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Plysical Skills
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Social Skills
Nature Skills
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Knowledge Skills
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Craft Skills
Body Control
Use Body Control to jump far, sprint fast, roll after a fall, balance on a tightrope, or push your body to its limits. Also covers acrobatic actions, athletic challenges, and escaping from ropes, nets, or tentacles. Playing very competitive sports, such as imman, is a complex use of Body Control. …
Carousing
Aventurians commonly consume alcohol when celebrating, toasting a contract, playing drinking games, and for many other reasons. The beverage might be wine, fermented milk, ale, or brandy. You can use this skill for all other kinds of intoxicants as well. To avoid losing self-control in public or suffering a bad hangover, which in Aventuria is called a ‘wolf’ (or sometimes a ‘werewolf,’ in the worst cases), make a check using Carousing (Resist Drug Intoxication). …
Climbing
A hero who wants to climb a castle wall or a steep cliff must make a Climbing check. Failed checks don’t automatically lead to falls; they can mean the hero didn’t dare begin the climb, suffered an injury, or simply took much longer to reach the destination. …
Dancing
Whether attending a formal ball at the Imperial Court, a Witches’ Night, or a humble peasant celebration, it is useful to know how to dance. Make a check with this skill when performing complicated group and pair dances (though one could manage to take part in a Punin polonaise even if thoroughly drunk). …
Disguise
In some situations, it can be helpful to appear to be someone else. Maybe an adventurer being sought by the guard wants to pass the city gate dressed as a beggar, or a thief wants to pretend to be a count’s son at a banquet in order to steal a tiara. To keep up a deception, the hero must make a Disguise (Costuming) check. Disguise encompasses not only the disguise itself but also the necessary gestures and facial expressions. …
Empathy
Empathy is not an automatic lie detector, but it does help characters gain a sense of other people’s motivations or deceptions. Is the caravan leader steering me into an ambush because she’s in cahoots with a robber gang? Is the baroness secretly poor, even though she claims otherwise? Is the alchemist’s elixir as good as she says, even though she seems to be trying to suppress a laugh? …
Etiquette
Adventurers granted the honor of standing in the company of important dignitaries or nobles must mind their manners. Heroes who behave badly at court soon find themselves tossed out the castle gate or locked in the dungeon. …
Fast-Talk
A silver tongue, quick wit, cogent arguments, and teasing are all traits of a fast-talking character. This skill is often used to lie and ‘sweet talk’ people. Heroes don’t often need to beg, but you may use a check with Fast-Talk (Begging) to convince a patrician to throw some halers into an unfortunate’s alms purse. Some rowdy fighters use provocation to win easy money by goading weaker opponents into fighting against their better judgment. …
Feat of Strength
Sometimes heroes must kick open doors, prove themselves by arm-wrestling Thorwalers, or lift heavy weights. Use Feat of Strength for all such tasks. …
Flying
Make a Flying check to actively control a flying instrument like a witch’s broom or a magic carpet, and even guide it, for example, through a narrow urban canyon or an open window. This skill also applies to flying mounts, flying demons, or other creatures that can move the hero through the air. Most heroes won’t need to make checks with this skill too often, but witches who fly brooms probably will. Complex flying instruments include magic carpets, which require a magic word or a certain gesture to activate. …
Intimidation
With this skill, you can threaten, berate, or insult another person to induce fear or obtain information. A duelist can try to frighten an opponent into surrendering or making an error. An orc chieftain might not be as powerful as he looks, but if he makes the right threats, his rivals might not stand up to him at all. Use Intimidation to interrogate someone when Fast-Talk proves too mild a form of persuasion. …
Perception
The skill Perception covers all situations that involve the five physical senses. Failed checks could mean that heroes haven’t noticed anything or else misinterpreted what they did notice. The GM may roll Perception checks for players to find out if their heroes perceive a hidden person or a secret detail without revealing that they missed something because of a failed check. Searching a room is purposeful, whereas spotting something is intuitive. Checks with this skill should be rolled as a hidden check (see page 384). If you use your tactile sense, make the roll using SGC/INT/DEX instead. …
Persuasion
This skill is important for all Blessed Ones, especially for priests with a strong drive to evangelize. It allows you to influence people and helps convince them of your opinion or viewpoint. In conversation, a Blessed One can appear totally devoted to a person and at the same time raise serious questions about faith and sow doubts. …
Pickpocket
This skill allows a character to steal small items such as purses, keys, or amulets, or cut holes in moneybags without getting caught. There are several ways to use this skill. The common pickpocket typically steals from people by taking their money pouches, and the burglar steals items from drawers, dressers, or other containers. Distractions are important for a pickpocket. This skill also allows a character to slip an item to somebody else without being noticed. Crowded areas and money pouches worn openly at the belt may grant bonuses to the check, while alert guards and several layers of clothing might make picking pockets more difficult. The check is always made as a competitive check using Pickpocket (application depending on the action) against the victim’s Perception (Spot). Note that a check using Perception (Spot) may suffer penalties due to distractions, crowds, and noise, or receive bonuses for high alertness or quiet surroundings. …
Riding
To guide a mount, and not simply hold on for dear life while it runs, you need the skill Riding. Riding slowly, without a specific direction in mind, requires no check. If you want the animal to canter, gallop, spin around, or kick and bite, you must make a skill check. Complex uses of this skill involve riding extremely unusual mounts, such as war boars or giant horned saurians. …
Seduction
Seduction is the art of using charisma and good looks to get somebody to do what you want, even if just temporarily. Flirting creates a brief advantage by, for example, convincing a guard to turn a blind eye. Of course, this doesn’t mean that every use of Seduction is necessarily an invitation for passionate romance. …
Self-Control
The skill Self-Control allows heroes to resist great physical pain, whether due to wounds or forced marches, and also to ignore distractions. A mage can concentrate on casting combat spells and ignore the goblins throwing rocks at him, for example. For more information about Pain and other conditions, see Chapter 2: Basic Rules on page 31. …
Singing
A beautiful voice can help with Singing, but with the right training, anybody can sing a tune, be it a heroic epic, a song of praise in the temple, or a lullaby. …
Stealth
Sneaking up on somebody or hiding requires Stealth. Apply bonuses for darkness, dark clothing, and good cover, and also for noise or distractions. Alert guards and creaky floors make hiding and sneaking more difficult. Remember that even a master of stealth cannot hide in an empty, well-lit room. …
Streetwise
Streetwise reflects the experience to make your way through seedy neighborhoods, find the right contacts, and locate a cheap place to sleep for a night. In most cases, this knowledge also applies to cities an adventurer has never visited. …
Swimming
Swimming quickly from one place to another, diving into water, dragging somebody out of the water, or fighting under water requires a Swimming check. Strong currents and other adverse conditions could make the task more difficult. …
Trickery
If you want to earn some silver coins juggling in a tavern, use the skill Gaukelei. You can also perform shell games and minor magic tricks using this skill. Gaukelei is especially useful for hiding small items about your person. …
Willpower
If you want to resist temptation, ignore taunts, or keep calm in the face of danger, use the skill Willpower. Unlike Self-Control, this doesn’t help resist physical pain or distractions. Instead, you primarily use it to resist mental influences, such as the use of skills like Fast-Talk, Intimidation, Persuasion, and Seduction. …