Skills and Talents

This chapter defines the default skill list and universal talents available to Exodus NDS characters. Universes may rename, split, remove, restrict, or expand these options to match their genre and world.

Core Skill List

Exodus NDS uses 22 default skills. Each skill is linked to one of the six core characteristics. The GM may call for unusual characteristic + skill pairings when the situation calls for it, but the listed characteristic is the default pairing.

For example, most Intimidation checks use Willpower, but a courtly threat veiled behind perfect manners might use Charisma + Intimidation. Most Craft checks use Intellect, but forcing a damaged gate mechanism back into place might use Might + Craft.

Combat Skills

Skill Characteristic Description
Unarmed Might Fighting with fists, kicks, grapples, natural weapons, shoves, holds, tackles, and improvised bodily force.
Melee Might Fighting with hand-held weapons in close quarters: blades, clubs, axes, spears, batons, shields, improvised weapons, or similar arms.
Ranged Agility Attacking at distance with bows, firearms, thrown weapons, slings, crossbows, energy weapons, or Universe-specific ranged arms.

Physical Skills

Skill Characteristic Description
Athletics Might Climbing, swimming, jumping, sprinting, lifting, breaking, forcing movement, and other strength-driven physical effort.
Reflexes Agility Balance, tumbling, quick reactions, dodging hazards, slipping restraints, catching yourself while falling, and precise body control under pressure.
Fortitude Might Resisting fatigue, pain, poison, disease, starvation, suffocation, harsh environments, and prolonged strain.
Stealth Agility Moving unseen or unheard, hiding, shadowing, masking tracks, blending into cover, and avoiding notice.

Awareness / Field Skills

Skill Characteristic Description
Perception Savvy Noticing details, spotting hidden things, hearing danger, reading immediate surroundings, and catching what others miss. Perception answers: "Do I notice it?"
Readiness Willpower Acting under sudden pressure, staying alert, resisting surprise, keeping nerve before danger lands, and determining preparedness when a scene turns dangerous. Readiness is the default defensive skill for resisting fear, intimidation, despair, coercion, and sudden mental pressure when the resistance is about nerve, composure, or preparedness. Other skills may defend when the situation calls for them, Lore against a curse-laden threat or Fortitude against supernatural dread. Readiness answers: "Am I ready for it?"
Survival Savvy Tracking, foraging, navigation, shelter, weather sense, wilderness travel, animal signs, reading and calming and handling ordinary animals, and staying alive away from safety.
Subterfuge Agility Lockpicking, sleight of hand, disabling simple security, planting or lifting objects, escaping bonds, bypassing traps, and covert physical manipulation.
Streetwise Savvy Street codes, criminal networks, black markets, rumors, gangs, fences, smugglers, illicit services, risky contacts, and finding illicit goods or information outside formal channels.

Knowledge / Technical Skills

Skill Characteristic Description
Lore Intellect Recalling history, cultures, places, lineages, institutions, laws, legends, customs, factions, and the shape of the known world. Also used to interpret clues and piece together what something means once it has been noticed.
Medicine Intellect Treating injury and illness, diagnosing conditions, stabilizing the wounded, aiding recovery, understanding living bodies, and identifying medical risks.
Science Intellect Understanding natural laws, technical principles, experiments, analysis, engineering theory, chemistry, physics, astronomy, computing, or Universe equivalents.
Craft Intellect Building, repairing, modifying, maintaining, sabotaging, appraising, or improvising objects, tools, structures, machines, and practical works.

Craft vs Science boundary: The doing of a technical thing is Craft; the knowing of how it works is Science. Repairing a damaged engine is Craft. Explaining why the engine failed, or designing a new one, is Science. The same divide applies to medicine vs biology, smithing vs metallurgy, and any other "do" / "know" pair where the Universe cares about the difference.

