Unwritten: System Reference Document/Skills

A skill describes a broad family of competency at something which your character might have gained through innate talent, training, or years of trial and error. Skills are the basis for everything your character actually does in the game that involves challenge and chance (and dice).

Skills are rated on the Ladder. The higher the rating, the better your character is at the skill. Taken together, your list of skills gives you a picture of that character’s potential for action at a glance - what you’re best at, what you’re okay at, and what you’re not so good at.

Athletics

The Athletics skill represents your character’s general level of physical fitness and strength, whether through training, natural gifts, or other means. It’s how good you are at using your body and a popular choice for nearly any action-y character.

Potential Uses: Outrunning charging animals, lifting heavy things, dodging poison darts fired from ancient temple traps, jumping chasms, climbing to the top of trees

Actions

• Overcome:You can use Athletics to overcome any obstacle that requires raw physicality. This can be feats of strength and endurance as well overcoming obstacles that require physical movement: jumping, running, climbing, swimming, etc.
• Advantage:When you’re creating an advantage with Athletics, you’re jumping to high ground, running faster than the opponent can keep up with, or performing dazzling acrobatic maneuvers in order to confound your foes.
• Discover:Athletics does not have much of a role in discovery. It’s just not a skill about information. However, you might be able to use it to size up a person and guess their physical capabilities, or gauge how athletic someone would have to be to perform some physical task (jump a chasm, for instance).
• Sample Questions:
  • Is this person capable of jumping that chasm/lifting this stone/climbing up this cliff?
  • How physically fit is this person?

Example stunts

No Pain, No Gain. You have an extra Minor consequence slot that can only be used for physical consequences.

Hardcore Parkour. +2 to overcome actions with Athletics if you are in a chase across rooftops or a similarly precarious environment.

Grappler. +2 to Athletics rolls made to create advantages on a target by wrestling or grappling with them.

Craft

Craft is the skill of making things out of other things. Craft is focused on making things from ‘scratch’. It’s all about hands on work with materials and tools. While there is some overlap with Engineering, Craft is more likely to focus on ‘simple’ machines and hand-made items. Activities like carpentry, carving, blacksmithing, and sewing fall under Craft, as do many artistic endeavors that use those skills.

Potential Uses: Building rope bridges, repairing shredded clothing, shoring up old wooden walls, making tools out of found materials, finding the one load-bearing beam that if destroyed will bring the whole building crashing down

Actions

• Overcome: Crafts allows you to build, break, or fix things, presuming you have the time and tools you need. Often, actions with Craft happen as one component of a more complex situation, making it a popular skill for challenges. For example, if you’re just fixing a broken door, neither success nor failure is interesting; you should just succeed and move on. Now, if there are wild animals scrabbling at the door, rolls will probably need to be made.
• Advantage:You can use Craft to create aspects representing features of a piece of crafted item, pointing out useful features or strengths you can use to your advantage (like Rugged Construction) or a vulnerability for you to exploit (Flaw in the Cross-Beam, Hasty Work).
• Discover:Craft is a good skill for discovering details about how things are built and how they can fall apart. Someone with Craft is likely to know what is required to make an item, or identify Craft specific materials or techniques. Like Experiment, Craft might be used to create advantages that can be invoked for help on uncovering clues and explanations.
• Sample Questions:
  • How is this object made?
  • What purpose does this object serve?
  • What would it take to repair this object?

Example stunts

Always Making Useful Things. You don’t ever have to spend a fate point to declare that you have the proper tools for a particular job using Crafts, even in extreme situations (like being imprisoned and separated from all your stuff). This source of opposition is just off the table.

Better than New! Whenever you excel on an overcome action to repair an item, you can immediately give it a new situation aspect (with a free invoke) reflecting the improvements you’ve made, instead of just a boost.

Expert Witness. Pick a craft (woodworking, jewelry making, etc). You can use your Craft skill instead of Experiment or Research in regards to your specified craft.

Deceive

Deceive is the skill about lying to and misdirecting people. Deceive is the skill you use for determining if a disguise works, whether on yourself or others. You’ll need to have the time and supplies to create the desired effect. (This is subject to GM approval—the GM may require a stunt for this in some games).

