Skills

From Obscura

If you take any magic skills you cannot then take science skills, and vice versa.

Skills can only be taken once unless otherwise specified.

Free Skills

Every Player Character starts with these (however NPCs may not).

One-Handed Training You can use one melee weapon of 8”-42”.
Sense Magic
You've been trained to spot magical and alchemical anomalies. You can spot whether items and locations have magical or alchemical properties (you can see lammies and ribbons).

Once per encounter with 5 seconds of touch range appropriate roleplay, you can ask a ref if an item or location has an EFFECT or ask a character "OC do you have an EFFECT on you?", for a yes or no answer. Using this on a person is quite uncomfortable for them, like having your soul prodded.

Resilience
You’ve undergone physical training, or have unusual determination or fortitude, or maybe you’re just lucky. You can sustain an additional two mortal wounds than most before succumbing, becoming terminal on your fourth.
First Aid
With 30 seconds of stationary touch range appropriate roleplay with both hands you can CURE ALL another character.

With 5 seconds of touch range appropriate roleplay inspecting a character you can ask "OC what's your state?" for an answer of "healthy", "incapacitated", "terminal" or "dead".

Patch Up
With 5 seconds of touch range appropriate roleplay inspecting a character you can ask "OC please show me your wounds".

Twice per day, with 30 seconds of appropriate roleplay you can patch up a single wound on another character to suppress it until a dramatically appropriate time during the next event. You do not have to follow the Treatment on the wound card, but feel free to use it as inspiration for your patch up job.

Use Alchemical You can use alchemicals.

You can use one alchemical per encounter safely, if you use more than this see a ref after the encounter.

Inflict Wound With 5 seconds of very clear touch range appropriate roleplay you can call WOUND.
Search You can search a character with 30 seconds of touch range appropriate roleplay miming a search; do not actually rifle through the target’s belongings without permission. At the culmination of the search the target must offer you any game items they have on them. Foci should be shown on a search, but can’t be removed (but they can be temporarily broken to disarm an invoker).
Summon You can summon an elemental with one minute of roleplay. You might want to find out more about this before trying it.

This ability is usable while Terminal.

Break/Mend Weapon Visible weapons, natural weapons and foci can be rendered unusable with 5 seconds of uninterrupted touch range appropriate roleplay breaking them. This can't be done in combat. This is the preferred method of disarming monsters. An item broken in this way can be restored to functionality with 30 seconds of appropriate roleplay.

General Skills

Skill Prerequisites Description
Combat Training
Choose a combat school from Rogue, Warrior and Invoker. Receive the Free Skills for that school, and you can now learn the Combat Skills for it.
Melee Training
You can use an 8”-42” weapon in each hand.

You can use a buckler up to 15” in diameter.

You can use a weapon 42”-60” with both hands.

Polearm Training Melee Training You can use a weapon 60”-84” with both hands. These can be stab safe and if so can be used for thrusting.

You can use a stab-safe 60”-84” spear in one hand to thrust only.

Thrown Training You can carry up to three thrown weapons and use them.
Extra Toughness
You have one extra hit.
Intuition Spend at least one minute of appropriate roleplay discussing a particular problem, or what lies ahead, with other characters. Each participant will come to a minor realisation about the given problem. Intuiting the same problem twice on the same day won't give new information.

Intuition works best if you already have some information on the problem to build your understanding on. In lieu of this, spending more Ducatto on meditation aids may allow you to come to revelations on a problem you know little about.

Investigation Spend at least one minute of appropriate roleplay examining a scene or item to get information about it. Others can participate, with yourself leading the examination. Investigating the same target twice on the same day won't give new information. Investigation is good at finding mundane information about an item or scene, but is poor at divining magical properties (thaumaturgy is better at this).

You can quickly assess a scene to see if an investigation might provide useful information. You will sometimes spot that things are out of place and get a hint that an Investigation might yield information, but this shouldn't be relied upon.