Social Skills

Skill Characteristic Description
Charm Charisma Winning people over through warmth, friendliness, humor, appeal, flirtation, sincerity, style, or likability. Charm also covers performance, oratory, music, art, and any attempt to entertain, move, or please an audience.
Deception Charisma Lying, disguising intent, misdirection, false identities, scams, feints, forgeries of behavior, and concealing the truth.
Negotiation Charisma Bargaining, diplomacy, trade, compromise, contracts, favors, treaties, and getting terms both sides can accept.
Leadership Charisma Commanding, rallying, organizing, inspiring, directing groups, establishing authority, and holding a group together under pressure.
Intimidation Willpower Threats, interrogation, menace, pressure, dominance, cold resolve, and forcing compliance through fear or force of will.

Operation Skill

Skill Characteristic Description
Operate Agility Driving, riding, piloting, steering, maneuvering, controlling, or safely handling vehicles, mounts, ships, starcraft, machines, mechs, or Universe-specific control systems under pressure.

Operate vs Craft vs Science boundary: Operate is using a system in motion or under pressure; Craft is building, repairing, or modifying it; Science is understanding, analyzing, or designing it. Driving the wagon through the gate under fire is Operate. Patching the wagon's broken axle afterward is Craft. Explaining why the suspension keeps failing on this terrain is Science.

Replaceable Skills for Universes

The following skills are intentionally flexible. A Universe may rename, split, replace, or expand them without changing the Exodus NDS core engine.

Core Skill Common Universe Replacements
Lore History, Arcana, Theology, Culture, Politics, Law, Forbidden Lore, Xeno-Lore, Myth, Old World
Medicine Healing, Surgery, Biomancy, First Aid, Cybernetics, Xenobiology, Alchemy, Field Medicine
Science Engineering, Computers, Mechanics, Chemistry, Physics, Astrogation, Thaumaturgy, Technomancy
Craft Smithing, Repair, Mechanics, Fabrication, Artifice, Engineering, Hacking, Enchanting
Operate Ride, Drive, Pilot, Sail, Spaceflight, Mecha, Gunnery, Heavy Machinery, Beast Handling
Streetwise Underworld, Contacts, Fringe, Black Market, Court, Guilds, Society, Networks, Criminal Lore
Subterfuge Thievery, Larceny, Infiltration, Espionage, Trickery, Hacking, Burglary, Tradecraft
Charm Performance, Oratory, Stagecraft, Propaganda, Ritual Voice, Celebrity (split out from Charm when public art, celebrity, propaganda, ritual performance, or bardic magic is a major Universe pillar)
Survival Beast Handling, Animal Training, Falconry, Mounted Lore (split out from Survival when mounts, animal companions, or trained beasts are central to the Universe; Survival continues to cover wilderness travel, tracking, and incidental animal contact)

Hacking and Computers are strictly Universe-specific. The Exodus NDS core does not assume any particular technology level, so digital intrusion, network security, code-breaking, and similar tasks should be defined by the Universe. Most Universes will fold the doing of these tasks into Craft (or its replacement) and the knowing into Science (or its replacement). A Universe may also create a dedicated Hacking, Computers, or Cyberwarfare skill if the genre demands it.

Quick Skill Boundary Guide

Use this section to reduce table confusion.

Situation Likely Skill
Spotting an ambush before it begins Perception
Noticing a folded paper on the desk Perception
Keeping calm and acting before surprise takes hold Readiness
Resisting a brutal interrogation Readiness
Diving away from the falling statue Reflexes
Sneaking past a guard Stealth
Picking the guard's pocket Subterfuge
Knowing which fence buys stolen relics Streetwise
Lying to the guard about why you are there Deception
Convincing the guard you are harmless Charm
Performing a song to win over the tavern Charm
Bargaining with the guard for entry Negotiation
Situation Likely Skill
Cowing the guard into backing down Intimidation
Rallying allies to hold formation Leadership
Remembering the guard's heraldry Lore
Piecing together what the folded paper means Lore
Treating the guard's injury Medicine
Repairing the gate mechanism Craft
Explaining how the gate mechanism works Science
Hacking the gate's control panel Universe-specific
Forcing the gate open Athletics
Calming a panicked horse at the gate Survival
Enduring the toxic smoke beyond the gate Fortitude
Steering the wagon through the gate under fire Operate

Universal Talents

Talents are purchased with XP. Use the default costs in this chapter unless a Universe changes them.

