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[[setting:general_system_house_rules#abilities|Back to General System House Rules]] \\

====== Primary Skills ======

__**Animal Ken:**__ You can understand animals’ behavior patterns. This Skill allows you to predict how an animal might react in a given situation, train a domesticated creature, or even try to calm or enrage animals. \\
• **Novice:** You know some basic animal lore and could train your dog yourself. \\
•• **Practiced:** You can train other people’s pets for them, and you’ve dealt with a number of different animals. \\
••• **Competent:** You can train animals for a living. \\
•••• **Expert:** You can handle and train exotic and difficult animals such as lions and tigers. \\
••••• **Master:** You are one with the beasts. \\

__**Crafts:**__ From cooking to carpentry to sculpting, Crafts covers any sort of work with your hands. Characters can build, create and make functional things using this Skill. Characters with Crafts must choose a specialty at the first rank, although they don’t gain a bonus for it until they have four or more ranks in the Skill. \\
• **Novice:** You can do simple projects on your own. \\
•• **Practiced:** You understand many of the subtleties of your craft. \\
••• **Competent:** You can earn a decent living at your craft. \\
•••• **Expert:** People are consistently impressed with your work. \\
••••• **Master:** You’re a true master of your craft, and probably recognized as such. \\

__**Drive:**__ It is assumed that all modern characters have a base familiarity with the Drive Skill, allowing them to handle an automobile with reasonable ease in normal situations. Instead, Drive allows you to perform tricky maneuvers, drive at high speeds, and engage in car chases. On the other hand, just because you’re familiar with one type of land vehicle doesn’t mean that you can handle another; there’s a world of difference between a subcompact and a troop carrier. The difficulty of a Drive roll can increase or decrease, depending upon how familiar you are with the vehicle you’re driving. \\
• **Novice:** You could handle long highway trips. \\
•• **Practiced:** You could drive stick shift. \\
••• **Competent:** You survived driving in Boston in winter. \\
•••• **Expert:** You could have been a professional racecar driver. \\
••••• **Master:** Rush hour traffic in Rome? Not a problem. \\

__**Etiquette:**__ Etiquette is the measure of your understanding of the nuances and delicate balances of polite society. Such a Skill is useful during diplomatic engagements, gatherings, or encounters with higher society. Etiquette isn’t just knowing how to be polite, it’s also sometimes knowing how to avoid getting yourself eaten. \\
• **Novice:** You know when to keep your mouth shut. \\
•• **Practiced:** You know the difference between formal and black tie. \\
••• **Competent:** You knew which utensil to use for which course. \\
•••• **Expert:** You can get along with — or at least not offend — anyone without trying. \\
••••• **Master:** You could navigate family Thanksgiving dinner without offending anyone. \\

__**Firearms:**__ This Skill covers both how well you can shoot and your skill at maintaining and repairing firearms. Artillery pieces, mortars, and so on are not covered by this Skill, nor are archaic
weapons such as bows, slings, or atlatls. \\
• **Novice:** You can hit the broad side of a barn with a shotgun. \\
•• **Practiced:** You didn’t embarrass yourself at the rifle range. \\
••• **Competent:** You can hit a moving target. \\
•••• Expert: You would have aced sniper school. \\
••••• Master: You can field strip your gun in the dark or blindfolded, and you hit whatever you aim at. \\

__**Larceny:**__ This Skill entails familiarity with the tools and techniques for the sorts of physical manipulation typically associated with criminal activity. Picking locks, manual forgery, safecracking, simple hotwiring, various forms of breaking and entering, and even sleight-of-hand all fall under the auspices of Larceny. Larceny is useful not only for theft, but also for setting up “the unbeatable system” or deducing where a thief broke in. This skill does not confer any aptitude with advanced security or anti-crime technologies such as video surveillance or alarm systems — those are covered by the Security
skill. \\
• Novice: You can pick a simple lock. \\	
•• Practiced: You could run a shell game hustle on the corner. \\
••• Competent: You can open a standard locked window from the outside. \\		
•••• Expert: You can “retool” a passport or ID card. \\
••••• Master: You could get into (or out of...) a multinational bank’s central vault. \\

__**Martial Arts:**__ The many refinements of hand-to-hand combat have produced thousands of martial art styles, from pankration to t’ai chi. You pursue one or more of these disciplines, so your fighting techniques are more effective than simple punches and kicks. \\
(Note: Consult the combat house rules for details on the differences between this skill and the Brawl talent.) \\
• **Novice:** Raw beginner. \\
•• **Practiced:** Experienced student. \\
••• **Skillful:** Devotee. \\
•••• **Expert:** Accomplished combatant. \\
••••• **Master:** Formidable master. \\