Potential Uses: lying, cheating, stealing, passing yourself off as someone who is supposed to be there, convincing someone that you are on their side when you aren’t, passing along misinformation

Actions

• Overcome:Use Deceive to bluff your way past someone, to get someone to believe a lie, or to get something out of someone because they believe in one of your lies. For nameless NPCs, this is just an overcome roll, but for PCs or named NPCs, it requires a contest, and the target opposes with Empathy. Winning this contest could justify placing a situation aspect on your target, if buying into your lie could help you in a future scene.
• Advantage:Use Deceive to create momentary distractions, cover stories, or false impressions. You could do the whole, “What’s that over there!” trick to give you a Head Start when you run away. You could establish a Cover Story. You could trick someone into revealing one of their aspects or other information.
• Discover:Deceive is more than likely to be used to oppose discover rather than support it.

Example stunts

Lies upon Lies. +2 to create a Deceive advantage against someone who has believed one of your lies already during this session.

Mind Games. You can use Deceive in place of Provoke on an advantage action, as long as you can make up a clever lie as part of the action.

The Long Con. When you create an aspect on a target that shows they believe one of your deceptions, you can spend free invokes on that aspect to make it last like consequences do: 1 invoke for Minor, 2 invokes for Moderate and 3 invokes for Severe. These aspects recover just like consequences do, but do not count towards consequences for filling up consequence slots.

Empathy

Empathy involves being able to spot changes in a person’s mood or bearing. It’s basically the emotional and social Notice skill.

Potential Uses: Watching how a person reacts in a certain situation, getting a feeling for what someone thinks is important, checking out the social dynamics of a group, talking a friend through an emotional trauma, detecting lies

Actions

• Overcome:You don’t really use Empathy to overcome obstacles directly—normally, you find out some information with it, and then use another skill to act. In some cases, though, you might use Empathy like you would Notice, to see if you catch a change in someone’s attitude or intent. Empathy is the main skill you use to help others recover from consequences that are mental in nature, as well.
• Advantage:You can use Empathy to read a person’s emotional state and get a general sense of who they are, presuming you have some kind of interpersonal contact with them. Most often, you’ll use this to assess the aspects on another character’s sheet, but sometimes you’ll also be able to create new aspects, especially on NPCs. If the target has some reason to be aware that you’re trying to read them, they can oppose with Deceive or Rapport.
• Discover:When it comes to sussing out a person, Empathy is your main skill. Like Notice, this is an observational skill. It’s passive and you won’t use it to directly do something to another. However, you can use it to reveal clues and create advantages that will help Rapport, Provoke and Deceive rolls.
• Sample Questions:
  • How does this person feel about this event/situation/other person?
  • Who seems to be in charge of this group of people?
  • Who seems not to fit in?

Example stunts

Lie Whisperer. +2 to all Empathy rolls made to discern or discover lies, whether they’re directed at you or someone else.

First Impressions. When you meet a person for the first time, you can ask the gamemaster one question about that person, no discover action needed.

Psychologist. Once per session you can reduce someone else’s consequence of an emotional nature by one level of severity (severe to moderate, moderate to mild, mild to nothing at all) by succeeding on an Empathy roll with a difficulty of Fair (+2) for a mild consequence, Good (+3) for moderate, or Great (+4) for severe. You need to talk with the person you’re treating for at least half an hour in order for them to receive the benefits of this stunt, and you can’t use it on yourself. (Normally, this roll would only start the recovery process, instead of changing the consequence level.)

Engineering

Engineering is about machinery and making big complex things. This is the counterpart of Craft, but focuses on mechanics, electronics, computers, and things with lots of buttons and levers. Powered items fall under Engineering as well. At the simpler levels of machinery, it overlaps with Craft.

