Skills
Trained abilities you roll against most often: skill level + linked stat is the target. Gentle to buy early; steep at the top.
Start here
How a skill roll works
Every skill is built on a base statistic. The number you roll against is skill level + linked stat.
On 3d6, success is rolling at or below that total. A trained swordsman with high Agility therefore succeeds far more often than an untrained one — and bigger margins mean cleaner results. See Dice rolls for the full mechanics.
Building a hero
Picking skills for your concept
- Focus on two or three skills tied to your role at level 2–3 (3–6 points each).
- Pick one signature skill if you want to push to level 4 or 5 — and be honest about the cost.
- Surround them with a wide band of supporting skills at level 1–2. These are the things your character would plausibly know from their life so far.
- A skill linked to a high base stat is more efficient than maxing the skill alone — the base stat helps every linked skill and stat-only rolls.
Three skills at level 3 are usually more useful than one skill at level 5 — adventures rarely call for the exact same trick twice in a row. Level 13 is simply not on the table for a new hero.
Look this up: cost curve
Skill levels run from 0 to 15. Each level costs one more point than the last. A starting hero has 50 character points to spread over both statistics and skills, so most of this table describes campaign growth, not character creation. The app shows the next-step cost while you edit.
| Skill level | Points invested | Next level costs | Realistic at start? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 2 | Yes — anyone can dabble. |
| 3 | 6 | 4 | Yes — typical primary weapon. |
| 5 | 15 | 6 | Stretch — only for a single signature skill. |
| 8 | 36 | 9 | No — earned in play. |
| 10 | 55 | 11 | No — more than the whole starting budget. |
| 13 | 91 | 14 | No — long-campaign veteran territory. |
| 15 | 120 | — (max) | No — lifetime master. |
Level 3 is competent; level 5 is a respected specialist; level 10 is a recognised professional; level 15 is the cap.
Want a full worked build?
See the ex-soldier (50 pts) example for a complete build: statistics, skills, and suggested traits. Other sample characters live on the Sample characters page.
See also
- Base statistics — the linked stat raises every skill rolled against it.
- Advantages & disadvantages — non-skill ways to shape the character.
- Dice rolls — targets, margins, and the 3d6 table.