INNATE

starting characters take one of these at Adept, one at Competent, and one at Unskilled

Endure (Vigor)

This is your character's ability to push on and persevere though pain and fatigue. It is used to test the limits of a character's physicality and fitness.

React (Instinct)

This measures the quickness of a character's body and mind. It is as much "how quick the character notices something" as "how quick the character moves."

Resist (Reason)

Resist is the strength of a character's will, and is used to prevent compulsion of a natural or supernatural type. This includes physical compulsion: Resist would be used for a character to keep her cool under torture, for example, while Endure would be used to see how long she could stay conscious under the same torture.

ARTISTIC

 Poetry (Instinct)

This ability is used for composing verse.

Appraisal (Reason)

Appraisal not only grants the ability to determine what a piece of art is worth, but what it is worth to a specific person. It can be also used to determine where and when a piece originated.

Create (Instinct)

Create is used for painting, sculpting, and other arts where a concrete item is created.

Dancing (vigor)

This is used for any kind of social or artistic dancing.

Music (Instinct)

Music is used for singing and playing instruments, and represents musical talent, not lyrical talent. Music and Storytelling are often used together to make an effective song.

Storytelling (Reason)

Storytelling is used for creating or telling stories, including ballads.

CRAFT

Anatomy (Reason)

This ability can be used for all sorts of purposes, from performing major surgery on those grievously injured (helping with a Healing Check) to performing cruel acts of torture while keeping a subject alive.

Bladework (Instinct)

This ability is used for all sorts of intricate knife skills, from cutting paper-thin slices of meat and vegetables, to vivisection, to cutting down your enemy with a long dagger. It can be used to perform skilled work with any well-made sharp knife.

Complex Crafts (Reason)

Complex Crafts is used for making things that require a great deal of steps or mixing of different materials, ranging from clockmaking to needlecraft to cooking.

Engineering (Reason)

Engineering represents formal training in designing and building large-scale construction operations like mines, buildings, dams, and bridges.

Farming (Reason)

Farming is used for the cultivation of plants. This does not include herding and management of animals.

Fine Crafts (Reason)

Fine Crafts is used for making things from rough materials that require fine manipulation, including leatherworking, woodworking, and other such skills.

Haggling (Instinct)

Haggling is used to get the best price for goods. This skill is used to make sure you get a fair trade in trade agreements which means it can be used to evaluate the quality and worth of goods as well. (see Appraisal also)

Mining (Vigor)

This ability covers the dirty work of extracting value from the earth. It covers knowledge of digging and panning techniques, awareness of the environment (depth, etc.) and a sense for where the best claims are located.

Rough Crafts (Vigor)

Rough Crafts is used for skills such as stonecutting, blacksmithing, and other crafts that require a great deal of strength to create things.

FIGHTING

Command (Reason)

Command is the basic skills and tactics known by any military commander. It is used for giving orders in combat and planning attacks, including ambushes.

Explosives (Reason)

This is knowledge of blackpowder, dynamite and other things that go boom! This skill covers proper handling of such dangerous materials, and knowing how much is enough for a given job. To throw explosives, use Aim.

Firearms (Instinct)

This ability covers the basic understanding and use of firearms, including simple blackpowder guns, pistols, and rifles. This ability is used to hit targets with guns as well as when a character needs to reload or clear a breech under duress.

First Aid (Reason)

First Aid is simple medicine: bandaging cuts, binding broken bones, and washing out wounds. If someone's been physically hurt, this can be used to heal them.

Primitive Weapons (Vigor)

This ability covers fighting with any sort of archaic or primitive melee weapons, such as swords, spears, axes and other such "brutish" devices. It is distinct Scrapping in that it assumes trained and disciplined use of such weapons. Note: use of bows and thrown weapons is covered by the Aim ability.

Scrapping (Vigor)

Untrained fighting is the center of this ability. Fists, feet, daggers, kitchen knifes, table legs, and all sorts of clubbery are usually used in Scrapping.

Sense Danger (Instinct)

This ability is used to perceive anything that might physically harm your character. It is not a "sixth sense": the danger must be somehow perceivable, if only barely. Here's where you get those cat-like reflexes.

Soldier (Vigor)

This is the skill working as part of a fielded army. It is used for tests of discipline, fieldcraft, and military knowledge.

ILLICIT

Assassination (Instinct)

The art of quick and often mysterious death is the domain of this ability. It can only be used to kill an individual who is unaware that your character is trying to do so. It should be used for all inventive method of death, such as spraying an infusion into the mucus membranes of a target.

