Skills
There are 28 Skills which are broken into 8 categories. All skills go from 1-20
The game is balanced from level 1-20. Characters start with 5 skill points to spend.
Skill Checks: Skill + (1D20) + any modifiers
Primary skills start at 1, Secondary and Tertiary skills start at 0
Ranged Skills: Add Range Mod to rolls
Heavy Arms: Who doesn’t like huge explosions and massive death machines that rain hot metal on their enemies?
Heavy Arms are ranged weapons that are big and weigh a lot, but pack a serious punch. Rocket launchers, miniguns, and heavy flamethrowers are a few heavy weapons to give you the idea. Although, ammo can be expensive for these weapons. Heavy Arms are also the best for any scrap where you may be fighting enemy vehicles or aircraft, and many Heavy Arms are tailored towards such a fight.
Long Arms: Ranged weapons focused on precision and medium to long distance fighting. Long Arm users often maintain their distance from their enemies preferring to tactically pick off combatants from a defensive position. The main two categories of long arms you'll find are Sniper and Assault Rifles.
Small Arms: Ranged weapons that are focused on close to medium range fighting. Used by those who aren't afraid to get up close and personal, but would still rather use a gun. Small Arms pair well with lighter and faster builds, allowing for run and gun style tactics. Although a big high strength juggernaut with a shotgun can also decimate opponents. The main types of weapons you'll see are: Submachine Guns, Shotguns, and Pistols.
Throwing: Used for throwing melee weapons, grenades and random objects. Strength decides what you can throw and how far, and the throwing skill determines your accuracy. A skilled thrower can be useful in many ways: Need a room cleared with a boom, a quiet precision assassination, or someone to fling tables, chairs, and anything else they can get their hands on to win a bar fight, a thrower has got you covered.
Agility Skills: Add Agility Mod to rolls
Dancing: Used by most advanced life to unite communities together and communicate emotion. Dancing is an ancient art that may seem like it wouldn't be useful in many situations. But you'd be surprised at the amount of different scenarios that can be solved, or at least spiced up a bit with some dancing. Being skilled in dancing allows you to learn more styles and dazzle those around you. Cultures will like it if you know their dances.
Driving: Used for controlling land vehicles that come in many different categories. Drivers can be useful and necessary in many situations. Providing transportation across planets, through cities, or even some large space stations. While most people can get a basic vehicle to a location on good terrain. Performing advanced maneuvers or driving on terrain your vehicle wasn't made for can only be done by skillful drivers.
Piloting: Used for controlling air vehicles and spacecraft. Pilots are useful and necessary for getting interplanetary transport as well as providing decent opportunities for long distance planetary transport. Many people can get a basic spacecraft through clear space, calm atmospheres, or well maintained hyperlanes. But if you need to perform advanced maneuvers because of attacking ships, obstacles (like asteroids or other ships) or turbulent atmospheres, you'll need a good pilot to get you through.
Melee Skills: Blunt adds Blunt Mod to rolls, Blade adds Agility Mod to rolls
Brawling: Good ol’ fashion fisticuffs. Brawling is the skill that dictates how much ass you can beat with your bare hands; with some exceptions like knuckle dusters or combat frames. While this seems quite primitive in an advanced galaxy full of powerful technology, getting down to basics can be quite rewarding in close quarters where ranged weapons become less effective. Along with massive advancements in technology though has come massive advancements in martial arts and fighting styles which can apply a unique edge in close quarter fights. Grappling can also be a useful ability to disable your enemy, silently knock off a target, or disarm a perp.
Melee Weapons: Melee weapons are hand held short range weapons that generally use your body’s strength to swing or thrust. Smash, Slash, or Stab your target. Melee weapons generally fall into two categories: blunt and blade. Blunt weapons can use stunning attack; while bladed weapons pierce armor.
Speech Skills: Add Speech mod to rolls
Diplomacy: Your ability to appeal to others' desires and work out deals that are beneficial for all party's (although they can weigh in your favor heavily). Many things can be obtained and problems solved with a little diplomatic persuasion. Obviously Diplomacy is good for Diplomats, but it can also be good for many other types of characters: criminals, mercenaries, business owners and operators can all utilize diplomatic strategies to get what they want. Diplomacy is also a great secondary skill for many builds.
“Diplomacy and debate are the only truly civilized forms of conflict.”
- Athahz, Gurnn of Wisdom
Deception: Your ability to mislead others to get what you want. Lies can be lucrative at manipulating others into getting you whatever you want. Harboring a parasitic relationship that is always at risk of being turned around by the one being deceived.
