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CPA: Talents List

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Talents are discrete permanent features you can gain that increase a player character's power.
  1. Three talents are received at character creation.
  2. At any time, a character may purchase a talent by spending 5 saved experience points (XP).
  3. Some talents have restrictions and requirements before they may be acquired.
Keep a record of when and how you acquired a certain talent.

Below are the talent categories tables. Click to expand:

General Talents give widely applicable benefits.

Talent Name Category Description Restrictions & Requirements
Arcane Initiate General You gain energy points equal to 5 + arcane skills, and you may now gain levels in one arcane skill (skill cost is separate). Must be chosen at character creation, or received with both the approval and months of training from a master of Metaphysics.
Arcane Adept General You may now gain levels in any arcane skill. You gain one free level-1 Arcane skill of your choice in a new Arcane Skill. Requires Arcane Initiate and one level 3 arcane skill. You cannot take both Deep Thoughts and Arcane Adept.
Expert Fighter General When you hit in combat, you can apply any one special effect to your target. Requires a level 3 combat skill.
Elite Fighter General
  • When you attack someone, you always know their HP.
  • Once per combat, instead of rolling, you can choose to get a basic hit.
Requires Expert Fighter and level 3 in two different combat skills.
Expert Professional General Choose a professional skill you have at level 3+; for that skill, you can choose to roll it with 2d8 or 1d10+1d8, plus your skill level as usual. Requires a level 3 in the professional skill that you select.
Elite Professional General You can choose to roll any professional skill with any alternative combination of available dice that has the same potential maximum (i.e., 4d4 instead of 2d8), and you do not take any penalties for untrained skills. Requires Expert Professional and level 3 in two different professional skills.
Expert Defender General After Rolling a defense, you may add 1d4. If this causes your defense to succeed, you may not use this again in a battle. Requires level 3 in a defense skill.
Elite Defender General Once per session, instead of rolling, you can choose to get a critical success for yourself on a defense skill. Requires level 3 in two different defense skills.

Arcane Talents provide broad archetypes to flavor your arcane powers.

Talent Name Category Description Restrictions & Requirements
Arcane Smite Arcane Immediately after you hit with a melee or brawl attack, you can choose to spend 2 energy points. If you do, your hit deals 5 additional fire, ice or lightning damage (pick one based on the arcane skills you know). Requires pyro, cryo, or electromancy, and either Melee or Brawl.
Cantrips Arcane You can roll any of your arcane skills as a social or performance skill when you show small, harmless magical tricks and flourishes to an audience of two or three, representing your arcane skills, without needing to spend any Energy Points. This could also include simple conveniences like powering a held light bulb or chilling a drink. Larger performances will still require a standard casting. Requires at least one arcane skill.
Cleric Arcane When you are casting a nonviolent spell to buff, help, heal, protect, defend, or safeguard someone, you get +1 to the roll.

Additionally, once per scene, as a single action, you may roll your best arcane skill with +1 and shout to castigate enemy fiends or undead. Depending on the roll vs their defense, all of them you can see may take damage, be forced to flee, or explode. This costs no EP.
Requires at least one arcane skill.
Elementalist Arcane
  • Your Skill levels in pyromancy, cryomancy, electromancy, and telepathy now also act as additional damage reduction when you're hit with attacks making use of heat, cold, electricity, or psychic attacks, respectively.
  • For each instance that you are hit with an element that you are skilled with in this way, you recharge 1 energy point.
  • During battle, when you cast a spell of an opposite element to your previous cast, you gain +1 to the roll. This does not stack.
Requires at least one arcane skill.
Deep Thoughts Arcane Gain +10 maximum energy points. You will only ever know one arcane skill. You cannot take this talent if you have Arcane Adept.
Mantra Arcane Your Energy Points now recharge at all times, instead of only while meditating or resting. Requires Meditation Skill.
Channeler Arcane
  • You are now allowed to concentrate on +1 additional spell, simultaneously. Be warned that it is difficult and risky to end multiple spells.
  • While you are concentrating on a single spell, you have +1 advantage die on rolls to maintain your concentration.
Requires Arcane Initiate and Meditation skill.
Sage Arcane You can now choose to roll your sensing spells with 1d6+1d12 instead of the usual 2d8. Requires at least one arcane skill.
Bloodmage Arcane
  • Gain +4 maximum HP.
  • If you cast a spell by expending HP for at least part of it cost (at a 4 hp : 1 EP ratio), then you gain +1 to the roll.
  • You can choose to expend an extra +4 HP when casting a spell in addition to the cost. If you do, you can roll the cast with a base of 1d20 + skill.
Requires at least one arcane skill.
Warlock Arcane You gain +1 to all casting rolls during battle, and +1 to spell damage. Requires at least one arcane skill.

Arcane Masteries reward focus in specific arcane skills.