__**Melee:**__ Fighting with a weapon in hand is almost a lost art, but characters with this Skill are acquainted with a variety of melee weapons, from simple clubs to knives, swords, and even exotic weapons like axes or maces. Any weapon that is wielded in close combat falls under this Skill. Thrown weapons are covered by Athletics. A character trained in Melee also knows about various kinds of weapons and combat techniques. \\
• **Novice:** You’ve learned the right way to hold a weapon, maybe taken some lessons or been in a medieval recreation society. \\
•• **Practiced:** You’ve wielded weapons in a few fights. \\
••• **Competent:** Not only have you been in armed fights, you’ve generally won them. \\
•••• **Expert:** You could compete in bouts or teach most fighters a few tricks. \\
••••• **Master:** You have a skill usually seen only in movie action scenes. \\

__**Performance:**__ This Skill includes all the performing arts, such as acting, dancing, singing and playing a musical instrument. Characters with this skill must choose a specialty at the first rank, although they don’t gain a bonus for it until they have four or more ranks in the Skill. \\
• **Novice:** You’re a talented amateur. \\
•• **Practiced:** You’re comfortable and capable in front of an audience. \\
••• **Competent:** You impress audiences with your performance. \\
•••• **Expert:** You dazzle audiences with your performance. \\
••••• **Master:** You play to packed houses and regularly get standing ovations. \\

__**Stealth:**__ This is the Skill that covers both moving silently and hiding unnoticed. Usually Stealth rolls are made against another character’s Perception. \\
• **Novice:** You were a master at “hide and seek.” \\
•• **Practiced:** You can disappear into a crowd and follow someone without being spotted right off. \\
••• **Competent:** You’re not noticed unless you want to be. \\
•••• **Expert:** You could move through the woods and not crunch a dry leaf. \\
••••• **Master:** You’re like a ninja, practically invisible when you want to be. \\

__**Survival:**__ The world can be a harsh place. It takes skill to survive without the comforts of modern life. Survival covers making it in the wilderness (even the wilderness of the urban jungle) with only simple tools and resources. The more skilled characters are, the fewer resources they need in order to survive. They can live off the land, avoid the dangers of the environment, find shelter and so forth. \\
• **Novice:** You’ve been camping a few times. \\
•• **Practiced:** You’ve been camping a lot of times and taken a survival course or two. \\
••• **Competent:** You can care for a small group of people and keep them alive. \\
•••• **Expert:** You can live off the land pretty much indefinitely. \\
••••• **Master:** You are one with your environment. \\

__**Technology:**__ This Skill covers understanding, operating, repairing, and even building or upgrading electronic devices. Purely mechanical devices fall under the Crafts Skill, while computer software falls under the Computers Knowledge. Characters without this Skill may know how to operate various common devices, but they don’t necessarily know how they work or how to fix them. \\
• **Novice:** You can re-wire a lamp and do some common household repairs. \\
•• **Practiced:** You can do some basic electrical work or build a crystal radio set. \\
••• **Competent:** You’re a skilled electrical engineer (with or without the college degree), able to design and build various devices. \\
•••• **Expert:** You can alter and upgrade existing electronic equipment. \\
••••• **Master:** You’re ahead of your time when it comes to designing and building new technology. \\


====== Secondary Skills ======


__**Acrobatics:**__ Dazzling feats of athletic grace are yours to perform. Despite the limitations of physics and biology, you defy gravity and make it look easy. Naturally, there’s intense practice and dedication involved in such discipline – it didn’t come easily, and you must hone such skills with constant exercise. \\
• **Novice:** Practiced tumbler. \\
•• **Practiced:** High school gymnast. \\
••• **Skillful:** Professional acrobat. \\
•••• **Expert:** Olympic-level contender. \\
••••• **Master:** Cirque Du Soleil artist. \\
//(Source: M20 Core Book, page 295)// \\

__**Archery:**__ You can shoot humanity’s most venerable long-distance weapon: the bow. Beyond its obvious practical applications, this Skill can become a meditative art as well – and is practiced as such by Zen archers and other enthusiasts. Because bows launch wooden shafts, they make good weapons against vampires... and because they’re almost silent, bows offer efficient gear for assassins and spies as well. \\
• **Novice:** Kid in archery class. \\
•• **Practiced:** SCAdian archer. \\
••• **Skillful:** Bow-hunter. \\
•••• **Expert:** Katniss Everdeen. \\
••••• **Master:** Legolas. \\
//(Source: M20 Core Book, page 295)// \\

__**Artillery:**__ You may operate and shoot artillery of all varieties - anything from a mortar to a howitzer. Additionally, your knowledge of the weapons includes the ability to repair them. \\
• **Novice:** Young recruit \\
•• **Practiced:** Operator \\
••• **Competent:** Forward observer \\
•••• **Expert:** Gun captain \\
••••• **Master:** Can fire the thing by yourself if need be \\
//(Source: Vampire Players Guide (2nd Edition), page 27)// \\

