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.