Talent Name Category Description Restrictions & Requirements
Expert Chronomancer Arcane
  • Acceleration: Add this skill directly to your initiative value, and you can use it for your Speed stat.
  • Twist of Fate: When you or another person fails a check, you can expend 1 EP to instantly force the GM to give another option for a different type of failure, or 2 ep for 2 more options, then pick one (maximum 3 choices).
  • Slowmo: When you make a risky non-arcane action where speed or accuracy is critical, you can expend 2 EP instantly to get +1 on the check (Does not stack).
Requires level 3 Chronomancy.
Elite Chronomancer Arcane
  • Alternate Self: You can expend 10 EP to reassign all your skill points and talents, or those of a consenting player, by trading places with another self from a different universe.
  • Bullet Time: Your Slowmo action now only costs 1 EP.
  • Paradox: You can expend 10 EP have your future self arrive and help out for at most 30 seconds. This may complicate your retirement plans.
Requires Expert Chronomancer.
Expert Cryomancer Arcane
  • Arcane Freeze: All your cold attack spells will arcane-freeze on hit if possible, or another feasible condition.
  • Once per day, if you immerse yourself completely in water, you heal 3 HP. (If falling damage doesn't kill you upon hitting the water).
  • Create Water: As an action, you can "create" 1 pint of water by expending 1 EP, by gesturing at a spot or container. The water comes from a randomly selected other dimension and may sometimes come with contaminants. You can roll your skill to try to get different types of liquids.
Requires level 3 Cryomancer.
Elite Cryomancer Arcane
  • Font: Your Create Water ability now creates 1 gallon per EP spent. Other rules are the same.
  • Chiller: Your Arcane Freeze effects also force enemies to spend 1 action to break out of the ice.
  • Heatsink: While you are at least half immersed in water, you can cast any spell with 1d12+1d6.
Requires Expert Cryomancer.
Expert Electromancer Arcane
  • Charged Burst: You can spend 2 EP to give yourself +1 on a Computers or Athletics roll (does not stack).
  • Shocking Hit: All of your electric attack spells will shock enemies on hit if possible, or another feasible condition. Your normal physical attacks add +1 electrical damage.
  • Energizing Touch: You can choose to transfer your energy points to/from allies at-will by consenting physical contact.
Requires level 3 Electromancy.
Elite Electromancer Arcane
  • Galvanic Bond: You can transfer your EP to/from consenting allies at up to 10m range as a free action on your turn.
  • Electrocution: Enemies that you shock will also have their defense TN reduced by 1.
  • Discharge: Whenever you critically succeed on any casting roll, you can choose to instantly and successfully cast another spell you know of the same level or lower as your critical effect.
Requires level Expert Electromancer.
Expert Illusionist Arcane
  • Never There: If you can describe how your illusions help you, you can spend 2 EP to get +1 on a Dodge or Stealth check. Does not stack.
  • Sense Deception: You can roll Illusion at-will to sense mundane or magical deception in a scene, for zero EP cost.
  • Immersion: All your core illusion spells can include create false impressions of changes in smell, humidity, or temperature.
Requires level 3 Illusion.
Elite Illusionist Arcane
  • The Prestige: Your Never There ability now costs 1 EP can also be used on rolls for Talk, Negotiate, and Leadership, as long as it includes illusionary flourishes.
  • The Reveal: When you appear to be completely killed, defeated or captured by an enemy or trap, you can expend 10 EP to reveal that it was just an illusionary trick.
  • The Secret: You can cast an illusion spell with no EP cost if you can explain how it could have theoretically been performed with household materials and minimal preparation and the GM agrees.
Requires Expert Illusionist.
Expert Metaphysicist Arcane
  • Empowered Spell: Once per casting, you can choose to double the EP cost of any spell to cast it with an additional +1.
  • Secret Spell: You can cast any spell with no outward sign at double EP cost and no change in TN.
  • Unraveller: You can roll with 3d6+skill to cast Counterspell or Dispel.
Requires level 3 Metaphysics.
Elite Metaphysicist Arcane
  • You can roll with 3d6+skill to cast any spell that interacts with another spell.
  • After taking this talent, you are permitted to train any arcane skills up to level 7, using otherwise normal rules.
Requires Expert Metaphysicist.
Expert Necromancer Arcane
  • Mindless Servitude: All of your successfully invoked arcane minions do not require your concentration. The duration is the same.
  • Mouth of Hate: The maximum duration of your curses is doubled.
  • Vile touch: Your Melee and Brawl attacks can always poison enemies with poison damage equal to your Necromancy skill per round.
  • Reaper: Any time you kill a living biological being with a Necromancy spell, you regain 1 health point.
Requires level 3 Necromancy.
Elite Necromancer Arcane
  • Army of Darkness: Your TN for casting Animate Corpses is reduced from 20 to 17.
  • Final Destination: You can cast Sense Death at no cost, and also use it to sense upcoming deadly accidents and disasters.
  • Nightwalker: You can cast a limited version of the L2 Teleportation spell "Sense Rifts", only sensing ways into dead and cursed realms.
Requires level Expert Necromancer.
Expert Telekinetic Arcane
  • Force Wielder: When using your basic, unmodified, nonviolent TK Manipulation abilities, you can choose to get a basic success without rolling.
  • Arcane Duelist: You can cast any Telekinetics spell that is usually an action, as your bonus action, for +1 to its EP cost. Your TK hits in combat can apply one feasible condition.
  • Ethereal Acrobatics: You can spend 2 EP to get +1 to an athletics or dodge roll. Does not stack.
Requires level 3 Telekinetics.
Elite Telekinetic Arcane
  • Ethereal Force: Your "Ethereal Acrobatics" ability now only costs 1 EP and can also be used on Brawl, Melee, Science and Crafting rolls.
  • Force Shaping: You can increase the range, radius or width of any spell by expending an additional 2 EP when casting it.
  • Artificer: If you expend 10 EP while spending 10 hours crafting something, the result gains a unique feature related to the arcane skills you know.
Requires Expert Telekinetic.
Expert Pyromancer Arcane
  • Ignition: All your fire attack spells ignite enemies on a successful hit if possible, or another feasible condition.
  • Inner Flame: You can cast any spells normally while in the dying condition, and healers have advantage on rolls to stabilize or heal you. If you are killed, you can choose to have your body violently explode.
  • Warmth: You recharge EP in hot areas even when not resting or meditating. If you are, then you recharge at double the rate.
Requires level 3 Pyromancy.
Elite Pyromancer Arcane
  • Firefighter: You can roll Pyromancy to try to put out fires, whether arcane or natural.
  • Scorcher: You can ignite enemies with any of your Melee, Brawl, and Shoot attacks, and they all deal +2 fire damage.
  • Destroyer: Roll all your Pyromancy spells in battle with 1d20+skill.
Requires Expert Pyromancer.
Expert Telepath Arcane
  • All of your succesfully cast Telepathy spells have no outward sign at all except for specified touch or ritual requirements.
  • Mental Register: When cast for consenting targets within 100m, "Send Thoughts" has no action or EP cost.
  • Aura Sense: You can spend 2 EP to get a +1 on a social skill roll. Does not stack.
Requires level 3 Telepathy.
Elite Telepath Arcane
  • Ghost in a Machine: Your Telepathy spells up to level 3 will work on robots and droids, up to their capacity for thoughts/emotions.
  • After taking this talent, you are permitted to train any social skills up to level 7, using otherwise normal rules.
  • As an action, you can expend 10 EP to link your party together with telepathic thought for 4 hours.
Requires level 3 Telepathy.
Expert Teleporter Arcane
  • Geometric Awareness: You can cast the L2 TK spell, Spatial Awareness, with your teleportation skill.
  • Planeswalker: You can cast "Sense Rifts" with no risk or point cost.
  • Shifter: Teleporting yourself only has no cooldown when used for distances under 65 meters, and you can teleport as a bonus action for +1 ep cost and difficulty.
Requires level 3 Teleportation.
Elite Teleporter Arcane
  • Spatial Shortcuts: Your teleport distances are upgraded to powers of 5 instead of powers of 4: 5, 25, 125, 625, 3125, and 15,625m.
  • Vanish: While you are out of sight of any other living thing, you can expend 6 EP to vanish into a neutral, liminal dimension and stay there, without needing to roll. If you do, you can choose to instantly reappear in a safe place within 125m that is equally unobserved, within 10 minutes.
  • Passenger: You can use your core Teleport spells on your consenting allies without sending yourself, if you touch them.
Requires level Expert Teleporter.
Expert Vivithurge Arcane
  • Faith Healing: You gain the option to cast any of your basic unmodified HP healing spells with no roll and a basic success.
  • Quick Heal: You gain the option to modify a basic HP healing spell to a Bonus Action by increasing the EP cost and difficulty by +1.
  • Telekinetic Healing: You gain the option to modify a basic HP healing spell to be used at a distance of up to 10m by increasing the EP cost and difficulty by +2.
Requires Level 3 Vivithurgy.
Elite Vivithurge Arcane
  • Arcane Blood: Add your Vivithurgy skill to your maximum HP.
  • Savior: You can expend 10 EP to get a guaranteed critical success on Revive.
  • Secrets of Life: After taking this talent, you can train your Animals, Medicine, and Science skills to level 7 using otherwise normal rules.
Requires Expert Vivithurge.

