Subterfuge Skills

• 

Subterfuge skills are most often taken by Thief, Rogue or Scoundrel type characters. They will most likely have spent all or most of their lives in the city, learning its ways as thoroughly as a Scout would know the surrounding woodlands.

Skills followed by a number or range of numbers indicate a levelled skill, this skill has multiple levels, with higher levels having different effects. To purchase a levelled skill you must have the previous levels (e.g. to purchase first aid 3 to treat somebody you must have first aid 1 and 2) in addition to any other pre-requites. The XP cost represents the XP cost per level.

Skills without a number are non-levelled: there is no progression for them, you buy them only once unless specified in the skills description.

Prerequistes of streetfighter have been put in italic purely fore ease of reading.

Skill	XP cost	Prerequistes	Short Description
Subterfuge 1-8	15		Grants access to the Subterfuge tree
Alias 1-4	10	Subterfuge 1, 3, 5, 7	Gives a character an alter ego for each purchase
Backstab 1-4	8	Streetfighter 2, 4, 6, 8	Deal extra damage to unsuspecting targets.
Conceal Item 1-4	5	Subterfuge 1, 3, 5, 7	Hide small items (like daggers) from searches.
Dodge 1-8	5	Subterfuge 1-8	Grants DAC
Forgery 1	10	Subterfuge 3	Allows you to forge both documents and stuff effectively
Forgery 2	15	Subterfuge 6	Create better forgeries
Hide Tracks 1-4	4	Subterfuge 2, 4, 6, 8	Allows the character to cover tracks
Improved Alias	5	Subterfuge 3	Allows aliases to be different races and genders
Improved Backstab	10	Subterfuge 5	Grants the ability to use longer weapons to backstab
Light Armour 1-8	3	Subterfuge 1-8	Grants the ability to wear more armour
Light Fingers	15	Subterfuge 4	Grants a character the skills needed to pick pockets
Missile Competancy	10	Streetfighter 1	Gives you basic competency with a bow or crossbow
Recognise Forgery	5	Subterfuge 3	Allows you to recognise as forgeries documents and stuff produced with Forgery 1
Streetfighter 1-8	5	Subterfuge 1-8	Gives progressive levels of skill with street weapons
Subdual 1-8	10	Streetfighter 1-8	Allows a character to fight in a non-lethal manner
Thrown Competency	5	Subterfuge 1	Allows a character to throw weapons designed for throwing (and rocks)

Detailed Descriptions

Skills are listed in the form of "Skill Name (XP cost) [Prerequistes]"

Subterfuge 1-8 (15xp)

This skill represents a familiarity with the shadier sides of urban life, and is required for all other Subterfuge skills.

 

Alias 1-4 (10xp) [Requires Subterfuge 1, 3, 5, 7]

For each purchase of Alias, the character gains an alter ego with their own history and half-way convincing excuse for a life. It is very hard to link the alter ego with the character. This alter ego must be the same race and sex as the character. It is permissible to buy this skill some time before defining the actual alias.

(This essentially means the player has one to four alias "slots", which correspond to, for example, places in the city where they can change into their disguise, groups of people that alias associates with, and so on.)

This alter ego may be changed over a period of 4 weeks.

You may not be in the process of changing more than one alias at once.

If you stop playing an alias in one of your alias slots, other plays can link the new alias in that slot with the old alias in that slot; this means you cannot abandon one alias because they have been detected and change it to another alias, as the new one may be discovered as the same person.

This is a required skill for Improved Alias.

 

Backstab 1-4 (8xp) [Requires Streetfighter 2, 4, 6, 8]

The character knows how best to strike an opponent who isn't expecting it, or is otherwise engaged. To backstab, you must be standing behind the target and strike them in the rear of the torso with a weapon less than 18" long (but see Improved Backstab). After backstabbing, you may not backstab that target for ten seconds - people have an inconvenient tendency to flail around in agony, which really spoils your aim.

 

1. Your blow gains one natural degree of damage, and is converted to THROUGH damage for a sharp weapon, or SUBDUAL for a blunt weapon.
2. Your blow gains two natural degrees of damage, and is converted to THROUGH or SUBDUAL as for Backstab I.
3. Your blow gains three natural degrees of damage, and is converted to THROUGH or SUBDUAL as for Backstab I.
4. Your blow gains four natural degrees of damage, and is converted to THROUGH or SUBDUAL as for Backstab I.

 

Conceal Item 1-4 (5xp) [Requires Subterfuge 1, 3, 5, 7]

Each purchase of this skill allows you to hide a dagger, or equipment with the volume of a dagger, about your person. It must be hidden from visual inspection. You need not report it to mundane body searches, but supernatural effects which would detect it will find it.

 

Dodge 1-8 (5xp) [Requires Subterfuge equal level]

The character grows more agile and flexible, able to dodge or roll with a blow in order to avoid damage.

For every 4 ranks of Combat Awareness, Agility and Dodge a character possesses they gain a point of DAC.

For details about how DAC works please see Combat

 

Forgery (10, 15xp) [Requires Subterfuge 3, 6]

Forgery I: The character is able to provide a fair imitation of handwritten documents. With access to appropriate tools, skills and materials, they can also forge items. Such documents or items cannot be recognised as forgeries unless you have either Recognise Forgery, or are intimately familiar with the original (for example, you wrote it). Blatantly false and untrue statements, however, are not disguised with this skill - a day pass purportedly signed by Brother-Captain Hermann Von Ulm, who died in the 1287 campaign, will not get you into the library of the Children of the Light no matter how much it looks like his handwriting.

