Chapter 4: Skills

Backgrounds you might instead think of yourself as

a merchant, buying and selling as
After determining your Class much as people are willing to trade
and Ability Scores, the next step in with a human and have no desire to
creating your character is to choose work as an actual diplomat.
their Background. While your class
dictates your primary Ability Scores With the exception of True
and what sort of combat abilities your Psychics, your class has no impact
character has, in some ways your upon which Background you may
characters Background has a larger choose, though you may want to
impact upon who they are as a person. choose a Background which has
Do you want to be a hacker, against Background Skills which complement
whom even the most encrypted alien your primary ability scores. After all, a
security systems fall prey? Do you Brute will never be as good at
want to be an ace pilot, taking your Acrobatics as a Trickster can be since
ship into dogfights with the odds Agility is a primary ability score for the
against you only to emerge Trickster.
unscathed? Do you want to be a
scholar who travels the stars in search
of lost knowledge every bit as much as
adventure? Maybe youll be
something else entirely. Diplomat You are a silver-tongued
master speaker. You can lie, persuade,
The Background you choose or threaten with equal ease, reading
gives you your Background Skills. your audience to a tee.
While you may spend the ten Skill
Points which you receive on any skills Winning Smile: You may cut all
you want, any Skill which isnt a negative modifiers to a Presence skill
Background Skill costs double their in half for the round once per game
normal cost. Therefore, you should be session.
sure that the Background you choose Background Skills: Presence:
at character creation has at least All/Investigation
some of the skills which you want your
character to have.
In addition, each Background Hacker Whether you use your
gives you a special ability which you skills for legitimate purposes or
may use. towards more illicit ends, no computer
system can stand before you for long.
Of note, you should feel free to
change the name of your Background Im Totally Authorized: Once per
choice to fit your character, using the game session when Hacking and the
same mechanics. For example, when system is going to notify its system
choosing the Diplomat Background, administrators and/or defense

1 Chapter 4
programs you may prevent it from Scholar As you travel the stars,
doing so. you are always on the lookout for the
Background Skills: next bit of forgotten lore or forbidden
Hacking/Pilot/Presence: knowledge.
Trickery/Research I do recall: Once per game session on
a failed Research roll you may
immediately roll again as if you had
Mechanic Can you fix it? Yes spent the requisite time studying.
This may not be used after a 5th
you can!
Research roll on a particular subject.
Come on Baby Hold Together: Once
Background Skills:
per game session you may make
battlefield repairs on a starship as
Research/Hacking/Investigation/First-
your Action during combat.
Aid
Background Skills: Repair:
All/Drive
Scout A master of
stealth, you can spot a hawk on a
Pilot You can fly cloudy day and track it back to its
anything up in the sky or stars with nest.
two wings or a gravity drive.
Eyes in the Back of Your Head:
Ace Pilot: You may reroll a Pilot skill Your Spot DC is take 5 instead of
check once per game session. You take 4.
must use the new result even if it is
lower than your initial roll. Background Skills:

Background Skills: Stealth/Awareness/Survival/Investigati

Pilot/Drive/Repair: Personal on
Vehicles/Awareness

Smuggler You can and will

Psychic You are a living example transport nearly anything for money,
of the moniker, mind over matter. and if its not quite legal, thats all the
better as you can charge more for
All characters of the True Psychic class
your efforts.
must choose this Background, and no
other characters may choose it. Im Not Carrying Nothing: You
may reroll any check to conceal an
Trust Your Feelings: You may cut the
object. This doesnt work on yourself
Psyche cost of a skill use in half once
or another creature. You must use the
each game session. This ability
new result even if it is lower than your
cannot be applied to Talents.
initial roll.
Background Skills: Psychic: All

2 Chapter 4
Background Skills: Background Skills:
Stealth/Presence: Athletics/Presence:
Trickery/Piloting/Investigation Intimidation/Demolitions/First-Aid

Trooper A solider through and

through, you have access to a variety
of useful skills.
Man of Action: Once per
game session you may make a skill
check in half the normal required time.