Combat Talents improve your character's general combat readiness.

Talent Name Category Description Restrictions & Requirements
Brawl Expert Combat
  • Your damage with Brawl is now 3 per skill level instead of 2 per skill level.
  • You can always spend your bonus action to make a brawl attack.
Requires Brawl skill level 3.
Brawl Elite Combat
  • You can roll your brawl skill to defend vs. any type of attack made against you in close range.
  • Energy Ball: During a battle, you can choose to spend 3 or more actions to charge and throw an energy projectile at a visible enemy within 12m. When you do, roll your Brawl skill and the base damage is twice normal.
Requires Brawl Expert.
Melee Expert Combat
  • Charge: If you used 2 actions to get into melee range with an enemy, then you can spend your bonus action to make a melee attack.
  • Frenzy: After you defeat at least one enemy on your turn with Melee, then you may spend your bonus action anytime on that turn to Frenzy: Move up to 1 tile and make another Melee attack.
Requires Melee level 3.
Melee Elite Combat
  • Double your HP from Melee skill.
  • Your Frenzy ability is now a free action and does not cost your bonus action. It can be triggered up to twice per round.
Requires Melee Expert.
Expert Shot Combat Your missed shots deal exactly 2 damage. You can draw or switch ranged weapons by spending your bonus action. Requires Shoot level 3.
Elite Shot Combat Snap Shot: If your ranged weapon is ready to fire, then once per round, you can make a shot as a reaction during an enemy's turn at -1 accuracy. Requires Expert Shooter.
Assassin Combat
  • Using full cover, you can attempt to hide in combat as your action or Bonus Action.
  • If you make any kind of attack from stealth, you attack by rolling 3 dice and keeping the highest 2, instead of the usual +1.
  • Your successful attacks from stealth gain +6 damage.
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Duelist Combat
  • Challenger: When you are challenging someone to a duel or contest, you can roll Negotiate with an increased die size on one of your dice.
  • Riposte: Immediately after you critically succeed a dodge check, you can choose to make one reaction counter-attack (if your weapon is ready).
-
Expert Berserker Combat
  • Whirlwind Attack: Your cleave and slash attacks can now hit up to 8 enemies directly adjacent to you in a 360 degree arc.
  • Rage: At any time, you can choose to make melee or brawl rolls this round with +1 advantage die, in exchange for making all your defense rolls with -1 disadvantage die (until the start of your next turn).
Requires Melee or Brawl skill.
Elite Berserker Combat
  • Cyclone Attack: After you make a critical strike with either Melee or Brawl, you can continuously attack with either skill as a free action until you miss or cannot reach enemies.
  • Undying Fury: If you drop to zero HP, you can activate this ability instantly by yelling loudly. If you do, you may continue acting normally in that scene. However, you then take 2 points of exhaustion instead of the usual 1. Moreover, each hit you take while at zero HP will add another +1 point of exhaustion, but you can ignore their effects until the end of the scene, unless you reach 5 points in which case you die immediately.
Requires Expert Berserker.
Ferocity Combat All of your Melee and Brawl attacks now deal +2 additional damage. Requires Melee or Brawl skill.
Inquisitor Combat
  • Punisher: Once per round, if possible, you can make an instant reaction attack with your equipped, loaded and readied weapon when an enemy starts to cast a spell.
  • Iconoclast: Roll with +1 advantage die when you attempt to destroy magical items, constructs, barriers, and illusions using mundane means.
  • Shake it Off: If you are affected by a magical condition, you can, at any time, choose to instantly shake off the effect by spending HP equal to the spell's level.
Requires that you posess NO arcane skills.