“The Pantheon and The Gurnn Royal Family are all mancers of deception, not of diplomacy”
- Don Carrington, of The Free Journalism Guild
Intimidate: Your ability to persuade others through the use or threat of force. Intimidation works much like deception, but instead of maintaining a parasitic relationship through speech and cunning you'll maintain it through force. Good for manipulating those weaker than you, and pairs well with most combat builds, especially with high Strength. The more damage you deal to an enemy the more likely you are to be successful at intimidating them.
Defensive Skills No Stat mod added
Heavy Armor: Laugh as your enemies’ puny attacks bounce off of you. Heavy armor focuses on providing yourself the highest amount of armor and resistance possible. The Heavy Armor skill also gives you access to the Defensive Mode ability. Because of its weight, heavy armor has strength requirements to wear it.
Light Armor: Gives you the Evasive Mode ability which is only usable in light armor. Once activated Evasive Mode adds your Light Armor skill to your Dodge. Low Mnvr characters can use this to substitute their lack of dodge, and high Mnvr characters can extend their dodge even higher.
Stealth: Your ability to sneak around and go undetected. Stealth can be utilized for many different things: thievery, assassination, ambush, espionage, and much more can benefit from stealth tactics. Someone with decent stealth can get a few hits in to start a battle, and masters of stealth can remain completely undetected while wiping out an entire room of enemies or valuables
Science Skills: Add Sci/Tech Mod to rolls
Biology: Gives you the ability to analyze biological organisms. This can give you information
on natural weaknesses, strengths, dangers, and general attributes of creatures, people, and
even flora. At level 10 you'll unlock the ability to use
Enzyme Extractors and Biomodifiers allowing you to manipulate organisms. Biology is a
great support skill for the party.
Chemistry: Gives you the ability to analyze chemicals and create mixtures that can do a
vast number of things. Medical consumables, drugs, food, and drink can all be made with
chemistry. As well as dangerous chemicals like explosives, poisons, and corrosive acids.
Chemists can provide fantastic short-term buffs to their allies, unique solutions to problems
(like burning through a wall with corrosive acid), and additional damage.
History: The galaxy is a big old place with tons of civilizations having grown, fallen, and morphed. The study of the past can allow you to better understand the present. Allows you to know historical facts and information about the galaxy. Giving you information on artifacts, cities, planets, factions and more.
Psychology: Wanna really mess with people's heads? If so then this is the skill for you. Psychology is the study of the minds of intelligent and social beings. This includes all the species considered people by the Hegemony. Delve into the minds of others to: detect lies, interpret enemy moves, provide healthy therapy, or use someone's internal weaknesses against them.
“Only one who can unite the mind, can unite the people.” - Pondus the Ponderer
Tech Skills: Add Sci/Tech Mod to rolls
Basic Tech: Any and all tech that isn't held in any of the "Specialized" Tech categories (all the other tech categories). Basic Tech can vary wildly, and despite its name can include many advanced tools to add to your kit. It is the most varied but least specialized category of tech. Offering many bonuses and abilities that can apply to most builds.
Com Tech:
Used with a Computer to connect and hack into Networks. Connecting to these
networks allows you to control technology connected to it like Turrets, Cameras, Doors,
Robots, and more. You can also access data caches that have stored info like documents,
journals, messages, and more.
Hazard Tech: Allows you to use and repair any tech that involves protecting yourself from hazards of all kinds. This includes weather control devices, hazard suits, space suits, artificial gravity, and natural disaster prevention.
Hardlight Tech: Harness the full geometric potential of light itself. This tech includes hardlight projectors, shields, and hardlight projection configuration computers. It may also apply to using certain hardlight devices in unconventional ways or when trying to project hardlight in complicated manners, such as making a mechanical part out of hardlight.
Martial Tech: Make your puny pea shooter into a badass weapon of mass destruction or make your raggedy armor into a solid defense. Allows you to modify weapons and armor as well as repair armor.
Robotics Tech: Why do something yourself when you can automate a robot to do it for you? Allows you to modify, repair, or build robotics technology. This tech includes robots, drones, mechs, and cybernetics. This skill could also help in the use of such devices.
Navigation Skills: Add Perception to rolls
Urban Navigation: From small towns to city planets any area inhabited heavily by people uses Urban Navigation. To find better items and encounters, to ambush or avoid your enemies, create maps which can earn you money or be used tactically, and sometimes to find hidden locations.
