1. Abilities

Talent

Magic Social Situations Physical Combat Mobility Boring Human Smartypants Awareness/Perception Sneaky
Advantages

You have a natural aptitude for a set of closely related skills. “Talents” come in levels, and give the following benefits:

  • A bonus of +1 per level with all affected skills, even for default use. This effectively raises your attribute scores for the purpose of those skills only; thus, this is an inexpensive way to be adept at small class of skills. (Generalists will find it more cost effective to raise attributes.)
  • A bonus of +1 per level on all reaction rolls made by anyone in a position to notice your Talent, if he would be impressed by your aptitude (GM’s judgment). To receive this bonus, you must demonstrate your Talent – most often by using the affected skills.
  • A reduction in the time required to learn the affected skills in play, regardless of how you learn them. Whenever you roll for Practice, add your Talent bonus. This has no effect on the point cost of your skills.

You may never have more than four levels of a particular Talent. However, overlapping Talents can give skill bonuses (only) in excess of +4.

To see example talents and guidelines for creating your own, see the full text here: Talent

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Cost of Talents

The cost of a Talent depends on the size of the group of skills affected:.

For skills that are not weapons or spells:

  • Small (6 or fewer related skills): 5 points/level.
  • Medium (7 to 12 related skills): 10 points/level.
  • Large (13 or more related skills): 15 points/level.

Skills with multiple specialties are considered to be one skill for this purpose. Once you buy a Talent, the list of affected skills is fixed. (Exception: if a skill is added later, it will be added to appropriate talents)

For spells, you cannot take Talents.  Instead, see Limited Spell Magery 1+. 

Talents with 2 (related) or 3 (closely related) weapon skills costs 5 points/level. 


March 17th, 2021 April 4th, 2021

Examples

Note: this was copied directly from the sourcebook, which was written to be setting-ambivalent.  Thus, not every skill below, and not every talent will be applicable to this game. We left them in to help you see how skills can be related, and for quickness of copying it over. 

Animal Friend: Animal Handling, Falconry, Packing, Riding, Teamster, and Veterinary. Reaction bonus: all animals. 5 points/level.

Artificer: Armoury, Carpentry, Electrician, Electronics Repair, Engineer, Machinist, Masonry, Mechanic, and Smith. Reaction bonus: anyone you do work for. 10 points/level.

Business Acumen: Accounting, Administration, Economics, Finance, Gambling, Market Analysis, Merchant, and Propaganda. Reaction bonus: anyone you do business with. 10 points/level.

Gifted Artist: Artist, Jeweler, Leatherworking, Photography, and Sewing. Reaction bonus: anyone buying or critiquing your work. 5 points/level.

Green Thumb: Biology, Farming, Gardening, Herb Lore, and Naturalist. Reaction bonus: gardeners and sentient plants. 5 points/level.

Healer: Diagnosis, Esoteric Medicine, First Aid, Pharmacy, Physician, Physiology, Psychology, Surgery, and Veterinary. Reaction bonus: patients, both past and present. 10 points/level.

Mathematical Ability: Accounting, Astronomy, Cryptography, Engineer, Finance, Market Analysis, Mathematics, and Physics. Reaction bonus: engineers and scientists. 10 points/level.

Musical Ability: Group Performance (Conducting), Musical Composition, Musical Influence, Musical Instrument, and Singing. Reaction bonus: anyone listening to or critiquing your work. 5 points/level.

Outdoorsman: Camouflage, Fishing, Mimicry, Naturalist, Navigation, Survival, and Tracking. Reaction bonus: explorers, nature lovers, and the like. 10 points/level.

Smooth Operator: Acting, Carousing, Detect Lies, Diplomacy, Fast-Talk, Intimidation, Leadership, Panhandling, Politics, Public Speaking, Savoir-Faire, Sex Appeal, and Streetwise. Reaction bonus: con artists, politicians, salesmen, etc. – but only if you are not trying to manipulate them. 15 points/level


March 17th, 2021

Custom Talents

At the GM’s option, you may create your own Talent with a custom skill list. However, the GM’s word is law when determining which skills are “related” and how may points the Talent is worth. Talents should always be believable inborn aptitudes. Skill Categories is a good place to look when trying to choose talents. 

  • Water (Swimming, Boating, Navigation, Crewman, Knot-tying, Fishing) [Cillian, Unknown]
  • Weapon (Fencing, Knife, One-handed melee) Cillian
  • Rulership (Area Knowledge, Detect Lies, Diplomacy, Fast-talk, Leadership, Public Speaking) Unknown
  • Magical Tools (Symbol Drawing, Occultism, Esoteric Medicine, Hidden Lore, Innate Attack, Alchemy) Livia Clara
  • Bodies (First Aid, Body Language, Sex Appeal, Interrogation) Unknown
  • Faerie Skills (Camoflage, Climbing, Naturalist, Stealth, Survival, Tracking) Faerie
  • Nose for Trouble (Detect Lies, Body Language, Intimidation, Observation, Shadowing, Streetwise) Gargoyle
  • Education (Teaching, History, Literature, Math & Science, Hidden Lore) Sage Kasey
  • Making Stuff: Armoury, Carpentry, Alchemy, Leatherworking, Masonry, Merchant Emily Ezmerals
March 17th, 2021 April 20th, 2021