The West That Wasnt - Skill List

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Skills help define the general abilities and knowledge each character possesses. It is a measure of what they are good at doing. Skills are rated in levels from 1 to 5. When called upon to use a skill, the Master will determine the associated trait being used. This will determine the column used on the cause grid of the action card. The level of the skill being used will determine the maximum number of rows used. So, if the associated Trait has a value of d8 and the level of the skill being used is 3, you would reference the d8 column and can choose your result from rows 1, 2 or 3 (unless the (3)d8 cell is a CF result; more on that in chapter XX: Action Cards)

Trait-Related Skills: Training Levels

Some tasks in the game won’t readily fall under the purview of any particular skill, and it may be determined that such tasks may be best resolved by a check of a character’s Trait. Each trait is assigned a die type (to denote which column of the cause section checked on the action card), but the amount of training devoted to that trait will increase the row number.

Every character begins with 1 level of Training for each Trait. Each additional level adds one die when making a check using just a character’s trait. A character with a d10 rating for Strength and 2 levels of training would roll 2d10 when making a check for using sheer strength (maybe to lift a timber off an ally, bust down a door or to break out of a pair of manacles).

The character’s die type is most important when determining a character’s range of ability when it comes to traits; the level of training more or less causes the character to be more consistent in the application of their abilities.
Training Level Cost:

Rank	Cost
1	Free!
2	3
3	6
4	10
5	15

Skill List

The following is a list of skills commonly available to characters in The West That Wasn't game setting. After the name of the skill, some possible specializations may be listed in parentheses. If attempting a skill check that involves a specialization, any success is considered to have a free bump (or if any bumps are generated, an extra one). If the skill can be used during action time, an action speed will be listed. Some skills may have differing action speeds depending on how they are used.

Some skills may cover what seems like an overly broad range of applications. Part of the reason for this is to keep the list of available skills somewhat compact; players will only have so many points to spend on their characters, and skills can rapidly eat those up if there are too many of them. Another reason is that some skill applications may not be used very often or may have little impact on the game when they are used, depending on the situation. In order to make it seem worthwhile for a player to invest in a seemingly "inconsequential" skill, some of these are bundled up with other, similar applications. If you wish to have more granularity and specificity in the skill sets of characters in your setting, feel free to separate tasks and applications as you see fit.

• Academics: This class of skills represents an area the character would learn by means of formal education or personal study, granting vast amounts of knowledge about the subject in question. Some examples of academic skills are history (pick your area/time period), philosophy, theology, law or mathematics. Academic skills have no specializations (each is considered to be its own specialization), and each field must be purchased as its own skill.
  

• Acrobatics: This is the ability to perform extraordinary feats of balance, body control and spatial awareness. Standing atop a galloping horse, leaping from one mount to another, swinging from a chandelier, diving through a small window (without breaking your fool neck on the landing!) would all be considered feats of acrobatics. If used in action time, acrobatics is a fast speed action

• Animal Handler (horse/dog/herd animals): This skill grants the character the ability to care and feed for animals. Animal handlers can train dogs and horses, break-in bucking broncos, and herd cattle. They also understand animal behaviors better than most, and are less likely to get negative reactions from domesticated (and some wild) animals because they know how to behave around them.
  

• Archery: This combat skill allows the character to effectively use a bow and arrow.
  

• Area Knowledge: The character has intimate knowledge of an area, either by spending lots of time there or studying it in-depth. Each area a character wants to have special knowledge of must be purchased as a separate skill. The broader the area described by the skill, the more general the character's knowledge is likely to be; if a character has Area Knowledge: Kansas, he might know things like where most of the larger, important or interesting towns are, where the railroads run, where major rivers are and what Indian tribes lurk in which prairies. If a character has Area Knowledge: Dodge City, with a successful skill check he might know the location of a certain businesses, their owners, the politics and power struggles, important people in town, or a shortcut to the local thugs' hideout. Area Knowledge skills do not have specializations, but each bump on the skill check should reveal some extra layer of information or added, useful, detail beyond which the character might be seeking.
  