Keen Observer You can use Sense Magic an additional time per encounter.

You can spend 5 seconds inspecting roleplay you can clearly see and hear to ask "OC what skill are you using?". If you possess the skill they’re using, you can then ask "OC what's the intended outcome?". If there's a ref overseeing the skill, ask them rather than interrupting the player using the skill. Note that all rituals are led with the “Lead Ritual” skill, not the name of the ritual being performed.

For example, a thaumaturge performing the Ruination ritual would respond that they are using the Lead Ritual skill. If you also possess the Lead Ritual skill (of any element), you can then ask what the intended outcome of the ritual is and they would answer something like "Shoot 3 MAGIC DOUBLEs".

Preparation You have an excellent memory for skills, and with one minute of appropriate roleplay can learn a skill from a character that can perform it. You can only learn skills that you could learn yourself (so you must have any prerequisites, and you can’t learn a skill you’re locked out of due to science or magic attunement). You can only remember one skill at a time, but you can forget your Preparation in order to learn a new one. You can activate this ability once per day to gain that skill for an encounter. You cannot use any per-day abilities granted by the skill you’re replicating, including improvising rituals. You cannot learn the Combat Training skill with this. You will remember your Preparation until the end of the next interactive you attend.
Tricks of the Trade You can identify and estimate the value of well-known items and hazard an educated guess at the value of unknown items.

You can make a quick assessment of a character to determine if they are carrying any valuables, or specifically weapons (you can ask “OC do you have any unsmuggled game items?” and “OC do you have any unsmuggled weapons or a focus?”). This can't be used in combat.

You can smuggle 2 items up to the size of a dagger, or one item up to the size of a one-handed weapon. Do not hand over those items to a searcher on the completion of a search, unless you are terminal or dead.

Personal Income You gain additional ducatto before each interactive, and this income will never be affected by political factors.
Exotic Income Personal Income You gain an exotic income before every interactive.
Contacts You can send messages to characters in uptime by asking a ref for a contact to meet you and pick up the message. This is primarily for delivering to NPCs, but you may deliver messages to PCs with this skill, in which case the contact will attempt to deliver it anonymously. Your contacts are only able to deliver messages to people on this plane, though cultivating contacts that can work extraplanar may be possible.

This can also be used to find someone who can perform a service for you, provided that service is relatively common (if uncommon, you may be able to contact someone who knows someone). If a character who can do your desired service is known to be in the interactive, you will almost certainly just receive their name.

Hearts and Minds Following 30 seconds of appropriate roleplay conversing with them you can call “EFFECT: <Emotion>” to a single character. Once per day after 5 seconds of appropriate roleplay orating you can call “MASS EFFECT: <Emotion>”. These abilities can’t be performed in combat.

Available emotions are: Envy, Anger, Fear, Courage, Pride.

Iron Will You can RESIST non-EPIC emotion EFFECTs by instead responding with an emotion of your choice.

Once per encounter you can RESIST a non-EPIC COMPEL with a declaration of resistance, individuality or other roleplay appropriate to your character.

You can use these skills while performing other skills.

Inspire Iron Will With one minute of appropriate roleplay you can prepare any number of characters (optionally including yourself) to grant them EFFECT: You can RESIST one non-EPIC COMPEL or emotion EFFECT that would interfere with a specific goal or plan until sunrise. A person can only be the target of this ability once per day.

Once per day with one minute of appropriate roleplay you can prepare any number of characters (including yourself) for the upcoming encounter, granting them EFFECT: +1 Hit for the next encounter.

Smooth Talker You know how to quickly de-escalate a situation. Following 5 seconds of appropriate roleplay orating, you can call “MASS EFFECT: Don’t start a fight.” once per encounter. The targets of this effect don’t necessarily feel any more friendly, but are willing to talk instead of fighting. Note the prohibition is only on starting a fight; if someone not subject to the effect starts one around them, they are free to join in, and the skill is ineffective if combat has already started.

