Skills
Skills categorize and quantify a hero's training and experience. If a hero possesses a given skill, he rolls his normal Stat Dice without adjustment when applying that skill to a challenge. If he lacks the relevant skill, he usually rolls his Stat Dice with a penalty of -2 to the Check roll. A few skills are so rare or specialized that untrained characters are not allowed to attempt the task at all, depending on the circumstances.
Purchasing Skills
Skills are purchased and improved using character points (CP). To purchase a new skill at the basic level—Apprentice rank—costs 1 CP. Additional skill ranks may be purchased to improve a hero's competence with a skill. Groups of related skills can be purchased at a discount as Skill Sets.
A few skills, including Alertness, Leap, and Lift/Shift, are considered Common Skills—every hero possesses each of these skills at the Apprentice rank at no cost in Character Points.
| Brawn Skills | ||
|---|---|---|
| Skill | Description | Untrained Use |
| Axes | Combat skill | Penalty |
| Brawling | Combat skill | Penalty |
| Burst | Summon a burst of power or energy in an emergency situation | Penalty |
| Climb | Scale vertical surfaces | Penalty |
| Endure | Endure hardship beyond the capacity of ordinary folk | Penalty |
| Leap | Make an exceptionally long or high jump | Common |
| Lift/Shift | Carry or push a heavy load | Common |
| Maces | Combat skill | Penalty |
| Ride | Control a riding animal while remaining mounted | Penalty |
| Shields | Combat skill; -2 penalty for untrained use of a shield applies to all Attack checks | Penalty |
| Swim | Travel through or across deep water without drowning | Penalty |
| Finesse Skills | ||
|---|---|---|
| Skill | Description | Untrained Use |
| Bows | Ranged combat skill | Penalty |
| Climb | Scale vertical surfaces | Penalty |
| Crossbows | Ranged combat skill | Penalty |
| Dodge | Avoid being struck in combat | Penalty |
| Escape | Escape from restraints | Penalty |
| Fencing | Combat skill; includes use of Bucklers, but not larger shields | Penalty |
| Knives | Combat skill | Penalty |
| Long Guns | Two-handed firearms; ignore if campaign does not include firearms | Penalty |
| Murder | Kill or knock out a completely-unaware victim with a single attack | Penalty |
| Pistols | Single-handed firearms; ignore if campaign does not include firearms | Penalty |
| Pursuit | Close in on a quarry or open distance from a pursuer in an active chase | Penalty |
| Quarterstaff | Combat skill | Penalty |
| Ride | Control a riding animal while remaining mounted | Penalty |
| Sleight-of-hand | Manual trickery and misdirection such as picking a pocket or lifting a purse unnoticed | Penalty |
| Sling | Ranged combat skill | Unusable |
| Sneak | Move without attracting attention | Penalty |
| Spears | Combat skill | Penalty |
| Swim | Travel through or across deep water without drowning | Penalty |
| Thrown Weapons | Ranged combat skill; includes knives/daggers, axes, javelins/spears | Penalty |
| Tumble | Stay on your feet in tricky situations, or land gracefully when falling | Penalty |
| Savvy Skills | ||
|---|---|---|
| Skill | Description | Untrained Use |
| Alertness | General perception | Common |
| Camouflage | Hide creatures or items using natural cover or find creatures or items so hidden | Penalty |
| Disable | Disable mechanical devices such as traps or locks | Penalty |
| Forage | Find food and water in the wilderness | Penalty |
| Healing | Minister to the sick or injured to aid their recovery | Penalty |
| Insight | Accurately anticipate the intentions, motivations, or plans of another person | Penalty |
| Investigation | Search for clues and make deductions based on those clues | Penalty |
| Knowledge | Familiarity with a specified field of knowledge; the narrower the field, the deeper the knowledge will be | Unusable |
| Language | Fluency in a specified language. Apprentice Rank gives fluency equal to a native-speaking peasant; higher Ranks indicate more eloquence and vocabulary. All characters receive their native tongue as a Common Skill. | Unusable |
| Literacy | Read and write any language the character speaks | Unusable |
| Pathfinding | Find and follow the safest route through difficult terrain | Penalty |
| Profession | Competence in a mundane craft, trade, or occupation | Unusable |
| Research | Know or find out where useful information is likely to be found, and locate such information within large collections | Penalty |
| Tracking | Find and follow a trail left by another | Penalty |
| Trivia | Recall obscure and seemingly random facts, gathered through voracious and eccentric reading and listening habits | Unusable |
| Veterinarian | Provide healing to animals | Penalty |
| Nerve Skills | ||
|---|---|---|
| Skill | Description | Untrained Use |
| Burst | Summon a burst of power or energy in an emergency situation | Penalty |
| Command | Direct trained animals in pressure situations | Penalty |
| Deception | Tell a convincing falsehood | Penalty |
| Disguise | Pass oneself off as someone else | Penalty |
| Drive | Guide a vehicle drawn by animals | Penalty |
| Endure | Endure hardship beyond the capacity of ordinary folk | Penalty |
| Entertain | Hold the attention of a crowd | Penalty |
| Intimidate | Cause another person to become fearful or lose confidence, usually with the intent of coercing them | Penalty |
| Negotiate | Conclude transactions in ways that are benificial to one or both parties | Penalty |
| Persuade | Win others to your point of view | Penalty |
| Train | Train an animal to follow commands | Unusable |
Skill Ranks
Skills may be improved beyond their basic level. Each skill rank above the basic level affords the hero a bonus on his Check rolls using that skill.
