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- Persuasion (Mental 1, Charisma) — Unlike Oratory, which relies on emotion and rhetoric, the art of Persuasion
is built around intelligent arguments and personal charm. A character
with this skill is able to present especially cogent arguments
and explanations in conversation with an individual or small group.
With a successful skill check, he can convince them to take moderate
actions they may be considering already.
- For example, he may convince city guards to leave without making
arrests if a brawl’s already finished by the time they get there,
or he may convince a court official that he needs an audience
with the king. If the player’s thoughts and arguments are particularly
eloquent and acute, the skill check is made with a +5% to +20%
bonus.
- A character can also use Persuasion to influence the general attitude
of a person or small group toward another character, an idea,
course of action, etc.,. On a successful skill check the subject’s
reaction is modified by +2 with respect to the character’s argument.
This bonus is cumulative with reaction modifiers derived from
Charisma and magic but is not cumulative with reaction modifiers
derived from the use of other skills.
- A character receive an additional +1 reaction modifier for every
20 skill points above a 50% skill score. For example a 70% skill
score results in a +3 reaction modifier.
- Pest Control (Mental 1, Wisdom/Intuition) — This skill is used to keep strongholds
free of pests like rats, carrion crawlers, jermalaines, kobolds
and other small creatures. Similar to the Set Snares skill, it is concerned with catching underground pests but does
not use snares. Traps are set to trigger metal cages, drop nets
or iron doors which shut off individual tunnel sections. Spring
traps or small deadfalls may be rigged (damage 1d6 maximum) using
this skill. There is a -20% penalty to the skill check when using
Pest Control to trap man-sized or larger creatures.
- This skill does not give the character the ability to create new
traps or to make the items required for these devices, he can
only set the (already designed and built) traps and their triggers
without danger of injuring himself. A skill check must be rolled
when the trap is set. A failed check means that the trap will
fail to operate. It may not have been set properly, was poor concealed
or it was too small or too large for the creature to trigger.
Setting a trap takes an hour and the character must have proper
equipment and materials with him.
- Characters with the Animal Lore skill gain a +10% bonus when attempting to set traps to catch
animal pests.
- Planetology (Mental 1, Intelligence/Knowledge -1) — Only a character who
has experience in Wildspace can take this skill.
- A character with the Planetology skill has studied the various
types of planets that may be found within crystal spheres. He
is able to identify signs of groundling civilization from space
and can determine the climate and probable inhabitants of a world
by studying it for a short time (and making a successful skill
check).
- Poetry (Mental 1, Intelligence/Knowledge -2, Wisdom/Intuition) — A character
taking this skill specializes in either lyric or narrative poetry.
Lyric poetry expresses thoughts and feelings, and includes ballads,
sonnets, odes and hymns. Narrative poetry tells stories in verse,
some true, some fictional. A character with a skill score of 90%
or higher specialize in both forms.
- Poetry skill enables the character to judge the quality of poetry
in his specialty. He also knows a sizable repertoire of poems
and can recite them with spellbinding skill. No skill checks are
required for these applications.
- The character can also compose poems in his speciality; a successful
check means the poem is of exceptional quality. If the character
has the Reading/Writing skill, he can record his poems.
- Poetry for paladins, priests and other holy ones: With permission from the DM, a character with the Poetry skill
may offer a composition to his Church (or other designated recipient)
instead of a tithe. The character must inform the Church a month
in advance if he intends to offer a composition; either lyric
or narrative poetry is acceptable. If the Church (that is, the
DM) disapproves, the character must pay his normal tithe. If the
Church approves, the character may present a composition when
his tithe is normally due.
- The composition must be presented at the temple or to a Church
official at a prearranged location. The character then makes a
Poetry skill check. If the check fails, the composition is deemed
unworthy; the normal tithe must be paid immediately. If the check
succeeds, the DM determines the value of the composition; the
value is equal to 3d20 gp. If the value is greater than or equal
to the normal tithe, no tithe is required that month. The character
doesn’t receive any “change” if the value is more than his tithe;
the excess value is forfeited.
- If the value is less than the tithe, the character subtracts the
value from the tithe, then pays the difference (if the paladin
owes 20 gp and the value of the composition is 15 gp, he must
pay 5 gp). A character may exercise this option as often as he
likes.
- Note: A player who decides to exercise this option for his character
must actually compose a poetic work. The DM will at his option
modify the skill check based on the quality of the poem.
