Skills represent things your character is good at. Skills are picked up as a character progresses through his life, and reflect training and background. Some are academic skills, such as the sciences; others are physical skills like running or climbing. Still others may reflect social skills like intimidation, technical skills like engineering, or things like piloting and zero-g, or magical sillls like evocation or divination.

The skill list is open-ended. This means that ANYTHING can be a skill; it doesn't have to be on the list below. You might wish to choose flower arranging, origami, or interior decorating. The list below is simply a list of examples; feel free to add to it.

Different skills may be appropriate in each of the three games.  A medieval fantasy setting would not feature computers, for example.

Using A Skill

A skill forms part of a dice pool. When making an attribute check, you may add skill dice to your attribute dice (you may also add equipment dice) to form a dice pool which is rolled against a target difficulty benchmark.

Skill Levels

Skills are used to form dice pools in the same way that attributes are. They use the same scale as attributes to derive the size of the dice pool. 

A character with a dice pool of 1d6 in a skill is considered proficient in that skill. A pool of 2d6 is considered to be skilled, 3d6 is an expert, 4d6 represents mastery, and 5d6 makes one an authority on the subject. Higher levels are usually unique levels of training or study.

Einstein had a score of 15 (5d6) in physics. Miyamoto Musashi had a score of 15 (5d6) in swords.

Academic Skills

examples: literature, accounting, law, history, linguistics, art, theology, philosophy, politics, economics, geography, journalism

Artistic Skills

examples: painting, sculpting, calligraphy, pottery, poetry, literature, film-making, photography, printmaking, modelling

Combat Skills

examples: tactics, reactions, unarmed fighting*, pistols, rifles, bows, heavy weapons, melee weapon*, light armor, medium armor, heavy armor, powered armor, shields

Crafting Skills

examples: appraisal, carpentry, cooking, blacksmith, basket-weaving, stone-masonry, armorer, weaponsmith

Personal Skills

examples: perception, insight, concentration, meditation, bravery, resistance, hardy

Gaming Skills

examples: chess, checkers, dominoes, draughts, poker, blackjack, backgammon, pool, darts

Lore Skills

examples: herbalism, alchemy, nature, religion, heraldry, accounting, law, history, local knowledge, bureaucracy

Magical Skills

examples: infliction, evocation, movement, compulsion, illusion, infusion, summoning, enchantment, hexes, transformation, creation, abjuration, displacement, divination, healing

Miscellaneous Hobby Skills

examples: brewing, fishing, gardening, hunting, riddles, sewing, ornithology

Physical Skills

examples: climbing, swimming, jumping, carrying, running, acrobatics, zero-g, throwing

Performance Skills

examples: acting, singing, musical instrument, dancing, mime, magic, storytelling, comedy, fortune-telling, juggling, ventriloquism

Psionic Skills

examples: biopsionics, clairsentience, clairvoyance, ergokinesis, metapsionics, telekinesis, telepathy, teleportation

Scientific Skills

examples: physics, astronomy, chemistry, ecology, oceanography, geology, meteorology, biology, zoology, botany, mathematics, archaeology, criminology, economics, psychology, sociology, medicine, genetics, nanotechnology, xenology, climatology

Sporting Skills

examples: football, tennis, volleyball, cricket, baseball, basketball, rugby, bowling, dodgeball, badminton, squash, table tennis, sailing, jousting

Subterfuge Skills

examples: cryptology, appraisal, disguise, stealth, thievery, escape artist, bribery, forgery, interrogation

Social Skills

examples: intimidate, flirtation, carousing, negotiating, bluffing, leadership, linguistics, hypnotism

Technical Skills

examples: computers, engineering, demolitions, electronic, robotics

Trivia Skills

examples: movies, rock 'n roll, historical period, celebrities, astrology, theater

Vehicle Skills

examples: piloting, riding, driving, sailing, gunnery, navigation, astrogation

Outdoor Skills

examples: survival, animal handling, tracking, farming, mining, dungeoneering, fishing, hunting, nature

Other Skills

examples: bureaucracy, accounting, law, history, local knowledge

Skill Notation

Sometimes entire categories of skills are referred to instead of single skills. When this happens, the category is noted in square brackets in order to avoid confusion. For example, an entry which says [outdoor] refers to the entire list of survival, animal handling, tracking, farming, mining, and any others.

When noting a skill, you do not need to indicate categories or placeholder titles. You simply note “chess” rather than “gaming (chess)”; similarly, you simply note “pistols” or “nunchukus” rather than “ranged weapon (pistols)” or “melee weapon (nunchaku)”.

Weapons. In combat, unarmed fighting, and weapon skills all add to relevant AGI, INT, or STR attack checks. Melee weapons include categories of weapon type (swords, axes, clubs, knives, etc.); ranged weapons similarly include weapon types, such as bows, pistols, rifles, or heavy weapons. Gunnery refers to vehicle or ship-mounted weapons. Unarmed combat types include (but are not limited to) boxing, wrestling, brawling, and martial arts.

Armor. Armor is divided into light, medium, heavy, and powered armor.  Each is a separate skill. Note that armor, like any other equipment, provides quality benefits only as far as the wearer's skill allows (see dice pools).

Other Skills

• Computers includes use of scanners and starship sensor/comms systems.
• Local knowledge is a catch-all term; the skill should actually be the name of a place.
• Navigation refers to land-based travel. The space-based equivalent is astrogation.