| Skill Ranks | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank Title | Adjustment | Cost at Creation | Cost as Upgrade |
| Untrained | -2 | 0 | 0 |
| Apprentice | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Journeyman | +1 | 2 | 1 |
| Foreman | +2 | 4 | 2 |
| Master | +3 | 6 | 2 |
| Grand Master | +4 | 9 | 3 |
| Legendary Master | +5 | 12 | 3 |
- Total Cost: The cost in Character Points to buy the listed skill rank all at once, at the time of character creation
- Upgrade Cost: The cost in CP to buy that rank if the character has already purchased the preceding Rank.
Skill Sets
Most skills are included in one or more Skill Sets. Purchasing a Skill Set at the listed price gains the hero every skill in the set at a discount over buying each skill separately.
Skills in a Set also improve together. For each Skill Set, the Skill Sets table lists a Number for Rank value. When a hero improves that many Skills within the Set to a given Rank, the remaining Skills in the Set also improve to that Rank at no additional cost. For example, Melee Weapons Set has a Number for Rank of 3. As soon as a hero improves his third skill in the Melee Weapon Set to Journeyman rank, all his Melee Weapon Skills immediately improve to Journeyman rank.
A few skills, such as Ride, are included in more than one Skill Set. In such cases, the overlap does not reduce the cost to purchase either Skill Set at the Apprentice rank. Additional ranks in such "overlap skills" do, however, count toward the Number for Rank to rank-up both Skill Sets.
The Character Point cost of a Skill Set including a common skill is not discounted in any way. Additional ranks in Common Skills do, however, count toward the Number for Rank to rank-up the entire Skill Set.
| Skill Sets | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Set | Skills | Cost | Number for Rank |
| Melee Combat | Axes, Knives, Maces, Shields, Spears, Swords | 4 | 3 |
| Ranged Combat | Bows, Crossbows, Long Guns, Pistols | 2 | 2 |
| Streetfighting | Brawling, Knives, Thrown Weapons | 2 | 2 |
| Swashbuckling | Fencing, Knives, Swords | 2 | 3 |
| Animal Handling | Command, Drive, Ride, Train, Veterinarian | 3 | 3 |
| Survival | Alertness, Camouflage, Foraging, Pathfinding, Tracking | 3 | 3 |
| Stealth | Alertness, Camouflage, Disable, Escape, Murder, Pursuit, Sleight-of-hand, Sneak | 3 | 4 |
| Ministry | Entertainment, Healing, Literacy, Persuasion, Profession: Minister | 3 | 2 |
| Scholarship | Literacy, Any five related fields of Knowledge | 3 | 3 |
| Linguistics | Any five languages | 3 | 2 |
| Might | Burst, Climb, Endure, Leap, Lift/Shift, Pursuit, Ride, Swim | 4 | 3 |
| Grace | Climb, Dodge, Pursuit, Ride, Swim, Tumble | 4 | 3 |
| Acumen | Alertness, Healing, Insight, Investigation, Literacy, Research, Trivia | 4 | 3 |
| Influence | Deception, Disguise, Entertain, Intimidate, Negotiate, Persuade | 3 | 3 |
Skill Packages
Every character created under the Core Rules for Dungeons of Olde chooses a Skill Package—a collection of related skills suitable to a traditional role within an adventuring company. The optional Crunchy Characters rules afford players the option to choose their skills a la carte using a point-based system, tailoring their heroes to their unique visions. Nonetheless, a character built with a Core-Rules Stat Array and Skill Package is balanced with characters created under the Crunchy Characters system, so there is no danger in allowing some players to create customized characters while others choose Stats and Skills under the Core Rules.
Skill Packages are balanced to cost 10 CP each. While it would be possible for experienced heroes to save up 10 CP to buy an entire Skill Package at once, there is no benefit in doing so. In fact, because there is often significant overlap between Skill Packages, an experienced hero who already has one Package likely already has some of the Skills included in the new Package. For these reasons, a player who wants to "multi-class" his Core-Rules hero by purchasing a second Skill Package should simply buy the necessary Skills or Skill Sets as he can afford them, and let his hero branch out gradually.
| Skill Packages | |
|---|---|
| Set | Skills |
| Priest |
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| Ranger |
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| Rogue |
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| Templar |
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| Troubadour |
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| Warrior |
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| Wizard |
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