__**Blind Fighting:**__ Either through training, meditation or grim necessity, you can get around without sight even under extreme conditions. Each dot in Blind Fighting reduces, by -1 per dot, your penalty for performing actions while visually blinded. (It does not, of course, give you a bonus for fighting in the dark, although it certainly gives you an edge if your opponents are blind as well.) This Skill does not give you the ability to see in darkness, nor does it add to Correspondence Effects; it does, however, reflect an extraordinary perception of your body and immediate surroundings even when you cannot see. \\
• **Novice:** You can move through a darkened room without running into things. \\
•• **Practiced:** Through sound, you can figure out where things and people are. \\
••• **Skillful:** Your opponents are as obvious to you in the dark as they would be if you could see. \\
•••• **Expert:** You essentially “feel” the presence, movements, and location of various obstacles and opponents. \\
••••• **Master:** Zatoichi, the Blind Swordsman. \\
//(Source: M20 Book of Secrets, page 22)// \\

__**Biotech:**__ Bodies are the original machines, and technology invents new machines to go along with them. You understand the connections between organic and mechanical systems and can work the places where they interface. An absolutely essential Skill for the cyborgs and cybernetic engineers of Iteration X, the Progenitors, the Virtual Adepts, and certain Etherite factions, Biotech gives you hands-on training and experience with cybernetic technology. Naturally, you need various Science Knowledges in order to design, invent, and install such technology; with this Skill, though, you’ve got practical applications to back up all that information. \\
• **Novice:** Given a basic understanding of biotech principles, you’ve seen the design and implementation of such technology. Despite your lack of experience, you might be able to make very simple repairs if need be. \\
•• **Practiced:** Now you’ve got the experience to make basic repairs and can design and install simple biotech machines. \\
••• **Skillful:** Honed by study, field work, and laboratory experimentation, you’ve got serious chops with regards to cybernetic technology. \\
•••• **Expert:** You’re good enough to create, install, and maintain radical designs, perform major
overhauls on existing tech, and employ almost any biotech Device or Procedure within your field. \\
••••• **Master:** You could compare notes with Tony Stark. \\
//(Source: M20 Core Book, page 295f)// \\

__**Boat Handling:**__ You know your way around a boat, and can operate effectively in any crew position. \\
• **Novice:** Weekend sailor \\
•• **Practiced:** Serious enthusiast \\
••• **Competent:** Competitor or semi-skilled professional \\
•••• **Expert:** Professional or Olympic standard \\
••••• **Master:** Instructor or Olympic gold medallist \\
//(Source: Vampire Players Guide (2nd Edition), page 27)// \\

__**Brewing/Distilling:**__ You are skilled in the manufacture of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. You are familiar with the equipment used in brewing and distilling, and can maintain, operate and repair such equipment. \\
• **Novice:** Brew -kit user \\
•• **Practiced:** Home winemaker \\
••• **Competent:** Moonshiner \\
•••• **Expert:** Commercial winemaker \\
••••• **Master:** Chateau of repute \\
//(Source: Vampire Players Guide (2nd Edition), page 27)// \\

__**Bribery:**__ You know how, when and where to grease palms. Coupled with Streetwise or Politics, this Ability could buy you a very easy life. However, you still need to decide whom to approach and whom to leave alone - remember, not everyone turns a blind eye. \\
• **Novice:** Get a bouncer to overlook the dress code. \\
•• **Practiced:** Get the building inspector off your back. \\
••• **Competent:** A policeman won't write you tickets. \\
•••• **Expert:** The inspector from the EPA leaves you alone. \\
••••• **Master:** State politicians and local CEOs scratch your back. \\
//(Source: Vampire Players Guide (2nd Edition), page 27)// \\

__**Climbing:**__ The phrase “sheer surface” means less to you than it means to most folks. You can scale walls, trees, mountains, and other surfaces so long as you’ve got something to hold onto. Although this Skill does not grant superhuman abilities, it’s really amazing what a skilled climber can do, even without gear. \\
• **Novice:** You spend time at the local gym’s climbing wall. \\
•• **Practiced:** Given gear or strong handholds, you can scale and descend perilous surfaces. \\
••• **Skillful:** You’re an experienced climber on a variety of surfaces. \\
•••• **Expert:** No gear? No problem. \\
••••• **Master:** Even without gear, you’re a human gecko. \\
//(Source: M20 Book of Secrets, page 22)// \\