• Artist (vaudevillian)—painting/sculpting/sketching
  

• Bravery: The ability of the Hero to resist fear and terror, and stand fast and keep cool in the middle of a gunfight. Some events in a story may call for a bravery check, and failure might result in the hero taking Stress damage. When a character is in a fight, stray shots will chip away at their ability to focus and carefully aim. When under fire, the Hero may need to make a bravery check to see if they keep their cool, or if their carefully aimed shot is disrupted by flying lead. Bravery may also be used in social combat to resist efforts at intimidation.

• Demolitions: This skill allows a character to use explosives (somewhat) safely. Dynamite, black powder, nitroglycerin and gun cotton are all examples of period-appropriate explosives the character might know how to handle. When using demolitions to blast a structure/obstruction, a successful skill check will increase the column (die type) of the explosive's effect for earning victory points, with each bump increasing the row (effect level). As such, knowing how to use explosives dramatically increases their effectiveness when trying to blow stuff up. Action speed: Slow
  

• Disguise (vaudevillian)
  

• Drive (Wagon/Coach, steamboat, train): The ability to operate and maintain what vehicles were available in the old west. Each skill must be learned separately, but each one has its own specialization of operate and maintenance, so a character might have the skill "Drive: steamboats (maintenance)," which would allow them to pilot a steam-powered riverboat, and give them special knowledge when it comes to fixing it should it break down. However, this ability to repair a steamboat won't help fix a broken wagon wheel or get a steam locomotive rolling. Action speed: Normal
  

• Fast Draw: The quintessential skill of the old west gunfight. This is the ability to draw your shooting iron as quickly as possible and make it ready to fire on target. When taking into consideration all the small things that eat away at one's lightning fast speed in an Old-West gunfight such as cocking the hammer back and taking a fraction of a second to aim...these things slow you down a bit during action time, and cause a Hero to go a little bit slower. This hasn't even touched on one of the most important parts of the gunfight: Getting your shooting irons clear of the leather. A gunfighter skilled in fast draw can draw his pistol, make it ready to fire and on target incredibly quickly. The fast draw skill can only be used on a weapon that is already slung or holstered.

At the beginning of a combat, if your character is currently unarmed (or would like to draw or unsling a new weapon), you must announce that your character is attempting to fast draw during the declaration phase. The Judge will immediately have you perform a skill check using the character's Reflexes and Fast Draw skill, with a TN of 5 (some weapons, depending on their attributes, may receive a bonus to fast draw skill checks). If the skill check is successful, the character is able to draw the weapon as a free action. For every bump to the skill check, they may perform one additional free action toward readying the weapon to fire. For a single action pistol, one bump would allow you to draw the weapon cocked, two bumps would allow an aimed shot at the weapon's normal firing speed. If the weapon has a normal or slow firing speed, a third bump would allow the character to fire the weapon as a fast/normal action. Any additional bumps add +2 to the character's reflex check to determine what phase they will go in that round. If the fast draw skill check fails, the character does not manage to draw the weapon, and when the player declares their action speed, their character is considered to have already attempted a fast action; any action (such as drawing their weapon) follows normal combined action rules, and the character may only declare up to 2 other actions that round. If a result of CF comes, up, something dramatic (left to the discretion of the Judge, possibly with suggestions from the players) occurs, such as the weapon being jammed in the holster this round, or being flung away a number of paces.