Forgery II: The character is able to provide an indistinguishable imitation of items or handwritten documents. You are only likely to be able to tell it is a forgery if you wrote the original and have it in your possession, and even then it isn't certain. As for Forgery I, if the original item would not work for a certain purpose then neither will the one you create.

 

Hide Tracks 1-4 (4xp) [Subterfuge 2, 4, 6, 8]

Every creature leaves some trace of its passing, but characters with this skill are able to reduce and confuse these traces. This skill functions as the Track skill in Wilderness, but only for the purpose of concealing tracks.

Each level enables you to do the following:

1. You may conceal your tracks from anyone with Track I, 2nd level spells or below.
2. You may conceal your tracks from anyone with Track II, 4th level spells or below.
3. You may conceal your tracks from anyone with Track III, 6th level spells or below.
4. You may conceal your tracks such that nothing short of divine intervention or the direct action of an elemental lord can follow them.

 

Improved Alias (5xp) [Requires Subterfuge 3 and Alias]

Your aliases may now be of a different race and sex to you. This skill does not, however, change their DETECT or RECOGNISE MAGIC/SPIRIT responses.

 

Improved Backstab (10xp) [Requires Subterfuge 5]

The character's mastery of dirty fighting is such that they no longer require particularly subtle weapons to inflict horrific damage. You may make full use of the Backstab skill using a weapon up to 36" long.

 

Light Armour 1-8 (3xp) [Requires Subterfuge 1-8 or Wilderness 1-8]

Each level of Light Armour taken allows the character to wear an additional 2 points worth of armour. Will not stack with Armour skill.

 

Light Fingers (15xp) [Requires Subterfuge 4]

The character may steal items in easy reach from a character or monster. The item need not be visible but must not be being held.

To use this ability, inform a ref you intend to, and describe the item you are stealing. You must touch the pocket, pouch or container it is in without the holder noticing and objecting. The ref will then request the item from them and, assuming an item matching your description is in the place touched, secretly pass it to you.

 

Missile Competency (10xp) [Subterfuge 1/Warrior 1]

You can do SINGLE THROUGH by bow and crossbow. If you have Targeteer, there is no advantage to taking this skill. If you wish to take the Missile Competency skill, you must first pass an OOC safety test, as LARP bows are the most potentially dangerous of all the LARP weapons we use.

 

Recognise Forgery (5xp) [Requires Subterfuge 3]

If familiar with the original, the character is able to recognise forgeries produced by Forgery I on close inspection. So they could, for example, recognise that a signature purporting to be that of someone they know was, in fact, a forgery.

 

Streetfighter 1-8 (5xp) [Requires Subterfuge 1-8]

At each level the character gains the following abilities:

1. The character has a passing acquaintance with the short, brutal weapons favoured by rogues and cut-throats. They may do SINGLE damage with a weapon of up to 18" in length and parry with an off-hand weapon of up to 18".
2. The character has a professional familiarity with short weapons and the very aggressive style of combat required to use them effectively. They can do SINGLE damage with an off-hand weapon of up to 18" .
3. The character is very skilled with the tools of the thug's trade, and has learned to wield longer weapons with the same kind of efficiency. They can do SINGLE damage with an on-hand short weapon (of upto 36" in length).
4. The character has developed their brutal fighting style to the point where they can take on most warriors in a straight fight as well as the unfair fights they prefer. They can do SINGLE damage with an off-hand short weapon.
5. May wield a 42" weapon in one hand for SINGLE.
6. May wield 42" weapon in each hand for SINGLE by each.
7. May call SINGLE THROUGH by dagger.
8. May call SINGLE THROUGH by any sharp weapon you may call SINGLE with.

These limits are slightly flexible; Rule 7 applies. The refs would like ask the cooperation of the society's weapon makers in this matter. If you bring a 18.5" weapon and try to use it as a shortsword, you will probably be asked not to; similarly for 20" daggers.

 

Subdual 1-8 (10xp) [Requires Melee 1-8 or Streetfighter 1-8]

Killing someone with a weapon generally requires only enthusiasm and a little training. Merely incapacitating them is much harder - a character with this skill knows how to disable an opponent without doing them any lasting damage.

You are allowed to add the call SUBDUE to damage with weapons you use, the greatest degree of Subdual damage you can do being equal to your level in the Subdual skill, assuming it is less than or equal to your maximum damage call. E.g. if you can call SINGLE, and buy the first level of Subdual, then you may call either SINGLE or SUBDUE SINGLE. Buying any more levels of Subdual will have no effect. If, however, you can call DOUBLE, then one level of Subdual will allow you to call SUBDUE SINGLE instead of your normal call of DOUBLE (and of course SINGLE). A second level of Subdual will allow you to call SUBDUE DOUBLE.

 

Thrown Competency (5xp) [Requires Subterfuge I or Warrior I]

The character gains the ability to use thrown weapons (throwing daggers or rocks, etc) for a damage call of SINGLE. They may not throw more than one weapon per second.