3 Chapter 4
 Skill Attribute
Acrobatics Agility x2 **
Athletics Agility + Brawn **
Awareness Sharpness + Willpower
Demolitions Dexterity + Sharpness
Driving Dexterity + Sharpness
First-Aid Dexterity + Sharpness
Hacking Dexterity + Sharpness
Investigation Sharpness x2
Piloting Dexterity + Sharpness
Presence Sharpness + Willpower
Psionics Sharpness + Willpower
Repair Dexterity + Sharpness
Research none
Stealth Agility + Sharpness **
Survival Sharpness + Stamina
 Background Skills
When attempting a skill, you use 1d8 and add the appropriate ability(s) to your roll.
For each rank you have in the skill, you may add an additional 1d8 to your roll. (Ex:
a journeyman in repair would roll 4d8 and add their Dex & Shp scores.)
(Skill level 0)Unskilled (1d8): You are totally untrained and rarely use this skill.
(Skill level 1)Novice(2d8): You know the basic theory behind the skill, either through
basic training or through tinkering on your own.
(Skill level 2)Apprentice(3d8): You have either been trained well and lack
experience, or perhaps you lack any training but have figured out how to be
competent through hard-won trial and error.
(Skill level 3)Journeyman(4d8): This is a major part of your skillset; you are at least
as skilled as most people in the profession ever become, though youre still
improving.
(Skill level 4)Master(5d8): A master of your craft, you are the sort of professional
that people hear about but only rarely see in person.
(Skill level 5)Maestro(6d8): You are a legend, and either through natural talent or
pure cussedness, your prowess has become something nearly mythical. Others
may whisper of your exploits, but few truly believe them even possible.

Some skills will tell you to take X. This means that for each die that you would
otherwise roll you assume that you would roll X on each die.
For example, if you are at Apprentice level in a skill which tells you to take 5, then
you get 15 added to your stat bonuses.

Many skills can only be used when not in an Exo-Suit or Mecha. These skills are
marked **.
Some skills are encumbered by heavy armor. For each point of speed penalty, you
take a -3 to all checks with the skill. These skills are marked ##

The first time you take a sub-skill, you pay the larger amount. If you take more sub-
skills from the same umbrella skill, you pay the lesser amount.

Design Note: These skills are not supposed to represent everything that a
character is able to do within the world. For example, an NPC builder engineer
would likely have ranks in Research and Repair, but there are no rules for that
engineer designing an entirely new mecha or spaceship: that doesnt mean that
such is impossible for the engineer, merely that there are no rules for them.
While these rules cover most of what a crew of privateers would be able to do, do
not assume that just because something isnt explicitly covered by the rules that it
is impossible. Use your common sense. For example, even if a PC has those same
ranks in Research and Repair as the NPC builder engineer, that doesnt mean that
theyll be able to design a new mecha from the ground up. The builders keep the
intricacies of their technology secret. Besides, does anyone really want to roleplay
spending months solving fictional engineering problems? If you do, Space Dogs
may not be the best game for you.

Acrobatics ## (Agility x2)

Novice: 1
Apprentice: 4
Journeyman: 9
Master: 16
Maestro: 25
Balance: You can use Acrobatics to move over narrow surfaces and/or uneven
ground. See the below table for example DCs at different movement speeds. The
slower you go, the easier it is to balance.

Surface Speed Speed Full Speed

Width/modifier movement movement movement
*1 meter + 0 0 3
*30-99cm 4 6 12
*10-29cm 8 12 16
*9cm or less 12 20 28
Icy Surface +4 +6 +8
Wind 30-50kph +4 +4 +4
Wind 51-80kph +8 +8 +8
Slight Slope (<45) +3 +3 +3
Steep Slope (45) +6 +6 +6

*These measurements assume human scale. For exo scale the measurements are
all x1.5, for mecha scale are x2, and for tank scale are x3.

Roll-with-it: You can use Acrobatics to convert falling damage from wound damage
to vitality damage. You do not have to choose how much damage youre planning
to convert before you roll.
When you fall make an Acrobatics check. The score you roll is the number of
meters which you can convert from wound damage to vitality damage, up to a
maximum of the distance which you fall. This amount is rolled separately.
For example, if you fall 25 meters and roll a 22 on your Acrobatics check you take
2d20 total damage and convert 2d12 of it to vitality damage.
If you roll equal to or more than the distance fallen then all of the damage is
automatically converted to vitality damage.

Escape Artist: You can use Acrobatics to slip out of bonds, handcuffs, or to squeeze
into places which you normally wouldnt be able to.
It takes one full round to make an attempt to escape with a 2 dice penalty. You can
make additional attempts at by taking a full minute without penalty.
You take a 1 die penalty to try to escape without being obvious to what youre doing
to any observer.

Duct Tape DC 18
Average Rope DC 24
Tight Space DC 28
High-End Rope DC 32
Average Handcuffs* DC 20
High-End Handcuffs* DC 30

*You take a -2 dice penalty to escape handcuffs.