Example: Miranda Valentine is squaring off with one of Angus Laroq's henchmen outside a saloon. They have already traded insults and threats, and neither one is going to back down. There is only one way this is going to end...in a hail of bullets. The Judge announced action time. Miranda, with her fingers twitching near the grip of her Peacemaker, declares that she is going to attempt to fast draw. Before she or the henchman announce action speeds for the round, she draws an action card to find the results of her fast draw skill check. Her result is a whopping 16! She is also using a weapon that has the "Short" attribute, which edges her skill cause number up to 17, which is a success (TN 5) and 3 bumps (1 each at 9, 13 and 17). When the action starts, her weapon will be drawn (base success), cocked (first bump), and aimed (second bump). Since the weapon can already be fired as a fast action at this point, the third bump will add +2 to her reflex cause number when it comes time to check which phase she acts in. Miranda declares a fast action (intending to plug Laroq's goon as quick as she can). Her opponent also intends to fire at Miranda, but this requires him to ready his double-action revolver (a fast action) and fire an un-aimed snap shot (a normal action). For the goon to combine these two actions requires him to declare a speed of slow. With all speed declarations made, the Judge flips a card to resolve initiative; Miranda only needs a 5 on her reflex check to act in Phase I (instead of the 7 she would normally need). To go in Phase I with a slow action, the Henchman would need a reflex check of 13 or more; Miranda's ability to fast draw has given her a decisive advantage at the outset of hostilities!

• Gambling (card games, dice games, other): Most people know how to play card, or shoot dice. Great gamblers are the ones who can sit down for a stretch at a back table of the saloon and play the odds to come out on top more often than casual players. Gambling for money is usually an Acuity-based skill check (while Presence may be substituted for purposes of the occasional bluff), and generally reflects the character spending an extended amount of narrative time playing multiple hands of cards, dice or what have you rather than a single hand of show-down (which is pretty random in nature and doesn't really require any skill). To engage in a round of gambling, the player resolves a gambling skill check at a TN of 5 (against multiple opponents) or TN 3 + the opponent's Gambling skill level (against a single opponent). If the check fails, you earn effect using the d4 column and your skill level to determine the row. If the check succeeds, you use your Acuity die type to determine the column, with each bump increasing the row. In a one-on-one match (one player against another or one Hero against a mob of gamblers represented as a single unit) a gambler may also opt to bluff his opponents and use his Presence rather than his Acuity. In this case, the opponent makes a Judge Character skill check at TN 5 + the bluffing character's gambling skill; if the Judge character check fails, the bluffing character can treat their action card draw as an exceptional success and draw an extra card to determine cause (or an additional extra card, if the initial result is already an exceptional success!), and use the character's presence die type and gambling skill level to determine effect. If the opponent's Judge Character check succeeds, the bluffing character uses the d4 column to determine effect. The Judge and players may opt to have gambling play out in one round, or multiple rounds for high-stakes games. The player with the highest effect total at the end of all rounds wins. While the stakes may vary (and might be laid out beforehand in the case of a buy-in) one suggestion is that the winner earns a number of dollars equal to the difference between his effect score and his opponent--which may get someone run out of town on a rail if they don't have the stakes to pay up!
  

• Investigation (questioning, clue-finding, puzzle-solving): This skill allows an investigator to figure out what happened by questioning witnesses (politely or otherwise), examining the scene of a crime, or by trying to piece together disparate bits of information to form a "big picture" based on many smaller details. Investigation can be used by the players to help move a story along; it can be viewed as the "give me a hint" skill. If there is a bit of information, such as a vital clue, to be gleaned in an area, use of the investigation skill should allow the Heroes to uncover at least part of it (this prevents a story from coming to a screeching halt because of a failed skill check!) Bumps to the investigation skill check should reveal extra details or greater certainty of the truth of the investigator's findings. Some applications of questioning or interrogating witnesses or suspects may require social combat. Basic use of the investigation skill to get information from people revolves around a more casual approach, and will generally eke out what people are willing to tell or what they might let slip accidentally.
  