Universal Talent default: Every Exodus NDS Universe assumes the universal talents in this chapter are available to player characters unless the Universe explicitly removes or restricts them. A Universe may also add new talent trees, alter costs, or gate certain talents behind species, archetype, profession, or in-fiction requirements.

Ranked and repeatable talents: A talent may only be purchased once unless it is explicitly marked Ranked, or it specifies a "choose one" option. Ranked talents may be purchased multiple times and stack as written. Talents with a "choose one" option may also be purchased multiple times, but each new purchase must apply to a different choice unless the Universe says otherwise.

A talent should usually do one of the following:

  • Add or remove a Boon Die or Bane Die.
  • Upgrade or downgrade a die.
  • Change how Boons or Banes may be spent.
  • Interact with Breakthroughs or Calamities.
  • Interact with Fortune or Peril Points.
  • Change action economy in a narrow way.
  • Grant clear narrative permission in a specific situation.

Avoid vague talent text such as "gain a small benefit" unless the Universe defines that benefit immediately afterward.

Tier 1: Foundational Talents

Tier 1 talents are broad, useful, and safe for early characters.

Hardy (Ranked)

Increase your Wound Points by 2.

You may purchase this talent multiple times; each purchase after the first increases Wound Points by only 1. Unless the Universe says otherwise, Hardy cannot increase your Wound Points above 20 + Might.

Steadfast (Ranked)

Increase your Strain Points by 2.

You may purchase this talent multiple times; each purchase after the first increases Strain Points by only 1. Unless the Universe says otherwise, Steadfast cannot increase your Strain Points above 20 + Willpower.

Keen Eye

Once per scene, remove 1 Bane Die from a Perception check caused by poor visibility, distance, distraction, concealment, or clutter.

Fast Hands

Once per turn, draw, ready, stow, or retrieve one item as a Quick Action instead of a Maneuver.

This item must be reasonably accessible. Fast Hands does not let you unpack a buried item, assemble a complex object, or bypass a meaningful obstacle.

Guarded

As a Maneuver, take a defensive posture. Until the start of your next turn, attacks against you add 1 Bane Die.

You must be able to move, defend yourself, or use available cover. Guarded ends early if you are Immobilized, Staggered, helpless, or otherwise unable to defend yourself.

Wayfarer

When making Survival checks involving travel, shelter, food, water, weather, tracking, or route-finding, remove 1 Bane Die caused by natural terrain or ordinary environmental hardship.

Skilled (Ranked)

Gain 1 rank in one skill, respecting normal rank limits.

Skilled grants the rank directly; do not also pay the normal skill XP cost for that rank. Each purchase applies to a different skill unless the Universe allows otherwise. At character creation, Skilled is bound by the same rank caps as direct skill purchase: rank 2 for any skill, or rank 3 for one profession skill if the Universe permits. Skilled does not bypass these caps.

Specialist (Choose One)

Choose one skill and one narrow use of that skill, such as "Stealth in urban shadows," "Medicine to stabilize the dying," "Ranged with bows," or "Craft to repair vehicles."

Once per scene, when making that specific kind of check, upgrade one Ability Die in the pool to one Mastery Die. If the pool has no Ability Dice to upgrade, add 1 Boon Die instead.

May be purchased multiple times; each purchase must apply to a different specialty.

Cool Head

When making Readiness checks or checks to resist panic, surprise, fear, or sudden pressure, remove 1 Bane Die caused by fear, confusion, shock, or being caught off guard.