Potential Uses: jury rigging machines, fixing an engine, operating heavy machinery, setting up delicate equipment, wiring power to a building, sabotaging a vehicle, diagnosing problems with your car

Actions

• Overcome:Engineering allows you to build, break, or fix machines, presuming you have the time and tools you need. Like actions with Craft, these actions are usually one component of a more complex situation.
• Advantage:You can create the same sorts of advantages with Engineering that you can with Craft. Rolls involving setting up complex experimental equipment could create aspects that can be used to assist in Experiment or Notice rolls as well.
• Discover:Engineering can be used in situations where you normally would use Experiment when the subject matter is the machines involved and clues that involve how machines operate.
• Sample Questions:
  • What does this gadget do?
  • How do I turn this on?
  • What can I do to repair this?

Example stunts

Monkeywrench. You gain +2 on advantage actions that involve negative effects on a technological device.

Duct Tape and Chewing Gum. You can repair a machine without the appropriate materials and tools on a successful Engineering roll. However, it gains an aspect like Unreliable or About to Fall Apart.

High-Tech Detection. If you get a chance to set up complicated diagnostic equipment, you can use Engineering instead of Experiment on discover actions.

Experiment

Experiment is science in action. It’s the skill of scientific method and experimentation. This skill doesn’t necessarily imply specific knowledge; instead Experiment is used to tease out information through testing and trial-and-error.

Potential Uses: trial and error, examining the composition of samples, analysing unknown plants, setting up lab equipment, neutralizing chemicals leaking from strange device, checking for background radiation

Actions

• Overcome:Experiment overcomes the obstacle of not knowing. Lab work and working with unknown devices and situations to see how they work qualify as uses of Experiment. The pure logic required for puzzle solving fits under this skill as well.
• Advantage:Experiment is a versatile skill you can use to create an advantage. As long as you’re willing to take the time and make some tests, you can discover nearly any detail about a place or object, or make up aspects about nearly anything in the game world that your character could reasonably unearth. Creating advantages using Experiment can be used as a set-up for key actions where information is revealed. These would represent experiments that allow an investigator to dig deeper.
• Discover:Experiment is one of the cornerstones of investigation. This is an active skill; if you are using Experiment, you are doing things, comparing results and verifying hypotheses. This is in contrast to Notice, which is a passive skill of observation, and Research, which is focused on previously discovered knowledge. Be prepared to describe the method of your analysis, at least in general terms.
• Sample Questions:
  • What is the most likely cause of this?
  • How are these details interconnected?
  • What is the most likely result of this particular action/experiment?

Example stunts

Shield of Reason. You can use Experiment as a defense against Provoke attempts, provided you can justify your ability to overcome your fear through rational thought and reason.

Specialist. Choose a field of specialization, such as herbology, criminology, or zoology. You get a +2 to all Experiment rolls relating to that field.

Expert Opinion. When using Experiment in combining skills on an action (see Teamwork rules), you provide a +2 bonus to the lead character instead of +1.

Finesse

Finesse is the skill of hand-eye coordination and fine motor control. Where Athletics deals with agility of the entire body, Finesse is about how well you can use your hands, how steady you are, and how good you are with your reflexes.

Potential Uses: balancing a book on your head, sleight of hand, undoing complicated knots, performing delicate movements with your hands, swapping a bag of sand with an idol that is sitting on a pressure plate, getting out of bonds

Actions

• Overcome:Any situation that requires nimble fingers can be overcome with Finesse, like snatching an artifact out of a complex trap or sleight of hand.
• Advantage: Finesse can be used to perform a wide variety of maneuvers. This includes moves that require careful aim, or feats of manual dexterity.
• Discover:Finesse doesn›t have any direct application to investigation, except in comparing another’s capability to your own (“Man, that guy has fast hands!”).
• Sample Questions:
  • How agile/dexterous is this person?
  • Is this person more agile than me?

Example stunts

Steady Hands. If you tie when making a Finesse roll to do fine manual work, it is treated as a success instead.

Uncanny Accuracy. Once per scene, stack an additional free invoke on an advantage you’ve created to represent the time you take to aim (like In My Sights).

Quicker than the Eye. When using Finesse to conceal a small item in your hand or covertly grab something, you get a +2 to your skill.