• Judge Character: This skill helps a character size up another person if they have a chance to observe or interact with them for a while. It can allow the character to determine the target’s general strengths/weaknesses for social combat (Game mechanics TBD), and also helps a character make snap judgements about people, such as whether they might be bluffing at cards, or if they might be pulling the wool over their eyes. If a Hero is suspicious and tries to check for deception, the Judge should make a hidden check for the Hero as appropriate, and slip them hints if the Hero makes his Judge Character check that something may not be on the up-and-up. However, if a hero uses Judge Character repeatedly against the same character, the difficulty should get progressively harder to reflect the fact that repeated failure is causing the story in question to become more and more believable!
  

• Language: Languages are bought at level 1 each for the ability to speak or read/write only (1 Character Point), or with a specialization (4 CPs total) for full fluency. Each language must be purchased separately.
  

• Leadership: During a fight, the leadership skill can be used to inspire your allies by means of a quick, rousing speech or order, or by deed on the field of battle. Leadership can be used to rally the courage of those who are in the grip of fear and terror, or help them stand fast in the face of enemy fire. If used as an inspiring speech, Leadership is a fast action with a TN of 5. Success increases the bravery skill checks of all your allies within earshot by 1 for the entire round, with an additional +1 for each bump. If combined with an attack action, it is a normal speed action, and can inspire any allies with line of sight to your actions; bravery skill checks for allies are increased by 1 if your attack is successful with an additional +1 for each bump to the attack roll. If leadership is used with dodge, it acts as a normal dodge action, but allies within line of sight (depending on their facing) have their bravery skill checks increased by 1 for each attack that has missed their leader when it comes time for them to make any bravery checks. Bonuses to .
  

• Luck: Fortune just seems to favor some people. While not really a "skill," luck--at the Judge's discretion--can be used to determine the result of mostly random events that may have a significant outcome for the Heroes. Need to know if the nitro goes off when the bad guy you just plugged drops it? The Judge may call for a Luck check. The leader of the gunslingers has offered to help based on one hand of show-down? Make an opposed luck check. If a player asks if one of his stray shots might have hit a nearby oil lamp and set it on fire, the Judge might call for a luck check, and set the barroom ablaze if the check is successful. Luck can be used at times when no other skill or talent really seems to apply, or when the outcome is somewhat arbitrary and would simply require a judgment call by the Judge.
  

• Medicine (Surgery, Veterinarian): This is the ability to patch people up by setting broken bones, applying tourniquets, stitching up tomahawk gashes and plucking bullets and buckshot out of flesh. Consult the description of the appropriate gear, if any is being utilized. Same goes with healing facilities such as hospitals. The following rules assume no equipment or assistance of any kind.

Concussion is easy to get rid of. On a simple (3) medicine roll of any kind (including default), anyone can provide the necessary care to restore all CT in about 2 minutes. Otherwise your hero gets his CT back at the rate of 1 per minute. A character who has critically failed a shock check and has fallen unconscious requires a TN 5 Medicine check to revive, otherwise they are out for 1d6 hours.

Only those skilled in medicine or first aid may attempt to treat real wounds. This attempt may be made up to one hour after an injury. A character with the medicine skill can only heal light and heavy wounds. Only a doctor with medicine and the surgery specialization can heal more severe wounds.

The doctor has to roll once for each wounded area. If successful, the roll reduces the area's wounds by one level. The TN depends on the wound level. Critically injured limbs cannot be healed by normal means, but you can still try to stop the bleeding.

Wound Level	TN
Wind	3
Light	5
Heavy	7
Serious	9
Critical	11
Maimed (limbs)	13

After one hour, a wound can only be healed by time (or certain technologies which we'll get into later). Doctors really can’t do a whole lot for a broken bone that's surrounded by swollen tissue or a gash that's already started to heal on its own without advanced medical facilities or equipment.

A character can try to heal a wound every 5 days by making a Fortitude roll against the same difficulties listed above. If the roll succeeds, the wound improves by one level. Natural healing rolls are made for each area. A character with wounds to an arm and his torso would roll twice, possibly improving the condition of each location by one would level.