Athletics ## (Brawn & Agility): Includes running, climbing, swimming, and

jumping etc.
Novice: 1
Apprentice: 4
Journeyman: 9
Master: 16
Maestro: 25
Jumping: For distance you can jump 1/5 of your check in meters if you get a running
start or half that if you dont get a running start of at least 10m. So if your total is
14, you jumped 3.5 meters. You gain +1 to your long-jump for each square of
movement speed.
For height 1/15 of your check if you get a running start or half that if you dont get a
running start of at least 2m. That is the height that your feet get off the ground, so
you will be able to reach 2m or so higher depending upon your characters height.
Climbing: Difficulty depends upon the steepness and how sheer it is. Climbing is
normally done at speed. If you fail by 5 or more you fall. If you fail by 4 or less
you make no progress.

Rope DC 10
An average tree DC 15
Rough Brick/Stone Wall DC 20
Surface is slippery 1 die
(grease/ice etc.) penalty
Climb at speed 1 die
penalty

Swimming:

Calm water DC 5
Rough Water DC 15
Stormy Water DC 20
Swim at speed 2 dice
penalty

Running: When using Run (use action for double-move in a straight line for x2
movement) you may make an Athletics check to increase your speed further. You
gain a bonus on this check equal to your base movement speed. (includes armor
penalties)

Three additional Squares DC 15

Five additional Squares DC 20
Seven additional Squares DC 25
Eight additional Squares DC 30
Plus One Square +5
Each Round after the first +1
(reduced 1 each round not using
Athletics to run faster)

Awareness (Sharpness & Willpower): Awareness is your ability to avoid being

caught unawares, whether by an ambush, a trap, or a pickpocket.
Novice: 1
Apprentice: 5
Journeyman: 11
Master: 19
Maestro: 30
Special: You take a -2 penalty per 10 meters (5 squares) away.
One of the primary things that Awareness does is raise the DC needed to sneak past
you. This isnt something you roll, but is instead a passive roll which is also affected
by cover, distance, and lighting etc.
You have two base DCs. The Spot DC is lower, while the Notice DC is higher.
For your Spot DC you take 4, and you take 8 for your Notice DC.
So for example, a character with a Journeyman skill level in Awareness and a
Sharpness & Willpower of 5 each have Spot/Notice DCs of 26/42 to beat. If they
beat 26 then the character doesnt know that theyre there, and if they beat 42 then
the character notices nothing.
If they were to get a stealth check in the 30s, then the character would know that
there was something suspicious and the general direction of it, but they wouldnt
know exactly what it was or where it came from. They may then decide whether to
investigate and make active Awareness checks by rolling the dice.
The DC lowers with distance from the watcher(s). For every 10meters (5 squares)
the DC is lowered by 4.
A group together has a communal stealth DC to beat. First, take the character with
the highest DC as the baseline, and add the skill level levels of all other characters
up to a maximum of +10.
So for example, if the above Journeyman skill level character has the highest DC in
a crew of 4 the base DC is 26/42. However, the 2 nd and 3rd members of the crew
have Apprentice skill in Awareness, so the DC goes up to 30/46. The fourth member
of the crew is Untrained in Awareness, so his presence doesnt raise the DC at all.
However, so long as the fourth member remains near the others, the distance to
lower the DC is measured from all four of them.
Note: You dont get your Awareness DCs when in combat, instead rolling the dice.

Demolitions ** (Dexterity & Sharpness)

Novice: 1
Apprentice: 5
Journeyman: 12
Master: 20
Maestro: 32
Anyone can blow open a door. It takes an artist to do so without breaking the doors
stained glass ornamentation. To blow open a safe without destroying the priceless
artwork inside. To blow open a door without letting in the vacuum of space.
Any use of Demolitions is obviously very loud when the explosives go off and will
cause everyone within a reasonably large area to hear them.
Blow It!
Blowing open a door isnt just a matter of using more explosives. Its a matter of
putting the explosives in the right places and timing them correctly.
See the below table for the DCs to blow open various doors and how many
demolition charges it takes to open.
Using Blow It! normally takes 1 minute per demolition charge used.
It can be sped up to 6 rounds by using 2 fewer dice.
It can be sped up to 2 rounds by using 3 fewer dice.
You can add one charge used to gain a +4 to your roll up to a maximum of 6
charges.