Helpful

When the GM accepts your assist, your help counts as two assisting dice instead of one: either +2 Boon Dice, or +1 Boon Die and +1 Ability Die if you have more ranks in the relevant skill than the primary character.

This still obeys the normal limit of no more than two assisting dice total, and no more than one assisting Ability Die. You may still only assist when the GM agrees that your action can meaningfully help.

Momentum

Once per turn, when you fail a check but generate at least 1 net Boon, you may spend 1 Boon to gain a minor narrative advantage related to the failed attempt.

Examples include landing in a better position, learning something useful, avoiding a worse consequence, keeping hold of an item, or setting up an ally.

Tier 2: Adept Talents

Tier 2 talents represent practiced competence and stronger scene-level utility.

Catch Breath

When you use the Catch Breath Maneuver, recover 2 Strain instead of 1. The Maneuver action type and the once-per-encounter limit on Catch Breath still apply; this talent only changes the amount recovered.

You cannot use Catch Breath while Staggered, unconscious, or otherwise unable to pause and steady yourself.

Conditioned

When making Fortitude checks against fatigue, forced marching, pain, hunger, thirst, suffocation, harsh climates, or exhausting physical strain, remove 1 Bane Die.

Strong Arm

When making Athletics, Melee, Unarmed, or thrown Ranged checks involving throwing, shoving, pushing, pulling, breaking, grappling, or forceful movement, you may spend 1 Boon to move the target or object a short distance, knock it off-balance, or create an opening.

The GM determines what movement is plausible based on size, footing, and the scene. Strong Arm does not apply to bows, firearms, or other non-thrown ranged weapons.

Twist of Fate

Once per session, after rolling a check, reroll one die in your pool.

You must keep the second result.

Low Profile

When using Stealth or Subterfuge to avoid attention in a crowd, occupied area, public location, or busy environment, remove 1 Bane Die.

Convincing

When using Charm, Deception, or Negotiation with a plausible argument, credible disguise, fair offer, or believable lie, add 1 Boon Die.

This talent does not help with impossible claims, absurd offers, or lies contradicted by obvious evidence.

Danger Sense

Once per scene, when danger would catch you completely unaware, the GM may allow you to make a Perception or Readiness check before the danger fully lands.

Success lets you act normally or warn one ally. Failure may still reduce the severity of surprise at the GM's discretion.

Unshaken

When resisting fear, intimidation, despair, coercion, mental pressure, or supernatural dread, remove 1 Bane Die.

Quick Recovery

When you recover Strain at the end of an encounter or during a full rest, recover 1 additional Strain.

When receiving care for Wounds, the character treating you adds 1 Boon Die to the Medicine check.

Practical Expertise (Choose One)

Choose Craft, Medicine, Science, or Operate.

When making checks with the chosen skill using poor tools, improvised tools, damaged equipment, unfamiliar models, or rushed conditions, remove 1 Bane Die.

May be purchased multiple times; each purchase must apply to a different skill from the list above.

Boon Reader

When you generate 2 or more Boons on a Perception, Readiness, Streetwise, Lore, Medicine, Science, or Survival check, you may spend 2 Boons to ask the GM one yes/no question about the scene, subject, danger, or NPC.

The GM should answer honestly, though the answer may be incomplete if the character lacks access to the full truth.

Tier 3: Expert Talents

Tier 3 talents represent significant expertise, durability, and distinct character identity.

Growth (Universe-Restricted)

You may pay the normal upgrade cost to increase one characteristic by 1, respecting the Universe's normal characteristic limits. You may not take this talent more than once.

Universe-Restricted: Growth is not assumed to be available in every Universe. Universes must explicitly enable Growth and may impose tier, story, or in-fiction gates (such as requiring a milestone, training arc, mentor, ritual, augmentation, or significant in-world event).

