Abilities

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There are three categories of Abilities: Talents, Skills, and Knowledges. Like Attributes, players are asked to prioritize their Abilities, placing them in order of primary, secondary, and tertiary.
  • A human, mortal+ or ghoul character receives 11 (Primary), 7 (Secondary) and 4 (Tertiary) points.
  • A mage or vampire character receives 13 (Primary), 9 (Secondary) and 5 (Tertiary) points.

Like Attributes, Abilities are rated from 0 to 5. Naturally, a rating of 0 reflects complete unfamiliarity with the ability. Skills at 0 are rolled at a +2 difficulty because due to the characters pure lack of ability. Knowledges at 0 are cannot be rolled at all.

Level Descriptor
Novice
●● Practictioner
●●● Professional
●●●● Expert
●●●●● Master

Ability List

Talents

  • Alertess - attention to detail and surroundings
  • Athletics - sports and movement
  • Awareness - understanding of supernatural phenomena
  • Brawl - unarmed combat
  • Empathy - observing emotions and understanding viewpoints
  • Expression - art of communication and entertainment
  • Intimidation - coercing via force and threat
  • Leadership - delegating to and communicating with a team
  • Streetwise - navigating urban streets and gathering intel there
  • Subterfuge - deceiving others and noticing it
  • Do - The Akashayana's specialized form of martial arts

Skills

  • Animal Ken - understanding animal minds and behaviors
  • Crafts - constructing, crafting, and repairing objects
  • Drive - operating automobiles under rough conditions
  • Etiquette - knowledge of proper protocol among your social circles
  • Firearms - identifying, using, and maintaining firearms and bows.
  • Larceny - picking locks, burglary, bypassing security, sleight of hand, etc
  • Melee - identifying, using, and maintaining non-firearm weapons
  • Performance - acting, playing music, or otherwise entertaining an audience
  • Stealth - moving silently and unnoticed
  • Survival - enduring harsh environments
  • Meditation - management of one's mental state

Knowledges

  • Academics - knowledge in Arts and Humanities, scholarly research. We use the V20 version (it is vaguer than M20).
  • Computer - computer programming, network security, and operating systems
  • Finance - competent management of one's finances
  • Investigation - forensics, pathology, and navigating government records
  • Law - understanding of laws, statues, and litigation
  • Medicine - physiology, anatomy, and medical treatments
  • Occult - lore about the supernatural and mythological
  • Politics - political processes and bureaucratic maneuvers
  • Science - physical and natural sciences
  • Technology - operating electronics and special equipment/machinery.
  • Cosmology - understanding of supernatural realms and the universe

Non-Mage characters do not need to invest in dots of Do, Meditation, or Cosmology. These are stats that Mages have to buy in order to be able to pull off certain things.

M20 provides Secondary Abilities. If you are looking through the M20 book and wish to use them please read about how we handle Secondary Abilities.