Thin Wooden Door DC 8 1 charge

Wooden Door DC 12 1 charge
Heavy Wooden Door DC 18 1 charge
Light Metal Door DC 14 1 charge
Metal Door DC 20 1 charge
Heavy Metal Door DC 25 2 charges
Blast Door DC 25 3 charges
Heavy Blast Door DC 30 4 charges
Average Safe Door DC 35 2 charges
Heavy Safe Door DC 48 3 charges
Thin Wooden Wall DC 12 2 charges
Wooden Wall DC 18 2 charges
Heavy Wooden Wall DC 24 3 charges
Thin Metal Wall DC 26 3 charges
Metal Wall DC 34 4 charges
Heavy Metal Wall DC 40 5 charges
Brick Wall DC 30 2 charges
Stone Wall DC 36 4 charges

Booby-Trap
Placing mines or other explosive requires a Demolitions check to place. Placing a
mine requires ten minutes. It may be rushed to five minutes by taking a -5 on the
check, or rushed to just one minute by taking a -10 on the check. If you fail the DC
then the explosive goes off while you are setting it, and you take the damage.
If you successfully place the mine, of the amount which you exceed the check is
added to the mines Awareness DC.
You may Take 3 when placing a mine so long as you arent rushing.

Disarm
You may attempt to disarm explosives with the Demolitions skill, either booby-traps
or any other sort of bomb.
The DC to disarm a booby-trap is the same as the DC to place it. It takes one
minute to disarm a booby-trap. It may be rushed to 30 seconds by taking a -5 on
the check, or rushed to one round by taking a -10 on the check.
Note: You may note Take 3 when disarming any explosive.

Driving ** (Dexterity & Sharpness): The ability to drive everything from

motorcycles, to tanks, to go-carts.
When driving, against each attack you may use a # of vitality equal to 2x
your mastery level before the attack affects the vehicles wounds. A Novice could
have the first two points go against their vitality, while a Master could have the first
eight points do so etc.
Novice: 1
Apprentice: 4
Journeyman: 12
Master: 22
Maestro: 35
Note: See the Vehicle chapter for specifics on how to use Driving.

First-Aid ** (Dexterity & Sharpness): With bandages, iodine, liquid sutures, and
other medical supplies you can close up wounds so that you can keep on fighting.
Using First-Aid requires a First-Aid Kit. Make a skill-check. For every 8 points
you hit you heal the target 1 wound up to a maximum of half of the damage they
took in the previous 10 min (rounded up). Both the amount and the maximum
healed lowers by 1 for every five minute delay. For example, if two allies are each
wounded 6 wounds, you may heal the first 3 wounds with First-Aid with a DC 12, but
due to the delay you may only heal the second one 2 wounds also with a DC 12.
First-Aid takes a total of 1min per point healed.
Novice: 1
Apprentice: 4
Journeyman: 9
Master: 16
Maestro: 25
Special: You may explain someone else how to bandage, they may use your mastery
-2 to use First-Aid on you. They still use their own ability scores as modifiers.

Hacking ** (Sharpness x2): A general slang term for everything to do with the
software end of computers, someone skilled in Hacking can potentially do
everything from get through the electronic lock on a door to taking over an entire
stations life support systems. And of course, they are more than skilled in more
reputable uses of their craft as well.
Novice: 1
Apprentice: 5
Journeyman: 13
Master: 22
Maestro: 35
When you access a computer system, it initially has one of the stances listed on the
below table. Hacking is the process of convincing a computer that you have greater
system access than you actually do.
Normally a Hacking attempt takes 1 minute, though you can make at attempt in 20
seconds (5 rounds) with a -5 penalty to your roll.
Every computer system has two DCs. The first one is the DC needed to successfully
hack the system, while if you fail the second DC, something bad happens. See the
examples on the below table.

Hacking Examples DCs Consequence of Failing Secondary DC

Keypad Locked Door 18/10 Door secured for the next hour.
Auto-Turret Console 16/12 Auto-Turret starts firing at the hacker.
High-End Security System 35/20 Alarms sound and security is alerted to your
location.

More basic systems such as electronic locks etc. can be forced to work at a set DC.
For these systems, you may take 5 full minutes to Hack them to Take 8 on your
check.
Investigation (Sharpness x2): Investigation helps you to figure out if someone
is lying to you and to search out clues.
Novice: 1
Apprentice: 4
Journeyman: 9
Master: 16
Maestro: 25
Investigation has two uses, Reading Someone and Search
Reading Someone
Reading Someone is the ability to figure out when someone is lying to you. This is
rolled in opposition to anyone who tries to use Trickery against you. If you roll
greater than or equal to their roll, then you know that they are lying to you.
For each point in their story which you have knowledge against, it adds +2 to your
Investigation check.
Note: If there are holes, contradictions, or simply foolishness in their story you dont
necessarily believe them. You instead think that they believe their story, but that
they are either mistaken and/or insane.
Search
Search is the ability to spot anything which isnt obvious to casual observation, from
the entrance to a hidden passageway to a vital clue for solving a crime. Unlike
Awareness, Search has to used actively by the player saying that his character is
searching the area.
Searching takes 1 minute for each 2mx2m square searched, though the time can be
cut in half by taking a -5 to your roll, or cut down to 1 round by taking a -15 to your
roll. If you take 10 minutes you may Take 8.

