Prácticas culturales

Some Abilities represent concepts or technologies that won’t come about for thousands of years and don’t fit in the War of Rage era. Modern-day characters retain their Abilities, but usually have no way of using them. Characters from ancient times have other era-specific skills that modern characters will lack.

In the Paleolithic and Neolithic eras, replace Streetwise with Thrown, Drive with Hunting, Firearms with Territory, Academics with Hearth Wisdom, Computer with Legends, and Science with Taboos. The Technology Knowledge keeps its name, but is very different in these times.

Characters from the time of the second War of Rage, replace Drive with Ride, Computer with Hearth Wisdom, and Technology with Sail. Many characters also replace Firearms with Archery, except those familiar with guns.

Talents

Thrown

Thrown covers the use of muscle powered ranged weap- ons to cause maximum damage at the greatest distances. This includes aerodynamic rocks, slings, spears, and any technology that improves their use. Thrown also covers early archery, initially developed around 12,000 BCE.

• Novice: You can hit a target reliably as long as you aren’t under stress. You can find suitable ammunition for a sling or to throw directly. •• Practiced: You can use slings and spears when

hunting, and you can make basic thrown weapons even if you don’t have the knowledge of how to knap flint or build the fire to harden wood. ••• Competent: You frequently hit the weak spots of

prey, and throw volleys of sling-stones that crack the skulls of charging enemies.

•••• Expert: Neighboring tribes know better than to attack your family, as you can kill them before they can see you.

••••• Scholar: Tribes for miles around know you by reputation — if you can see it, you can kill it. Possessed By: Hunters, Scouts, Warriors

Specialties: Ambush, Moving Targets, Quick shots, Specific Targets

Skills

Archery

Archery is the ability to use bows and crossbows, the most common ranged weapons among both Europeans and indigenous groups. Experienced archers also know how to maintain their weapons and how to make bows and arrows

from available materials. This Skill does not cover the use of spears or other thrown weapons; using those requires Athletics.

• Novice: You can shoot adequately as long as you aren’t under stress. You can maintain your bow or crossbow, but not repair it.

•• Practiced: You can fight and hunt competently with either a bow or crossbow, and you know how to maintain and repair your weapon, but not craft a new bow or crossbow.

••• Competent: You use a bow with grace and style, and you can make weapons that are respected for their craftsmanship.

•••• Expert: Warlords and tribal leaders who need superior archers call on you.

••••• Scholar: Neither distance, nor darkness, nor the elements seem capable of stopping your arrows from hitting their target.

Possessed By: Conquistadors, Settlers, Indigenous Tribesmen, Guards, Hunters, Scouts

Specialties: Ambush, Horseback, Hunting, Moving Targets, Quick shots, Target

Hunting

Hunting is vital for survival. Without hunting, the tribe had no meat to eat, no hides for warmth and shelter, and no bone for tools and jewelry. A character with the Hunting Skill has trained in how to make and use tools, traps, and ingenuity to hunt game found in a territory, as well as how to skin and harvest the various parts of the animal.

Shapeshifters use the higher of Hunting or Primal Urge. • Novice: You can reliably catch rabbits or hares,

and catch fish enough for your immediate family. You have joined a few hunts for larger prey. •• Practiced: Your traps and fishing nets can gather

food enough for 10 or 12 people, and you are a regular part of hunting parties that tackle larger prey.

••• Competent: You lead hunting parties that track boar, deer, oxen, and aurochs. Between those and your traps, your tribe rarely goes hungry when prey is about.

•••• Expert: The largest prey holds no fear for you; you expect to return victorious even when hunting mammoth. You also know how to fend off the predators and scavengers who would challenge your kill.

••••• Master: Your skill as a hunter is so legendary that you can single-handedly provide for a tribe of up to 100 people, even when the land is covered in bitter ice.

Possessed By: Homid Shapeshifters, Hunters, Trappers, Scouts

Specialties: Butchery, Skinning, Specific Prey (Aurochs, Boar, Elk, etc.)

Ride

Ride is the ability to travel astride a horse or other riding animal, keeping it under control in varying circumstances. Experienced riders can fight from horseback, tend horses’ common ailments, and evaluate the quality of their mounts and related gear. Europeans arriving in the New World would commonly have this Ability, but the indigenous peoples have never seen a horse before.

• Novice: You can get around on a good mount as long as things don’t get complicated.

•• Practiced: You can hunt, chase, and sustain long rides safely, if not always comfortably.

••• Competent: Horses hold very few surprises for you, and you can fight from horseback without penalty.

•••• Expert: You can engage in fancy stunts and keep your horse calm in the midst of dangerous situa- tions.

••••• Master: Alexander the Great and his Bucephalus were no closer than you are with your favored steeds.

Possessed By: Conquistadors, Scouts, Messengers, Most Europeans

Specialties: Mounted Combat, Jumping, Racing, Trick Riding

Sail

Sail covers the fine art of piloting a ship along rivers, across seas, and even over the oceans, linking disparate continents through threads of trade and commerce. Expe- rienced sailors know how to tie knots and adjust sails to take advantage of the winds, how to navigate without land in sight, and how to steer and pilot boats and ships through vicious reefs and hidden sandbars.

• Novice: You are as comfortable on the water as you are on land and can get to where you’re going, in time.

•• Practiced: You’re at home in at least one kind of vessel, and have no qualms about spending days on the water.

••• Competent: Long journeys hold no fear for you, whether you have a crew to work with or just your supplies and your thoughts for company.

•••• Expert: You’ve led columns of more than one vessel on voyages across the oceans, or have studied every waterway for hundreds of miles around.

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••••• Master: Blizzards, rapids, pitched battles, and raging storms feel like a second home when you’re on a boat.

Possessed By: Fishermen, Indigenous Tribesmen, Navigators, Sailors, Scouts

Specialties: Canoe, Kayak, Open Ocean, Pursuit, Rivers, Sailing Ship, Trade Vessels

Territory

Characters with the Territory Skill have a depth of un- derstanding of the terrain, vegetation, animals and seasons of their area. They know the best places to forage and where to avoid. This intimate knowledge also gives an advantage over invaders who are less familiar with an area.

In her territory, a character can use her Territory dots in place of Stealth and Survival.

• Novice: You know the land within a mile of your home, and have a rough idea of what is where out to about five miles. You can forage enough food to keep yourself alive if stranded.

•• Practiced: You’re regularly part of foraging parties that bring food for your tribe. You know the land intimately for five miles around your home, and can find your way back from 15 miles away. ••• Competent: You know the land for 15 miles around

your home, and lead foraging expeditions to a wealth of vegetables, nuts, and fruits. You know where best to set ambushes and move without being seen. •••• Expert: You can find food enough for 100 people

within 20 miles of your home, and can work out when foragers from other tribes are encroaching onto your tribe’s land.

••••• Master: You can find food and water to sustain a whole hunting party in the most barren desert, and have an almost supernatural sense of when someone is in your territory — about 25 miles around your home.

Possessed By: Foragers, Scouts, Territorial Shapeshifters Specialties: Gathering Food, Identifying Intruders, Stealth, Survival

Knowledges