This chapter goes over skills and sub-disciplines, how they are used, and how they affect game play.
There are fifty-seven
sub-disciplines in the game, ten for the major discipline categories and seven for the
Command discipline. All characters, regardless of whether
RPG or
Starflight-style stats are being used, will have levels in all fifty-five of these sub-disciplines
even if that level is zero. The sum of the scores of all sub-disciplines determines the score of that discipline
which in turn determines a dice modifier to all sub-disciplines under that discipline. For games wherein
RPG-style stats are being used, there are an added sixteen skills, three for each of the six controlling attributes (taking the
Leadership and
Survival Command sub-discplines and placing them under
Charm and
Acumen, respectively). Skills function in the exact same manner as sub-disciplines and for purposes of discussion in this chapter, both skills and sub-disciplines will be referred to as
Skills.
When the character needs to use a Skill to get past a certain obstacle, and when there are significant consequences in the event of failure, a
Skill Check is required. To perform a Skill Check, roll d% and add to that result the current score of the Skill, plus any extra amount from the Skill’s controlling discipline/attribute that may apply. This result is either compared to a
DC set by the GM, or against a set of rolls made by the GM in those cases where an opposed roll is appropriate (such as a target’s
Dodge roll in response to a character’s
Brawling roll in a melee).
When a character succeeds at a Skill Check, they may have the opportunity to gather experience in the Skill utilized. If the result is at least ten points greater than the result needed, not only does the character succeed in the task at hand, but they main gain one point in that Skill. This is the only way to boost Skills in disciplines where the character has already received as much training as they possibly can (
for more information, see Real-World Training in Chapter 11.1).
Remember, no Skill can ever have a score greater than 100.
Characters can also fail Skill Checks, by getting a result that’s less than the required DC or rolling lower than the opposed check. How the GM handles failure is entirely up to them, but should be appropriate to the situation at hand. The character may or may not be allowed to try again after failing a Skill Check; most of the time, the character should be allowed to try again, unless the character’s time is restrained or it’s obvious that trying again is impossible in the situation at hand. Failing a task wherein the character doesn’t get a second chance can derail an adventure in a hurry, so these situations should be few and far between, preferably.
Situations may arise in the course of a game where the GM does not want the characters to succeed at a certain task. In those situations, the GM has to decide if the task at hand is totally impossible, or just nearly so. If the task is utterly impossible, the GM can set a DC of “infinity” and have the players roll the Skill Check against it. Totally impossible situations should not have penalties for failure. If the task is just nearly impossible, there’s still an off-chance the characters will succeed, which means that the potential is there for the characters to fail miserably.
The GM can bestow circumstantial penalties or bonuses to the DC on a Skill Check if they feel that circumstances are either significantly in the character’s favor or vice versa. In these situations, if the GM is having problems deciding how much to raise or lower the DC, they can just add +/- 10 to the DC, as a rule of thumb.
In situations where the players are confident of success regardless of a Skill Check, they have the option to either
take 50 or
take 99. If a short amount of time is available for the character to complete a task, they can only take 50; taking 50 is basically just saying they’ll take an average score without rolling (a roll of 50 on d%). Taking 99, on the other hand, is a choice to perform a task until the character gets it exactly right. Taking 99 takes 20 times the normal amount of time required for a task, but guarantees a good score roll for a certain task (
note that if the DC is high enough, even an awesome score may not guarantee success at a task).
The rest of this chapter is devoted to the individual Skills. Each Skill is listed by its controlling discipline/attribute. Each listing will contain a basic overview of the Skill, a listing of any bonuses that a character may receive for high scores in the Skill, and any other special notes about given Skills.
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