Example DCs DC
A coin 0
A useful note 6
A contact lens 12
A strand of hair 18
A fingerprint 30
Microscopic evidence 50

Piloting ** (Dexterity & Sharpness): Controlling everything from starships to

atmospheric flyers.
 When piloting, against each attack you may use a # of vitality equal to 2x
your mastery level before the attack affects the vehicles wounds. A Novice could
have the first two points go against their vitality, while a Master could have the first
eight points do so.
Novice: 1
Apprentice: 4
Journeyman: 9
Master: 16
Maestro: 25
Note: See the Flyers chapter for more information on how to use Piloting.

Presence (Sharpness & Willpower)

Note: The Presence sub-skills, being perhaps the purest form of roleplaying
which is reflected in the rules, are inherently somewhat more subjective than most
of the other rules of Space Dogs. While the GM is the final arbiter in most cases, the
use of the Presence sub-skills should involve a dialogue between the GM and the
players. This dialogue should try to keep the game flowing, internally consistent,
and as always it should follow the first rule of Space Dogs and make sure that
everyone is having fun.

Intimidation: This is your ability to frighten with words, or to just give off
a general aura of menace.
Use an action to make an Intimidation check. You take a -1 penalty for each
square away that you are. The DC to hit is the targets Brw+Pscyhe+10 /
2xBrw+2xPsyche+10. The first DC is a partial success, while the second DC is a full
success. There are also other potential modifiers to the DC (see below table).

Target is unarmed -2
You are unarmed +4
Target is a larger scale +4 per scale difference
Target is a smaller scale -4 per scale difference
Target is wounded (Wound damage) -2
Already attempted Intimidation against -4 (cumulative so the 2nd attempt
the target within 24hrs would be at -4, and the 3rd attempt at -8
etc.)
Circumstance modifier at GM discretion +/- X

On a partial success the target is forced to take at least one Forced Reaction
as soon as possible, and on a full success they are forced to take at least three
Forced Reactions. If any options are impossible for the target to perform in the next
round, it may not be selected as an option. For example, if a target is securely tied
up to a chair and cannot accomplish numbers 1, 2, 4, 5, or 7, they are forced to do
only number 3 or 6 even on only a partial success.

Forced Reactions
1. Raise their hands and back away slowly.
2. Give you something that they think that you want.
3. Tell you something that they think that you want to hear. (may or may not be
the truth)
4. Get out of your way quickly.
5. Put something solid between you and them. (A door/bodyguard etc.)
6. Spend 1 point of Psyche. (May be done more than once.)
7. Attack you at a -4 penalty. (Counts as 3 options.)

Negotiation: Negotiation can be used for anything from convincing a

guard to let you into a restricted area, to trying to get down the price of a meal, to
negotiating a peace treaty.
Going into a negotiation, both parties need to agree, even if unspoken
agreement, that there is room for negotiation. Many stores selling basic consumer
level goods will not be willing to negotiate their prices at all.
The two negotiating parties make opposed Negotiation checks. See the
below table for results.

Results Result
0-2 point difference Market Price
3-8 point difference Slightly favorable price for the winner.
9-15 point difference Significantly favorable price for the winner.
16-22 point difference Highly favorable price for the winner.
23+ point difference Hugely favorable price for the winner.

What these different amounts are varies greatly depending upon the item in
question is. The more heavily an item is traded, the less the price will vary from
market price. For example, the price for iron ore will only vary a few percent even
when one party wins the roll by 23+.
On the other hand, for something as fluid as a bribe to be let into a secure
area, there is no true market price at all. However, while not quite universally true,
they say that every man has his price. The price to be let past even a mercenary
guard who is open to bribery might vary from $20 slipped to him with a friendly nod,
to several thousand dollars, with the market price being a few hundred.
Part of the price may be based upon a lie. For example, that same mercenary
would be far more likely to let you past for a small bribe if you are able to convince
them that you only want to take a look around, and if he thinks that you might harm
his employer he would need a far larger bribe, and on poor roll when he thinks that
you might harm his employer he might not let you past him no matter what you
offer him. In the latter case, you may have done something to insult him or said
something which accidently pricked his sense of honor.

