Combat: no roll required
Cost: 3-10 character points (see text)
A character with this Combat Skill is an expert at moving while in combat. He never allows an attacker a clear shot at his back. This Skill requires a Half Phase Action to use; the character can also make a Half Move or attack, for instance. When performed, Defense Maneuver offers several benefits, depending upon how many points the character spent on it:
Defense maneuver I: No attacker is considered to be attacking “from behind”: 3 points.
Defense maneuver II: Eliminates Multiple Attacker Bonuses as to attackers the character can perceive: +2 points.
Defense maneuver III: Eliminates Multiple Attacker Bonuses to all attackers, even those which the character cannot perceive: +3 points. (This does not allow him to perceive said attackers — it simply means that the way he moves in combat, no one can get a clear shot at his back, regardless of whether he knows they’re there. For example, he’d still suffer the reduced DCV that comes from being attacked by a foe he couldn’t perceive with a Targeting Sense, but that foe wouldn’t get a Multiple Attackers Bonus or bonus for attacking him “from behind.”)
Defense maneuver IV: Acts as a “sense,” i.e., the character need not spend a Half Phase to use his Defense Maneuver (using it takes no time); any Combat Skill Levels that improve the character’s DCV are considered Persistent for this purpose: +2 points.
Characters must buy the levels of Defense Maneuver in order; they cannot, for example, buy Defense Maneuver III without first buying levels I and II. Thus, full Defense Maneuver costs 10 Character Points.
The benefits of Defense Maneuver remain in effect from when the character uses the Skill until the beginning of his next Phase. Thus, a SPD 3 character who uses Defense Maneuver I on his Phase in Segment 4 retains the Maneuver’s benefits until the beginning of his next Phase in Segment 8. If the character wants the benefits to continue to apply, he has to use another Half Phase Action to keep Defense Maneuver “in effect.” Using Defense Maneuver IV takes no time,
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volume 1: character creation n chapter three 75 so it can remain “in effect” throughout a combat.
(The GM should apply his common and dramatic sense to determine when the Defense Maneuver IV would help the character in non-combat situations.)
A character with Defense Maneuver (at any level) can still be Surprised. Defense Maneuver eliminates the possibility of being attacked “from behind” or suffering from a Multiple Attacker Bonus; it does not make a character immune to being Surprised, especially out of combat.
HDEmOlITIONS
Intellect: 9 + (int/5) Cost: 3 character points;
+1 to roll per +2 points
A character with this Intellect Skill can use explosives properly. He knows about different types of explosives, how to handle and set off explosives, where to plant explosives for maximum effect, how to estimate the amount of explosives necessary to destroy structures, and which types of explosives are best for which jobs. He may also defuse explosive devices, find a bomb’s fusing mechanism, and discover any booby traps in an explosive device (disarming such traps may require Security Systems, though).
Mechanics or Chemistry may be Comple- mentary to Demolitions, depending on what the character tries to do. Knowledge Skill: Explosives helps in most situations; Security Systems would be Complementary if the character wants to blow up security devices. It’s a good idea to increase the character’s roll with Demolitions, because if he fails the roll badly enough....
Demolitions has no applicability in pre- gunpowder societies, such as most Fantasy games. In games set in the early gunpowder era, this Skill is often renamed Sapper, to highlight the Skill’s primary use (in siege warfare), or Gunsmith (in conjunction with the appropriate Weaponsmith Skill).
HDISGuISE
Intellect: 9 + (int/5) Cost: 3 character points;
+1 to roll per +2 points
This Intellect Skill allows a character to change his appearance with makeup, costumes, body language, and facial expression. He can, with a successful roll, alter his appearance to make himself unrecognizable, or disguise himself to look like a specific person (though this usually involves a -1 to -3 penalty). A character with this Skill can also disguise other characters.
Disguises can be spur-of-the-moment things, like putting on a fake moustache, but the best ones require hours of preparation. It’s more difficult to maintain a disguise over a long time (-1 to -3), and a character incurs penalties if he tries to disguise himself as someone from a race or species that looks extremely different from his own (-2 to -5). Good makeup and the right props add +1 to +3 to the Disguise Roll.
To spot someone wearing a disguise, an onlooker must make a PER Roll in a Skill Versus Skill Contest against the character’s Disguise.
Just because a character can Disguise himself doesn’t mean he has the ability to effectively impersonate his subject — that requires Acting. Disguise enables a character to look like someone specific, while Acting lets him act like someone specific. Area Knowledges, Acting, Mimicry, and various KSs and PSs may all be Complementary to Disguise. Failing a Disguise roll means the disguise, if closely inspected, is obviously false.
HElECTRONICS
Intellect: 9 + (int/5) Cost: 3 character points;
+1 to roll per +2 points
This Intellect Skill allows a character to identify, understand, build, repair, and rewire electronic devices. “Electronic devices” includes a wide range of technology, from simple radios to interplanetary teleporters. The character needs tools to perform these procedures, and, for intri- cate procedures, a lot of time as well. Electronics also helps characters determine the purpose of electronic devices they may discover (and disable them, if necessary).
Skills such as Bugging, Security Systems, Systems Operations, and some Sciences may be Complementary Skills, depending on the exact function of the particular device examined or built. Unsuccessful Electronics rolls indicate failure or that the character’s latest electronic creation will malfunction.
Electronics has no applicability in pre-elec- tricity societies, such as most Fantasy campaigns.