Unbroken

Once per session, when you would be incapacitated by Wounds or Strain, remain functional until the end of your next turn.

After that turn, you suffer the incapacitation normally unless healing, recovery, or another effect prevents it.

Hardened (Choose One)

Choose one circumstance when you purchase this talent: physical attacks, environmental damage, poison/disease, fear/mental pressure, or social coercion.

When resisting or reducing harm from the chosen circumstance, add 1 Boon Die to the relevant check. If the harm is damage and the GM agrees the talent applies, increase your effective Resistance by 1 against that instance.

May be purchased multiple times; each purchase must apply to a different circumstance.

Rallying Words

As an Action, make a Leadership check targeting one ally at Short range who can hear or understand you.

On success, that ally recovers 1 Strain plus 1 additional Strain per uncancelled Success beyond the first. You may spend 2 Boons to affect one additional ally in range.

Expert Care

When making Medicine checks to stabilize, treat, or speed recovery, add 1 Boon Die.

When you generate 2 or more Boons on such a check, you may spend 2 Boons to reduce the time required, preserve scarce supplies, or remove 1 additional Wound, as appropriate to the Universe's recovery rules.

Skeptic

When resisting deception, illusion, false evidence, manipulation, supernatural misdirection, forged signals, or misleading appearances, remove 1 Bane Die.

When you generate 2 or more Boons on the check, you may learn one clue about what is wrong, missing, or inconsistent.

Mental Fortress

When resisting mental, emotional, fear-based, psychic, or coercive effects, you may downgrade one negative die in the pool.

This effect may be used once per encounter.

Crowd Fighter

When engaged with multiple foes, reduce the total Bane Dice imposed by being outnumbered, surrounded, flanked, or pressed by a crowd by 1.

Once per turn, when an engaged enemy misses you and generates at least 1 Bane, you may spend 1 of that enemy's Banes to reposition yourself within Engaged range.

Reliable Skill (Choose One)

Choose one skill.

When making a calm, routine, non-combat check with that skill and the difficulty is Average or lower, you may treat a result with no net Successes and no net Failures as a success with a minor cost or delay.

Reliable Skill does not apply in structured combat, severe danger, opposed checks, or checks with upgraded difficulty unless the GM allows it. May be purchased multiple times; each purchase must apply to a different skill.

Resourceful

Once per session, declare that you have a plausible small item, contact, clue, preparation, or minor advantage that fits your character and the current situation.

The GM may require a Story Point, a reasonable explanation, or a complication if the declaration is especially convenient.

Mastery Spend (Choose One)

Choose one skill when you purchase this talent.

Once per session, after rolling a check with that skill, you may spend 1 Fortune Point and convert 2 net Boons into 1 Success.

This conversion happens after normal cancellation. It cannot create a Breakthrough, and it cannot be used if no net Boons remain. May be purchased multiple times; each purchase must apply to a different skill.

Silver Tongue

When making Charm, Deception, or Negotiation checks against a target who has personal stakes in the outcome — pride, loyalty, fear, self-image, reputation, or emotional investment — you may downgrade one negative die in the pool.

This effect may be used once per scene. Silver Tongue helps with personal leverage, not impersonal procedure: it does not apply to market pricing, contract terms, treaty bargaining, institutional negotiations, or other situations where the target has no personal skin in the game.

Master Infiltrator

When using Stealth or Subterfuge to bypass security, infiltrate a guarded location, escape captivity, or move through a hostile environment unnoticed, add 1 Boon Die.

When you generate 2 or more Boons on such a check, you may spend 2 Boons to gain one of the following narrative effects, GM permitting:

  • Learn one specific detail about the area's defenses, occupants, or layout.
  • Leave no detectable trace of your passage.
  • Place yourself in an advantageous position for your next action.

Tier 4: Master Talents

Tier 4 talents are powerful, reliable, and often shape how a character approaches scenes.

