Expert Performance
    • Skins and preserved food last (X*10)% longer than expected.
    • Cut this skill in half to hunt in an urban setting.

Masonry

This is the study of mining and marbling rocks to create tiles. You can identify many different types of rocks and can determine which are suitable for the work required. You know the techniques and technology involved in efficient and safe mining and the identification of precious metals, ores, and gems. This skill would be required at lower levels for sculpting (in Visual Arts or Artisan.) Combining this with Earth Science, you can track veins to follow in his pursuit of precious metals. Combine this skill with Artisan for cutting jewels. Combine this skill with Construction to build structures out of stone and clay.

    Talents
    • Marbling.
    • Ore processing.
    • Mining.
    Perks
    • A mining project yields 20% more ore/stone by the set date.
    • Striking a stationary target has no called shot penalty.
    • +1 Stamina.
    Expert Performance
    • The amount mined is increased by x% (cumulative every few days of hard work).
    • Rock molded is +(X*5)% Prevent.

Navigation

The study of stars, ocean currents, and maps is what this is about. By using various instrumentation and a honed sense of direction, you know how to make it through any environment. You always find the way. In the water, you know how to chart a course for a ship. On land, you can track water and use landmarks to efficiently get across terrain or find appropriate shelter. Combined with Hunting, Botany, and Fishing, you have excellent wilderness survival skills.

    Talents
    • Sea.
    • Urban Zones.
    • A particular type of terrain (jungle, desert, mountains, etc.)
    Perks
    • You have +1 to any skill roll as it pertains to basic survival.
    • +1 to Perception checks involving long-distance sight or hearing.
    • When you go the wrong way, you figure it out in half the time.
    Expert Performance
    • +X to Speed checks over difficult terrain.

Tailoring

You can make and stitch clothing. Silk, wool, linen, cotton, leather it's all here. You stitch, weave, and knit with the best of them. You know the techniques and tools used in the trade and know how to produce base materials from animal fur or other found resources (though tanning leather may require Artisan or Chemistry.)

Combining with Fashion or Visual Arts gives you good insight into colour-coordination and appealing outfits. You can also make shoes (combined with Artisan) and other articles (such as curtains) from common materials.

    Talents
    • Knitting
    • Sewing
    • Weaving
    • Quilting
    Perks
    • Anything you make has +2 Prevent and lasts twice as long.
    • Anything you make has +1 Soak and gives the wearer +1 Charisma.
    • Heavy clothing (as armour) you make has 4 less in penalties.
    Expert Performance
    • Heavy cloth has +X/2 Prevent.
    • Leather has +X Prevent.
Copyright (©) 2006 by Charles Roy and Michael Vendittelli. Chaos Fantasy System created by Charles Roy and Michael Vendittelli.