Intrusion

The Intrusion skill covers your character’s aptitude for defeating security systems and getting into places that are off-limits. This can be anything from hacking security systems and disabling alarms to defeating ancient locks and traps intended to ward off tomb raiders. It also covers your ability to create obstacles to prevent others from intruding, as well as getting out of places.

Potential Uses: Finding weaknesses in security systems, breaking into a building, picking locks, setting up traps, escaping out the window, investigating the scene of a theft, installing a safe, cracking a safe

Actions

• Overcome:Intrusion allows you to overcome any obstacle related to theft or infiltration. Bypassing locks and traps, pickpocketing and filching, covering your tracks, and other such activities all fall under the purview of this skill.
• Advantage:You can case a location with Intrusion, to determine how hard it will be to break into and what kind of security you’re dealing with, as well as discover any vulnerabilities you might exploit. You can also examine the work of others to determine how a particular heist was done, and create or discover aspects related to whatever evidence they may have left behind. Finally, you can use Intrusion to shore up the defenses and security systems of a location you are trying to protect.
• Discover:Use Intrusion to find clues of intrusion and to examine systems meant to prevent it.
• Sample Questions:
  • How does this lock work?
  • What would prevent someone from accessing this place or object?
  • What is the safest way to escape this location?

Example stunts

Always a Way Out. +2 on Intrusion rolls made to create an advantage whenever you’re trying to escape from a location.

Security Specialist. You don’t have to be present to provide active opposition to someone trying to overcome security measures you put in place or worked on. (Normally, a character would roll against passive opposition for that.)

Black Hat Hacker. Use Intrusion instead of Engineering on actions involving computers or advanced electronics.

Medicine

Medicine is the skill of making people better. Unlike many other skills, Medicine implies specific areas of knowledge: anatomy, pharmacology, human bio-chemistry. In those limited areas, Medicine can be used instead of Experiment. The big difference is that Medicine is also an applied skill—you can use it on people directly.

Potential Uses: treating injury, diagnosing diseases, examining biological remains, preparing medications, preparing antidotes for poisons, determining cause of death

Actions

• Overcome:Use Medicine to help with recovery from physical injuries, dealing with medical emergencies and the like. An overcome roll using Medicine can be used to justify the recovery process starting on physical consequences.
• Advantage: You can use Medicine to get a general sense of their health. You can use this to assess the aspects on another character’s sheet that involve their physical state, but sometimes you’ll also be able to create new aspects, especially on NPCs.
• Discover:Medicine is the Experiment skill of all things involving the human body, everything from analyzing blood samples to examining a corpse. Experiment or Notice can be used for this as well, but Medicine is explicitly focused on these topics.
• Sample Questions:
  • What is the state of this person’s health?
  • What medical issue is this person affected by?
  • Is this material toxic?

Example stunts

Field Medic. You get a +2 to treat medical issues provided they happened in the current scene.

Flora Analysis. Given a little bit of time, you can tell if a particular plant (from any Age) is dangerous to ingest and you can spend a fate point to ‘discover’ a medical use for it.

Don’t Worry, I’m a Doctor. You can use your Medicine skill instead of Deceive to convince someone of a medical declaration.

Notice

The Notice skill involves just that—noticing things. It’s a counterpart to Experiment, representing a character’s overall perception, ability to pick out details at a glance, and other powers of observation.

Potential Uses: Avoiding ambush, looking for details that stick out, examining a location for clues, observing things from very far away, looking for patterns

Actions

• Overcome:Notice is used in a reactive way: noticing something in a scene, hearing a faint sound, spotting the concealed gun in that guy’s waistband.
• Advantage:You use Notice to create aspects based on direct observation—looking over a room for details that stand out, finding an escape route in a debris-filled building, noticing someone sticking out in a crowd, etc. When you’re watching people, Notice can tell you what’s going on with them externally; for internal changes, see Empathy. You might also use Notice to declare that your character spots something you can use to your advantage in a situation, such as a convenient Escape Route when you’re trying to get out of a building, or a Subtle Weakness in the enemy’s line of defense.
• Discover:Notice is the on-the-scene investigator’s best friend. You use it to justify uncovering clues and questions based off of observation. You can roll Notice to create free invokes on clues so you can ask more questions. Notice is a passive ability and something that happens quickly. Once it becomes an active process of testing out ideas, you’ve moved into territory for Experiment instead.
• Sample Questions:
  • What detail is the most out of place?
  • Where would something be hidden here?
  • What here is dangerous?