The medicine skill may be used in combat to attempt to stop a character from bleeding out. This is a slow speed action.

• Navigation
  : This skill allows a character to travel overland and not get lost. Characters skilled in navigation can read maps, measure distance traveled, find their bearings, locate landmarks, and blaze trails. When travelling anywhere off marked roads or trails, the Judge may call for a Navigation skill check. Failed skill checks may signal an inability to reach the destination, or an increase in travel time. Success may allow the characters to shave time off their journey or avoid some unexpected hazards. Critical Failure may result in the characters becoming lost.

• Perform—Acting/singing
  

• Pick Lock (Keyed Locks, Tumbler Locks): This skill allows a character a chance to pick locked doors, padlocks, manacles and crack safes. Usually, picking a lock is an extended action. The Judge will set a difficulty TN and a number of Victory Points required to succeed. When used during action time, this is a slow action.
  

• Professional Skills
  

• Repair (Weapons, Vehicles, Scavenge): You know how machines work, be they the simple mechanisms of guns or wagons or complex contraptions like telegraphs or steam engines. Those skilled in repair are also often adept at breaking down machines to find spare parts. When attempting repairs, if a source of compatible parts (for example, a similar weapon or vehicle) is available, the repairman may attempt to scavenge parts at a TN of 5. If the scavenging check is successful, the character can add one level of effect to their first successful repair attempt (with each bump to the scavenge roll adding another level of effect). Scavenging parts is a slow speed action. Attempting repairs is often an extended action. The Judge will set a difficulty TN and a number of Victory Points required to succeed. When used during action time, this is a slow speed action.
  

• Ride: Just about anybody in the Old West could ride a horse. This is the ability to handle a horse in extraordinary circumstances; to chase down a villain, escape a sheriff's posse, jump a chasm or weave between obstacles in tight quarters. The ride skill is useful for continuous action sequences (in some manner TBD).
  

• Science (Chemistry, Physics, Biology): In the Old West, just before the industrial revolution, the sciences were gearing up to change the world. No longer the realm of theory and mysticism, practical applications were becoming more commonplace. The science skill grants a broad, general knowledge of many fields, while a specialization in a specific field allows for greater success at certain endeavors.
  

• Sleight of Hand: This skill allows a character to conceal small objects, sometimes making them seemingly disappear by using misdirection and manual dexterity. It can also be used to aid a thief in lifting small objects without raising the attention of others. If attempting to use Sleight of hand to aid in the steal skill, make a skill check at TN 5. If this check is successful, the character can add +1 (and an additional +1 for each bump) to their steal skill check. Used during action time, Sleight of hand is a fast speed action.
  

• Speed Load: This is the ability to quickly reload a weapon in the middle of action time. Pistols and some rifles can carry multiple rounds, and some weapons can be speed-loaded. Use of the Speed Load skill is a normal speed action. When using the speed load skill, make a skill check at TN 3. Success means that one round was loaded. Every 2 points the TN is exceeded is an additional round loaded during the action (to reload all six rounds from a revolver in one action would require a TN of 13!)
  

• Steal (Pickpocket, Misdirection): Anyone can grab something and run. This is the skill used to successfully purloin items without garnering undue attention; the ability to steal something and get away with it. If attempting to steal an item from another person (pickpocketing), this is a Dexterity-based check. If attempting to steal from a location, such as shoplifting from a store (Misdirection) it is an Acuity-based check. The Judge should set a TN based on the size/quantity of the item(s) being stolen and other environmental conditions such as light level, number of potential witnesses, possible distractions and the Acuity of the target (a target with d4 Acuity may only require a base TN of 3, while an eagle-eyed guard with a d12 acuity might require a base TN of 11 to slip by unnoticed. If used in action time, Steal is a normal speed action, but if using Sleight of Hand to aid the skill check, it is a slow speed action.
  

