REGULAR SKILLS (you can find these in any D&D book) lore(int): Want to know a lot about something? Take this skill, with knowledge of that something, and you can ask the DM any question related to that something. Depending on your roll, the GM will tell you a half-truth, or a total lie (or maybe actually the truth sometimes). direct(will): So you wanna shoot the fireball through the window, huh? Better hope you have this skill. Instead of making standard attack rolls (as per AD&D), roll this to hit your target with a spell. Affects any sort of spell or magic device that requires mind control/targetting. concentrate(will): Roll this to see if you can keep up a spell effect, or if you're casting a spell and you've taken damage in the current combat round. Also may be added to a roll when a character is concentrating on doing one thing (woodworking, praying, etc.) at the GM's discretion. exorcism(faith): Remember 'Turn Undead'? It's a skill now. Make them nasty skeletons go away. teaching(chr): Used to teach someone else a skill that you know. Yes, you can teach teaching to someone. Can drastically speed up learning time for a new skill. prayer(faith): Make your god(dess) listen to you. For each difficulty level you beat, you get a bonus to add to all priest spell casting rolls you make, until you pray again. More information can be had under the clerical magic section in 'Spellcasting and Saving Throws' (spelcast.txt). bless(faith): Bless is a skill now, instead of a spell. For each difficulty level you beat, you may add +1 to the appropriate rolls that your companions make (attack and saving throws, for now). sense(wiz or faith): Otherwise known as 'detect magic'. Higher rolls will glean more accuracy. Priests are better at detecting good/evil and holy items, and wizards are better at detecting magical sources. dodge(dex): Used to get out of the way of missile attacks. May also be used to dodge melee attacks, but in these cases, your roll is halved. You'll tend to do better with parrying, shield, or acrobatics. persuade(chr): Convince someone to do something, or to accept some truth/lie you're feeding them. Blurry distinction with con. con(chr): Pull the wool over someone's eyes. Trick them. This is the fast-talking sort of skill, where persuade relies more on pure charisma and good choice of words. Con lets you bullshit your way out of stuff. intimidation(chr): Make someone scared of you, without having glowing eyes or eating their neighbors (frighten). Bully someone. haggle(chr): Get a better price, either buying or selling. escapology(rogue): Undo ropes, handcuffs, manacles, shackles, the rack, the iron maiden, leather thongs (uh...ignore that), you name it. This lets you escape bindings of any kind, from the deepest dungeons to the dominatrix-knots in the temple of Lithius. Rope use is recommended, but is not strictly a co-requisite. tunneling(rogue): Good, now that you've escaped your shackles, you can wander around your jail cell. Great. With tunnelling, however, you can make like a mole and dig the hell out of anywhere, and you won't even need a spoon. construct(wiz): Want a magical Bam-Kazowie wand? Make one yourself with this skill. Allows creation of most magical items, from hairpins to large towers that look bigger on the inside than the outside. brew(wiz): Make your own potions, and turn your friends into newts when you try to heal them! rituals(wiz): So you want to know how to summon up a big horned Lord of the Pit (TM), or how to get the most out of that power node that those pesky druids were protecting under the standing stones, huh? This skill will let you do it. ADVANCED sharpshoot(dex)(2d dex req):When you use this skill (which can only be used in conjunction with a missile weapon), half the missile weapon's ROF, and add your sharpshooting skill roll to your attack roll. acrobat(dex)(need dodge+3d dex):Psycho-dodge. Flip, tumble, jump away from danger, out of windows, and down cliffs. Roll it to directly subtract from an attacker's attack roll (if you choose to spend your action doing so). works great on area effect spells--tumble out of the way, into holes, etc. lore(int)(4d int req):Want to know how sages know everything? Take this skill. Allows you to ask the DM any question, at any time. Then, depending on your roll, you might know something about it. rune magic(wiz):Ability to create rune magic and wards. Specifics have yet to be worked out. Has a lot to do with enchantment, so Ench/Charm is required (except in special cases) and Abjuration is recommended. endurance(con):Specifics are mentioned under the Hit Point/Conversion ruleset (convert.txt). Basically, allows you to annul penalties imposed by damage done to you. guess(int)(4d int req):Is your character really smart? Smarter than you? Would (S)HE be able to figure out the plot, even