Wilderness Navigation: Any planetary area that isn't inhabited by civilized life forms. From Rocky desolate worlds, to Gaian Worlds with jungles, grassy plains, and open deserts. Wilderness Navigation can be used to find better items and encounters, to ambush or avoid your enemies, create maps which can earn you money or be used tactically, and sometimes to find hidden locations.
System Navigation: Determines your ability to use spaceship scanners. These allow you to find anomalies, space stations, smaller celestial bodies like asteroids, comets, etc, As well as finding optimum routes to planets, as well as determining planetary information like biomes and hazards before landing.
Skill Rules (Extended)
Melee Weapons and Arms Skills
See - Weapons
Brawling:
Default Abilities:
Attack: Basic attack
Grapple: STR or MNVR Contest. Can still punch and use 1H melee as the grappler.
Disarm: Requires a successful grapple. Can disarm the enemy.
Throw Person: Requires a Grapple and throws target.
Reverse Hold: While being grappled you become the grappler. Requires a strength contest where you are at disadvantage
Target Limb: See Combat - Limb Targeting
Martial Arts: Changing Martial Arts requires using a Main Action. Martial Arts can be learned from teachers. It takes around 40 hours of training (in game time) to learn a martial art and will require successful Brawling Checks.
Hegemite Wrestling:
Arm and Leg bars (Main Action): After a successful grapple. Successful Arm Bars and Leg Bars injure the target limb. Is performed through another Grapple contest.
Cir’ik Jada’ven:
Meaning "Assault Dance”. A graceful style of fighting that some may mistake for dancing. If you have higher dancing than your opponent you get advantage on Grapple contest’s and Stunning Attacks.
Dohlet Kick Boxing:
Sweeping kicks: Hits the space in front of them and the two diagonal spaces on that side. Drop kick: You have to move 10ft forward then you get an Unarmed attack that also works as a Stunning Attack.
Okkot Kargoth: Removes extra attack from Brawling, but adds your Blunt Mod as Phy damage
Vaihmarian Zanthex: This martial art focuses on targeted strikes at the opponent's organs. Attacks deal 1 extra damage per STR when attacking the torso. Requires successful bio-analysis for any creature to have been completed previously
Stealth (Stealth rolls do not get the Agility Modifier added)
Stealth Mode: Enemy Sight: How many ft the enemy can see is the enemies Perception x 15ft in the clear daylight, slightly obscured view is Perception x 10ft, in the dark of night or in a dark room they can only see Perception x 5ft.
Stealth is taken in turns and if you are caught you’ll have to roll a stealth check to see if the enemy sees you (Stealth + D20) vs the opponents (Perception + D20). Cover works same as ranged attacks When not actively looking for stealthed targets Characters will roll with Passive Perception which is Perception + 5.
Stealth Attack: Enemies have disadvantage on Dodge rolls against stealth attacks.
Light Armor
When wearing Light Armor or Clothing you gain the following abilities:
Evasive Mode (Full Action): Can only be used when wearing Light Armor or Clothing adds your Light Armor to your dodge roll until your next turn or if you're stunned or incapacitated. Perk at Light Armor 12 to make it a bonus action.
Evade (Reaction) Adds Light Armor skill to Dodge for one attack.
Heavy Armor
When wearing Heavy Armor you gain the following abilities:
Defensive Mode (Main Action): Blocks damage equal to your Heavy Armor skill every attack until your next turn. Works against all damage types except Pierce and Poison.
Defend (Reaction) Blocks damage equal to your Heavy Arms skill every attack. Works against all damage types except Pierce and Poison. Only works for 1 Turn
Dance
You can learn different styles of dance that people of specific cultures will find appealing. It takes around 40 hours (in game time) of training to learn a Style and will require successful Dancing Checks.
Dance Styles:
Vapcoo: A highly sexual dance originating from the Harthen’s Spur region.
Jada’ala’boolan: A disciplined high energy traditional Cir’ik dance.
Hegemony Slide: A smooth free flowing dance meant for 4 or more people this will highly impress anyone from the Inner Heg.
Nebula Swing: A historical dance from the era of the first Idol of the Pantheon Gilly Bilmesh. Meant to be danced to the song of the same name. It involves a pair performing somewhat romantic and swift moves. Was usually done in a group with everyone switching partners 3-4 times throughout the song. Although many believed this actually went against the song's themes and that changing partners is unnecessary. Will impress much older members of the Inner Heg as well as those interested in Inner Heg History.
Thollywop: Okkot dance involving slamming into one another.
Lazula’s Waltz: Azure Corp dance traditionally done at shareholder meetings before business commences.