Trickery: This skill involves both lying to someones face, and the ability
to explain to others how to keep a lie consistent. It is opposed by Investigation
checks.
When using Trickery, your check is modified by how complex of a tale it is and
how generally believable it is. Sometimes they may even want to believe you. The
more complex it is, the harder it is to make seem believable. See the below table
for examples.

Examples of Trickery Trickery Check Modifier

Of course that doesnt The lie is simple & the +10
make you look fat. target want to believe
you.
These arent stolen, I just The target wants to +5
need the money. believe you.
I was home reading all The lie is simple. +0
night.
I didnt see anything. The lie is unlikely. -5
You see, Im in here The lie is far-fetched. -10
because the owner is my
long lost brother.
The lie is overly -15
complicated and unlikely.
You see officer, I didnt The lie is overly -20
really steal this ship at all. complicated and
This ship was actually my extremely far-fetched.
grandfathers ship which
he left me in his will, and I
had it for several years.
However, it was stolen
from me last year, and I
just saw it here at this
station and had to take it.
Being my grandfathers
ship, it was too emotional
for me to have called
station security. I had to
hack into the ship
because I just happened
 to forget all of the
passcodes

Special: You may take at least 5 min (more depending upon the complexity) to
explain a tale to someone else, they may use your mastery level -1 to tell the lie to
someone else. They still use their own ability scores as the modifiers.
Note: If the person who hears your tale spots inconsistencies or things which they
know to be false in it but still fails their Investigation check, they do not ignore the
inconsistency. They may still believe you, but they think that you are mistaken
about the inconsistencies, or they might even think that you are insane.

Novice: 1/1
Apprentice: 5/3
Journeyman: 12/8
Master: 19/13
Maestro: 30/21

Psionics (Sharpness & Will) These skills allow you to use your psionic abilities
outside of the chaos of battle, using your abilities in a more controlled fashion.
Special: Only the psionic classes may attempt any check with the
psionics skills.

Cloaking:
Resist: You may use Cloaking to hide your mind from others psychic
senses. For one Psyche, you may resist any attempt to sense you with Sixth Sense
or Telepathy with an opposed skill check. If you equal or higher than the roll to
sense you then they sense nothing from you at all. For two Psyche you may resist
their attempt to sense anyone else, though you take a -1 penalty per square they
are away from you.
Using Resist is a passive ability and requires no Action to use.
Faceless: You can use Cloaking to make others overlook you. If you are in
a crowd, you may use Cloaking to make yourself seem unremarkable and a faceless
part of the crowd. For one Psyche, you may make a Cloaking check to oppose any
Awareness checks to spot you in a crowd.
 Sixth Sense: Having a strong sixth sense allows you to get a feel of
peoples thoughts and feelings. This is not anything as strong as mind-reading,
though some psions try to give the appearance that it is.

Read Feelings
As an Action, you may make a Sixth Sense check to sense the surface
feelings of a living mind.

Sense Presences
As an Action, you may make a Sixth Sense check to sense minds around you.
This can even be used to sense creatures on the other side of a door or wall, though
physical materials can make it more difficult, and pushing out your Sixth Sense to
extreme distances can be extremely taxing.
Normally Sense Presence only works in a 90 degree arc, but it can work in a
360 degree arc for double the Psyche cost.
Normally using Sense Presences takes one full round, but you can instead
take one minute to cut the Psyche cost in half.
The most common use of Sense Presences is to find the number of living
minds within range. If you hit the base DC of 10 but dont get high enough to hit
the DC of the total number of minds within the range you chose, you simply know
that there are many minds within range.
You may also attempt to search for a specific mind which you have met
before. You must have used Read Feelings upon the target before to sense them
specifically. If you succeed then you know both that your target is within the area
and exactly where they are.
If there is any solid material between you and the minds in question, it
increases the DC by at least +5 or each centimeter of thickness, with a minimum of
+5. You may choose to not use Sense Presences through any/all solid materials to
keep from raising the DC.

Sense Presences Tasks DC Additional

Penalties
Sense the number of minds within range 10 +1 per mind within
range
Search if a specific mind is within range. 15 +2 per mind within
range
Each centimeter of solid material between you and -5 to
your target(s) roll
Distance Senses Pushed Out (one Psyche Cost
direction)
Out to 4m (or less) 0
Out to 10m (or less) 1
Out to 20m (or less) 2
Out to 40m (or less) 5
Out to 100m (or less) 15
Out to 200m (or less) 40
Out to 500m (or less) 80
Out to 1 kilometer (or less) 200
Pushed out in all directions X2
Take one minute to Sense Presences (rounded down)

Telekinesis: This is the ability to lift objects with your mind. You may
not throw them around violently with this ability, as those skills are represented in
the psionic Talents. However, it is still an extremely useful skill.

