Clarity on Skills or, Those Damn Skills

What follows is official. From here on out, this is how Skills work in Colonial Gothic in Scott's Campaigns.

Basics
Before getting to the heart of the matter, here are a few things that should be kept in mind.

Ability
The stats that measure a character (which are typically called Attributes in other roleplaying games) do not have Ranks, they simply have a value.

Rank
The term Ranks is used only with Skills, and is a measure of how skilled a character is with a specific Skill. When a Skill is first purchased, it is said to have been purchased at the Base Rank.

Base Rank
Base Rank is defined as the starting rank of a Skill's starting rank, which is equal to the governing Ability at the time the Skill was first purchased. This is a number that a player wants to keep track of, as it will determine the cost of Skill Rank increases in the future. One cannot automatically assume that a Skills Base Rank will always be equal to the governing Ability, as it is possible for an Ability to change in value during the course of a game.

Skill Limits
A Skill cannot have more than 12 Ranks. Characters with Abilities at 10-12 are damn near demigods, therefore, when they buy a Skill at Base Rank they are very near to, or at the top of their game. Period. If a character starts with an Ability at 10, this means that the player character cannot add more than 2 additional Ranks to give his character a Skill with a Rank of 12.

Starting Characters

All characters begin with 35 Points which are used to purchase the five Abilities (Might, Nimble, Vigor, Reason and Resolution). All characters have 45 Skill Points which are used to buy Skills. The reason for the lower total is due to the core assumption of Colonial Gothic in Scott's Campaigns: this is a game about starting out; you create competent people that still have room for improvement.

Skills
A design goal underlying all 12 SYSTEM games is that characters will have only a handful of Skills in which they are truly formidable, and a number of Skills in which they are of average proficiency. Keep this in mind. There are two types of Skills in the games, Untrained (marked as such in the rulebook) and Trained (there is no such category as Trained in the game, but it helps for the purpose of the following explanation, so it is best to think of them as such). Untrained Skills can be used by anyone without the need to spend Skill Points on them. Trained Skills can only be used by spending Skill Points on them. An Untrained Skill for which a player has purchased Skill Ranks also can be called a Trained Skill. A Skill's Target Number (TN) equals the Skill's governing Ability + the Skills Rank. See the above definition above for a Skills Base Rank. Any character may use an Untrained Skill at any time, but with a -4 modifier to the Target Number. Trained Skills may only be used by those who have purchased Ranks in them (therefore they never suffer the -4 Untrained modifier to the Target Number). Untrained Skills have a Base Rank equal in number to the governing Ability without the need to spend Skill Points minus the Untrained of -4 (e.g. Might 10 = Melee 6 as an Untrained Skill) Trained Skills have a Base Rank equal in number to the governing Ability only after the player has spent a number of Skill Points equal to the governing Ability (e.g. Nimble 7 = Acrobatics 7 as a Trained Skill only after spending 7 Skill Points). A player may spend Skill Points on an Untrained Skill to increase the number of Ranks in it (effectively making it a Trained skill). To do this, the player spends a number of Skill Points equal to half the governing Ability (rounded up) to purchase the Base Rank. In my the example above, I would spend 5 Skill Points to make Melee a Trained skill, and its Rank would remain 10,

the same as when it was Untrained, with the difference being that the -4 modifier does not apply anymore as this is no longer an Untrained Skill. A player may spend Skill Points on a Trained Skill to increase the number of Ranks in it beyond the Base Rank. Remember that Trained Skills can only be used after being purchased at Base Rank. To increase a Skill's rank by +1, a player spends a number of Skill Points equal to one quarter the Base Rank for that skill (this is why it's important to record what a skill's Base Rank is). Note that multiple Rank increases may be purchased at the same time, each costing the same. To illustrate this, let's create a character. I decide to create a new character, Jack Twinning, a young explorer from Kentucky. I spend my 35 Ability Points as follows:

Might 8 Nimble 8 Vigor 9 Reason 4 Resolution 6

.

My Background is Frontier Colonist, so I derive the following bonuses: Survival at Base Rank, Trade (Husbandry), Trade (Farming) or Tracking at Base Rank. Language (English - Fluent). I now spend my 45 Skill Points to buy skills as follows (skills marked * can be used Untrained):

Tracking (4 Base Rank [Free from Background] + 2 Ranks [1 Skill Point for each Rank for a
total of 2 Skill Points spent]) = 6 Skill Ranks

Survival (4 Base Rank [Free from Background] + 2 Ranks [1 Skill Point for each Rank for a
total 2 Skill Points spent]) = 6 Skill Ranks

Athletics* (8 Base Rank [4 Skill Points Spent)] + 1 Rank (2 Skill Points for each Rank for a
total of 2 Skill Points spent) = 9 Skill Ranks

Defend* (8 Base Rank [4 Skill Points Spent]) + 1 Rank (2 Skill Points for each Rank for a
total of 2 Skill Points spent) = 9 Skill Ranks

Dodge* (8 Base Rank [4 Skill Points Spent]) + 1 Rank (2 Skill Points for each Rank for a
total of 2 Skill Points spent) = 9 Skill Ranks

Melee* (8 Base Rank [4 Skill Points Spent]) + 1 Rank (2 Skill Points for each Rank for a
total of 2 Skill Points spent) = 9 Skill Ranks

Observe* (4 Base Rank [2 Skill Points Spent]) + 1 Rank (1 Skill Point for each Rank for a
total of 1 Skill Point spent) = 5 Skill Ranks

 Profession Navigation (4 Base Rank [2 Skill Points Spent]) + 1 Rank (1 Skill Point for each
Rank for a total of 1 Skill Point spent) = 5 Skill Ranks

Shoot* (8 Base Rank [4 Skill Points Spent] + 2 Ranks [2 Skill Points for each Rank for a total 4
Skill Points spent]) = 10 Skill Ranks

Study Mapping (4 Base Rank [2 Skill Points Spent]) + 1 Rank (1 Skill Point for each Rank for a
total of 1 Skill Point spent) = 5 Skill Ranks After all the math, my Skills and their Ranks look like this.

