Skills

“People pretend not to like grapes when the vines are too high for them to reach.” — Marguerite de Navarre

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Skills are organised under six Archetypes. Archetypes are not classes. Each is a named group of related Skills; a character may take Skills from any of them.

Skills are rated between 0 and 3.

Rating	Meaning
0	No meaningful practice in that specific Skill
3	Extremely practiced in that domain

Each Skill has a single ruling Foundation that governs its Practice thresholds.

Specific techniques, regional styles, named tools, or binary capabilities remain Traits — not Skills. You either have the technique, the tool-aptitude, or the condition, or you do not.

At the table, the Storyteller selects the Skill that best matches the player’s described intent when building a dice pool.

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Improvement

Every time a Skill is used in a roll it may generate Practice (tracked by automation). Primitive actions grant no Practice — no Skill is involved.

Practice is deeply tied to Exertion. Marks convert to Practice only when Exertion was spent — on a win and on a loss. A loss also adds +2. The two awards stack. Struggle and effort teach; grinding without risk does not.

Opposed — Practice uses the Marks difference (your Marks minus theirs). A 0 margin is a tie: not a loss, and no automatic award.

Result	No Exertion	Exertion spent
Won	—	+ Marks difference
Lost	+2	+ Marks difference and +2
Tied	—	—

Unopposed

Result	No Exertion	Exertion spent
More failures than Marks	+2	+2 and +1 per two Marks (floor)
Marks ≥ failures	—	+1 per two Marks (floor)

What this roll is worth

Pick the roll and whether Exertion was spent. Primitive actions are not here — they grant nothing.

Opposed Unopposed

Won Lost Tied

No Exertion Exertion spent

+0

You beat them 4 Marks to 1 — difference 3. No Exertion. Marks do not convert. Nothing from the win itself.

Practice accumulates against thresholds:

Current Skill	Base Threshold
0 → 1	24
1 → 2	48
2 → 3	72

These thresholds are modified by the Skill’s ruling Foundation:

Foundation	Threshold modifier
3 (above average)	Halved
2 (average)	Base values
1 (below average)	Doubled

High inborn potential accelerates learning. Low potential slows it. Automation handles accumulation and level-ups. Exact Practice progress is visible on the live character sheet. Chat adapters do not print Practice amounts — look at the sheet.

Practice — the recurve on the steppe

Temur, young bowyer, Constitution 2, Bowyer & Fletcher 0 → 1 (threshold 24). Qara, old bowyer of the same orda, Charisma 2, Mentoring 1 → 2 (threshold 48). Hunnic camp. Horn, sinew, and a stubborn belly.

I II III

Temur steams the horn and tries the first reflex of a recurve. The belly fights him. More failures than Marks. He does not spend Exertion.

Temur · unopposed Constitution + Bowyer & Fletcher · more failures than Marks · no Exertion → +2 Practice (Bowyer).

Temur: 2 / 24. Qara has not rolled.

← Back Next →

Struggle teaches. Effort is taken into account. Doing something ad infinitum without hardship counts for naught.

Degradation (prompted only)

Skills can lose progress when the Storyteller asks automation to evaluate a time leap or similar narrative stretch — not continuously in the background.

Standard time leap

1. Take the five Skills with the lowest Practice progress toward the next rank.
2. Roll the Omen die.
3. From those five, randomly select how many Skills to downgrade:

Omen	Skills degraded (from the five)
1–5	0
6–10	1
11–15	2
16–20	3

Short time leap (alternate)

Same five-skill pool, but only:

Omen	Skills degraded
1–10	0
11–20	1

Fiction still decides why rust set in; automation only applies the prompted procedure.

Temur’s first bend is messy. Qara teaches. After a quiet winter on the same pastures, the Storyteller prompts automation for a short time leap on neglected Skills.

1. Temur, unopposed Bowyer: more failures than Marks, no Exertion → +2 Practice.
2. Qara, Mentoring with Exertion, 3 Marks: +1 Practice (floor of 3÷2). Temur later the same evening, Exertion, 4 Marks → +2 Practice.
3. Short time leap (ST prompts): take the five Skills with lowest progress; Omen 1–10 → degrade none; Omen 11–20 → degrade one of those five at random.

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The six Archetypes

Each Archetype names a role and lists the Skills that belong to it. Characters are not limited to one Archetype. Each Skill shows its ruling Foundation and a short definition.

Warrior Combat and armed threat

The Warrior covers fighting and the control of violence: weapons, defence, intimidation, battlefield command, and reading a fight. These are the Skills of combat and of ordering people under immediate physical threat.

1. Slash (Strength) — cutting edges used in chopping or sweeping cuts
2. Pierce (Dexterity) — point work and thrusts
3. Bash (Strength) — blunt impact weapons and strikes
4. Unarmed (Strength) — striking and grappling without weapons
5. Intimidate (Authority) — projecting threat through demonstrated or implied capacity for violence
6. Deflection (Resolve) — active redirection with weapon or shield
7. Counter (Resolve) — the practiced immediate reply after a successful Deflection or Dodge
8. Command (Authority) — issuing orders that are obeyed in the heat of combat or under immediate physical threat
9. Tactics (Intellect) — reading the shape of a fight, positioning, and exploiting terrain and numbers
10. Footwork (Dexterity) — mobility, balance, and positioning in combat
11. Combat Awareness (Perception) — noticing openings, threats, and shifts in the immediate fight
12. Thrown (Constitution) — any thrown weapon or object used to strike or disable

Wayfarer Travel and the outdoors

The Wayfarer covers travel and living off the land: scouting, hunting, mounts, small craft, wilderness knowledge, and trade on the road. These are the Skills of path, camp, and field — not the household and not formal study.