Commanding Presence

When you use Leadership to assist, rally, organize, or direct allies, you may affect one additional ally within range.

When you generate 2 or more Boons on a Leadership check, you may spend 2 Boons to extend the effect by one round, one exchange, or one meaningful beat, depending on the scene.

Defensive Operator

When operating a vehicle, mount, ship, machine, mech, or similar controlled system, remove 1 Bane Die from checks to avoid crashes, pursuit hazards, difficult maneuvers, incoming attacks, or loss of control.

Universes may rename this talent as Defensive Driver, Ace Pilot, Sure Rider, Helmsmaster, or similar.

Masterful Recovery

Once per encounter, when you recover Strain, remove a temporary condition, or receive medical care, increase the recovery effect.

Choose one recovery type that fits the triggering effect: 2 additional Strain recovered, 2 additional Wounds recovered, or one additional step of condition relief.

Exploit Opening

Once per round, when an enemy within Short range suffers a condition, generates 3 or more Banes, suffers a Calamity, or is hit by a Breakthrough effect, you may add 1 Boon Die to your next check against that enemy before the end of your next turn.

Tactical Mind

At the start of a structured encounter, after initiative is rolled but before the first turn, make a Perception, Readiness, or Leadership check at Average difficulty.

On success, choose one ally who can see or hear you. That ally adds 1 Boon Die to their first check of the encounter. Spend 2 Boons to affect one additional ally.

Greater Growth (Universe-Restricted;)

You may pay the normal upgrade cost to increase one characteristic by 1, respecting the Universe's normal characteristic limits. You may take this talent more than once, however, you may not use this on the same Characteristic more than once.

Universe-Restricted: Greater Growth is not assumed to be available in every Universe and should be rarer than Growth. Universes must explicitly enable Greater Growth and may impose stricter tier, story, or in-fiction gates than Growth (often requiring a major milestone, transformation, ascension, augmentation, or campaign-defining event).

Signature Skill (Choose One)

Choose one skill.

Once per session, when you succeed on a check with that skill and generate at least 2 net Boons, you may immediately create one additional narrative benefit appropriate to the skill and scene.

This benefit should be stronger than a normal Boon spend but weaker than a Breakthrough.

Peril Turner

Once per session, when the GM spends a Peril Point to upgrade a difficulty die against you or an ally within Short range, you may spend 1 Fortune Point to turn the peril.

The GM's Peril Point still upgrades the difficulty as normal. After the roll resolves, you may convert 1 net Bane in the result into 1 Boon. This conversion happens after normal cancellation; if the roll generated no net Banes, the talent's spend still counts as used.

This Fortune Point spend is a reactive trigger and does not count against the one-Story-Point-per-check limit. See Story Points: When to Spend Story Points.

The pressure landed. You used it.

Tier 5: Defining Talents

Tier 5 talents are rare, powerful, and character-defining. They should feel like the kind of ability other people tell stories about.

Defiant Will

Once per session, when you would be defeated, controlled, broken, incapacitated by Strain, overwhelmed by fear, or forced to yield through mental or emotional pressure, you may remain in control long enough to take one immediate Action or Maneuver.

After that action resolves, the original consequence applies unless your action plausibly prevents it.

You may not trigger Defiant Will and Last Stand in the same encounter.

Legendary Skill (Choose One)

Choose one skill.

Once per session, before rolling an important check with that skill, declare it a legendary attempt. Upgrade one positive die in the pool. If the check succeeds, add one additional meaningful narrative effect beyond normal Success and Boon spending.

If the check fails, the failure should still be memorable, costly, or revealing.

Signature Technique

Create one named character-defining move, method, tactic, trick, procedure, spell-form, maneuver, or social play.

Work with the GM to define:

  • The skill or skills it uses.
  • When it can be triggered.
  • Its cost, if any.
  • Its normal effect.
  • What extra effect occurs on 3+ Boons or a Breakthrough.
  • What complication may occur on 3+ Banes or a Calamity.