Example stunts

Danger Sense. You have an almost preternatural capacity for detecting danger. Your Notice skill works unimpeded by conditions like total concealment, darkness, or other sensory impairments in situations where someone or something intends to harm you.

Body Language Reader. You can use Notice in place of Empathy to learn the aspects of a target through observation.

Eavesdropper. On a successful Notice roll to create an advantage by eavesdropping on a conversation, you can discover or create one additional detail or aspect (though this doesn’t give you an extra free invocation).

Provoke

Provoke is the skill about getting someone’s dander up and eliciting emotional response from them—fear, anger, shame, etc. It’s the “being a jerk” skill. To use Provoke, you need some kind of justification. That could come entirely from the situation, or because you have an aspect that’s appropriate, because you’ve created an advantage with another skill (like Rapport or Deceive), or because you’ve assessed your target’s aspects (see Empathy). Alternatively, Provoke can be used to evoke strong positive emotions, such as boosting the morale of a crowd.

Potential Uses: Staring down an opponent, inciting a riot, looking intimidating, badgering someone until they give in, dispersing an angry mob, goading a person into making a mistake

Actions

• Overcome:You can Provoke someone into doing what you want in a fit of emotional pique. You might intimidate them for information, goad them into acting out, or scare them into running away. This will often happen when you’re going up against nameless NPCs or it isn’t worthwhile to play out the particulars. Against PCs or important NPCs, you’ll need to win a contest with three victories. They oppose with Will.
• Advantage:You can create advantages representing momentary emotional states, like Enraged, Shocked, or Hesitant. Your target opposes with Will.
• Discover:Provoke’s main use in discovery is getting people to talk by unbalancing them into revealing something they wouldn’t otherwise. For example, you can use it to place aspects indicating fear so you can really ramp up the pressure, or for someone else to play off of in a ‘good cop, bad cop’ way.

Example stunts

Double Dare. You gain a +2 on Provoke rolls to convince someone to do something dangerous, embarrassing, or unwise.

Draw Ire. When you create an advantage on an opponent using Provoke, you can use your free invocation to become the target of that character’s next relevant action, drawing their attention away from another target.

Okay, Fine! You can use Provoke in place of Empathy to learn a target’s aspects, by bullying or bothering them until they reveal one to you. The target opposes this with Will. (If the GM thinks the aspect is particularly vulnerable to your hostile approach, you get a +2 bonus.)

Rapport

The Rapport skill is all about making positive connections to people and eliciting positive emotional responses. It’s the skill of being liked and trusted. Performing artists would also use Rapport to communicate using their art.

Potential Uses: Diplomacy, making friends, getting a person to talk, making an honest deal, haggling, gaining someone’s trust, interviewing a person politely, getting someone to see your side of the story

Actions

• Overcome:Use Rapport to charm or inspire people to do what you want, or to establish a good connection with them. Charm your way past the guard, convince someone to take you into their confidence, or become the man of the hour at the local tavern. For nameless NPCs, this is just an overcome action, but you may have to enter a contest to sufficiently ingratiate yourself to a named NPC or PC.
• Advantage:Use Rapport to establish a positive mood on a target or in a scene or to get someone to confide in you out of a genuine sense of trust. You could pep talk someone into having Elevated Confidence, or stir a crowd into a Joyful Fervor, or simply make someone Talkative or Helpful.
• Discover:This is the skill you use to get people to talk. Provoke can be used as well, but it is a blunt hammer in relation to Rapport’s more nuanced approach.
• Sample Questions:
  • What topic does this person seem to be avoiding?
  • What topic are they most interested in?
  • What is this person most worried about/happy about?