__**Disguise:**__ Looking like someone else is your specialty. This might involve impersonating an existing person, concealing your own identity, or creating a whole new persona independent of yourself. \\
• **Novice:** Is that //you?// \\
•• **Practiced:** You can pass a brief inspection. \\
••• **Skillful:** You fool some of the people some of the time. \\
•••• **Expert:** You fool most of the people most of the time. \\
••••• **Master:** Given time and materials, you can appear as almost anyone it’s physically possible for you to resemble. \\
//(Source: M20 Book of Secrets, page 23)// \\

__**Divination:**__((Note: Despite similarities in the name, Divination and Fortune-Telling are fundamentally different skills: Divination allows you to receive genuine omen about the future from the gods. It is supernatural in nature. Fortune-telling on the other hand is a mundane ability employed by showmen and con-artists. It is mostly about reading your mark, not the cards.)) You are adept at interpreting signs and omens in order to learn something about the future. Your character can use this skill once per game session. They must have access to an appropriate means of divination, whether it is checking the positions of stars in the night sky or examining the entrails of a sacrificial beast. They can attempt a general reading or ask specific questions. The Storyteller determines the difficulty and rolls your character's Perception + Divination secretly. Success provides some clue or hint. The greater the success is, the clearer the signs are... although it's always somewhat cryptic. \\
• **Novice:** "Hm, the ibises rise over the Nile... luck is with us." \\
•• **Practiced:** You know at least one divination method well, and you can use it fairly reliably. \\
••• **Competent:** You could make a living as a professional fortune-teller. \\
•••• **Expert:** Your skills would have been welcome in the court of the Pharao. \\
••••• **Master:** Your predictions are almost always accurate. \\
//(Source: Mummy: The Resurrection, page 61)// \\

__**Energy Weapons:**__ When the only things standing between innocent bystanders and a raging Reality Deviant are you, your blaster, and the ability to use it, this becomes a must-have Skill. Laser guns, particle-beam accelerators, plasma hand-cannons, ectoplasmic disrupters, and other advanced weaponry demand advanced handling; any ape can fire a revolver, but only specially trained personnel know how to employ hypertech weaponry. \\
• **Novice:** Imperial Stormtrooper. \\
•• **Practiced:** Competent shooter. \\
••• **Skillful:** Average Technocratic field operative. \\
•••• **Expert:** Elite Op. \\
••••• **Master:** “Phased plasma rifle in the 40-Watt range...” \\
//(Source: M20 Core Book, page 296)// \\

__**Escapology:**__ Through a combination of tricks, misdirection, muscular control and really flexible joints, you can shuck most forms of physical restraint. Ropes, chains, holds, and death-traps slow you down, but... given time and perhaps a hidden lockpick or two... you’ve figured out how to foil most of them. \\
• **Novice:** You can slip out of poorly-tied ropes or simple holds. \\
•• **Practiced:** You give fits to the average dominant. \\
••• **Skillful:** “I’m sorry, officer – you must’ve forgotten to lock those handcuffs.” \\
•••• **Expert:** Chains, locks, straitjackets... few of them can hold you for long.
••••• **Master:** With a bit of time, you can escape just about anything short of a locked bank vault. \\
//(Source: M20 Book of Secrets, page 23)// \\

__**Fast-Draw:**__ You’re quick. They’re dead. A roll of Dexterity + Fast-Draw (three successes or more) lets you pull a weapon and have it ready to use. The roll’s difficulty depends on where you’d been keeping that weapon stored – a hidden ankle-knife is harder to draw than a pistol in an open holster! This Skill works with any weapon, and can “explain” why that gun in your hand just appeared from nowhere. With the Storyteller’s approval, you can add the dots in this Skill to your Initiative roll when either you or your opponent is trying to get in the very first shot. (It does not, however, add to that roll after the initial turn.) \\
• **Novice:** You fumble less than most folks do. \\
•• **Practiced:** Decent reflexes and a steady hand. \\
••• **Skillful:** Holy crap, you’re fast! \\
•••• **Expert:** “Fill your hands, you sonofabitch!” \\
••••• **Master:** Han didn’t shoot first – you did. \\
//(Source: M20 Book of Secrets, page 23f)// \\

__**Fast-Talk:**__ Weaving a blizzard of words, you dazzle folks with brilliant bullshittery. A surprisingly effective tactic (assuming that your target has a Wits rating of three or less; brighter folks are less easily bamboozled), this Skill lets you overwhelm a person’s ability to understand or deflect your agenda. You’re so distracting, convincing, or downright puzzling that people are inclined to
believe you... at least until they’ve had a chance to think about what you’re saying. Deployed by a pundit, debater, salesman or crook, Fast-Talk can be a devastating weapon. \\
• **Novice:** Street-corner hustler. \\
•• **Practiced:** Used-car salesman. \\
••• **Skillful:** Political pundit. \\
•••• **Expert:** Slick politician. \\
••••• **Master:** Master of puppets. \\
//(Source: M20 Book of Secrets, page 24)// \\