- Racial modifiers: Paladian elves receive a +10% bonus to their skill score. All
other elves receive a +5% bonus to their skill score.
- Poison Lore (Mental 2, Intelligence/Knowledge -2) — The prerequisites of
this skill are Brewing 25% and Herbalism 25%. A character with the Healing or Alchemy skill (skill score of 50%+) gains a +5% bonus to his Poison Lore
skill. Rogues (all classes), Necromancers (priests or wizards)
and Witches may learn Poison Lore as a Mental 1 skill.
- A character with this skill can through his training and experience
identify, handle and safely use poisons, including man made poisons,
monster venoms, herbal toxins and magical poisons. In addition,
the character has knowledge of how to brew natural poisons from
known recipes, research new poisons and harvest venoms from poisonous
animals. In addition, a character can identify naturally occurring
animals, plants or monsters that are poisonous (with a successful
skill check). This skill cannot be used to brew magical poisons.
- A character with Poison Lore may attempt identification of a toxin
through sight, smell, taste or symptoms. Modifiers apply to his
chance to identify a poison based on the means used to identify
it. Any roll which fails by 20% or more results in a misidentification
of both the poison and its antidote. A character with the Herbalism (50%+) skill gains a +5% bonus to his chance to identify a toxin
extracted from plants. Alternately, he may use his Herbalism skill
to identify herbal toxins (if his Herbalism skill score is greater
than his Poison Lore skill score).
- An attempt to identify a poison takes one round. If one method
of identification fails, another may be tried on a subsequent
round. A poison that lacks distinctive appearance, odor or taste
cannot be identified by that means.
- Identification by sight entails a visual examination of the poison
or poisoned article. Many poisons may have a corrosive or discoloring
effect on metals, foods, etc. Identification by sight has a -20%
chance of success.
- A poison may also be identified by its odor. This method carries
a -15% penalty. Furthermore, if it is an ingested or contact poison,
there is a 10% chance that the character will be affected by the
poison at half strength (i.e., no effect if the saving throw is
successful, and if the save is failed half the normal damage or
effects are suffered — see the Dungeon Master’s Guide, pg. 73).
- Identification by taste is a fairly reliable, if dangerous, method
of identifying a poison. It carries a -5% penalty. After dabbing
a tiny bit on his tongue, the character spits it out. There is
still a chance that the poison will affect the character 25% for
injected poison, 75% for ingested, and 100% for contact. The poison’s
effects, if any, are halved.
- The most certain way of identifying a poison is by its symptom
(no penalty on the attempt).
Identification of a poison indicates knowledge of an antidote
(if one exists) that will completely nullify the poison if administered
before the poison runs its course. However, it does not mean that
the antidote is available. The character may use the Poison Lore
skill to concoct a dose of poison antidote in 1d6 days, but the
poison has almost always run its course before the antidote can
be manufactured.
- Fortunately the poison master’s knowledge of the nature of poisons
includes knowledge of the use of universal antidotes. Such quick
antidotes can be concocted in 1d6 turns provided suitable materials
are available and the character makes a successful skill check
at -20%. A quick antidote administered before a poison runs its
course allows the effected creature to reroll its saving throw
with a +2 bonus to the roll. Success indicates the poison has
been nullified by the antidote, failure indicates the poison will
run its natural course. The Herbalism and Alchemy skills can also be used to create a poison antidote, but only
one attempt can be made to administer an antidote to a given creature.
If the attempt fails, the poison runs its natural course.
- A character who has a skill score of 50% or higher is able to
manufacture some of the more deadly poisons known in Fälgorna.
The cost and time required for such an activity is adjudicated
by the DM, but providing all of the components are personally
harvested by the character, it should take no less than 1d6 days
to make one dose of poison if the character is guided by a known
recipe or formula. Researching a new poison requires weeks of
experimentation and requires expenditures similar to those required
for spell research (consult the DM for details).
- Racial modifiers: Orcs often learn Poison Lore as a normal part of their upbringing,
thus they gain +15% bonus to their Poison Lore skill score.
- Power Manipulation (Mental 2, Ego/Aura -4) — Power manipulation is the skill of
amplifying a psionic power or devotion. This skill can only be
used to manipulate powers in the psionicist’s primary discipline.
When the psionicist initiates or maintains a psionic power, he
may use Power Manipulation to boost its effects.
- First he initiates the power with a normal power check. Then he
may attempt Power Manipulation by making a skill check. The attempt
incurs an additional cost of 5 PSPs, whether he succeeds or fails.