• Sneak: Moving about without being detected or concealing oneself from passersby requires a sneak skill check. This is an opposed check against a target’s Acuity. If characters are attempting to sneak as a group, the skill check should be made using the character with the lowest skill level. (Sneaking is best performed solo!) When trying to sneak around or past a group of people, instead of each target rolling an individual search roll, use the following table:
  

Observers	Search Modifier
1	+0
2-3	+1
4-8	+2
9-15	+3
16+	+4

Condition	Search Modifier
Background Noise	-2
Darkness	-4
Target on alert/searching	+2

When a character is attempting to be stealthy, the Judge may wish to draw the action card for you, so you don’t know exactly how sneaky you are being. He might give the occasional hint; if your result was particularly low, the Judge might let you know “as you creep along the hall you hear the floorboards creaking beneath your feet.” Then again, he may not! If you are trying to sneak past multiple, spread out individuals or groups of people, the Judge may also have the sneaking character make his sneak check just once, and have that be a “persistent” target number for enemies to spot him for the duration of his attempt. When used during action time, Sneak is a bit slower than regular movement, and is a normal speed action. During action time, a character can only move at a walking speed while being sneaky.

• Streetwise (Gossip, Black Market, Scrounging): Towns and cities played a large part in many a tale of the Old West, and this is even true of the West that Wasn't. Cities are where the people are, after all, and cityfolk often have information that can be useful, or they may be on the lookout to buy or sell illicit goods. A character skilled in Streetwise may also be able to obtain spare parts for repairs (See the "scavenging" described under the Repair skill for details), however, a failure to scrounge for parts may result (at the Judge's discretion) in the character getting caught in the act of stealing! When looking for information or looking to obtain goods that aren't exactly run-of-the-mill, the Judge may call for a check of the character's Streetwise skill. The Judge should set a difficulty TN. Success should give you some details you are looking for (or let you know if there is nothing to be learned in the place you are looking), with additional bumps either granting more precise or confirmed detail, or allowing the player to ask additional questions. When used to obtain black market goods or fence stolen property, the Judge will set a difficulty TN based on such factors as the rarity of the item, the quantity, local laws regarding it, or--in the case of trying to offload items--how easily the item might be identified as stolen. Some buyers may not be willing to purchase a one-of-a-kind or well-known piece of jewelry or artwork, or they may not be willing to touch something if they can too-easily figure out who it was stolen from.
  

• Survival (Desert, Mountain, Winter, Wilderness): This is the ability to survive with minimal supplies in harsh climates (the ability to find food and drinking water), deal with environmental hazards (such as the ability to climb mountains, avoid poisonous animals, crevasses, widowmakers and snags), and the ability to find safe shelter. The survival skill also grants the character the ability to swim. More hospitable climates will have reduced difficulty to survive in; specialties primarily focus on surviving in harsher regions, and if the character possesses the appropriate specialty, the TN for the skill check is -2. A separate skill check should be made for each aspect of the survival skill a character is attempting. As the characters travel, a check might be made to determine if they gather enough food and water; a separate check may be made to find shelter. Depending on how many action resolutions you wish to make, each character can make their checks separately, or they can be split up among various characters. Failure may impose certain scene attributes (such as Hunger, Thirst or Fatigue).
  

• Swim
  

• Tactics
  

• Tracking
  

• Trade Skills
  

• Vaudevillian (Acting, Singing, Disguise, Play Instrument, Drawing, Painting, Sculpting)

Physical Combat Skills

• Archery
• Firearms—Pistol/Rifle/Shotgun
• Melee—Knife/Sword/Heavy
• Brawl—Fisticuffs/Grappling/Improvised Weapons

Social Combat Skills/Counterskills (Work in Progress; Disregard for now)

• Argument/Argument
• Charm/Presence (resolve)
• Indimitate/Aura (bravery)
• Blather/Awareness (focus)
• Lying/Education (memory)
• Taunt