__**Fortune-Telling /Assessment Analysis:**__((Note: Despite similarities in the name, Divination and Fortune-Telling are fundamentally different skills: Divination allows you to receive genuine omen about the future from the gods. It is supernatural in nature. Fortune-telling on the other hand is a mundane ability employed by showmen and con-artists. It is mostly about reading your mark, not the cards.)) Whether or not you actually possess accurate gifts of prophecy, you often have folks believing that you do. Scanning anything from cards to entrails to scripture verses, you can convincingly predict future events, read a person, or otherwise get someone to believe in your incredible prescience. \\
A variation of this trait, Assessment Analysis, does exactly the same thing but with a very different explanation. Instead of using symbolic or religious trappings, such Analysis involves psychological cues, deductive reasoning, body language, and other methods to read a person’s inner landscape, predict potential behaviors, or estimate the probabilities of future events. This lets Assessment Specialists size people up at a glance, determine accurate calculations, or strip away deceptions to perceive the truth beneath them. \\
• **Novice:** You know your way around a single divination method well enough to convince people of what they want to hear. \\
•• **Practiced:** You’re pretty convincing with your chosen method, and you understand one or two other methods as well. \\
••• **Skillful:** You can rattle off credible readings with a handful of different methods, and can be frighteningly precise with your specialty. \\
•••• **Expert:** An expert at the means and principles of divination (or analysis), you can assure most people that you know what you’re talking about. \\
••••• **Master:** Your mastery of divinatory arts convinces even hardened skeptics that you have special insight into the invisible world. Even if you practice Analysis instead of absurd superstitionism, your insights are downright spooky. \\
//(Source: M20 Book of Secrets, page 24f)// \\

__**Forgery:**__ You can copy a document or two-dimensional artwork well enough to enable it to appear as the real thing under casual inspection, and perhaps more detailed inspection as well. \\
• **Novice:** Interoffice memos \\
•• **Practiced:** Signatures \\
••• **Competent:** Commercial papers; passports \\
•••• **Expert:** Checks; bonds; bank drafts; some artworks \\
••••• **Master:** Banknotes; old master paintings \\
//(Source: Vampire Players Guide (2nd Edition), page 30)// \\

__**Gambling:**__ Games of nerve and chance are your specialties. You’re good at gauging odds, bluffing rivals, spotting cheats, hedging bets, faking people out, and employing the mind-games and slight-of-hand essential to card games, betting, and apparently random luck. \\
• **Novice:** Poker-night shark. \\
•• **Practiced:** Vegas tourist. \\
••• **Skillful:** Professional gambler. \\
•••• **Expert:** High-roller. \\
••••• **Master:** “Your call, Mr. Bond...” \\
//(Source: M20 Book of Secrets, page 25)// \\

__**Gunsmith:**__ Shooting guns is easy. Knowing how guns work is a bit more complicated. This Skill reflects a practical knowledge of weapon manufacture, modification, design and repair. The various levels cover expanding categories of firearms expertise. Given time, tools, and enough dots in this Skill, you can fix guns, or even craft firearms and unique ammo from scratch. \\
• **Novice:** Basic gun repair and minor modifications. \\
•• **Practiced:** Advanced modification of simple firearms and ammunition. \\
••• **Skillful:** Extensive design, repair, and modification experience with conventional firearms. \\
•••• **Expert:** Dazzling mastery of most gun and ammunition types. \\
••••• **Master:** Mack Bolan comes to you for advice. \\
//(Source: M20 Book of Secrets, page 25f)// \\

__**Heavy Weapons:**__ Military-grade weaponry is a world apart from commercial-grade firearms. Your training, however, allows you to employ serious gear: machine-guns, rocket-launchers, Stinger missiles,
and other high-impact forms of portable destruction. Because such weapons tend to be finicky, you know how to field-repair them as well. \\
• **Novice:** Basic training. \\
•• **Practiced:** Field experience. \\
••• **Skillful:** Heavy-weapons specialist. \\
•••• **Expert:** Master of disaster. \\
••••• **Master:** Rambo. \\
//(Source: M20 Book of Secrets, page 26)// \\

__**Hunting:**__ You score food old-school style: by tracking, trapping, spotting, stalking, killing, gutting, skinning, and packing it out yourself. Some folks think you’re a testosterone sadist, and they might even be right. As far as you see it, though, you’re keeping an essential skill alive. \\
Like Art, Crafts, and other broad-set Abilities, Hunting covers a field of related expertise. Each type of expertise demands a given specialty. Unlike the Survival Skill, this secondary Ability deals specifically with predatory skill-sets. You could use its specialties to follow a target without being spotted (Shadowing), spot traces of your chosen prey (Tracking), dismantle a dead body without spoiling the meat (Dressing the Kill), and perform other feats that go beyond mere survival. \\
• **Novice:** Weekend warrior. \\
•• **Practiced:** Rural native. \\
••• **Skillful:** Practical provider. \\
•••• **Expert:** Full-time hunter. \\
••••• **Master:** Ted Nugent wishes he were you. \\
//(Source: M20 Book of Secrets, page 26)// \\