If the character makes a successful skill check, he achieves the
result listed for the devotion’s power score.
- A character with a skill score of 90% or higher is considered
a specialist and can manipulate sciences in his primary discipline.
- If the psionicist rolls a natural 96-00 on the skill check, he
botches the manipulation attempt and suffers the ill effects of
rolling a 20 for the devotion’s power check.
- Presence (Mental 2, Ego/Aura) — Some characters have such spiritual power
that their auras are almost tangible, easily detected by others
and, particularly, by supernatural creatures. On a successful
skill check, the character with this skill exercises sufficient
control over his aura to cause the reaction of a supernatural
creature to shift by one level (in the direction desired by the
character) on the Encounter Reactions table — a hostile result
becomes threatening, a threatening result becomes cautious, and
a cautious result becomes friendly or flight or visa versa.
- Project Thoughts (Mental 2, Intelligence/Reason -2) — This deceptively named skill
does not involve mental communication or telepathy in any way.
Instead, it is as close to a physical attack as a character gets
on the Astral Plane. Simply put, a character with this skill projects
his extraneous, random thoughts upon the astral form of another,
thus slowing him down as he is caught in the mire of mental drag.
- If a character has this skill and makes a successful skill check,
he can project his thoughts around any figure within sight. If
the target has a lower Intelligence score than the projector of
the thoughts, the target is slowed down to a stop, held in place
(able to act, but not able to move from that point in “space”).
If the Intelligence score of the target is equal to the projector,
the target’s movement rate is halved. In any case, this ability
affects only movement, not other activities like combat, spellcasting,
etc.
- The effect lasts as long as the projector devotes his full concentration
to the attack. The target can make Intelligence checks each round
(starting the round after the initial effect) to attempt to break
the hold. The target must remain within the sight of the projector
or the hold is automatically broken.
- Psionic Detection (Mental 3, Wisdom/Intuition -4) — The Psionic Detection skill
works much as the metapsionic devotion, psionic sense, but is
much less powerful. With this skill a character uses his sixth
sense to detect the expenditure of psionic strength points (PSPs)
in close proximity to him.
- When employing this skill, a character must clear his mind and
concentrate, taking at least one full round to prepare. A successful
check allows the character to detect the expenditure of any PSPs
within 50 yards of his location, regardless of intervening material
objects (with the exception of lead). A character can maintain
use of the skill for successive round, but during that time he
cannot move or perform any other action. The skill check, however,
must succeed on the round the PSPs are expended or the character
detects nothing.
- Psionic Detection can only inform a character that PSPs were expended
within 50 yards, nothing more. The detector cannot determine the
number of PSPs, their source, the powers or devotions drawn upon
or the purpose of the expenditure (for example, the distinction
between initializing a power in comparison to maintaining a power).
This skill is not cumulative with other detection techniques.
- Psionicists: A psionicist character may take this as a Mental 1 skill and
receives a +10% bonus to his skill score.
- Racial modifiers: Fälgornian humans receive a +5% bonus if they learn this skill.
- Psionic Lore (Mental 2, Intelligence/Knowledge) — This skill represents the
study of famous masters of the Way and the methodology of developing
mental powers. The character is versed in standard psionic powers
and effects.
- With a successful skill check, the character can identify the
general effects of any psionic devotion or science. For example,
the character encounters a dwarf walking across a bog without
sinking. With a successful check, he can determine that the dwarf
is not using a magic ability such as water walking but instead
is using the body equilibrium devotion.
- The second benefit of this skill is the ability to recognize attack
patterns in mental combat. If the character makes a skill check
with a –20% penalty, he is able to guess which attack and defense
modes his opponent will be using that round and select his own
modes accordingly. The DM should make this check in secret; if
the PC fails the check, randomly decide which powers he thinks
his opponent is using.
- If two characters with Psionic Lore engage in mental combat, the
character with the highest successful skill check is able to read
his opponent’s intentions. If the skill checks are the same, neither
character gains any information.
- This skill also grants the character who makes a successful skill
check the ability to identify psionic items for what they are
and gain some knowledge of their purpose (as determined by the
DM).
- The secretive nature of psionics in Fälgorna makes it difficult
for a character who is not a psionicist to find a teacher for
this skill. However, some orders of “witch” hunters teach this
skill to their followers to aid them in the identification of
“witches.”