Deceit (Reason)

Deceit is used to fool other characters, including pretending to be someone else, forge a document, or straight-out lie well.

Smuggling (Reason)

Smuggling not only involves the skill of hiding illegal or restricted items in ordinary baggage, but also knowing how to find a buyer for the items in a foreign land.

Stealth (Instinct)

Stealth is used to sneak up on people, hide from other characters, and conceal objects on your character's body.

Streetwise (Reason)

Streetwise is used to know information about the illegal underground, including where to buy illegal things, sell stolen goods, or know who controls organized crime.

Subterfuge (Reason)

Subterfuge is the art of quiet secrecy, and more specifically, creating, communicating with, and maintaining secret networks. It is used to create ciphers and codes, as well as decrypt them, organize secret meetings while keeping them secret, and for all other sorts of long-term sub-rosa activity.

Theft (Instinct)

Theft is used for picking pockets, cutting purses, lockpicking, breaking and entering without being noticed, and safecracking, as well as any other theft-related activity.

OUTDOOR

Aim (Vigor)

Aim is used for throwing objects and using primitive ranged weapons, such as bows and thrown spears.

Animal Ken (Instinct)

Animal Ken is the social skill for dealing with animals, and is used to deal with domesticated animals or wild ones. Domesticated animals are much easier to control, of course, and this may be used to give them commands. For wild animals, on the other hand, this works about as far as scaring them off, or convincing them not to eat you.

Athletics (Vigor)

This is a measure of raw physicality and fitness. It is used for running, jumping, swimming, climbing, or any other strength-based task not listed as a separate ability.

Boating (Instinct)

This ability is used to craft and use small boats that could carry one to ten men. These craft are used mainly on inland waters, and are difficult, but not impossible, to use as sea vehicles.

Camouflage (Instinct)

This ability is used to stay hidden in plain sight by using natural patterns, covering one's self with mud or leaves, and otherwise blending in with a wooded environment.

Direction Sense (Instinct)

Many an explorer has found himself lost in the great outdoors. This ability is used to determine which way you're coming from and which way you're heading.

Herb Lore (Reason)

This ability is used to identify poisonous and altering plants, as well as properly harvest them for use.

Horsemanship (Vigor)

This is the skill of riding horses. This covers racing, battle, and other extraordinary riding situations.

Scrounging (Instinct)

This ability can be used to find items or materials when they should not be commonly found.

Woodscraft (Reason)

Woodscraft is used to track people or animals, know what sorts of plants and animals are present in an area and their properties, as well as set traps.

RELIGIOUS

Counsel (Reason)

Counsel is used to bring peace to someone via private conversation, not unlike mental health counseling. It is the spiritual equivalent of First Aid.

Discern Truth(Instinct)

Discern Truth is used to tell if someone is being honest, or read a person's intentions.

Pray (Vigor)

Pray is used for meditation, blessing actions, and performing religious rituals. It involves the character's belief that she is connected to something better than her.

SOCIAL

Etiquette (Reason)

Etiquette is used to know your way around a society, including knowing who is important and where to get favors. It is the non-illegal society equivalent of Streetwise.

Family Bond (Instinct)

This ability represents the awareness and understanding that comes with being part of a family. It can be used as like Sense Danger for members of the character's family, allowing for a chance to help a family member in danger with another Ability roll (modified by this one). Likewise, Family Bond can also be used to hurt a family member, either directly or supporting another ability- nobody knows you like family.

Freeload (Instinct)

Freeload is used to get free meals and shelter. Your character can't really get wealthy using Freeload, but you can manage to survive even if broke, which isn't bad.

Gamesmanship (Instinct)

This ability covers the playing of games (those using cards, dice, boards, etc.) for amusement, social interaction, and profit. It includes skill at such games as well as other important aspects of gamesmanship- sensing the mood of one's opponents, bluffing, and knowing when to walk away.

Orate (Reason)

Orate is used to sway opinion with speech or demagoguery, and is generally used with crowds.

Savoir-Faire (Instinct)

Savoir-Faire is used to act smooth, dance, get a kiss from a lady, and get another character into your character's bed.

Serve (Instinct)

To serve is to anticipate your master's needs, to broach uncomfortable subjects while remaining servile, and to be invisible until wanted. This ability allows for performance of all the roles of a servant.

Sway (Instinct)

Sway is used to affect individuals through conversation. Unlike Orate, this works better one-on-one, and the character being swayed may not even realize your character's intentions.