Talent and Expertise
Learning how to learn is life’s most important skill.
Other than the attributes, sub-attributes and race, everything else in the system is based on a skill. Some skills may be restricted by a prerequisite, but all mechanics of the game are controlled by skills. All beginning characters have roughly three skills when factoring in racial skills. All of those must be selected from the basic skill list above or be a free skill by the chosen race.
Skills attempt to perform an action. The simplest and most common example would be combat. Another example would be social interactions, such as bartering for price. The details of each of these will be explained later; however, as an explanation of game mechanics, the skill allows the player to roll a die against a DC (Difficulty Class). The die is thrown to determine the raw score. Then any other modifiers are applied. The most common come from sub-attribute scores and modifiers. Then any other modifiers from magic or other effects. The total score is added. If the adjusted value is equal or greater than the DC, then the action is successful.
Starting Skills
What my character can do well.
Starting characters should only select from the basic skills list below. Some races may have additional skills that are not in the basic list as part of their racial abilities. The details of the basic skills and how they are used are explained in the Skills section. Other skills are available and also explained in the Skills section, which is broken into eight different sections: Racial, Combat, Adventuring, Vocational, Magickery, Runes, Divinity and Sorcery.
It is important to note that skills can sometimes be seen by players as a menu at the table-top restaurant. To be fair, in many ways that analogy works; skills are purchased with karma as tender. That said, it is important to remember that just because a skill is listed in the book with a cost doesn't mean it is readily available in the game world -- or that there are not other costs beyond karma spent.
Throughout Earth's history governments and other organizations have resorted to tariffs, taxation, certifications and special-group memberships to discourage undesired social behaviors. The world of Enchanted Realms is no different in that regard. Probably the strongest example would be joining the clergy of a particular church. The karma investment is low and the character gains a lot of benefits; however, there is a church hierarchy, lists of sins, politics and other upkeep that goes along with divine accord and the some of the other skills that can only be learned through the church. Characters could find a bounty-hunter after them even if a priest is in perfect standing with his or her deity.
Adhering to a code of conduct in trade for gaining a certain skill is not limited to just the clergy. Each game world will be slightly different with "guild nuance" being determined primarily by the GM, but it is possible such implied social contracts exist for any skill. If there is a heavy-handed union for brewers in the region … well, that's just the world where the game is played. GMs should be fair to players, allowing them to know and understand what they are getting into if such as skill in that world has obligations; however, there could be reasons some social-restrictions are not known publicly, but from a game design perspective, anything on the starting list should be disclosed.
In summary, the point here needs to be clear. When selecting skills, players need to understand there might be more cost than just the karma points used to acquire it. Some skills could have very “in-game” strings tied to them.
Skill | Skill |
Combat | Vocational |
| Melee Fighting | Fighting with melee weapon | | Agriculture | Planting, Harvesting |
| Ranged Fighting | Fighting with a range weapon | | Animal Breeding | Animal Breeding |
| Unarmed Combat | Fighting without weapons | | Armoring | Forge Metal Armor |
Adventuring | | Bowyer | Build Bows, Arrows |
| Acrobatics | Bonus to Agility Actions | | Brewing | Create Beer and Ales |
| Alertness | Increases Awareness | | Carpentry | Make Wood Construction |
| Astrology | Sense of Direction, Foretelling | | Cooking | Prepare Food, Clean Carcass |
| Bartering | Lower Costs, Increase Sales | | Creature Lore | Knowledge of Monsters |
| Cartography | Read, Decipher Maps | | Farrier | Horseshoeing |
| Dash | Burst of Movement in Combat | | Fishing | Catch Fish |
| Discipline | Bonus for Spiritual Defenses | | Flora Lore | Knowledge of Plants |
| Fire-Building | Build Fire without Tools | | Gardening | Landscaping, small food |
| Language | Learn a new Language | | Glass-Blowing | Glassworks |
| Lip-Reading | Eavesdrop from a Distance | | History | Knowledge of History |
| Mountsmanship | Control a Mount | | Hunting | Hunting Game |
| Mental Fortitude | Bonus for Mental Defenses | | Knots | Tie Knots with Proficiency |
| Stamina | Bonus to Exertion Actions | | Lapidary | Cut Gems |
| Swimming | Ability to Swim | | Leatherworking | Create Leather, Hide Armor |
| Tap and Touch | Improves Searching | | Legal Work | Urban Government Work |
| Under-Navigation | Direction Underground | | Masonry | Extract, Build with Stone |
| Wilderness Lore | Survival in the Wilderness | | Papermaking | Create writing surfaces |
| Wound Care | Render Medical Aid | | Religious Studious | Knowledge of Religions |
Divinity | | Sailing | Sail a Ship, Command Crew |
| Divine Accord | Connection to Deity | | Scribing | Writing, Calligraphy, Forgery |
| Benison | Create Holy Philters | | Skinning | Recover Hide, Extract Organs |
| | | | Knots | Advanced Rope Use |
Fey Magickery | | Sailing | Navigate a water vessel |
| Cantrip Control | Ability for Simple Magic | | Scribing | Writing, Calligraphy, Forgery |
| Any Cantrip | Simple Magical Effect | | Skinning | Remove Hides |
Sorcery | | Tailoring | Create Clothing, Armor |
| Sorcery | Ability for Advanced Magic | | Weaponsmith | Force Metal Weapons |
| Spell Axiom | Learn New Spell to Cast | | Woodworking | Weapons, Build with Wood |
Racial Skills
Things innate to a specific race.
These are traits that are exclusively possessed only by members of certain races. These cannot be learned by others unless specifically stated otherwise. However, in all other ways, they operate exactly as all other skills.