Move Object: Moving objects without damaging them is a much more difficult
than flinging them about with waves of force. The size of the object though, has
little to do with how difficult it is. Instead, the size just increases the amount of
mental strength it takes. Picking up a living creature doubles the DC and the Psyche
cost.

Task DC Range penalty*

Lift an object (up to 2m) 15 +2 DC per 2 meters
Move lifted object (up to 8m each round) 20 +2 DC per 2 meters
Manipulate the object 20 +4 DC per 2 meters
Fine motor control of object 25 +6 DC per 2 meters

Weight Psyche Cost

Up to 1kg 0
1kg-4kg 1 per 5 rounds
4-20kg 1 per round
20-40kg 3 per round
40-100kg 6 per round
100-200kg 12 per round
200-400kg 24 per round
400-800kg 50 per round
800kg-1,500kg 100 per round
 Telepathy: As an Action, you may establish a telepathic link with a
distant creature. Through the link, you may most easily send single basic thoughts
such as Help!, Run, Attack, or Danger. A longer message of a short phrase
may also be sent, but the more complex the message, the more difficult it becomes
to do while the greater the distance the higher the Psyche cost.
If you are not familiar with the target of your telepathy then the Psyche cost
is doubled. Being familiar would be if you have spent considerable time with them
and know a good deal about them. This makes targeting their mind less taxing.

Telepathy Tasks DC
A one word thought 10
Each additional word +5
Each centimeter of solid material between you and -5 to
your target(s) roll
No line of sight X2
Are not familiar with the target X2

Telepathy Distance Psyche Cost

Out to 10m (or less) 0
Out to 20m (or less) 1
Out to 50m (or less) 2
Out to 100m (or less) 5
Out to 200m (or less) 10
Out to 500m (or less) 20
Out to 1 kilometer (or less) 30
Out to 10 kilometer (or less) 80
Are not familiar with the target X2

GM Tip: If the players are not

Repair ** (Dexterity & Sharpness): This skill involves on a main starlane, finding the
the machinery of fixing everything from engines, to parts they need for major
firearms, to circuit boards. Pick one of the below repairs to their ship may not
categories when you pick this skill. You may take Repair be a sure thing. If used
more than once and pick an additional category. sparingly, finding a specific
component might be the basis
for a side-quest.
To repair requires the appropriate repair kit and
The PCs might need to
access to a supply of spare parts. First make an
scavenge from the wreckage
appropriate Repair check with a DC 15+total damage
of an ancient battle whose
remains preserved in vacuum,
or the part might be the
reward from an opportunistic
alien, more than willing to take
advantage of the players
misfortune for their own gain.
taken. You then have to have spare parts with a value equal to the proportion of
the wounds which the vehicle is currently down.
For example, if a car worth $30,000 with a total of 10 wounds has 5 points of
damage when its repaired at the garage, it will take $7,500 of spare parts to repair
it. This is because you take the value of the car due to of the cars total value,
or its repair value being $15,000 it being down of its total wounds, means that it
costs of its repair value, or $7,500 of spare parts to repair.
In addition to the cost, repairing a mecha or vehicle is time-consuming. The
time it takes is in large part a factor of its size, as a large starship will inherently
take longer to repair than a motorcycle. However, unlike the motorcycle, the
starship could have an entire crew of engineers working on it to speed up the
repairs drastically.

Mecha & Exo: Using jury-rig on a Mecha or Exo requires a Mecha Repair
Kit. Make a skill-check. For every 8 points you hit you repair the target 1 point up
to a maximum of half of the damage they took in the previous 10 min (rounded up)
from the start of the repair. Both the amount and the maximum healed lowers by 1
for every five minute delay. For example, if two allies are each wounded 6 wounds,
you may heal the first 3 points with Repair with a DC 12, but due to the delay you
may only heal the second one 2 points also with a DC 12.
The jury-rig itself takes one minute per point repaired for an Exo-suit. It takes
two minutes per point repaired for a Mecha.

