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.

A skill that requires uninterrupted roleplay is cancelled if you or any other participant is attacked.

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 inspection, you can ask a ref if an item or location or has an EFFECT (but no further information) or ask a character "OC do you have an EFFECT on you?". Using this on a person is quite uncomfortable, 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 mortal wound.
First Aid
With 30 seconds of stationary appropriate roleplay with both hands you can CURE ALL another character.

With 5 seconds of touch range inspection 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 inspection 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.

Inflict Wound With 5 seconds of very clear roleplay you can call WOUND.
Search You can search a character with 30 seconds of 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).
Break/Mend Weapon Visible weapons, natural weapons and foci can be rendered unusable with 5 seconds of uninterrupted roleplay breaking them. 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” in both hands.

Polearm Training Melee Training You can use a weapon 60”-84” in 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.
Exceptional Toughness Extra Toughness You have one extra hit and another extra hit when wearing armour.
Extreme Toughness Exceptional Toughness You have one extra hit.
Analyse Power You can use Sense Magic an additional time per encounter.

You can spend 5 seconds inspecting someone performing roleplay 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.

  • All rituals are led with the “Lead Ritual” skill.

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.

Intuition Spend at least one minute of appropriate roleplay discussing or examining 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.
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.

You will sometimes spot that things are out of place and get a hint that an Investigation might yield information.

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 for at most a week.
Personal Income You gain additional income before every interactive, and this income will never be affected by political factors.
Exotic Income Personal Income You gain an exotic income before every interactive.
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 also 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 be used on a resisting target, but 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. If that item is the only game item/weapon on you, also respond “No” if the Tricks of the Trade skill is used to assess you.

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.

Inspire Following 30 seconds of appropriate roleplay you can call “EFFECT: <Emotion>” to a single character. Once per day after 5 seconds of appropriate roleplay you can call “MASS EFFECT: <Emotion>”. These abilities can be performed on a resisting target, but can’t be performed in combat.

Available emotions are: Admiration, Envy, Anger, Courage, Inspiration, Pride, Joy, Calm, Regret.

Iron Will You can RESIST one non-EPIC COMPEL or emotion EFFECT per encounter with a declaration of resistance, individuality or other roleplay appropriate to your character. You can use this additional times per encounter, but will take a WOUND each time you do. If you RESIST an emotion EFFECT you can RESIST all further emotion EFFECTs from the same source for the rest of the encounter. You can use this skill while performing other skills.
Leadership Iron Will Once per day with one minute of appropriate roleplay you can prepare any number of characters (including yourself) to grant them EFFECT: You may resist one non-EPIC COMPEL or emotion EFFECT that would interfere with a specific goal or plan until sunrise. If you RESIST an emotion EFFECT you can RESIST all further emotion EFFECTs from the same source for the rest of the encounter.

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

Smooth Talker You know how to quickly de-escalate a situation. Following 5 seconds of appropriate roleplay, you can call “MASS EFFECT: Don’t start a fight.” once per encounter. The target of this effect doesn’t necessarily feel any more friendly, but are willing to talk instead of fighting. This skill can be used on a resisting target, but can’t be used once combat has started. 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.

You can spend at least 1 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 rituals of that element that you’ve learned, improvise rituals of that element, and you learn the Consecrate ritual for that element. This skill can be taken multiple times, choosing a different element each time.
Learn Ritual Lead Ritual Learn an additional formulaic ritual of any element. This skill can be taken multiple times, learning a new ritual each time.
Empower Ritual 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 cause you to stop the ritual.

This ability 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 fabled fourth order alchemicals. Fourth order alchemicals are likely to be your magnum opus; you may only be able to fully comprehend one or two, but they will have a dramatic effect. 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 5 seconds of touch range inspection you can ask "OC what are your hits?"

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

Dissection Surgery With one minute of 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 You can use 5 seconds of stationary appropriate roleplay to CURE 1 another character.
Graft 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 appropriate roleplay you can reanimate a deceased mostly complete human corpse to allow a conversation with it. This may fail.

With one minute of 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.

You can also use this skill to 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.