Discipline carves purpose from potential.

Skills begin with learning and are refined through training. They are the edge of repetition honed into excellence—the practised form that gives action precision. While your Vitals describe your core capacity, Skills reflect the disciplines you have chosen to master.

To act with precision is to act with purpose—and that purpose is learned.

What Is a Skill?

Every action begins as intent—and becomes consequence.

A Skill is a field of learned capability developed through instruction, practice, and experience. It represents the techniques, judgement, and familiarity your character can apply to a related group of tasks—such as moving unseen, treating injuries, reading another person, or fighting with a weapon. Skills describe what your character has learned to do with purpose and consistency.

Ask yourself:

• What disciplines define my character’s edge?
• Do I specialize or stay broad?
• Is failure a result of chance—or lack of training?

Vitals vs. Skills

One is your capacity. The other is your craft.

Tip: Vitals define how far you can push. Skills define how well you control the attempt.

Linked Vitals

Every Skill has one Linked Vital. It determines the maximum Skill Level you may reach in that Skill.

The Linked Vital is an advancement cap. It does not add dice to a Skill Check or alter the result. It does not change from one application of the Skill to another.

No Core Vital can exceed 10, so no Skill Level can exceed 10.

Skill Level (SL)

Skill Level (SL) sets the normal maximum number of extra Boost dice you may add to a Skill Check. Choose your Boost before paying and rolling. AD spent only to cover an increased cost add no roll dice and are not Boost. If a Skill is untrained (SL 0), you cannot Boost that Skill Check and may not benefit from Skill-based powers.

For the complete rules, including Boosting on actions, Reactions, and responses, see Boosting in Skill Checks.

Max SL = Linked Vital, to an absolute maximum of 10

Boost limit = Skill Level

Proactive Skill Uses During Your Activation

Skill Level also limits how many times you can proactively initiate that Skill during your own activation.

Proactive Skill Uses during your activation = Skill Level + 1

Minimum = 1 proactive use, even at SL 0.

This limit applies to actions you initiate: attacks, shoves, trips, disarms, feints, sprints, complex tasks, or other deliberate uses of the Skill during your activation.

Exchange Responses and Reactions never consume proactive Skill uses, including when they occur during your own activation. Their own procedures, available resources, awareness, positioning, and the fiction determine whether they are available.

The distinction is simple:

• Skill Level limits how many trained openings you can deliberately create during your activation.
• Ready Action Dice and specific procedures limit how much pressure you can answer whenever a response or Reaction becomes available.

Starting Skills at Character Creation

When creating your character, you begin with trained Skills from two sources:

• Bloodline Origin: Reflects upbringing and environment.
• First Class Level: Reflects your professional training.

If both your Bloodline and your Class selection grant the same Skill, the levels stack.

Tip: If you want a specialization from the start, choose an Origin that shares Skills with your Class. Otherwise, you'll need to raise those Skills later using Story Points.

Developing Skills

Skills may increase after character creation. See Increasing a Skill Level for the Linked Vital requirement, Story Point cost, limits, and worked example.

Two characters may also train one another. See Training Exchange for the complete reciprocal training procedure.

Untrained Skill Use

Lack of training doesn’t mean you can’t try. If you use an untrained Skill (SL 0):

• You may still spend and roll Action Dice.
• You may not Boost that Skill Check.
• You may initiate that Skill once during your activation.
• You may not use Skill-specific powers unless otherwise granted.

Tip: Untrained checks rely on effort alone. You can still attempt them, but without Boost the odds are rough.

Skill Checks at a Glance

This is a quick reference. See Skill Checks for the complete process, including target sources, Difficulty Ratings, Edge, Readiness, and Outcome Tiers.

When making a Skill Check:

State your intent and method, then confirm the procedure, Skill, target and stakes. Choose any legal Boost and follow Skill Checks to calculate and pay the full modified cost. Roll only the required check dice, genuine Boost dice and explicitly granted bonus dice; payment-only AD stay out of the roll. Resolve Edge, other explicit effects, the comparison and dice movement under that procedure.

Success = total dots exceed the target number.

Failure = total dots equal to or less than the target number.

Readiness Scores

A Skill’s Readiness Score represents your character’s standing preparedness when they are not actively rolling. It is used when the Guide needs a fixed value for awareness, resistance, response, or behind-the-screen checks.

Use this table to find a Skill’s Readiness Score:

Readiness represents trained standing capability without requiring every opposed moment to become roll-versus-roll. Linked Vitals still matter because they cap Skill Level, but they do not add directly to Readiness.

Tip: Record each Skill’s Readiness Score on your character sheet so it rarely needs to be calculated during play.

Summary

• Boost limit: Skill Level (SL) = the number of extra Action Dice you may commit as Boost.
• Skill ceiling: A Skill’s maximum SL = Linked Vital, and no Skill Level can exceed 10.
• Starting training: You gain starting Skills from Bloodline Origins and your initial Class choice.
• Development: Character Development governs how Skills increase after creation, including Training Exchange.
• Untrained use: SL 0 = untrained. No Boost or Skill-based effects.
• Proactive uses: During your activation, proactive uses of a Skill are limited to SL + 1, with a minimum of 1.
• Responses and Reactions: Exchange Responses and Reactions never consume proactive Skill uses, including during your own activation.
• Making a check: Skill Check = pay the modified cost, roll the required check dice, genuine Boost dice and explicit bonus dice, then follow Skill Checks for Edge and resolution. Extra payment adds no dice.
• Readiness: Readiness Score is your fixed standing preparedness with a Skill; record it from the Readiness table.