Starships
Personal Vehicles

Fix-It: Any vehicle or mecha can be fixed by the appropriate repair sub-skill.
Novice: 1/1
Apprentice: 6/3
Journeyman: 13/6
Master: 20/13
Maestro: 30/20

Research (no stats): The Research skill represents both your chances of knowing
something off the top of your head, and your ability to find a particular bit of
knowledge when given the chance to research it.
Novice: 1
Apprentice: 4
Journeyman: 9
Master: 16
Maestro: 25
When something happens or you see something which you might know more about,
you automatically get a Research roll. If you roll half as high as you need to get any
information about it, you know that there is something more there for you to look
into when you have the time.
At any time that you have access to a computer
system you may make additional research checks GM Note: You shouldnt use
about anything that you want to. However, these the existence of the Research
checks will not allow you to know secret information or skill to play as if the PCs know
anything which isnt present in the system(s) youre nothing about the galaxy
searching, though large systems on the main starlanes which they are a part of. No
have innersystem nets which have access to vast human isnt going to know the
swaths of knowledge for those who know how to look. basics of the builders or at
least the broad strokes of
Even some secret information might be accessible with most other major species.
checks if the researcher is willing to do a bit of hacking Research should be a tool to
along the way to bypass any pesky security systems. help fill in the gaps of the
Spending 1 min researching gives you a 2 nd roll at x2 players knowledge and allow
them to research specific plot
Spending 10 minutes researching gives you a 3 rd roll at elements or enemies tactics
x3 when they have a bit of
downtime in much the same
Spending 1 hour researching gives you a 4 th roll at x4
way that you might remember
Spending 1 week researching gives you a 5 th roll at x5 something which came up in
conversation and look it up on
Note: The DCs of a bit of knowledge vary depending
upon the system that youre in. For example: knowledge about an isolated alien
species isnt so hard to come by within their own solar system.

Rarity DC Examples
Common 5-10 name of a widespread alien species/common
starlanes
Uncommon 11-30 name of an isolated alien species/general
knowledge about a widespread alien
species/common ship capabilities/names of
important leaders
Esoteric 30-45 general knowledge about an isolated alien
species/detailed knowledge about a
widespread alien species/detailed ship
capabilities/general knowledge about
important leaders
Obscure 45-100 detailed knowledge about an isolated alien
species/detailed knowledge about important
leaders
 Lost 100+ Any knowledge about the lost species
beyond that they existed

Note: Many solar systems info-nets may not have the information that youre
looking for, especially anything Obscure or Lost.

Stealth ## (Agility & Sharpness): The ability to move unseen.

Novice: 1
Apprentice: 5
Journeyman: 11
Master: 19
Maestro: 30

To stealth successfully, you have to be able to beat the DCs of all watchers, either
electronic or organic. To be able to beat DCs without relying entirely upon luck, you
should use the modifiers listed below to boost your Stealth score.

Modifiers Example(s) Stealth Boost

Dim Light Starlight/Emergency Lights +3
Total Darkness n/a +8
Full Cover Curtains/Tall Bookshelf +10
Partial Cover Low Fence +6
Concealment Fog/Smoke/brush +6
Not Moving Remaining stationary as a +6
guard patrols past
Each Scale above n/a -4
Human

Of course, there are other potential Stealth modifiers which are either somewhere in
between the above, or something else entirely. The GM should use their judgement
to assign a reasonable DC modifier based upon the above.
If you want to stealth, trace the total path which you want to traverse. Then roll for
stealth once. The GM should then stop you when you reach a point where your
stealth roll isnt sufficient to beat all DCs.
Blending In: You may also use Stealth to blend into a crowd. This makes it so
that you ignore the Notice DC and can only be spotted. However, if you do not
mesh well with the crowd, you become easier to Spot.

Modifiers Example(s) Blending In

Bonus/Penalty
You are the only human in the -8
crowd.
The crowd is thin -4
Your clothing is out of place Wearing kevlar openly -4
in a peaceful bazaar
You look outlandish Wearing a stealth suit -8
to the theater
Your mark is on the lookout for you -4
specifically

Covert Ops: Someone who is skilled enough at Stealth can help out their less
skilled crewmates remain unseen, though doing so is distracting. By rolling one
fewer 1d8 than they are normally allowed, a character may apply their roll to both
themselves and one ally within five squares (ten meters). However, the character
that they are helping still applies their own attribute scores, armor penalties, or any
other modifiers. Covert Ops may be used to help more than one ally, but doing so
reduces your roll by 1d8 for each additional ally whom you help out.
This ability represents everything from telling them how to move, to pointing out
where the floor will creak, to grabbing them and hauling them back just before they
step onto a security laser.

Survival (Stamina & Sharpness)

Novice: 1
Apprentice: 4
Journeyman: 9
Master: 16
Maestro: 25
Survival gives you the knowledge to survive on harsh alien worlds and the ability to
track your foes.