Weapon Specialization Talents give focused combat benefits.

Talent Name Category Description Restrictions & Requirements
Axe Expert Combat
  • You now always cleave when melee attacking with an axe, in addition to other effects.
  • You can dual wield hand axes, battle axes, or throwing axes with no penalty.
Requires melee skill.
Axe Elite Combat
  • Megasmash: Once per session, you can choose to make one axe attack using 1d20 instead of 2d8. If it hits, the attack gains +5 damage.
  • Bloodlust: While you are attacking an enemy that is suffering from at least 1 negative condition, your axe attacks have +1 critical strike chance and +1 critical strike multiplier.
Requires Axe Expert.
Bow Expert Combat
  • +2 Critical Strike Chance with bows.
  • You no longer need to spend any action to reload a bow (it is now considered to be part of your shoot action).
Requires Shoot skill.
Bow Elite Combat
  • Your hits with any bow penetrate +1 enemies.
  • Each time you use the aim action with a bow, add +1 advantage die to your shot.
Requires Bow Expert.
Crossbow Expert Combat You can fire a crossbow at point-blank range with no disadvantage, and all of your crossbow hits deal +2 more damage. Requires Shoot skill.
Crossbow Elite Combat +2 critical strike chance with crossbows; you can spend your bonus action to reload a crossbow. Requires Crossbow Expert.
Dagger Expert Combat
  • Vicious: You get +1 critical strike chance with daggers.
  • Talons: No penalty for dual wielding daggers.
  • Rush: If you hit with a melee or thrown dagger attack, you can spend your bonus action to make another dagger attack if possible.
Requires Melee skill.
Dagger Elite Combat You get a further +2 (total +3) critical strike chance with daggers, and with them your critical strike damage is 3x normal damage. Requires Dagger Expert
Hammer Expert Combat When wielding hammers, maces and mauls in combat, you gain the option to make your special attack a Stun attack. This special effect causes the enemy to lose 1 of their next 2 actions in their next turn. It can only be applied once per enemy per round. Requires Melee skill.
Hammer Elite Combat You can now repeatedly stun, and potentially stun-lock, enemies when attacking in melee with hammers, maces, mauls and other blunt melee weapons. Requires Hammer Expert.
Pistol Expert Combat You can fire a pistol in melee with no disadvantage. When using pistols, you can aim while moving (aim and move actions are merged for you). Requires Shoot skill.
Pistol Elite Combat You can dual wield pistols with no penalty, you can reload both of them with 1 action, and you can choose to move & aim as 1 action and/or move & fire as 1 action. Requires Pistol Expert.
Rifle Expert Combat
  • Recoil Brace: When using a solid object as cover, you have +1 to hit with rifles.
  • Low Profile: You can spend your bonus action to crouch behind cover.
Requires Shoot skill.
Rifle Elite Combat
  • You have +2 critical strike chance with rifles.
  • If you aim with a rifle, then for your next shot you can choose to roll with 2d10+skill, 1d20+skill, or 3d8kh2+skill. Does not stack.
Requires Rifle Expert.
Shotgun Expert Combat Your shotgun range is increased by +3m, and your shotgun blasts always knockback all enemies hit by 2m. Requires Shoot skill.
Shotgun Elite Combat Your critical strike chance with shotguns is increased by +2, and +4 for enemies that are exactly 1m away from you (one unit of empty space in between you and them). Requires Shotgun Expert.
Spear Expert Combat Your damage with spears is increased by +2. Your melee reach with spears is increased by +1m to 3m. Requires melee skill.
Spear Elite Combat While wielding a spear, you gain one special reaction attack per round, triggered when an enemy attempts to get closer than your maximum spear range. Requires Spear Expert.
Sword Expert Combat
  • Parry: Using a sword, you can roll to defend from enemy melee-range attacks of any kind using your melee skill roll.
  • Leverage: Once per battle, when you use Parry successfully, you can react to immediately shove that enemy based on your degree of Parry success.
Requires melee skill.
Sword Elite Combat
  • Powerslash: Once per game session you can make a sword attack with 2d12 + skill and move 2 meters as part of this one attack action, in addition to normal effects.
  • Deflector: Your Leverage reaction can now be used once per combat round to apply any one condition as long as it does not cause direct damage.
Requires Sword Expert
Throwing Expert Combat
  • Versatility: You can make thrown weapon attacks using any combat skill or athletics, up to 25m range.
  • Efficiency: Your thrown weapons deal +2 damage and, if non-explosive, are never damaged by your throws.
Requires melee skill.
Throwing Elite Combat
  • Perfect Bounce: Your thrown grenades and bombs have +3m blast radius.
  • Chopper: Thrown axe attacks have +1 critical strike chance.
  • Impaler: Your thrown spears will always pierce +1 enemy in addition to other effects.
  • Fan of Knives: You can throw 2 knives at 2 different targets as a single attack roll action (cannot apply other effects).
Requires Throwing Expert
Heavy Weapon Expert Combat
  • Heavy Metal: You can make a melee attack using an equipped heavy ranged weapon by rolling your shoot skill, for exactly 6 damage, with no risk of breaking the weapon.
  • Heavy Lifting: You can move at normal speed and use normal initiative while wielding a heavy ranged weapon.
  • High Explosive: When you miss with any heavy weapon, you deal half damage (similar to a Melee or Brawl attack).
Requires Shoot skill.
Heavy Weapons Elite Combat
  • Lock On: When you aim with a heavy ranged weapon, you get an additional +1 (total +2 for the aim action).
  • Deadly Aim: Your critical strike chance and critical strike multiplier with heavy weapons is increased by +1 each (Crit on 5+, 3x damage when you do).
Requires Heavy Weapons Expert.