Skill | Race |
Armor-Movement | Dwarf |
Body-Weapons | Batfolk; Lizardfolk; Monsters |
Chance | Halfling |
Under-Navigation | Dwarf |
Weather Omen | Elf |
Armor Movement |
With this racial skill, all armor worn will have an effective encumbrance-weight of no more than 10 pounds. If the actual armor is lighter, then its real weight is used for the calculation of encumbrance. This does not alter one’s true mass. If pressure plates or weight tolerances are triggered, the creature’s true weight of the armor will be used. It is only obtainable to dwarves and specifically identified monsters. |
Savage Form |
This skill permits combat with natural body weapons of claws, tail, etc. For playable races, this is unique to batfolk and lizardfolk; however, other non-playable monster types might have this skill also. It does not combine with melee fighting as these attacks are not part of the primary hand die pool. Instead, savage form uses the “savage” die pool. Whenever a “savage” die pool is used in an attack, no other die pool can be used - unless specifically stated by another skill or game rule. To determine the number of dice in the die pool, one would use what is defined as an "appendage" by this special skill. Certain body parts work in conjunction as an appendage. Claws, biting and kicking all act as a single d20; a tail attack is 1d20; horns provide one d20 to the die pool; and wing buffets would add 1d20. Unless stated differently, such as using a spinning moves skill, all of these dice would be used in the original “savage” die pool. The only other skill that adds to this die pool is martial arts, which adds one additional d20 and is not specific to any appendage. Finally, damage type would be based on the type of body part used and the weight of the body weapon is zero by default. Monster descriptions might change that value. |
Chance |
Halflings are quite propitious, often attributed to their agility. Those with the chance skill are allowed to re-roll any d20 which scores a natural 1. However, if re-rolled, the next die value must be used regardless of the score. |
Under-Navigation |
Through secret roles by the GM, a character can passively detect the following on a successful Will feat: |
Slope and Direction | DC 7 |
Unsafe Walls | DC 10 |
Depth Underground | DC 13 |
Cardinal Points | DC 17 |
Weather Omen |
At dawn every day, an elf can accurately predict natural, non-magical weather for the next four hours. It does not have to be used at dawn, as it can be performed at any time. Further, this forecasting ability is not innately constant; it requires approximately fifteen minutes to discern to upcoming weather. However, the earliest it can be used again is the either the next dawn or after a long rest, whichever is later. |
Skills limited to be learned by specific races.
These are skills that can only learned by a particular race or creature, usually due to physiological restriction. However, there might be other explanations for the racial limitation. These can never be beginning skills and most often require a trainer or be learned by self-training. The symbol indicates that a skill can be learned or self-trained without karma, but more on that later.
Skill | Cost | | Skill | Cost |
Flight-Stamina | 200 | | Camouflee | 300 |
Hurdling | 200 | | Vibrational Identity | 300 |
Prehensile Feet | 250 | | | |
Camouflee | Gnome Only |
Immediately after taking damage, a gnome with this racial skill can use a reaction to fall prone and roll up to 15 feet. This unique flee and camouflage method allows the gnome to be effectively invisible until the end of the round or the start of his turn, whichever comes first. After using this ability once, it cannot be performed again until finishing a short or long rest. |
Flight-Stamina | Batfolk Only |
Upon being trained in this skill, a batfolk can use his or her Strength bonus to add as an additional round of flight. Thus, a batfolk with a Strength score of 6 could fly for a total of five rounds. |
Hurdling | Alseid Only |
As part of normal movement, an alseid with this skill can clear or land on surfaces ten feet in height without a run. Heights of fifteen feet are possible if the alseid has a twenty foot running start. A standing broad-jump of fifteen feet can also be performed, while a running long-jump can clear thirty feet. The long-jump does not count against the current round's movement; however, it does remove half of the length of normal movement in the following round as the alseid recovers his or her footing from the leap. |
Prehensile Feet | Batfolk, Gryf Only |
This is a special combat skill for bipedal creatures capable of gliding or flight who also have talon-like feet. The GM may rule that other species are capable of learning this skill; however, it would be highly unlikely for giant eagles, gryphons or similar creatures to ever master this skill. What this conveys is that melee weapons, even heavy two-handed ones, can be employed and wielded with the creatures feet while in air. This makes the primary hand die pool to be defined by the flier’s feet instead of the weapon hand. This does not grant a a second die pool, but rather shifts the body parts using that primary die pool. Therefore, while in flight or during a gliding attack, a combatant with this skill can strike with the feet-wielded weapon just as if it were held in his or her hands. This does not convey the ability to fight with one's feet or use one's feet to wield weapons while standing on the ground. However, it can be used while prone, so long as the combatant is on his or her back, but the attacks are at disadvantage. Further, if a gryf combined this with a gryf-diving attack and also had two-handed fighting, then “multi-strikes” could occur as the feet would act as a second die pool from the two-handed skill. This second die pool option would not be available for batfolk, as they require their arms to be in use during flight. |
Vibrational Identity | Lizardfolk Only |
This skill is one that hones a lizardfolk's natural sense of vibrations to an extremely heightened point and commonly used while hiding or using stealth. With this skill, at a range of 60 feet, a lizardfolk is able to identify the race of one being encroaching the area even if it cannot be seen, so long as the lizardfolk remains perfectly still, taking no other action, for one round. This is performed by concentrating on the patterns of footfalls, air movements from breathing and even the heartbeat on one other creature. This means if the lizardfolk encounters this being again and performs the skill, the entity would be recognized. It also allows the lizardfolk to identify those he or she knows. This can be used to identify illusions instantly and even highly-skilled shape-shifters on a Perception check against a DC:18. Further, this grants a +2 on the Perception check to detect a lie if the lizardfolk also has tell-tale. Lastly, a silence effect will negate this skill. |