- Psychic Defense (Mental 2, Ego/Willpower -2) — Some people are able to develop
a rudimentary psionic defense, although they are not psionicists.
They may be born with exceptionally strong wills or they may have
met a teacher who instructed them in the basics of psionic self-defense.
- Do to the fear and superstition surrounding psionics in Fälgorna,
in most cases, a character with this skill doesn’t realize how
he is defending against the psychic attack. The character will
have accumulated charms, amulets and talismans that on a subconscious
level help him focus a defense; memorized short prayers and mantras
that help him mount a weak defense; or he might practice ritualistic
behavior in the face of what he believes to be a psychic attack.
- When a character with this skill is attacked by contact or one
of the five telepathic attack modes, he may attempt to defend
himself mentally. This must be declared after the attacker has
announced his attack, but before he resolves it — the defending
character can’t wait to see if the attack succeeds.
- If the defender makes a successful skill check, he manages to
prevent contact for that one attack. Each subsequent mental attack
provides a cumulative –20% penalty to the skill check, so a character
who has been attacked three times in one encounter makes his check
with a –60% penalty. Unlike a psionicist, whose attackers need
three tangents to force contact, the general defender is bested
the first time his attacker succeeds and he fails his Psychic
Defense roll. Note, regardless of the penalty to the roll, a skill
check of 01-05 always succeeds in fending off the attempted contact.
- While a character is defending himself from psionic attack, he
may move and defend himself normally. However, he may not cast
spells or initiate any wild talents. The psychic defender can
make melee or missile attacks, but he suffers a –4 penalty to
any attack rolls he makes since his attention is divided between
his physical surroundings and the mental assault.
- Psychology (Mental 2, Wisdom/Intuition -2) — This character is familiar
with the twistings and turnings of the mind and can use this knowledge
to heal or harm other people. A character with this skill can
treat madness and phobias or help modify psychopathic or sociopathic
behavior. This is not an automatic cure-all, and copious amounts
of time would be necessary to help someone who is deeply insane.
Each case should be determined by the DM based on the time spent
and the Intelligence of the person undergoing treatment. It is
not uncommon for a patient to fool his psychologist by pretending
to be cured.
- This skill has also been used by those of lesser moral virtue
to attempt to brainwash victims or as an aid to torture or interrogation.
Good or neutral characters who use this skill in such a manner
might find their alignment changed.
- This can also be used to aid characters who are under a fear or
charm spell. At the DM’s discretion, a successful skill check
allows the affected character to make an additional saving throw.
If no saving throw is normally allowed, then the affected character
receives a save of 20 modified by his Ego/Willpower Magical Attack
Adjustment. This can be attempted only once per character in any
given situation.
- Also, this skill can be used to treat a character who has lost
Sanity points because of a failed a Sanity check. If a psychologist
treats a character for a minimum of one hour per Sanity point
lost, he may make a skill check at the end of the treatment to
attempt to restore some of Sanity points lost by the affected
character. With a successful check, the psychologist restores
one lost Sanity point plus one point for every 10 points by which
the character makes his skill check.
- This treatment is most effective if begun within 24 hours of the
incident that caused the loss of Sanity. For every additional
day that passes without treatment, the skill score is penalized
by -10%.
- A character with the Hypnotism skill may use it effectively in with Psychology when attempting
to restore lost Sanity and thus gains a +10% bonus to his Psychology
skill score when doing so.
- For example, Vaust, a Variquesti spellfilcher, fails a Sanity
check when encountering a true tanar'ri and loses four Sanity
points. Traumatized by the event, she seeks the assistance of
a psychologist three days later. The psychologist has a Psychology
skill score of 90% and rolls a skill check of 41 after treating
Vaust for four hours. Because Vaust waited three days to seek
treatment, the psychologists skill score is effectively only 70%.
Thus, he made his skill check by a margin of only 29 points —
enough to restore only three lost Sanity points. Had Vaust arrived
for treatment a day earlier, the psychologist could have restore
all of her lost Sanity points.
- Lastly, a character with this skill is a scholar of human (or
humanoid) motivations and behavior. If he knows a specific individual,
the character can make a skill check to guess that individual’s
motives in any given situation or to sense whether that person
is being dishonest or deceptive. He also has a chance (equal to
the normal skill score -40%) of applying the same ability to a
stranger.
- This skill also grants a +5% bonus to any skill where deception
might be involved (i.e., Disguise, Haggling, Storytelling, etc.).
 
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