__**Hypertech:**__ There’s mundane technology, and then there’s the stuff that technomages command. This latter tech is not, of course, “magick” – perish that thought! Still, its principles transcend the limited understanding of the Masses and their convenient little world. The advanced principles employed by the Technocracy, Virtual Adepts, various mad scientists, and even the technomancers of other, more traditional pursuits all range outside everyday sciences. These arcane technologies – nanotech, Trinary computing, extradimensional travel, and so on – seem mysterious even to many of the rank-and-file who employ them. You, however, understand how such things work... and through such understanding, you can modify existing Devices, create your own, or employ machines created by other technomancer mages. \\
• **Novice:** You understand basic theories of alternative sciences. \\
•• **Practiced:** “Esoterica” is just another word for the obvious.\\
••• **Skillful:** You can wrap your head around the technological perversions of other groups.\\
•••• **Expert:** Technologies of your foes and rivals dance to the tune you program for them.\\
••••• **Master:** So rich is your comprehension of the universe that few technologies elude your command.\\
//(Source: M20 Core Book, page 296)// \\

__**Hypnotism:**__ Using mundane psychological techniques, you can place someone in a trance and then rummage around a bit inside his head. Though it’s not nearly as effective as people seem to believe it is, such mesmerism is quite potent under the proper circumstances. \\
Mesmerism typically demands a setting that encourages a subject to surrender himself to the hypnotist’s control; traditionally hypnotic settings, tools, and techniques include religious rituals, quiet clinics, repetitious music, dramatic contrasts of light and darkness, and – believe it or not – television screens. Drawing the subject into a receptive state of mind, the hypnotist gets him to lower his defenses and let her in. \\
• **Novice:** You can do some basic parlor tricks. \\
•• **Practiced:** You’ve studied professional mesmerism techniques. \\
••• **Skillful:** A devotee of the art, you can uncover or inspire surprising results. \\
•••• **Expert:** It’s scary just how much you can do when you set someone else’s mind to it. \\
••••• **Master:** Dr. Caligari was a fraud. You are not. \\
//(Source: M20 Book of Secrets, page 26f)// \\

__**Jetpack:**__ The tricky art of personal flight devices is yours to enjoy. With this Skill, you know how to control body-mounted flying gadgets. Like most tech-based Abilities, your success depends a lot on your familiarity, or lack of it, with the specific kind of tech involved. A Man in Black would have as hard a time with a Son of Ether’s jetpack as an Etherite would have with standard-issue NWO gear. Once you’ve logged some flight-time with a device, however, you’re on your way.\\
• **Novice:** “Oooooooooh, shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiittttttt!”\\
•• **Practiced:** “That’s not flying – that’s falling with style.”\\
••• **Skillful:** Experienced and controlled.\\
•••• **Expert:** You can fly, fight, and return to earth intact.\\
••••• **Master:** “To Infinity – and BEYOND!”\\
//(Source: M20 Core Book, page 297)// \\

__**Jury-Rigging:**__ With a bit of luck and a lot of skill, you can rig a gadget, make temporary repairs, or cobble together something vaguely workable from a pile of spare parts. Naturally, you’ll need the appropriate Traits as well – stuff like Hypertech, Computers, Energy Weapons, and so forth. You can’t rig something you don’t understand. A brilliant technician, though, can make gear jump through hoops long enough to get through an immediate crisis. \\
• **Novice:** Garage tinkerer. \\
•• **Practiced:** Mr. Fixit. \\
••• **Skillful:** Field gadgeteer. \\
•••• **Expert:** MacGyver. \\
••••• **Master:** Tony Friggin’ Stark. \\
//(Source: M20 Book of Secrets, page 27)// \\

__**Lip Reading:**__ You are able to understand speech without hearing it, just by watching mouth movement. Though you will not pick up on every word, you can usually figure out the gist of a sentence without too much trouble. \\
• **Novice:** If someone talks slowly and clearly, with exaggerated mouth movement. \\
•• **Practiced:** If someone talks fairly slowly and you concentrate. \\
••• **Competent:** Under most circumstances. \\
•••• **Expert:** Even under bad conditions, including foreign languages, bad light and distance. \\
••••• **Master:** Under just about any conditions. \\
//(Source: Vampire Players Guide (2nd Edition), page 31)// \\