if you can't? If you have Guess, you can roll it to find out. Depending on how high you roll, your character might be able to figure out the plot. But roll low, and the GM will screw you with misinformation! Hell, he might do that anyway! He's the GM! Mwah-ha-ha-ha-ha! intuition(wis--psych only):Got a baaaaaad feeling about this? You do if you have this skill. Sort of a '6th sense' sort of skill, without seeing all the dead people... calling(wiz)(conj/summ):Ever played Final Fantasy (TM, R, LTD, Inc.) and called up a Chocobo? Now you can do it in your friendly neighborhood tabletop RPG with this skill! Conj/Summoning is required. evocation(banishing)(wiz)(invo/evo):Make that big evil outer planar creature that is eating your village go away. Pentagrams and salt not required. prophecy(wis--diviners only):Want your own codex to tantalize and confound the other players (and probably the GM)? You got it, with this skill. elemental(will)--shape & form 1 element(wiz req, elementists only) bend(wiz--alteration only--bend magic):So, this pansy little 3 invo mage throws a fireball at you. Huh. Well, roll bend, and arc it right back in his face! With this, you can alter the target, path, color, size, duration, and credit card number (just to name a few) of any spell cast nearby, including your own (if you're good). weave(will)--weave neg plane into objects(necro req):Non-negative plane versions of this skill are rumored to exist. Reweave the fabric of reality with its hidden duct tape: PURE MAGIC! blank(will)--psych only:If somebody throws a psychic attack at you, this is a great way to defend. Make your mind a complete blank, silent and impregnable to attack. Subtract your Blank roll directly from any psychic attack made against you. combat sense(perc):Want to know if that thug's going to go after you, or your female swordswoman-bodyguard? Roll Combat Sense to see. Allows you to apply advanced tactical knowledge (and some 6th sense) to how you think things will play out on the field of battle. observation(perc)(3d perc req):You are Sherlock Holmes. You can walk in a room, immediately walk out, and still know who is wearing what, who has little flecks of blood on their hands, and who has the worst fashion sense out of the 20 people you saw there. Super-Perception, as it were. surgery(biology, anatomy, healing, herbalism):Sew that limb right back on in the middle of a battlefield. Medieval Barber-ism at its best. 2hand fite(fighting, in 1/3's): Fight with 1 weapon in each hand. At 1/3, you only get to roll 1/3 of the dice in your off hand. At 2/3, you roll 2/3 of the dice for your off hand. At the full 3/3, you're good to go, with no penalties. SPECIAL NOTE: For game balance reasons, you are only allowed one action per round with your off hand, even if you score multiple actions with your initiative roll. Thus, if you have 2 actions, you may attack twice with your primary hand and only once with your secondary. blind fite(fighting, in 1/3's): Fight in the dark. Normal penalties in the dark are -4D in pitch black. With 1/3, penalty is only -3D. With 2/3, it's -2D, and with the full 3/3, your penalttyy is only -1D. A must have for those drow encounters. drinking(con)(con 2d req):Drink any damnfool who challenges you right under the table. Also gives limited resistance to poison. For each 3D in drinking you accrue, you get +1D to all saves vs. poison. immunity to poison(con)(Xd con req depending on poison): Pick a poison. Every time you save vs. that poison, add your skill dice directly to that roll. Other poison saves may be aided, at the GM's discretion. lifting(str):Roll this instead of strength to lift something. The reason that this is an advanced skill is to illustrate just how difficult it is to become really good at lifting heavy things without raising strength directly. Remember, use your legs, not your back. speed(dex)--roll instead of init(dex 3d req) NPC'S ONLY forethought(int)(4d int req):Villains can (and will) be smarter than the GM sometimes. If i'm really dumb, and haven't thought of something, it is very possible that the villain SHOULD have thought of that. When this happens, and the villain has forethought, i roll it, and if he did well enough, he out-thinks your little scheme (whatever it is). frighten(will)--(-1D for each diff level)(undead req):Undead monsters with glowing red eyes, dripping green goo and eating your neighbors are really scary. This skill represents their ability to scare the pants off of you. absorb(will)--suck souls (roll vs. victim's will)(neg plane req):If a big monster has this, and uses this, and you fail your saving throw, he sucks your soul into himself to chew on it for a while, and your character dies. Poof. copy(will)--copy a char sheet in every detail(doppleganger req) insanity(will):dobpplegangers and demons do this.