Signature Technique should be narrow, memorable, and strong. It should not replace an entire skill or make other characters irrelevant.

Mythic Presence

Your reputation, bearing, authority, legend, infamy, or sheer force of identity changes how people respond before a roll is made.

Once per session, when entering a social scene where your identity matters, choose one:

  • Add 1 Boon Die to your first Charm, Leadership, Negotiation, or Intimidation check in the scene.
  • Force one lesser NPC to hesitate, listen, withdraw, or seek permission before opposing you directly.
  • Establish that someone present has heard of you, for good or ill.

The GM may attach complications when your reputation cuts both ways.

Last Stand

Once per session, when you are badly injured, outnumbered, cornered, or otherwise facing likely defeat, you may trigger Last Stand at the start of your turn.

Until the end of that turn:

  • Add 1 Boon Die to all checks.
  • Ignore the effects of being incapacitated until the turn ends.
  • You may suffer 2 Strain to add 1 additional Boon Die to one check.

When the turn ends, suffer the normal consequences of your condition. If you exceeded your Wound or Strain threshold, you collapse unless another effect prevents it.

You may not trigger Last Stand and Defiant Will in the same encounter.

Impossible Turn

Once per session, when a situation becomes disastrous, you may declare an Impossible Turn.

Choose one immediate effect, subject to GM approval:

  • Escape a lethal or impossible position, but leave something important behind.
  • Convert total defeat into survival at a major cost.
  • Prevent an ally's immediate defeat, but expose yourself to danger.
  • Turn a failed plan into a new opportunity with a serious complication.
  • Force the scene to continue instead of ending in disaster.

Impossible Turn does not erase consequences. It changes the shape of the consequence.

Fatebreaker

Once per session, when you roll a Calamity, you may also trigger a Breakthrough effect.

The Calamity still occurs. Fatebreaker does not cancel it. Instead, the disaster creates a decisive advantage, revelation, opening, or reversal in your favor.

The Breakthrough effect should be directly connected to the Calamity. Something goes very wrong, and that very failure becomes the reason something else goes right.

Talent Design Template

Use this format when writing new talents for Exodus NDS.

Talent Name

Tier: 1-5 Type: Passive / Active / Reaction / Session / Encounter / Ranked Trigger: When the talent can be used. Cost: Action, Maneuver, Quick Action, Fortune Point, Strain, Boons, once per scene, once per session, etc. Effect: Clear mechanical effect using Exodus NDS language. Limits: What the talent cannot do. Universe Notes: Rename, restrict, or expand as needed.

Universes may define their own costs. A simple default model is:

Tier Suggested XP Cost Role
1 5 XP Foundational utility
2 10 XP Reliable competence
3 15 XP Expert identity
4 20 XP Master-level power
5 25 XP Character-defining capability

Optional rule: Ranked talents cost +5 XP each time they are purchased after the first.

Characteristic-increase talents require extra XP spending. Because raising a characteristic improves every skill tied to that characteristic, Growth and Greater Growth become automatic picks unless the cost gate is real.

Example: Growth is 15xp. Raising Might from 3 to 4 cost 40xp. In order to use Growth to increase Might from 3 to 4 will cost a total of 15xp + 40xp for 55xp. Universes may raise these costs further, gate them behind milestones, or remove them entirely.

Optional Skill Name Variants

Use these when a Universe needs a different tone.

Default Grittier Heroic Fantasy Sci-Fi / Modern Toon / Comedy
Fortitude Grit Fortitude Conditioning Tough It Out
Lore Lore Lore Academics Know-Stuff
Streetwise Underworld Low Roads Contacts Back-Alley Knowhow
Subterfuge Larceny Subterfuge Infiltration Sneaky Business
Operate Drive Ride Pilot Wheelwork
Readiness Nerve Vigil Alertness Ready-or-Not