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Skills

Not everything an FFRPG character can do is defined by their Job. While spellcasting talents and combat abilities are important, they only cover a small subset of the many tasks that will face characters during the course of an adventure. Whether these challenges are dealt with through stealth, scholastic inquiry, or social aplomb, one thing holds true - a character's talent in these matters are determined through Skills.
Skill Mechanics

All FFRPG characters possess several skills - half a dozen at least, and often many, many more. Skills all have ratings, which range from 20 (a bare novice, hardly better than an unskilled layman) through 50 (the maximum value for a starting character) and all the way up to 100 (a true master of the skill).

Skill ratings can be used in several ways. The simplest is just to rule that a minimum skill rating is required to achieve a task - for instance, a character hoping to earn a living as a card sharp at the Golden Saucer must have a Gambling rating of at least 50. Anyone with the Gambling skill at this level or higher succeeds, no die roll needed; anyone less skilled automatically fails.

Because of the sharp cut-off in this All or Nothing approach, it's best used sparingly and for long-term campaigning questions, rather than in individual encounters. Still, it exists as an option for simpler and less important skill resolution where the GM's mostly concerned with moving the game along. One common example of 'All or Nothing' is simple conversation - though starting characters start with a common Language skill at 50, a skill check isn't needed every time a PC opens his mouth. Instead, a rating of 50 is simply assumed to be normal conversational fluency, and an automatic success. Characters trying to speak in a different language with a lower skill rating might need to make checks, but more likely would simply be limited to more ragged communication and be limited in their ability to express detailed concepts.

A more common type of skill use resolution is the Skill Check. In this situation, the character attempts to roll a d100, and get a result less than or equal to their skill. In this situation, success and failure are more fluid, and results more immediate. Encounter writeups will generally include the odds of success, and the downside of failure.

Not all skill checks are created equal, of course. Some tasks are easy, even for a novice, and others challenge even an experienced expert. The FFRPG rules handle this situation with skill check Modifiers - temporary bonuses or penalties to the character's skill rating. The GM determines modifiers to skill checks depending on encounter conditions and character preparation. The Master Skills List, later in this chapter, includes several common modifiers for each skill.

Complex and difficult tasks may also require two or more successful skill checks to resolve, at the GM's discretion. Such a situation usually reduces or eliminates the number of negative modifiers in place for a given task, but this is generally more than compensated for by the need for multiple successes. Other situations may call for a successful skill check from each character attempting a task - for instance, Etiquette checks from each person speaking in the royal court - rather than a single skill check to determine the success or failure of the entire group. Generally, if a single successful character can easily assist or act for others, only one person needs to roll a skill check; if such assistance is impossible, everyone should have to check.

Finally, skill use can be resolved through Opposed Skill Checks. This is similar to a standard skill check, except that two or more characters are involved, each striving for a different result. With opposed skill checks, both sides involved roll d100, as for a standard skill check. If one character succeeds and the other fails, the character who succeeded wins the opposed skill check; the result favors the winner. If both characters fail, the result is a standoff - the situation doesn't change, neither side gets all of what they want, and either or both characters can make another test on their next action. If both characters succeed, compare their d100 rolls - the character with the higher roll wins the contest.

Opposed skill checks can either use the same skill (such as two Chocobo racers both checking against Riding to determine who's faster) or different skills (a guard rolling against Awareness in an attempt to spot the spy that's hiding with Stealth). The rules work out the same in either case.
- Sidebar: Default Skills

No matter how much experience and training they possess, no character can reasonably hope to have a skill rating in every single skill. This doesn't mean that characters are bound to fail any task that they lack a skill rating for, however. Instead, characters can use a default skill rating - representing a character's inborn luck and talent - in situations calling for skill checks.

Default skill ratings are determined by a character's attributes. Every skill has a single attribute linked to it - the default skill rating is equal to twice the listed attribute. Default skills can be quite useful in a pinch (and improve as a character increases their attributes), and mechanically are identical to 'real' skill rankings. However, they can't be improved upon with skill points and so are limited to an upper bound of around 50-60; for this reason, they're generally inferior to actual training in a skill.

- End Sidebar

Attribute Checks

Skill ratings and skill checks cover the ability of characters to apply their talents and experience to complex or intricate tasks. However, there are some times when a character simply needs to apply brute force, speed or willpower to a problem. In such cases, what's needed is not a skill check, but an attribute check.

Attribute checks are handled in the same way as skill checks - roll a d100 and get a result below a certain value. The standard target for Attribute checks is twice the attribute, plus 40 - a task that a normal human (with an attribute of 5) could succeed in half the time, and that the pinnacle of human achievement (an attribute of 30) would be able to always deal with. Easier or more difficult tasks can adjust the target number, as per the table below.

Attribute Check Difficulties:

- Very Easy: 80 + (Attribute x2).
- Easy: 60 + (Attribute x2).
- Normal: 40 + (Attribute x2).
- Difficult: 30 + (Attribute x2).
- Very Difficult: 20 + (Attribute x2).
- Challenging: 10 + (Attribute x2).
- Nearly Impossible: (Attribute x2).