Athletics [+9] Defend [+9] Dodge [+9] Melee [+9] Observe [+5] Profession Navigation [+5] Shoot [+10] Study Mapping [+5] Survival [+6] Tracking [+6]
So what would the Target Number ([TN)] for each Skill be? Remember the formula = Ability + Skill Rank = [Target Number]

Athletics (8+9) = [17] Defend (8+9) = [17] Dodge (8+9) = [17] Melee (8+9) = [17] Observe (4+5) = [9] Profession Navigation (4+5) = [9] Shoot (8+10) = [18] Study Mapping (4+5) = [9] Survival (4+6) = [10] Tracking (6+4) = [10]
Now, to compare, here are three Untrained Skills, with the TN already factoring in the -4 modifier for Untrained use:

Bargain (6+2) = [8]

 Bureaucracy (4+0) = [4] Throw (8+4) = [12]

Use this table for buying skills: Governing Ability Base Rank Raise 1 Rank 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 5 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 3 3 6 3 6 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Special Skill Rules

Here are a few changes to certain skills

Specialization
The specialization rules to not apply to the skills Profession, Study, or Trade. Simply put, all Professions, Studies and Trades must be treated as separate skills. There is no such thing as a base "Profession" skill, for example, as skill in one Profession does not relate to having skill in another profession at all.

Divination
The Divination skill is now divided into two separate skills: European Divination and Native American Divination. Normal skill specialization rules apply to all forms of divination covered under these two skills. European Divination includes the following specializations: Carromancy After melting wax and dripping it into a bowl of ice-cold water, your Hero can tell what kind of Villain he might be facing according to the shape formed by the wax . Cartomancy Your Hero can use a deck of playing cards to do a general reading. The cards correspond to suits, which also correspond to your Heros Character Stats. Depending on how the cards play out, you can assess a general direction of where your Hero should focus his attentions in the near future.

Clubs = Arrows, Might Diamonds = Stars, Vigor Hearts = Tin cups, Resolution Spades = Sabers, Reason Catoptromancy Your Hero looks into a special looking glass to force any Villain that is chasing or hunting you to identify their physical appearance. The more successful this skill is for your Hero, the clearer the monsters face will be. Heroes that take this art can use any mirror-like surface or reflection to perform this kind of divination. Melumpus An art many do not understand, Melumpus centers around studying peoples moles, and their placement in relation to corresponding planets. By using Melumpus, your hero is able to divine the true nature of a person. All attempts to use Melumpus require a successful Divination Test. A Success allows your Hero to know if a person is honest, while a Critical Success has your Hero able to know if a person is telling the truth. Failure has no effect, while a Critical Failure has your Hero believing anything the person says, even if it is false. Melumpus only works while your Hero is touching a person. Palmistry You can tell a lot about someone by reading the lines in their hand. The more skilled you are in Palmistry, the more you will be able to tell about a fellow Hero or Villains personality. Stichomancy A favorite form of Divination among bibliophiles, your Hero will rely on Stichomancy when he needs a shove in the right direction. Your Hero will close his eyes, focus on a yes or no question, and open up any book to a random page and point. Although messages like this can be cryptic, some Heroes will pick a religious or occult text to use for this purpose. The more successful you are in this skill, the more on-target your messages will be. Tasseomancy Whether you read tealeaves or coffee grounds, Tasseomancy is used to perform a general reading for yourself or for another person. Your Hero will read shapes in the tealeaves or coffee grounds to divine a future applicable to the person who has drained their tea or coffee cup. The more successful this skill is, the less symbolic the images will become. Native American Divination includes the following specializations: Ailuromancy

Your Hero, assessing a four-legged mammal's behavior, will be able to predict the weather with some accuracy. Alectryomancy After strewing grain in front of a land fowl into the shapes of objects, letters or people, you will confirm your Heros path based on what the rooster decides to eat first. Alomancy Salt is a staple spice among many Colonists both in the New World and abroad. Your Hero will dissolve salt crystals in a bowl of water and allow them to dry overnight. You will then be able to tell if your Hero will be lucky that day by the number of stars that appear in the bowl. Alphitomancy Your Hero will bake and cook barley into different dishes, and then feed it to the group. After an hour or two, if the accused becomes sick, then that person is guilty of the crime you accused them of. Achieving more successful results translates into degrees of just how involved the accused was in the crime you accused them of; the more guilty the accused, the more pain they will feel. Augury By reading the flight patterns of birds, you will be able to discern the success of social or group activities that are not war or combat related. Belomancy Your Hero can tell whether or not you are following your Villain in the right direction by carving occult symbols into his bow and shooting an arrow at a target. Your direction will then be confirmed depending upon where your arrow lands in relation to the target. Scapulimancy Your Hero can take scapulae (shoulder blades) from animals, burn them, and study the scorch marks, fissures and lines created to determine future events or find lost persons.