Defense Talents make your character more durable.

Talent Name Category Description Restrictions & Requirements
Alert Defense
  • Aware: You can never be surprised, even if asleep.
  • Attentive: +5 to Initiative. Your defense rolls are not penalized by unseen attackers.
  • Astute: When there is one or more traps, hidden hazards, or hidden sensors within 100m, you will instinctively know of the general presence of those things (the GM will tell you).
-
Dodge Expert Defense
  • You cannot take critical hits from enemies while you are conscious and unrestrained. If you would, it becomes a normal hit.
  • +1 to your critical success range on dodge.
Requires Level 3 Dodge.
Dodge Elite Defense
  • Whenever you succeed on a dodge check, you can opt to instantly jump or roll up to half your movement in any direction you choose.
  • When you critically succeed on a dodge check, you can immediately make a full Move action.
Requires Dodge Expert.
Heavy Armor Expert Defense
  • While wearing a suit of heavy personal armor, you get an additional +1 DR.
  • Armor Brace: When you are about to take a single hit of damage, you can elect to brace the hit entirely to your worn suit of heavy armor, causing it to be broken instead of taking damage to yourself.
-
Heavy Armor Elite Defense
  • You can use any type of heavy personal armor with no penalty on stealth or spellcasting rolls.
  • Armor Lock: While wearing heavy armor, you can choose to spend 1 action to enter a defensive stance. Until the start of your next turn, you cannot take more than 7 damage per hit from all physical, projectile or explosive attack hits.
  • Additional +1 DR (total +2) with heavy armor.
Requires Heavy Armor Expert.
Light Armor Expert Defense While wearing only light armor:
  • You have +1 initiative and movement.
  • Your armor does not break when you are knocked out or wounded.
-
Light Armor Elite Defense While wearing only light armor:
  • If you successfully Dodge, you can't take more than 7 damage from that hit.
  • Your critical success chance for Dodge is increased by +1.
Requires Light Armor Expert.
Meditation Expert Defense
  • Unwavering Stance: You can roll meditation to defend from physical attacks against you. If you succeed, then instead of normal damage, your current HP is divided by 2, rounded down.
  • Store of Memory: Add your Meditation skill to your maximum Energy Points. If you did not already have EP, gain 5 + [Meditation] EP.
Requires Level 3 Meditation.
Meditation Elite Defense
  • Shield of Faith: You can spend 2 EP to add +2 to any defense roll, once per roll.
  • Mental Toughness: Add your Meditation skill to your maximum HP.
Requires Expert Resistance.
Expert Resistance Defense
  • Thick Skin: You can roll Resistance versus any type of elemental attack, whether normal or arcane, such as a flamethrower, explosion, or ice storm.
  • Beefy: Double your HP from Resilience and get +1 to DR in all contexts.
  • Regeneration: You heal HP and conditions twice as fast from resting and medical care.
Requires Level 3 Resilience.
Elite Resistance Defense
  • Dust Off: Once per session you can choose to reduce any hit to 1 damage, by explaining how it instead destroyed an item that was already on your person.
  • Strong Heart: People who are attempting to heal you from any negative condition roll their healing skill with +1 advantage die.
Requires Expert Resistance.
Shield Expert Combat
  • +1 DR with Shields.
  • Tortoise Maneuver: While wielding a shield, you can enter a defensive stance for the round at the cost of 1 action. This gives you +2 to critical defense success chance until the start of your next turn. Allies who are behind or adjacent to you also gain that benefit.
-
Shield Elite Combat
  • At any time, you can use your Bonus Action to shove, bash or throw your shield at an enemy, with a damage of 1+Melee skill. When you do, use your melee skill.
  • Shield Brace: While wielding a shield, if you are about to take damage, you can brace with your shield instead of taking damage, causing the shield to be destroyed.
Requires Shield Expert.
Natural Armor Defense You may use your Resilience skill level, with an additional +2 bonus, as your base armor DR, but only while you are wearing no normal or magical armor. -

Professional Talents increase your proficiency with professional skills.