Union Stroll: A rebellious dance that represents the spirit of the Revolutionaries Union. It is done at massive protests against Azure Corp. Rarely it's used in protest against Traffan-Blisk and Marlax which usually ends up with the dancer dead or worse.
Genetic Shuffle: An energetic dance favored by the Vaihmarian House Crivaux.
Speech Skills
Speech Roll:
Attacker: (Speech Skill + Speech Mod) + D20
Defender: (Psychology) OR Same Speech Skill as Attacker + (Speech Mod) + D20
Detect Deception: To detect when someone is lying to you, the player will have to declare they want to try and see if the NPC is lying. Whether they are or not you will roll a contest to see if the player character can detect if they are lying or not.
Deception + Speech Mod + D20 vs (Psychology, Investigation, or Deception) + Speech Mod + D20
Credibility:
Deception: Add or subtract 1-20 points from enemies roll based on the credibility of the lie you're trying to convince them of, every failed deception check lowers your Credibility.
Diplomacy: Add or subtract 1-20 points from targets roll based on how good, what you're trying to convince them of, is for them. Intimidate: Add or subtract 1-20 points from enemies roll based on the credibility of your combat prowess versus theirs this should include things like current health, weapons, backup, etc.
Science Skills
Analyze: Analyze something to understand more about it. There are many ways to utilize this information. Once learned all scientific information can be shared. Rolling high enough to pass an Easy difficulty check gives you Basic Info and rolling high enough to pass a Hard level check gives you Advanced Info
Analysis Table:
Common: Novice Check
Uncommon: Journeyman Check
Rare: Expert Check
Ultra Rare: Master Check
Unique: Mancer Check
Biological Rarity: Determined by how common it is throughout the galaxy as well as how biologically similar it is to the organisms in the Civilized Galaxy.
Basic Info: Biological detail that doesn't offer too much help on its own; such as, knowing positive effects of plants, or a single stat or ability (not its weakest) of a creature.
Advanced Info: Complicated biological details such as biological hazards or benefits. Will tell you a physical weakness of an enemy.
Chemical Rarity: Determined by how common it is throughout the galaxy as well as the complexity of its chemical composition. Chemicals can only be analyzed once.
Basic Info: Tell you what the chemical is and its properties.
Advanced Info: Give you a recipe that requires that chemical.
Psychological "Rarity" is replaced with characters Presence, Intellect, Psychology, or Deception (whichever is highest). You get Advanced info if you beat this, you get basic info if your less than 5 below.
Basic Info: Some info about them that allows you to understand them better, gives Advantage to offensive speech rolls.
Advanced Info: Learn advanced information about the person. Gives Advantage to offensive speech rolls with that person. Gives disadvantage to the defender.
Historical Rarity is determined by its commonness throughout the galaxy as well as whether the character making the analysis check would be more or less likely to know.
Tech Skills
Many Tech have Skill Requirements to be able use them.
Degradation: Most tech can have 2 levels of Degradation rolling a Critical fail while using a piece of Tech will cause it to degrade 1 level unless you roll a 6 on severity
Degraded: must succeed in a hard tech check (equal to the rank of the item) whenever you use this tech.
Crit Degraded: can only be used once a day by succeeding tech check
Power Usage: Most Tech needs powered, Charge Packs are the most common form of convenient power. Tech that uses these will take charge away from your power source. Roll a hard tech check of the rank of the tech you're using if you pass the item only uses half charge if it's Crit the item uses no charge
Navigation Skills
Navigate: Determine if a party finds a location add the Navigation Difficulty of the current area and the Level of Information the players currently have as to where it is. Asking around or finding directions can help your navigation roll. If the players repeatedly fail to find the location, they can ask for directions or find environmental clues to lower the difficulty of the check.
Navigation Difficulty:
Uses Skill Check Difficulty Table
Level of Information:
Very High Info: +15, High Info: +10, Medium Info: +5, Low Info: +3
If you fail to find the location you're looking for you will take your roll to the Explore table to see the results.
Explore: Fail Easy Check: negative encounter or bad location.
Fail Hard Check: You find an average encounter or basic location.
Pass Hard Check: Find positive encounter or location
Blend In: Pass Hard Nav check of opponents rank to gain advantage on your Stealth rolls.
Spot Ambush:
If the party rolls a negative encounter it may be an Ambush. If it is they will need to roll
Perception + Navigation Skill + D20 vs the opponents: Stealth + Maneuverability + D20
If the party is successful they will spot the ambushers before they attack. Getting prep time and a +10 to Initiative at the start of combat. If the party fails then the opponents get the drop on them causing the party to be surprised.