You can spend at least one minute of appropriate roleplay to spread a rumour or plan a campaign to attempt to influence a group of NPCs who are not present, but are on this plane. Other characters can assist with this. It is likely to take time for any influence to take effect.

Magic Skills

Skill Prerequisites Description
Lead Ritual Choose an element. You can lead formulaic rituals of that element that you’ve learned and you learn the Consecrate ritual for that element. Once per day you can improvise a ritual for an element you can lead. This skill can be taken multiple times, choosing a different element each time.
Learn Ritual Lead Ritual Learn an additional formulaic ritual of an element for which you have Lead Ritual. This skill can be taken multiple times, learning a new ritual each time.
Focused Thaumaturge Lead Ritual Once per day you can boost the effectiveness of a ritual you lead, increasing the effective power by 50%. You can RESIST any non-EPIC non-damage call that would disrupt the ritual.

The power increase only applies to the first cast if used with thaumic refrain.

Science Skills

Skill Prerequisites Description
Alchemy You can perform alchemy to manifest first and second order partials of alchemicals. You can use 2 ingredients safely. You can experiment with new recipes once per day.

You can identify a known alchemical with a few moments of roleplay. You can identify an unknown alchemical with one minute of appropriate roleplay, destroying it.

Improved Alchemy Alchemy You can use 3 ingredients safely. You can experiment with new recipes twice per day.

When in the field, you can transmute ducatto into any basic ingredient. This is much less efficient than purchasing ingredients from the task force stores.

Advanced Alchemy Improved Alchemy You can manifest third order partials of alchemicals and use 4 ingredients safely. You can experiment with new recipes 3 times per day.

You can use alchemicals that are Advanced Alchemist Only.

Master Alchemy Advanced Alchemy You can use 5 ingredients safely. You can manifest fourth order partials of alchemicals and use fourth order alchemicals. You can experiment with new recipes 4 times per day.
Alchemical Resistance Improved Alchemy You can consume an additional alchemical per encounter before suffering from overdose.
Surgery Surgery is a very common requirement for the treatment of wounds.

With one minute of touch range appropriate roleplay you can examine a dead human and ask one question about it. You can only do this once per corpse.

Dissection Surgery With one minute of touch range appropriate roleplay you can examine a dead non-human to ask one question about it and potentially to gather materials. You can only do this once per target.

Materials in bodies must be removed and preserved extremely quickly, such that each dissector can usually only gather materials from a single body at the end of an encounter before the rest are spoiled. Not all body types yield useful material.

Field Medic Surgery You can suppress wounds with the Patch Up skill two more times per day.
Rapid First Aid Surgery With 5 seconds of stationary touch range appropriate roleplay you can CURE 1 another character.
Graft With one minute of touch range appropriate roleplay you can graft elemental material on to people, or yourself (or another surgeon or grafter can do the operation under your direction if self-surgery is impractical), which can grant new abilities, usually with drawbacks.

Your knowledge of grafts means you can use one graft without mechanical drawback.

If the target is unwilling the graft may be rejected.

Advanced Grafting Graft You can perform advanced grafts on yourself (or another surgeon or grafter can do the operation under your direction if self-surgery is impractical). There is no set list of advanced grafts, but consulting with a Keeper or task force staff could give insight on what is possible and what would be required to do it. Advanced grafts can be based on elemental grafts, or altering your own tissue with a powerful alchemical.
Reanimate
With one minute of touch range appropriate roleplay you can reanimate a deceased mostly complete human corpse to allow a conversation with it. This may fail.

With one minute of touch range appropriate roleplay you can reanimate a recently deceased complete human corpse with a rudimentary intelligence to perform simple tasks. Reanimated workers are not useful for combat and there is a limit to how many workers a reanimator can maintain at a time.

With one minute of touch range appropriate roleplay you can restore a terminal character to full capability, but they will still die at the end of their terminal state unless they find a way to avert it.