Talent Name Category Description Restrictions & Requirements
Expert Botanist Professional
  • Ranger: You can roll Plants to navigate/perceive in lush areas, negotiate or fight with plantoid or fungoid creatures, and craft or cook things from any plant material.
  • Herbalist: You can roll Plants instead of Science to craft plant-based medicines, potions, injections, poisons, and performance-enhancing drugs.
Requires Plants 3.
Elite Botanist Professional
  • While you rest comfortably among plants, you heal twice as fast.
  • Branching Growth: While you rest comfortably among plants, You have a 1-point XP cost discount on improving all other skills (minimum cost = 1).
Requires Expert Botanist.
Expert Trainer Professional
  • Whisperer:You have one unusually intelligent animal companion that can follow complex commands, and it will follow your commands using your bonus action. This animal is controlled by the GM but is as loyal and obedient as possible. If it dies you can train a new one in time.
  • Biologist:You can use Animals in place of Medicine when targeting animals, you can roll Animals instead of Science when analyzing microbiology, and you can roll Animals instead of Crafting when crafting or cooking with animal parts or products.
  • Body Language: You can use your Animals skill as a social skill to communicate nonverbally with people.
Requires Animals 3.
Elite Trainer Professional
  • Teamwork: While your animal companion is directly helping you with a task, you have +1 on it.
  • Raging Beast: In battle, your trained pet or mount can take 2 actions that you choose without requiring you to command them.
Requires Expert Trainer.
Expert Linguist Professional
  • Wordsmith: You can now roll Literacy to represent eloquent use of wordplay, which should be especially effective to educated audiences.
  • Repartee: In battle, you can spend your action or bonus action to use Literacy or another social skill. If you make insults, and the check meets the enemy's defense value, then you cause them 5 psychic damage as well as distraction. This can crit, but it cannot kill or KO an enemy.
  • Eloquent Praise: When an ally succeeds at a task, you can choose to praise them eloquently, which gives them +1 to an upcoming roll of their choice (maximum of two instances saved on different players).
Requires Literacy 3.
Elite Linguist Professional
  • Quick Learner: You receive a 1-point discount on the XP cost of upgrading any skill for which you read a new textbook, once per textbook per level (minimum of 1 XP cost).
  • Luminary: Written stories, poems and scripts you make during or after your adventure are guaranteed to become popular over time.
Requires Expert Linguist.
Expert Analyst Professional
  • Raindrops on Roses: You can always sense at least one of a person's favorite things after 1 minute of conversation or observation.
  • Cutting insight: In battle, you can roll insight vs. an enemy as a bonus action. If you succeed, then you gain +1 to hit that individual target for the rest of the fight.
Requires Level 3 Insight.
Elite Analyst Professional
  • Learn From Mistakes: After you or another party member fails to meet any TN, declare this ability and note the number on one of the dice. Thereafter, you can substitute this result for one of your dice on a future roll. Maximum of 1 die stored at a time.
  • If you critically fail a skill check, then you gain a one time, 1-point discount on the cost to upgrade that skill by one level further.
Requires Expert Analyst.
Expert Negotiator Professional
  • Diplomat: Once per session, if the enemy can hear you and shares a language, on your turn you can call for parley with a guaranteed success (on the call, not the settlement).
  • Dignitary: Your first request for a meeting with a specific authority figure such as a monarch or CEO is approved without needing to roll.
Requires Level 3 Negotiation.
Elite Negotiator Professional
  • Haggler: When you haggle, regardless of the result, your counterparty will always give you at least 10% off.
  • Lawyer: While you are negotiating on the subject of your party's or another person's illegal activities, you can roll this skill with 3 dice and keep the highest 2.
Requires Expert Negotiator.
Expert Artist Professional
  • Functional Style: You can spend an appropriate amount of time and materials to decorate a piece of gear, vehicle, or building in a specific way. It gains +1 to a statistic you choose. This stacks with crafted mods though not with itself.
  • Master Drafter: While your Art skill is equal to or greater than your Crafting skill, add +1 to your Crafting rolls.
  • You can quickly draw a map of any location based on a description from someone else.
Requires Level 3 Art.
Elite Artist Professional
  • Zeitgeist: Artworks you make and distribute after you begin adventuring are guaranteed to become famous over time.
  • When you have a map or blueprint of a location, you can immediately locate secret doors and unusual entrances.
  • You can produce a quick, and acccurate if necessary, sketch of anything during any scene in which you have your hands free.
Requires Expert Artist.
Expert Pilot Professional
  • Mechanic: You can roll your Pilot skill instead of Crafting to perform vehicle repairs.
  • Hot Shot: Add this skill to your initiative in combat. You can also choose to use this skill as your movement speed skill.
  • If you have at least 2 HP, then vehicle crashes cannot leave you with less than 1 HP.
Requires Level 3 Pilot.
Elite Pilot Professional
  • You can attempt to break into, steal or hot-wire a locked vehicle using your Pilot skill.
  • Overclock: You can install one additional modification to any vehicle using Crafting skills.
  • Maverick: Once per scene, you can roll with +1 advantage when you insult, contradict, or evade authorities.
Requires Expert Pilot.
Expert Socialite Professional