1. Scouting (Perception) — pathfinding, navigation by stars, landmarks and trails, reading terrain for travel
2. Trapping & Tracking (Perception) — locating, following, and the design and use of traps
3. Foraging & Fishing (Constitution) — edible plants, fungi, water sources, and fishing
4. Archery (Perception) — all bows
5. Sailing & Navigation (Perception) — small craft, rivers, lakes, and basic seamanship
6. Animal Handling (Resolve) — wild animals and the training or handling of companions
7. Dodge (Dexterity) — pure evasion and body movement out of the line of attack
8. Riding (Authority) — control of a mount under combat and travel stress
9. Ambush & Camouflage (Guile) — choosing ground and using natural cover for surprise or concealment
10. Swimming (Constitution) — movement and survival in water
11. Wilderness (Constitution) — knowledge of nature, terrain, and the living world
12. Tradecraft (Charisma) — exchange, value negotiation, and market dealings on the road

Artisan Craft and construction

The Artisan covers making and repairing physical work: metal, timber, cloth, ships, tools, fine craft, and directing labour. These are the Skills of the workshop, yard, and forge.

1. Tailoring & Armory (Constitution) — cloth, leather, soft materials, and the construction or repair of protective gear
2. Smithing & Forging (Strength) — working metal at the forge
3. Carpentry & Masonry (Strength) — timber and stone construction and shaping
4. Brewing (Constitution) — fermentation and liquid preservation
5. Fine Crafts (Dexterity) — jewellery, glass, and equivalent high-precision work
6. Shipwright (Strength) — building and repairing boats and ships
7. Engineering & Design (Intellect) — simple machines, structural planning, and mechanisms
8. Bowyer & Fletcher (Constitution) — bows, arrows, and related equipment
9. Appraisal (Perception) — judging value, authenticity, and quality of objects and materials
10. Handcrafting (Dexterity) — improvised tools and objects from bone, wood, sinew, stone, and available materials
11. Oversight (Authority) — directing and coordinating groups of workers
12. Tinkering & Repair (Constitution) — diagnosing, adjusting, and restoring existing tools, mechanisms, and objects

Mother Household and care

The Mother covers household life and the care of people: food, healing, children, farming, domestic animals, and personal influence within kin and home. It is not a gender and not limited to parents — it is the Skills of keeping a household and its people alive and bound together.

1. Cooking & Preserving (Resolve) — preparation and preservation of food
2. Herbalism (Intellect) — medicinal plants and poisons
3. Childcare (Resolve) — raising children and midwifery
4. Animal Husbandry (Resolve) — breeding, care, and management of domestic animals
5. Farming (Strength) — soil, crops, and field management
6. Empathy (Charisma) — reading emotional states and offering personal support
7. Performance (Charisma) — expression through voice (singing), body (dancing), and presence (acting)
8. Healing (Resolve) — physical treatment of the body, wounds, and injury (critical for Dying stabilisation)
9. Etiquette (Resolve) — proper forms, manners, and social conduct in domestic and relational settings
10. Seduction (Charisma) — intimate influence, charm, and emotional leverage in personal relationships
11. Influence (Authority) — using relational position, obligations, and family hooks
12. Muse (Authority) — inspiring others to action, feeling, or creation

Sage Learning and counsel

The Sage covers knowledge, record, and formal counsel: calculation, lore, maps, teaching, investigation, negotiation, rites, and long-term planning. These are the Skills of study, speech, and memory. Strategy here is long-horizon planning; Warrior Tactics covers the immediate fight.

1. Debate & Rhetoric (Charisma) — structured argument and persuasive speech
2. Arithmetic & Accounting (Intellect) — numbers, ledgers, shares, and practical calculation
3. Investigation (Perception) — systematic inquiry into events, places, and evidence
4. Folklore & Heraldry (Intellect) — local lore, lineages, signs, and remembered custom
5. Cartography (Intellect) — maps, distances, and recorded geography
6. Mentoring (Charisma) — teaching others so that skill and judgment take root
7. Illustration (Intellect) — technical drawing, diagrams, schematics, and visual recording of knowledge
8. Negotiation (Authority) — formal bargaining toward agreement between parties
9. Insight (Perception) — reading motives, emotional state, and unspoken position
10. Strategy (Intellect) — long-horizon planning beyond the immediate fight
11. Ritual (Authority) — conducting communal rites, funerals, oaths, and formal observance
12. Preaching (Charisma) — public moral or spiritual address that moves a crowd

Trickster Secrecy and deceit

The Trickster covers stealth, theft, forgery, smuggling, deception, and related underhand work. A character need not be a professional thief to hold these Skills — they are the Skills of secrecy, misdirection, and moving past watchers.

1. Lockpicking (Guile) — defeating locks, catches, and simple mechanical seals
2. Pickpocket (Guile) — removing objects from a person without their notice
3. Sneak (Dexterity) — quiet movement and remaining unseen while moving
4. Forgery (Guile) — false documents, seals, marks, and convincing imitations of writing or craft signs
5. Slander & Ridicule (Charisma) — public or whispered attack on reputation through words
6. Smuggling (Guile) — moving goods or people past watchers, tolls, and searchers
7. Deception (Guile) — lies, false personas, and deliberate misdirection
8. Streetwise (Guile) — reading towns, underworld channels, and informal urban power
9. Acrobatics (Dexterity) — leaps, balance, contortion, and athletic movement under stress
10. Sleight of Hand (Guile) — palm, switch, conceal, and stage small manipulations
11. Off-hand & Improvised Combat (Dexterity) — secondary weapons and objects not meant as arms
12. Climbing (Strength) — vertical movement on rock, timber, rope, and walls

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Related: Human Potential, Character Creation skill budgets, Automation Practice tracking.

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