Acuity Skills

Acuity

Arts (As appropriate)
This skill is used to make various reproductions or representations in a variety of media, such as sketches, painting or sculpture.

Awareness
Possible duplicate skill (search). Or this could be used for passive checks while search can be used for active checks?

Electronics (low-tech, high-tech)
This skill is used to build, modify or repair electronic devices and components. Low-tech electronics might be devices that use wires, circuit boards, batteries and mundane electrical power supplies. High-tech electronics would be more futuristic devices and systems that utilize irregular or alien components. Fixing a taser would be a low-tech task; fixing a light sword would be high-tech task. This use of this skill, along with the mechanics attribute is intended for short-term fixes, field applications or relatively simple tasks. Large scale projects will likely fall under the appropriate engineering attribute.

Investigation
This skill is used to pick useful information out of a mess of data, to put clues together to learn the big picture, or simply track down people and events electronically or through interviewing witnesses or suspects. Police, detectives and certain types of mercenaries (like bounty hunters) will often be trained investigators.

Mechanics (low-tech, high-tech)
This skill is used to build, modify or repair machinery and devices. Low-tech machines are relatively simple (in principle) and the low-tech concentration would be used to work on things like a gas-powerd vehicle, a prop aircraft or hydraulic systems. The high-tech concentration would be used for working on things such as exotic power systems (fuel cell, fusion or antimatter power systems), robotic components or alien devices. This use of this skill, along with the electronics attribute is intended for short-term fixes, field applications or relatively simple tasks. Large scale projects will likely fall under the appropriate engineering attribute.

Navigation (Land, Astrogation)
Navigation is the ability to figure out where you’re at and how to get where you are going. Land navigation requires the ability to orient based on landmarks and geographical features, the local sun, moon(s) and stars (depending on planet type, its rotation, orbit and axial tilt). Space navigation (also known as astrogation) is the ability to plot optimal courses through tachyon space, and allows one to figure their location in space based on the distance, direction and relative magnitude of stellar bodies. Using land navigation may require maps or the appropriate area knowledge attribute. Using space navigation will most usually require access to starsector atlases, appropriate sensors for long-range scans, and almost certainly computers and programs to crunch the numbers. When plotting an FTL course, meeting the target number will place the ship as near as possible to the gravity well of the target system. Failing the roll will increase the difficulty of the piloting roll and will transition the ship from tachyon space much further away from the target, possibly requiring several extra hours or days to get in-system. Any raises might shave time off the subjective time spent in tachyon space, or use less fuel than expected.

Programming (Design, Hacking)
Computers can be wonderful tools, but to get them to do anything but take up space and collect dust, one must have the programming skill. Commercial or specialized programs may allow a person to utilize a computer system with little to no programming skill, but getting a computer to do something new (or something not intended by existing programs) requires the programming skill.

Scrounge
This skill is the ability to find common items in a hurry. Sometimes this means settling for less than what is needed, but a good scrounger (or requisition specialist) can usually come up with something that gets the job done. The Starmaster sets the difficulty of finding a particular object depending on the item and the amount of time available. Also, just because you have found something doesn’t necessarily mean it is free for the taking; you may have to beg, borrow or steal (or just buy it) when you find it.

Scrutinize
Any IPA investigator worth his salt can tell when a smuggler is lying through his teeth. Scrutinizing someone may not tell you everything, but it could help point out inconsistencies in another person’s story. Scrutinize is the ability to judge another person’s character, see through disguises or detect lies. A character with this skill is better able to resist bluff and persuasion attempts.

Search
This skill is used when the character is actively looking for items, clues or evidence. It is also used to detect movements of people or creatures that are sneaking. It can be used to spot tracks, but to follow a proper trail, the tracking skill should be used.

Security Systems
Alarms, motion detectors, electronic locks. They are all intended to draw attention if people breach other layers of security. If attempting to bypass an electronic lock or alarm system, the character can make multiple attempts with no penalty, but after each failure, he must make another roll versus the system’s TN. If this second roll fails, his attempts have had some consequence. He might have tripped the alarm, set off a silent alarm that will summon security forces to ambush him, or frozen the lock to require an administrator override. Sometimes, breaking into an electronic system (dismantling a keypad, for example) will expose the guts of the device and make the job of defeating the system easier. At the Starmaster’s discretion, cracking the device may yield a +2 bonus, but any one investigating the scene later will see the damage and probably raise an alarm of their own…

Starship Mechanics (repairs, upgrades)
Starships are incredibly complex vehicles, and keeping them operating at peak efficiency (to say nothing of just making sure they are space-worthy!) will demand that you have some ships’ mechanics on your crew. Some mechs specialize as damage control (DC) crews, some try to eke a few extra light-seconds out of the Torch drives or adding custom smuggler cubbies. The scope of these types of upgrades will usually be relatively narrow or short term; a secret stash for illicit goods may be quite small, or a boost to the ships drives might only last for a few minutes or hours before a part breaks down. To effect major changes to starship systems requires the appropriate engineering attribute.

Tactics (Land, Space, Naval)
The ability to overcome a greater force with a lesser one, or oppose an enemy while minimizing casualties often falls to who uses the best tactics. Making wise or foolish decisions will ultimately fall to the player’s choice; the successful application of tactics adds an ineffable something to your actions, or those of your crew. Nature of advantage to be determined later

Tracking
Good trackers usually find whoever or whatever they are looking for. Of course, on an alien world, that may not always be a good thing. A successful tracking roll helps a character find a trail, stay on it, and maybe even figure out how many targets he is following. One’s ability to track at all will depend on the terrain; finding out where someone went in a city would probably require investigation or streetwise. The difficulty for following tracks is shown on the charts below:

Targets trailed_________________TN

1-2___________________________11

3-4___________________________9

5-8___________________________7

9-15__________________________5

16+___________________________3

Condition___________________Modifier

Snow________________________+4

Night________________________-4

Rain since tracks were made_____-4

Rain before tracks were made____+4

High traffic area_______________-4

Target is large/heavy___________+2

Target is a vehicle_____________+4