Introduction to Skills:
While Attributes tell us how your character’s general qualities are, skills are an indicator of your character’s specific expertise at a given subject. Each skill level indicates some level of proficiency, explained by the table below.
| Skill Level | Description | Skill Mod. |
|---|---|---|
| No Skill | No particular competence in the skill, average ability at the best of times. | -1 |
| Level-0 | An ordinary competence at the skill as might be had by a common practitioner. | 0 |
| Level-1 | A veteran professional at the skill, on noticeably better than most. | +1 |
| Level-2 | One of the best in the city at a skill, a veteran and talented master of it. | +2 |
| Level-3 | One of the best in a region, an inspirational master at the skill. | +3 |
| Level-4 | One of the best in the continent. Able to push the skill to it’s absolute limits. | +4 |
| If your character is asked to preform an EXEPTIONAL or UNUSUAL task, this will be translated to a skill check. |
- I will ask for a skill check in the form of “Attribute+Skill”.
- For example, for an Exert check, I might ask for a “Strength, Exert check” to carry a log. Or a “Dexterity, Exert check” to cross a tightrope.
- The Difficulty Check (DC) is set by the GM.
- Tasks that are common, as in the average person could complete them, do not require a skill check. Keep me honest and let me know if you think the roll is unnecessary.
Full Skill List and Descriptions:
| Skill | Description |
|---|---|
| Administer | Keep an organization running smoothly, scribe things well, plan out logistics, identify incompetent or treacherous workers, analyze records or archives, or otherwise do things that an executive or middle-manager would need to do. |
| Connect | Find or know people who are useful to your purposes, make friendships or social acquaintances, know who to talk to get favors or services, and call on the help or resources of organizations you belong to. Connect covers your PC’s ability to find the people you need, though convincing them to help may require more than this. |
| Convince | Persuade a listener that something you are saying is true. Naturally, the more implausible the claim or more emotionally repugnant it is to them, the more difficult it is to persuade them. Furthermore, how they act on their newfound conviction is up to them and their motivations, and may not be perfectly predictable. |
| Craft | Craft or repair goods and technology appropriate to the PC’s background and society. The Craft skill can be used for a wide range of artisan pursuits, though a GM is within their rights to keep the PC from building complex things that are too far away from their past background and experience. |
| Exert | Run, swim, climb, jump, labor for long periods, throw things, or otherwise exert your physical strength, stamina, and coordination. Even a PC with poor physical attributes might have a good Exert skill reflecting athletic training and expertise in making the most of their available talents. |
| Heal | Treat wounds, cure diseases, neutralize poisons, diagnose psychological health issues, and otherwise tend to the wounds of body and mind. The Heal skill cannot cure lost hit points directly, but it’s a vital skill in stabilizing Mortally Wounded allies or ensuring clean recovery from grievous injuries. |
| Know | Know matters of history, geography, natural science, zoology, and other academic fields appropriate to a sage or scholar. While some sages might specialize in particular fields, most learned men and women in this age have a broad range of understanding, and will rarely be unable to even attempt to answer a question relevant to this skill. |
| Lead | Inspire others to follow your lead and believe in your plans and goals. Manage subordinates and keep them focused, loyal, and motivated in the face of danger or failure. A successful leader will keep their subordinate’s faith and confidence even when reason might make the leader’s plan appear questionable at best. |
| Magic (Arcana) | Cast or analyze magic and know things about famous mages or notable magical events. Classes that can’t cast spells obtain only intellectual and scholarly benefits from this skill. |
| Notice | Notice small details, impending ambushes, hidden features, or concealed objects. Detect subtle smells, sounds, or other sensory input. Notice cannot be used simply to detect a lie, but keen attention can often discern a subject’s emotional state. |
| Perform | Sing, act, dance, orate, or otherwise perform impressively for an audience. Compose music, plays, writings, or other works of performance art. Most performers will have a particular field they excel at, though polymaths might exist if the PC’s background is appropriate for such versatility. |
| Pray | Perform the clerical rites of your religion, and be familiar with the gods, demons, and taboos of major and minor faiths, and identify iconography and persons of religious importance. Pray also helps you know the state of local faiths and the important persons in their hierarchies. |
| Punch | Fight unarmed or with natural body weaponry. Punch, kick, grapple, or otherwise brawl without the benefit of man-made tools. This mode of fighting is inefficient at best without some special Focus to improve it, but it’s reliably non-lethal. |
| Ride | Ride an animal, drive a cart or carriage, or otherwise deal with land transportation. This skill also includes competence at mount care and tending, basic cart or carriage repair, judging good horse flesh, and other skills appropriate to a beast rider of whatever society the PC comes from. |
| Sail | Sail or repair a ship, build small craft, navigate by the stars, read sea weather, manage sailors, and otherwise conduct the business of a professional mariner. This skill may apply to more esoteric means of vehicular travel in some societies. |
| Shoot | Fire a bow or crossbow or throw a hurled weapon. Maintain ranged weaponry and fletch arrows. |
| Sneak | Move silently, hide in shadows, avoid notice, pickpockets, disguise yourself, pick locks, defeat traps, or otherwise overcome security measures. |
| Stab | Fight with melee weapons or throw a hurled weapon. Maintain and identify weaponry. |
| Survivor | Hunt, fish, navigate by the stars, mitigate environmental hazards, identify plants and wildlife, and craft basic survival tools and shelter. A PC’s Survive skill is most pertinent to the environments in their background, but the basic principles can be applied in all but the most alien environments. |
| Trade | Buy and sell at a profit, identify the worth of goods or treasures, deal with merchants and traders, find black-market goods and services, and know laws regarding smuggling and contraband. |
| Work | This skill is a catch-all for any profession that might not otherwise merit its own skill, such as a painter, lawyer, farmer, or herdsman. The precise skill it represents will vary with the PC’s background. |
This section references information starting on page 9 of the free version of WWN if you would like further information.