- Sidebar: Groupwork

Not every Skill Test or Attribute Test will be a solo effort. In many instances, PCs will want to cooperate with each other or with NPCs to accomplish a task. In situations such as this, one character, usually the character with the highest Skill rating, is nominated as the group leader; the other characters assist. A skill check is made against the leader's skill rating, and receives bonuses based on the number of assistants and their Skill ratings - see the Groupwork Modifiers table below.

Example: Zowar (Inquiry skill rating of 50), Christopher (Inquiry at 30), Xyzo (Inquiry at 25) and Kuropo (Inquiry at 20) are all attempting to cooperate on a search for a rare manuscript. Zowar is chosen as the leader; his skill rating of 50 will be used in the final check. He gets a bonus of +5 from Christopher's assistance, and another +5 from Xyzo. Kuropo, with his Inquiry skill of only 20 (less than half Zowar's skill rating) provides no help at all. Zowar's final check will be made at 60, plus any situational modifiers.

It's possible for a character with only a default rating in a skill to assist with Groupwork on a skill test, if they're sufficiently talented or the leader is unskilled. However, anyone attempting to assist with only a default rating must immediately roll a d100 - on a 95-100, their untrained assistance has actually disrupted the groupwork and made things worse, inflicting a -20 penalty on the final skill check. Characters with only a default rating in a skill can never lead groupwork for tests on that skill.

Example: Misato (who has no Inquiry skill rating, but does have a default of 30) decides to assist Zowar's search. With her high default skill, she has a good chance of providing an additional +5 Groupwork bonus, bringing the final check up to 65. However, there's a small chance that her untrained instincts will send everyone chasing after a false clue, imposing a -20 penalty to the final check. This would make the final check a 40, plus modifiers.

Groupwork can be used with both Skill and Attribute checks, given sufficient time to prepare. However, there are some cases in which cooperation simply isn't possible - such as Stealth checks to slip silently around a Goblin campsite, Perception checks to spot a hidden doorway, or Vitality checks to hold one's breath underwater. In these cases, a GM's perfectly within his rights to refuse characters the chance to use Groupwork.

Groupwork Modifiers

For each assistant whose Skill Rating is at least equal to the supervisor's: +10
For each assistant whose Skill Rating in required Skill is at least half that of the supervisor's: +5
For assistants lacking the skill who Botch a die roll: -20
- End Sidebar

Skills in Combat

Normally, skills are used and attribute checks are made outside of combat, not in it. The middle of a battle, after all, is not the proper time to be discussing fine artwork or cooking up a fine meal - such things can wait until after the Behemoth is trying to eat you. There are a couple of cases, though, in which skills can affect the course of combat.

The first use of skills is to abilities which directly impact a fight. Weapon skills are the most obvious use of this, but many Experts also apply other skills to determine the success rate of their Job abilities. In combat, a normal skill check isn't used to determine success - instead, the skill forms a basis for a character's Attack% rating or similar rating for an Expert's job ability. Detailed rules on how such actions are resolved can be found in Chapter 7: Combat for attack actions, and under the job writeups in Chapter 4 for the different Expert skills.

The other use of skills in combat is for emergencies only - when a task that would normally only be handled out of combat becomes so urgent that it has to be tackled while the swordblades are still flying. A Chemist might want to check against Explosives to defuse a rapidly ticking bomb, or a Thief use Lockpicking to pop open a sealed escape hatch. In such circumstances, a single skill check opportunity is assumed to take one Fast action to resolve. However, as a full-blown fight does have a great many distractions, a modifier of -50 or even higher should generally be applied to any skill checks made during any combat, on top of all other modifiers to the skill check. Novices are probably best served by fighting the monsters first and making skill checks afterwards!
Skills and Character Creation

(This will recap the Chapter Two: Character Creation information, as soon as it's revised for later tweaks to Job writeups.)
Improving Skills

Like all other aspects of a character, skills improve as experience is gained. There are two ways to improve skills over the course of a campaign - training existing skills and acquiring new ones.

Training skills is automatic upon a level-up. Upon gaining a level, a character gains ten points which can be put into improving skills that are already rated. One point generally improves a skill rating by 1; for half-cost skills, a single point will improve the rating by 2, and double-cost skills require two points to increase the skill rating by 1. However, there are limits to how much a skill can be improved at any level-up. A skill with a rating below 50 can only be advanced to 50, and a skill with a rating of 50 or higher can only have its rating improved by 2. This is a cap on the skill rating, not on the number of points spent on improvement; an Archer can only spend 1 point on improving her Bows skill (as a half-cost skill, its rating improves by 2) but can spend as many as 4 points on improving Teaching (a double-cost skill). Points for improving skills must be used as soon as they're gained; any points not spent immediately are lost.

Example: Kuropo has Perception at 40, and gains a level. He has 10 points for skill improvements; he could choose to use them all on Perception, raising that skill to 50, but decides to spend only 5 points on Perception and use the other points elsewhere. At his next level-up, his Perception skill is at 45; he again has 10 points to spend, but this time can only spend 5 points on Perception, bringing it to 50. (Even if he wanted to spend more points on Perception this level, he wouldn't be able to do so - he's hit a cap.) On his next level-up, he'll be able to spend 2 points at most to improve Perception, bringing it to 52.

