Skills represent a competence or knowledge in something, and how well you might perform in a certain area. There are 30 different skills in Drifter which are separated into 4 Disciplines (5 if you’re a Wielder). Whenever you want to execute an action, you spend the requisite energy cost before rolling the dice. The result of your throw is then compared against your Discipline’s rating. This will tell you the outcome of the action you took.
Rate Disciplines
When you are creating your character all your Disciplines start at 18. You have 6 points that you can distribute as you see fit, reducing the Discipline rating, representing your character’s skill in that area. Your final Discipline rating for each category represents the final number you need to reach to achieve a Fortune result for skills under that category.
Skill Specialization
There are some skills that you are practiced at performing, almost second nature. When creating your character you get to pick three skills, each from different Disciplines. When you are performing an action with a specialized skill, you can reduce the cost of that skill by 2, this reducation only applies once per round and can be split between actions. In addition, once per scene you can reroll that skill as if you had spent an Intervention Point.
Discipline List
Skills used to explore or traverse the environment.
Awareness – Noticing unusual things and details around you.
Balance – Remaining upright and steady so that you don’t fall.
Climb – Scaling various surfaces.
Jump – Propelling yourself over obstacles and chasms.
Lift – Pushing and lifting heavy objects.
Reflex – Getting out of the way of attacks and hazards.
Sneak – Moving silently and unnoticed.
Swim – Maneuver through water and other liquid bodies.
Skills used for camping, navigating and surviving outside the sanctuary.
Cartography – Drawing and reading maps.
Cook – Preparing various ingredients to make a meal.
Craft – Creating objects in a given art or trade (such as wood-working).
Forage – Finding food, water, and shelter.
Fortitude – The capacity to resist physical punishment from the likes of poisons or pain.
Heal – Treating injuries, poison and disease.
Nature – Understanding the natural world and predicting the weather.
Track – Following and identifying a trail left by someone or something.
Skills that are likely to be used by fighters in combat.
Aim – Using ranged and projectile weapons and objects against a target.
Defend – Defending yourself from attacks.
Fight – Fighting in close quarters combat, utilizing anything from weapons, fists and claws
Maneuver – Moving effetely across the battlefield
Skills that will be used for most social interactions
Empathy – Determining the emotional state of the target character or creature.
Handle Animal – Familiarity with taming, rearing and riding various creatures.
Influence – Changing someone’s behavior to do what you want them to.
Intimidate – Getting others to do what you want them to through use fear and threats.
Lead – Rallying or encouraging a group of individuals to take certain actions.
Negotiate – Getting the best agreement, price or terms.
Perform – Carrying out a memorable or distracting performance.
Resolve – The willpower or ability to push through exhaustion or pain and resisting fear and intimidation
Skill Descriptions & Use
Listed below is every skill and its intended use. Each skill is also grouped with their corresponding Discipline as well as ability score (which reduces the cost of performing that action). In some instances, you might use a different ability score for a skill than is intended, for example, using Swiftness over Intuition to search a room when you’re in a hurry.
There may be some skills that you want to perform where nothing that’s been listed fits quite right. Tell the narrator what you want to do, and they will assign a skill category and ability score to that action.
Aim
Combat | Swiftness
Using ranged and projectile weapons and objects against a target.
Awareness
Exploration | Insight
Noticing unusual things and details around you, searching for clues and odd behaviour.
Balance
Exploration | Swiftness
Remaining upright and steady so that you don’t fall.
Cartography
Survival | Insight
Drawing and reading maps.
Climb
Exploration | Vigor
Scaling various surfaces.
Cook
Survival | Insight
Preparing various ingredients to make a meal.
Craft
Survival | Insight
Creating objects in a given art or trade.
Defend
Combat | Vigor
Defending yourself from attacks.
Empathy
Social | Presence
Determining the emotional state of the target character or creature.
Fight
Combat | Vigor
Fighting in close quarters combat, utilizing anything from weapons, fists, and claws.
Forage
Survival | Insight
Finding food, water, and shelter.
Forecast
Survival | Insight
Reading the celestial bodies and predicting the weather. Survival Skills
Fortitude
Survival | Vigor
The capacity to resist physical punishment, from the likes of poisons or pain.
Handle Animal
Social | Presence
Familiarity with taming, rearing, and riding various creatures.
Heal
Survival | Insight
Treating injuries, poison, and disease.
Influence
Social | Presence
Changing someone’s behavior to do what you want them to.
Intimidate
Social | Presence
Getting others to do what you want them to through use fear and threats.
Jump
Exploration | Vigor
Propelling yourself over obstacles and chasms.
Lead
Social | Presence
Rallying or encouraging a group of individuals to take certain actions.
Lift
Exploration | Vigor
Pushing and lifting heavy objects.
Maneuver
Combat | Swiftness
Moving effectively across the battlefield, engaging and disengaging.
Negotiate
Social | Presence
Getting the best agreement, price, or terms.
Perform
Social | Presence
Carrying out a memorable or distracting performance.
Reflex
Exploration | Swiftness
Getting out of the way of attacks and hazards.
Resolve
Social | Insight
The willpower or ability to push through exhaustion or pain and resisting fear and intimidation.
Sneak
Exploration | Swiftness
Moving silently and unnoticed.
Swim
Survival | Vigor
Maneuver through water and other liquid bodies.
Track
Survival | Insight
Following and identifying a trail left by an animal or person to follow where it has traveled to.
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