  • Charmer: People will view you as inexplicably more presentable, personable and attractive than the rest of the party.
  • Carouser: If you spend an evening among social clubs in a new town, you can make at least 1 new friend.
  • Presentable: If fine clothes, perfumes and makeup are available to you, you can apply these to give yourself +1 on all social skills until you get dirty again.
Requires Level 3 Talk.
Elite Socialite Professional
  • Party Animal: Attending a celebration or holiday of any kind heals you 10 health points and 1 exhaustion, and leaves you with a +1d6 that you can apply to any skill roll until your next event (maximum of 2 charges held).
  • Flattery: While you are chatting with someone, they won't notice your first attempt to steal, snoop, cast magic, or plant traps/devices--the attempt may not succeed, but the failure won't be noticed.
Requires Expert Socialite.
Expert Brute Professional
  • Bodybuilding: Double your HP from Athletics.
  • Flex: If you are physically flexing or showing off your strength in some way, then you can roll Athletics as a social skill.
  • Bruiser: Add +1 damage to all attacks with Brawl or 2-handed weapons.
Requires Level 3 Athletics.
Elite Brute Professional
  • Push It: You can increase any check you make or damage you deal that primarily involves strength by spending your HP or EP to add to the result, 1:1. Must declare before you roll.
  • Pillar: Your critical success range for using Resilience, Crafting, Leadership, 2-handed weapons, throwing, and forcible athletics increases by +1.
  • Strength Coach: Once per session, you can let all party members attempting the same strength related task use your skill level by guiding them.
Requires Expert Brute.
Expert Acrobat Professional
  • Parkour: At any time, you can climb, jump or fall up to 3 meters safely in any direction, with no roll needed, as one action.
  • +2 to Movement and +2 to Initiative.
  • You can Move as a bonus action in combat.
Requires Level 3 Athletics.
Elite Acrobat Professional
  • While unrestratined, you can always roll or flip past an enemy with no skill check needed.
  • Grace: Your critical success range for using Stealth, Dodge, Teleportation, Brawl, 1-handed weapons, and athletic movements increases by +1.
  • Agility Coach: Once per session, you can let all party members attempting the same agility related task use your skill by guiding them.
Requires Expert Acrobat.
Expert Scientist Professional
  • Academic Discipline: You can roll Science with +1 to locate ingredients and you can roll your science skill to persuade others with your scientific knowledge.
  • Tools of the Trade: You always have spare needles and flasks available, and they do not count to your carrying capacity.
Requires Science Skill 3.
Elite Scientist Professional
  • You no longer need a laboratory to craft drugs and bombs, but you have +1 for science rolls when it is available.
  • Anomalous Materials: If you have appropriate tools, you can roll Science to attempt to detect, identify, and brew arcane and psychic phenomena.
Requires Expert Scientist.
Expert Historian Professional
  • If it is part of your society, then you can easily find at least 1 secret about every major faction, historical figure, and famous place.
  • When outside of your own society, you can roll literacy with 2d10+skill to locate the above information about alien or past societies, whether in a book, data or person.
  • If you tell a story of at least 1 minute real-time to the party while they are resting, everyone regains +2 HP and +2 EP from resting.
Requires Literacy 3.
Elite Historian Professional
  • Legends: Once per non-arcane skill, you can guarantee one basic success that skill by describing the a historical figure who was legendary at this skill.
  • Archaeologist: While navigating, investigating, or exploring ruins or abandoned areas, you can roll one check per scene with +1d6.
  • Storyteller: When you are explaining your party's deeds or goals to another person or group, you can roll Literacy as a social skill with +1.
Requires Expert Historian.
Expert Leader Professional
  • Inspiration: Once per scene, at any time you can instantly give an ally +1 on a roll if you give them encouraging words. 1/session you can give +2 instead of +1.
  • Distinguished: It is obvious that you lead the party and make all final decisions. You can choose to roll any social skill check with other leaders using a base die of 4d4+skill.
  • Battle Orders: You can direct the party's initiative order during combat as long as you can communicate with them.
Requires Leadership 3. Does not work on animals. Only one player per group may take this talent.
Elite Leader Professional
  • Warning: Once per battle, you can warn one ally to get +1 advantage die on a defense roll.
  • Humility: Once per non-arcane skill, before you roll a check, you can tell the party a brief story about how you failed spectacularly at a certain skill you now posess, in your youth, and learned a lesson. You then get a guaranteed basic success on that task.
  • Commander: Using leadership skill checks, you may gain up to 2 sophont minions. They are unimportant people that believe in your cause. They will die instantly at 0 hp.
Requires Expert Leader. Does not work on animals.
Expert Engineer Professional
  • Efficiency: When you craft or repair using a crate of parts, you only have a 1d4 chance of expending it.
  • Improvisation: You can roll Crafting to locate nearby crafting materials, persuade people about construction plans, or to fight or defend using crafting tools such as a wrench or sheet metal.
Requires Crafting 3
Elite Engineer Professional
  • Percussive Maintenance: You can make one repair attempt on any damaged device without needing parts.
  • Tinker: With Crafting, you can now add up to 2 custom modifications to each tool, vehicle, weapon, or equipment piece. The 2 modifications must do different things.