__**Meditation:**__ Ground, center, breathe, and relax. This Skill helps you sweep aside the clutter of everyday existence and find a spot within yourself that offers calm. Depending on your preferred style, your background, and the purpose for which you practice meditation, this could involve simple quiet time, elaborate postures and breath control, religious devotion, and even ecstatic dance or prayer. \\
• **Novice:** You can ground and center for short periods of time. \\
•• **Practiced:** Regular practice has deepened and extended your abilities. \\
••• **Skillful:** Even under distracting conditions, you know how to find your center. \\
•••• **Expert:** “Use the Force, Luke...” \\
••••• **Master:** An island of calm is yours whenever you want or need it. \\
//(Source: M20 Core Book, page 281)// \\

__**Microgravity Operations:**__ Things get weird when you leave Earth’s gravity. Although there’s no such thing as true “zero-G,” the radically altered gravitational forces found in strange Realms, spacecraft or
Etherspace demand specialized training and experience. \\
Without the Microgravity Operations Skill, a character in such environments cannot use dice from any Physical Ability; sure, he’s still strong or dexterous, but that martial arts training won’t do him a damn bit of good when the physics upon which those arts depend have been replaced by micro-gravity. \\
• **Novice:** Don’t hyperventilate and don’t throw up. \\
•• **Practiced:** You’re good so long as you have something to hang on to. \\
••• **Skillful:** It feels weird, but you’ve started to get the hang of things. \\
•••• **Expert:** You move almost as well in micro-G as you do on Earth. \\
••••• **Master:** You’ve spent so much time in space that you’re not sure what earthly gravity feels like anymore. \\
//(Source: M20 Book of Secrets, page 27)// \\

__**Misdirection:**__ //“Look! Over there!”// Okay, you’re usually more subtle than that. Still, you’re good at distracting folks from what you’re actually trying to do. An essential skill for magicians, pickpockets, seducers, and other people who prefer to redirect attention, this Ability helps you steer someone’s concentration elsewhere. \\
• **Novice:** “My God – what’s that?” \\
•• **Practiced:** “Nothing up my sleeves...” \\
••• **Skillful:** “What about that guy over there?” \\
•••• **Expert:** “You mean this hand...?” \\
••••• **Master:** “These aren’t the droids you’re looking for...” \\
//(Source: M20 Book of Secrets, page 27f)// \\

__**Networking:**__ You’re good at making contacts and working them for all they’re worth. While these networks won’t actually act on your behalf (certain Backgrounds cover that sort of thing), they’re real lifesavers when you’re trying to assemble data (Perception + Networking), get something done (Manipulation + Networking), or win someone over (Charisma or Appearance + Networking) through your various contacts. Simple tasks have lower difficulties, while obscure or difficult tasks demand much better rolls – or, in story terms, a more thorough and dedicated network. \\
• **Novice:** You’ve got some friends who know some friends. \\
•• **Practiced:** You know how to sweet-talk certain gatekeepers. \\
••• **Skillful:** You know who to talk to and how to talk to them. \\
•••• **Expert:** With two hours and a phone, you work wonders. \\
••••• **Master:** Access to almost anyone is just a matter of time. \\
//(Source: M20 Book of Secrets, page 28)// \\

__**Parachuting:**__ You know how to use a parachute, both for sport and for other purposes. \\
• **Novice:** Weekend jumper \\
•• **Practiced:** Reservist \\
••• **Competent:** Airborne regular \\
•••• **Expert:** Special Forces or sport instructor \\
••••• **Master:** Special Forces instructor or sport champion \\
//(Source: Vampire Players Guide (2nd Edition), page 32)// \\

__**Pilot:**__ Most folks, when confronted with the complex control panels of conventional aircraft, don’t have the slightest idea where to start. You do. Training and experience allow you to fly, land, and control most types of Sleepertech flying machines; the higher your rating, the more sophisticated the craft. \\
• **Novice:** Small prop planes. \\
•• **Practiced:** Private jets. \\
••• **Skillful:** Commercial aircraft. \\
•••• **Expert:** Military war machines. \\
••••• **Master:** Damn near anything. \\
//(Source: M20 Book of Secrets, page 28)// \\

__**Psychology /Psychoanalysis:**__ Versed in the practice of clinical psychology, you can help folks deal with mental and emotional ailments. Also known as Psychoanalysis, this Trait takes time and trust to deploy – you can’t cure phobias during a firefight! Given the space and opportunity to work your craft, though, you can win someone’s confidence and then help him sort out the traumas in his head. \\
• **Novice:** A trusted shoulder to cry on. \\
•• **Practiced:** High-school guidance counselor. \\
••• **Skillful:** Professional therapist. \\
•••• **Expert:** Acclaimed authority. \\
••••• **Master:** Miracle-worker. \\
//(Source: M20 Book of Secrets, page 28f)// \\