Example stunts

Best Foot Forward. Twice per session, you may upgrade a boost you receive with Rapport into a full situation aspect with a free invocation.

Demagogue. +2 to Rapport when you’re delivering an inspiring speech in front of a crowd. (If there are named NPCs or PCs in the scene, you may target them all simultaneously with one roll rather than dividing up your shifts.)

Revealing Questions. When using Rapport to question someone in an investigation, you get two extra questions when succeeding or excelling.

Research

Research is the skill of discovering and leveraging the knowledge that others have collected. It represents the act of actively looking for previously recorded information as well as applying education.

Potential Uses: Digging through scientific journals, checking the library for what has been written on a certain subject, remembering facts you had studied before, reading and interpreting books, translating from one language to another, discovering documented strengths or weaknesses of an item, doing your homework before a debate

Actions

• Overcome:You can use Research to overcome any obstacle that requires applying your character’s knowledge to achieve a goal, assuming there is an aspect or stunt that justifies that you would have that knowledge. For example, you might roll Research to decipher an ancient D’ni inscription if you have had exposure to the language before. Also, if you need to dig through archives, Research is used to determine the quality of the information you discover.
• Advantage:Research provides many flexible opportunities to create advantages, provided you can access relevant records. More often than not, you’ll be using Research to get a story detail, some obscure bit of information that you uncover or know already, but if that information gives you an edge in a future scene, it might take the form of an aspect. Likewise, you can use Research to create advantages based on any subject matter your character might have studied, which gives you a fun way to add details to the setting.
• Discover:Investigation is where Research really shines. It can be used to uncover clues that can be found in existing records, and to piece together new insights out of existing details and research. Using Research to get free invokes on clue aspects is relatively common.
• Sample Questions:
  • What research has been done on this subject?
  • What are the important details to look for when a particular situation occurs?
  • Who are the experts on this subject?

Example stunts

I’ve Read about That! You’ve read hundreds—if not thousands—of books on a wide variety of topics. You can spend a fate point to use Research in place of any other skill for one roll or exchange, provided you can justify having read about the action you’re attempting.

It’s all Greek to You. Using Research, you can use a Create Advantage roll to confuse someone with a flood of obscure gobbledygook.

Linguistic Prodigy. You can spend a fate point to get a basic idea of something written or said in a language you have never studied before.

Stealth

The Stealth skill allows you to avoid detection, both when hiding in place and trying to move about unseen.

Potential Uses: Sneaking around. hiding valuables, staying hidden in the shadows, avoiding pursuit, eavesdropping on conversations

Actions

• Overcome:You can use Stealth to get past any situation that primarily depends on you not being seen. Sneaking past sentries and security, hiding from a pursuer, avoiding leaving evidence as you pass through a place, and any other such uses all fall under the purview of Stealth.
• Advantage:You’ll mainly use Stealth to create aspects on yourself, setting yourself in an ideal position for further action. That way, you can be Well-Hidden when the guards pass by and take advantage of that, or Hard to Pin Down if you’re being followed in the dark.
• Discover:Stealth doesn’t really have investigation uses.

Example stunts

Face in the Crowd. +2 to any Stealth roll to blend into a crowd. What a “crowd” means will depend on the environment—a subway station requires more people to be crowded than a small bar.

Slippery Target. Provided you’re in darkness or shadow, you can use Stealth to oppose Finesse actions from actors that are not immediately near by.

Voice from Nowhere. You can use Stealth instead of Provoke to engender fear, provided you are hidden from view. Any aspects created in this manner go away if you your hiding place is discovered.

Surveying

Surveying is the skill that is about investigating the lay of the land and exploring unknown places. Maps (using and creating) fall under this skill as well.