So far, so good - but what about acquiring new skills? Additional new skills aren't acquired through level-up, but by purchasing outside training. Characters can, during or between sessions, seek out mentors or instructors able to provide training in new skills. The amount of 'downtime' required is up to the GM, but generally is assumed to be possible anytime the characters would be able to purchase items or new equipment. Learning new skills requires an expenditure of Gil, which is dependent on a character's level; once the price has been paid, the new skill can be added to the character sheet at an initial rating of 20 or the character's default in the skill, whichever is higher. A newly learned skill is treated like any other known skill, and can be used safely in Groupwork situations or improved on level-up.

Cost of Learning New Skills

- Character Level 1-10: 300 gil
- Character Level 11-20: 750 gil
- Character Level 21-30: 1250 gil
- Character Level 31-40: 2000 gil
- Character Level 41-50: 3000 gil
- Character Level 51+ : 5000 gil

- Sidebar: Why Learn Skills?

Particularly in the later stages of a campaign, spending time and money to learn new skills may seem like a waste of time. After all, a high-level character will often have skill defaults of 20 to 30 anyway, and the cost of learning new skills increases as your level goes up, so why not put the money towards something more useful?

The answer lies in the long view. Yes, a newly learned skill is usable only at its default value, but a couple of levels' worth of improvement can easily raise its rating to a respectable 50, better than the defaults of all but the highest-level characters. A trained skill at 50 can also provide a guaranteed Groupwork bonus to any compatriot, no matter what their skill level. Finally, there's the pragmatic matter that by the time PCs reach about Level 30 or so, many of their starting skills have inevitably been raised to the maximum value of 100 or close to it - so with more than half the campaign to go, it's time to think of acquiring new skills to improve with later level-ups. - End Sidebar

Master Skill List:
Table 5-4: Master Skill List (Alphabetical)

Skill Category Attribute
Acrobatics General AGI
Acting Artistic SPR
Alchemy Technical MAG
Animal Training Wilderness SPR
Art Artistic SPR
Awareness General MAG
Axes Weapon AGI
Bows Weapon AGI
Brawl* Weapon AGI
Climbing Wilderness STR
Command General SPR
Concealment Thievery MAG
Cooking General MAG
Crafting* Technical MAG
Cudgels Weapon AGI
Dancing Artistic AGI
Disguise Thievery MAG
Escape Thievery AGI
Etiquette Social SPR
Explosives Technical MAG
Flails Weapon AGI
Gambling Thievery MAG
Guns Weapon AGI
Healing Scholastic MAG
Inquiry Scholastic MAG
Instrument* Artistic SPR
Intimidation Social SPR
Invent Technical MAG
Knives Weapon AGI
Language* Scholastic SPR
Lockpicking Thievery AGI
Lore* Scholastic MAG
Navigation Wilderness MAG
Negotiation Social SPR
Perception General SPR
Pickpocket Thievery AGI
Poach Scholastic, MAG
Wilderness
Polearms Weapon AGI
Repair Technical MAG
Riding Wilderness AGI
Seduction Social SPR
Singing Artistic SPR
Staves Weapon AGI
Stealth Thievery AGI
Streetwise Thievery SPR
Survival Wilderness MAG
Swimming Wilderness STR
Swords Weapon AGI
Systems Technical MAG
Teaching Scholastic, SPR
Social
Throwing Weapons Weapon AGI
Tracking Wilderness MAG
Trade General MAG
Traps Thievery MAG
Two Weapons General AGI
Weapon Systems Technical, AGI
Weapon
Vehicles* Technical AGI

Skill Lists by Category

Skill Attribute
ARTISTIC
Acting SPR
Art SPR
Dancing AGI
Instrument* SPR
Singing SPR
GENERAL
Acrobatics AGI
Awareness MAG
Command SPR
Cooking MAG
Perception SPR
Trade MAG
Two Weapons (x2) AGI
SCHOLASTIC
Healing MAG
Inquiry MAG
Language* SPR
Lore* MAG
Poach MAG
Teaching (x2) SPR
SOCIAL
Etiquette SPR
Intimidation SPR
Negotiation SPR
Seduction SPR
Teaching (x2) SPR
TECHNICAL
Alchemy MAG
Crafting* MAG
Explosives MAG
Invent (x2) MAG
Repair MAG
Systems MAG
Vehicles* AGI
Weapon Systems* AGI
THIEVERY
Concealment MAG
Disguise MAG
Escape AGI
Gambling MAG
Lockpicking AGI
Pickpocket AGI
Stealth AGI
Streetwise SPR
Traps MAG
WEAPON
Axes AGI
Brawl* AGI
Bow AGI
Cudgels AGI
Flails AGI
Guns AGI
Knives AGI
Pole Arms AGI
Staves AGI
Swords AGI
Throwing Weapons AGI
Weapon Systems AGI
WILDERNESS
Animal Training* SPR
Climbing STR
Navigation MAG
Poach MAG
Riding* AGI
Survival MAG
Tracking MAG
Swimming STR