__**Riding:**__ You know how to saddle, care for, and ride some sort of animal. Through a combination of techniques and bonding, you stand a decent chance of getting where you want to go without being thrown off, trampled, or possibly eaten by your ride.\\
• **Novice:** Dude-ranch tourist.\\
•• **Practiced:** Practiced equestrian.\\
••• **Skillful:** Professional rider.\\
•••• **Expert:** Bronco-buster.\\
••••• **Master:** Ride the tiger, bay-beee!\\
//(Source: M20 Core Book, page 297)// \\

__**Security:**__ Locks are for morons. In our high-tech era, anything worth keeping is guarded by advanced security systems. As a specialist in such systems, you can analyze, install, access, and – when necessary – subvert or disable them. \\
In game terms, this Ability lets you set up, maintain, and infiltrate elaborate security installations: video cameras, laser-triggers, pressure-sensitive plates, and so on. Obviously, such tasks demand time and focus, plus the occasional bit of magick or Enlightened procedure. Given the intricate technology involved in security networks, other Abilities (Computer, Hypertech, Technology, and so forth) often come into play as well; the Security Skill could tell you where to place the cameras, but it won’t help you hack their monitoring network! Appropriate task rolls include Perception + Security (to scope out the system), Intelligence + Security (to install or disable a system), Wits + Security (to spot hidden cameras or tricks), or even Dexterity + Security (to perform the famous Hollywood dodge-the-laser-sensors-with-fancy-moves stunt). \\
• **Novice:** You’ve skimmed some manuals. \\
•• **Practiced:** Trained on one side of the law. \\
••• **Skillful:** Trained on both sides of the law. \\
•••• **Expert:** You’ve designed (or defeated) extensive networks. \\
••••• **Master:** Catwoman. \\

__**Speed-Reading:**__ Through a combination of concentration and skill, you can scan and retain large amounts of information in very short periods of time. Speed reading utilizes a number of tricks that help you process things you read quickly. Although complex works demand more time and focus than simple ones do, this skill comes in handy when you’ve got research to do and not much time with which to do it. \\
• **Novice:** Twilight in an hour. \\
•• **Practiced:** Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone in two or three hours. \\
••• **Skillful:** Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows in two or three hours. \\
•••• **Expert:** A Game of Thrones in two or three hours. \\
••••• **Master:** War and Peace in two or three hours. \\
//(Source: M20 Book of Secrets, page 29f)// \\

__**Swimming:**__ You don’t sink – you swim. Under normal circumstances, you can move roughly 8 yards + your Dexterity rating in a turn. By focusing solely upon your speed, you can move up to 12 yards + your Dexterity rating; and by throwing everything you have behind the strokes, you can roll your Stamina + Swimming (difficulty 7) to add three more yards to your movement that turn. Each turn demands a separate roll, though, and you can do this for only one turn per point of Stamina you possess. After that... well, sinking might become an option... \\
• **Novice:** You’ve had some swimming lessons. \\
•• **Practiced:** You spend plenty of time in pools, lakes or oceans. \\
••• **Skillful:** You could score a place on a swim team. \\
•••• **Expert:** You’d probably pass a professional lifeguard test. \\
••••• **Master:** Olympic-level competition is yours if you want it. \\
//(Source: M20 Book of Secrets, page 30)// \\

__**Tactics:**__ Tactics is a Skill measuring the character’s grasp of military strategy and the best
way to fight a battle, regardless of the odds. A skilled tactician can hold back an army with a dozen soldiers or pierce a stronghold’s defenses with perfectly timed attacks. Tactics is useless for a lone warrior, though, who survives only through raw skill and power. Tactics is based on leadership and teamwork, and it requires the character to command a group of warriors or followers. \\
Successful Intelligence or Wits + Tactics rolls allow the player to ask the Storyteller questions about
the forces opposing her followers before the battle begins. Each success yields a piece of information that the player can use to form battle plans. Alternatively, the Storyteller might award the player a pool of automatic successes equal to the successes of the Tactics roll. These successes can be applied to any roll or rolls made in the ensuing battle, representing the planning and teamwork employed by the character's forces. \\
• **Novice:** “Be careful out there, okay.” \\
•• **Practiced:**“Protect your flank, and watch out for automatic fire.” \\
••• **Competent:** “Jackson, you take point. Henderson, you’re on overwatch, and remember to stick to controlled bursts.” \\
•••• **Expert:** “There’s a high chance that their commander will call for a pincer movement — in which case, you need to...” \\
••••• **Master:** “Execute maneuver #46 after precisely 127 seconds have elapsed, which will remove their tertiary fire support...” \\
//(Source: Earthbound, page 73f)// \\
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