  • Quality Construction: You cannot get less than a basic success on the first roll required for use of a machine that you repaired or crafted (once per device).
Requires Expert Engineer.
Expert Musician Professional
  • You can roll Music to try to accurately imitate any sound you have heard, using your voice or an instrument.
  • Songs of Power: Without rolling, you can play/sing a Song of Power - speed, rest, charm, strength, etc, with each taking at least 5 minutes and granting a +1 benefit to one statistics of a consenting audience lasting 1 hour, [skill] times per day. Only one can be active at a time. More can be discovered as well.
Requires Music 3.
Elite Musician Professional
  • Good Ear: You can roll Music instead of Perception to sense all possible information about a sound or vibration you hear, and when it is dark and quiet, you can roll with +1 advantage die to perceive sounds.
  • Star: Songs you create and play after you begin adventuring are guaranteed to become popular over time. After an audience hears you play or sing, you can roll music to interact with them socially.
Requires Expert Musician.
Demolitions Expert Professional
  • Saboteur: When you are using, hiding, crafting, transporting, or modifying grenades, explosives, or bombs of all sorts, you roll with 3 dice and keep the highest 2.
  • Grenadier: You can throw a grenade, throw a bomb or set a trap as a bonus action in combat.
Requires Science 1.
Expert Hacker Professional
  • It takes you no longer than a day to become familiar with a new computer language.
  • When you roll doubles on any attempted computer check, you get a glimpse of an important piece of data.
  • Natural Language: You can roll your computers skill as a social skill with robots and artificial intelligences.
Requires Computers 3.
Elite Hacker Professional
  • Remote Injection: You can attempt to hack robots over WiFi within 10m of your physical position.
  • System Overload: Using a hardwired connection, you can attempt to inject a virus to cause any microchip to spark and burn after a short time.
  • Actually: You can always roll checks of academic knowledge and trivia at the level of your lowest trained skill (+1 or more).
Requires Expert Hacker.
Expert Healer Professional
  • Doctor: Your first aid healing amount increases to 1d4+skill.
  • Triage: You can administer drugs as a bonus action in combat, to yourself or others, as long as you can touch them.
  • Surgeon: The time it takes you to give first aid, surgery, or diagnosis is reduced by half (5/60/10 minutes to 2.5/30/5 minutes).
Requires Medicine skill 3.
Elite Healer Professional
  • Medic: You can do first aid without a medical kit. When you do use a medical kit, your first aid heal amount increases to 2d4+skill.
  • Healer: When doing any action that requires a medical kit, you only have a 25% chance of expending it.
  • Therapist: You can roll Medicine as a social skill when comforting an injured, distressed, sad or upset person.
Requires Expert Healer.
Expert Investigator Professional
  • When examining an item, you can always get a specific clue about the last person to touch or use this item.
  • When you meet a new person, you can always find one clue about the last place they have been by looking at them.
Requires Perception 3.
Elite Investigator Professional
  • Inspector: Each time you enter a new area, you can automatically notice a clue about what happened there recently, without rolling or acting.
  • Sixth Sense: You can sense hints about nearby supernatural effects with this professional skill.
Requires Expert Investigator.
Stealth Expert Professional
  • Using Stealth, you can now attempt to hide only with minor cover such as tall grass, mist or shadows.
  • When you are using full cover to simply hide and observe, you will automatically succeed on any stealth check and do not roll.
  • You can roll Stealth with +1 to disguise yourself if appropriate materials are available.
Requires Stealth 3
Stealth Elite Professional
  • Chief Infiltrator: You can roll your stealth skill for up to [skill] allies in addition to you, and they will all share your exact result.
  • Anti-Security: If you have the proper tools, you can roll Stealth instead of Crafting to defeat locks and disable mechanical traps.
  • Great Deceiver: You can roll Stealth as a social skill but only when you are primarily lying.
Requires Stealth Expert
Expert Navigator Professional
  • Sleeping outdoors in a tent counts as comfortable rest for you.
  • You always know when there are tracks or signs of passage in an area, and you have advantage to identify and follow them.
  • You can always identify at least 2 viable routes to a destination.
Requires Navigation 3.
Elite Navigator Professional
  • Good Nose: You can roll Navigation like a sensing skill to sense hints of what lies in each direction (including secret doors).
  • Set a course: When making, preparing, or changing the party's plan of action, you have +1 to all rolls.
  • Prepared for Unforeseen Consequences: Once per scene, whenever an ally within 20m of you is about to experience disaster, knockout or death, you get one special instant action of your choice.
Requires Expert Navigator.

Miscellaneous Talents give you benefits that are not directly related to combat, magic or skills.

Talent Name Category Description Restrictions & Requirements
Aura of Emotion Miscellaneous At all times, people who are within 5 meters of you have their current emotions amplified. The standard effect is a moderate but noticeable increase in extremity. You can attempt to try increase or reduce the effect, but must describe how. Other players may freely choose whether or not they are immune it. -
Earth Affinity I Miscellaneous You are accustomed to living underground.
  • Stonespeaking: You can gain special information from stones by carefully inspecting or listening to them.
  • