Q. What do the attribute ratings mean?
1 - weak
2 - underdeveloped
3 - typical
4 - improved
5 - superior
6 - maximum unmodified human
Q. What do the skill ratings mean?
No Rating - unaware
Rating 0 - untrained
1 - beginner
2 - novice
3 - Professional - college athlete, firearms as beat cop, tech as college grad, social as Mr Johnson, vehicle as cabbie, knowledge as 2 year degree
4 - Veteran - minor league ball player, marine or airborne, tech as 4 year experience, social as diplomat, vehicle as NASCAR driver, bachelors degree
5 - Expert - pro athlete, SWAT team member, top scientist, VP, vehicle as Ancients go-ganger(wtf?), master's degree
6 - Elite - Athletic superstar, superstar among elite forces, The Wright Brothers, President, Blue Angel stunt pilot, doctorate degree
7 - Legendary - Athletic legend Babe Ruth, Wild Bill Hickock, Edison, Fastjack, Reagan, Damien Knight, Red Baron, Einstein, Dr. Raven
Q. What are the skill groups?
Athletics: Climbing, Gymnastics, Running, Swimming
Biotech: Cybertechnology, First Aid, Medicine
Close Combat: Blades, Clubs, Unarmed Combat (Note: Exotic Melee Weapon is NOT in any group. Also, Cyberimplant combat has been folded into the other weapon skills, like Unarmed and Blades)
Conjuring: Banishing, Binding, Summoning
Cracking: Cybercombat, Electronic Warfare, Hacking
Electronics: Computer, Data Search, Hardware, Software
Firearms - Automatics, Longarms, Pistols (Note: Exotic Ranged Weapon is NOT in any group)
Influence: Con, Etiquette, Leadership, Negotiation
Mechanic: Aeronautics Mechanic, Automotive Mechanic, Industrial Mechanic, Nautical Mechanic
Outdoors: Navigation, Survival, Tracking
Sorcery: Counterspelling, Ritual Spellcasting, Spellcasting
Stealth: Disguise, Infiltration, Palming, Shadowing
Tasking: Compiling, Decompiling, Registering
Q. Which skills don't fall into a skill group?
Archery, Armorer, Artisan, Assensing, Astral Combat, Demolitions, Diving, Dodge, Escape Artist, Forgery, Gunnery, Heavy Weapons, Instruction, Intimidation, Locksmith, Parachuting, Perception, Pilot Aerospace, Pilot Aircraft, Pilot Anthroform, Pilot Exotic Vehicle, Pilot Ground Craft, Pilot Watercraft, Throwing Weapons, and all Knowledge Skills.
Q. What happens if I raise a single skill within a skill group?
If you raise a skill within a group separately, you can no longer raise the group.
Q. Can specializations exceed the skill cap of 6? As in Firearms Skill Group 6 (spec:Pistols +2) for 8 dice?
You can't specialize with Skill Groups, but you could do so with a single skill (Pistols 6/Automatics 8 ... the extra dice does not count for the skill limit). Specialization is a modifier to the dice pool, not an increase in skill, or that's the way it looks.
Q. Defaulting, pg 110. What is up with that?
-1 modifier or GM can declare they cannot try. Edge can augment.
Q. What about after chargen? What are the karma costs for skills?
- New Active Skill (Rating 1) - 4 Karma
- New Active Skill Group (Rating 1) - 10 Karma
- New Knowledge/Language Skill (Rating 1) - 2 Karma
- New Specialization (tack on a +2 for the Specialization, only ONE specialization is allowed for any skill, and new specializations "overwrite" the old ones, but only at GM's discretion) - 2 Karma
(Special Note: Raising a Skill above 6 costs double the usual amount of Karma, and can only be done if you have the Aptitude quality in that skill)
- Improving an Active Skill by 1 - (New Rating) x 2 Karma
- Improving an Active Skill Group by 1 - (New Rating) x 5 Karma
- Improving an Attribute by 1 - (New Rating) x 3 Karma
- Improving a Knowledge/Language skill by 1 - (New Rating) Karma
- New Positive Quality (the old "Edge") - BP Cost x 2 Karma
- Removing a Negative Quality ("Flaws") - BP Bonus x 2 Karma
- New Spell - 5 Karma
- New Complex Form (Rating 1) - 2 Karma
- Improving a Complex Form by 1 - (New Rating)
NS:SE