Potential Uses: reading maps, navigating on land, sea, or air, cartography, examining natural features, designing structures such as dams or roads, civil engineering, uncovering the effects of weather on the terrain

Actions

• Overcome:Use Surveying to overcome large scale obstacles that block your progress. You can use it to get around cave-ins and plan treks the wilderness.
• Advantage:Advantages created using Surveying will relate to understanding the local topography. You can discover details about the local geology or the layout of ancient ruins, or make up reasonable aspects about the local area. Mapping an area can create aspects that can be used later.
• Discover:Surveying lends itself well to investigation. Looking for hidden passages is covered by Surveying, as well as making deductions based off of maps and blueprints. Anything that involves the large-scale examination of an area could be uncovered using Surveying.
• Sample Questions:
  • What is the best way to get from here to there?
  • What geological features might not be immediately apparent?
  • How safe is this structure?

Example stunts

Unerring Direction. You always know which way is north (or the local equivalent) and you get a +1 on navigation rolls made with Surveying.

Cut ‘em Off at the Pass. Once per contest or similar situation, you can make a Surveying roll to catch-up with someone you are following provided you have a map or are familiar with the area.

Seen One Tomb, Seen ‘em All. When investigating a place of the type you’ve seen before (Maintainer installation, Egyptian burial chamber, etc.), you get an extra free invocation on any advantage actions you place on the location, due to your familiarity with the style.

Survival

The survival skill is about making it in the wilderness. You use it to live off the land, to weather the elements and stay safe in the face of Mother Nature (whether it’s your Mother Nature or not). Dealing with animals falls under survival, well as hunting, riding and tracking.

Potential Uses: scavenging for food, hunting, fishing, building makeshift shelters, tracking a person through the wilderness, dealing with animals (tame and wild), avoiding natural hazards

Actions

• Overcome:Following someone (or something) can be done with Survival, as well as overcoming elements of the environment. You use it to make it through a blizzard or find food in the desert.
• Advantage:Survival can be used to discover details about the local environment or about various animals. You can use it to place traps or create aspects to make a camp safer. When dealing with animals, you can use Survival instead of Empathy, Rapport, Provoke, or even Medicine.
• Discover:The role of Survival in investigation will be in teasing out information from the wilderness. Clues that indicate the activity of animals or weather could be revealed using Survival, as well as leading clues which tell you which direction someone has run off.
• Sample Questions:
  • What weather/features can I expect from this environment?
  • What animals have been through here recently?
  • Is this plant poisonous?

Example stunts

Blend into the Scenery. Once per scene, you can vanish by ducking into the wilderness by spending a fate point. This places the Vanished boost on you. While you’re vanished, no one can target you in an action until after they’ve succeeded at an overcome roll with Notice or Survival to suss out where you went (basically meaning they have to give up an exchange to try). This boost goes away as soon as you invoke it, or someone makes that overcome roll.

Hard to Shake. +2 to Survival whenever you’re tracking someone through the wilderness.

Native Child. Choose a type of environment when gaining this stunt (jungle, desert, tundra, etc.). Any Survival overcome actions involving resisting the elements or finding food are automatic successes when you are just taking care of yourself. Spend a fate point to apply it to yourself and one companion for a scene.

Will

The Will skill represents your character’s general level of mental fortitude.

Potential Uses: Enduring pain, maintaining focus amid a chaotic environment, resisting emotional manipulation, defending deeply-held beliefs, standing up to threatening people

Actions

• Overcome:You can use Will to pit yourself against obstacles that require concentration. Use Will when it’s only a matter of time before you overcome the mental challenge, and Experiment if it takes something more than brute mental force to get past it. Many of the obstacles that you go up against with Will might be made part of challenges, to reflect the effort involved.
• Advantage:You can use Will to place aspects on yourself, representing a state of deep concentration or focus.
• Discover:Will won’t reveal much in a discovery action. However, it works as an excellent support skill when trying to uncover information in situations that have a lot of distractions.

Example stunts

Strength From Determination. Use Will instead of Athletics on any overcome rolls representing feats of strength.

Hard Boiled. You can choose to ignore a mild or moderate consequence for the duration of the scene. It can’t be compelled against you or invoked by your enemies. At the end of the scene it comes back worse, though; if it was a mild consequence it becomes a moderate consequence, and if it was already moderate, it becomes severe.

Indomitable. +2 to oppose Provoke actions specifically related to intimidation and fear.