Skills

Skills are the heart of the AAA game system. Most of what a character is capable of doing—fighting an opponent, piloting a spacecraft, closing a big business deal, developing a vaccine for a deadly virus—is governed by what skills the character possesses and how accomplished he is at using those skills.

Whenever you create a character, you’ll want to read about the skills your character gets for free; and then as you select other skills for possible purchase, you’ll read the descriptions of those skills before making a final decision on whether to spend points on them. Eventually you’ll become familiar with all the skills, but having a thorough understanding of every one of them certainly isn‘t necessary before your character begins his first adventure.

Broad vs. Specialty Skills

Broad skills represent a general area of knowledge, talent, or training, while specialty skills are narrow fields of expertise. Each rank in a specialty skill improves a character’s chance of succeeding in the use of that skill, and sometimes also provides additional advantages as set forth in the description of the skill. These advantages, called rank benefits, are automatically earned by a character who attains the appropriate rank in the specialty skill.

Alternatively, a character may be able to receive a rank benefit ahead of time if his or her player decides to spend skill points to acquire the benefit.

Every character receives six free broad skills at the beginning of his or her career, based on species and background.

Skill Points

Every beginning character receives an allotment of skill points, and is entitled to use those points to purchase a certain number of additional broad skills and specialty skills before starting her career.

As the character pursues their career, they receive experience points from the Gamemaster as rewards for successful completion of missions and attainment of goals. The character is entitled to spend these points to improve their skills, usually between sessions. If the Gamemaster considers it appropriate, they can allow the character to improve a skill mid-session, normally representing some sort of insight. For specific details, refer to the Character Advancement section.

For skills that require specialized knowledge or training is recommended that the Gamemaster require access to trainer, specialized facilities, etc. Is almost impossible to learn how to maneuver in zero-g without a proper environment that at least simulate it.

Skill Checks and Situation Dice

A skill check is used to determine the outcome of an action directly related to that skill. To make a skill check, a player rolls a d20

(the control die) plus a situation die that varies according to the difficulty of what’s being attempted. The check succeeds if the result of the dice roll is equal to or less than the character’s skill score.

The base situation die for all broad skills is +d4, and the base situation die for all specialty skills is +d0. The situation die for any particular skill check may be modified by other factors, as specified in a skill description or as directed by the Gamemaster.

Situation Die Modifiers

Modifiers to the situation die generally range from an Extreme penalty (+3 steps) to an Amazing bonus (-3 steps), as shown on the table above. Many of the skill descriptions in this section provide examples of various situation die modifiers that players and the Gamemaster can use to help them determine how easy or difficult it is to succeed at a skill check under various conditions.

Except when otherwise indicated, situation die modifiers are cumulative: If a condition exists that warrants a Moderate penalty, and another condition calls for a Slight penalty to the same check, the modifier in that case is a +3 penalty.

The table doesn’t represent the full range of possible modifiers. Some factors could modify the situation die by 4 steps or more in either direction, as set forth in a skill description or as determined by the Gamemaster.

Single vs. Complex Skill Checks

With many skills, a single dice roll immediately determines whether a character succeeds (and if so, the degree of success he achieves). If a character wants to jump across a chasm or recall a specific piece of information, his success or failure is apparent after a single skill check.

For complicated, time-consuming tasks (such as repairing a piece of equipment or breaking into a secured computer system) or at times when the Gamemaster wants to build tension and suspense, a complex skill check may be called for. In such a case, a specific number of successes must be achieved to complete the task. Most of the time, the Gamemaster won’t tell you how many successes your character needs; you’ll find this out only after the task is finished.

TABLE P17: COMPLEX SKILL CHECKS—which is referred to frequently throughout this section—identifies the factors that influence a complex skill check. The conditions under which a character is operating can provide a modifier to the situation die, ranging from +4 steps for a Critical situation (worst for the character) to -3 steps for a situation that is Amazingly favorable. The complexity of the task is reflected in how many successes the character needs to finish the job.

On any individual dice roll during a complex skill check, an Ordinary result counts as 1 success; a Good result counts as 2 successes; and an Amazing result counts as 3 successes. Each of the individual dice rolls is one portion of a complex skill check. In the best case, a complex skill check can be completed in one dice roll, if its complexity is Marginal and if the result of the roll is a Good or Amazing.

One or two Failure results during a complex skill check don’t count as failures; this simply means that the character made no progress toward his goal with the action he just took. But if three Failure results are rolled during the same complex skill check, the third one instantly ends the attempt. That particular complex skill check can’t be attempted again until conditions change in some significant way (the character improves his skill rank, obtains new equipment, or brings in some expert assistance).

A single Critical Failure result immediately ruins a complex skill check. Depending on the situation or the decision of the Gamemaster, the character may be able to start again from the beginning—or it could be that the chance of succeeding at that particular complex skill check is gone for the time being, or perhaps gone forever.

Marginal Success

When a character makes a skill check, there are five possible results of his action: Critical Failure, Failure, Ordinary success, Good, and Amazing. In some situations, the Gamemaster may decide that a character can’t really fail at what he’s trying to do; a skill check is used to determine only the degree of success, not whether the character succeeds or fails. In such cases, a Failure result becomes a Marginal—but a Critical Failure still indicates that something unfortunate has happened, or may happen in the future (in the form of a bit of bad luck).

Character vs. Character

In almost every case, only the acting character makes a skill check to determine the result of his or her attempt to do something. But sometimes the outcome of a situation may depend on what happens when characters compete with one another. The Core Mechanics section has more details on this, but in general here’s how it works:

Each character involved in direct competition (except for combat) makes an appropriate skill check. Any situation die modifiers that apply should be figured into the check. The character who achieves the greater level of success—Amazing beats Good, Good beats Ordinary, Ordinary beats Failure or Marginal, and a Critical Failure indicates an immediate and significant loss—wins the competition. If the contestants tie (both roll a Good, for example), then another check must be made.

When characters (especially characters represented by different players) use the same skill against each other, such as in an arm-wrestling contest or when haggling over a business transaction, and roleplaying the outcome isn’t feasible, use this system.

Trained or Untrained

If a character has received or purchased a broad skill or a specialty skill, he’s considered to be trained in the use of that skill. A character who is trained in a broad skill can attempt to perform any associated specialty skill using his broad skill score—unless the specialty can’t be used untrained.

If a character doesn’t have a particular broad skill or a related specialty skill, he can still attempt a skill-related action. In this case, the character is considered untrained. Use the untrained score for the related Ability (one-half of the Ability Score, rounded up) when attempting these actions. The base situation die for an untrained skill check is +d4, just as it is for the trained use of a broad skill. (Note: Characters using two weapons simultaneously should refer to Attacking with Two Weapons.)

Feat Checks

Sometimes an action your character attempts is not directly related to a specific skill. In such cases, success or failure is determined by the result of a feat check. To make a feat check, a player rolls a d20 (the control die) with a base situation die of +d4. (Of course, other conditions may modify the situation die.) If the dice roll is equal to or less than the character’s relevant Ability Score, some degree of success is achieved.

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Skill List

This table provides a comprehensive list of all available skills, grouped by their governing attribute. It includes the cost for broad skills and specialty skills, as well as the profession codes for favored skills.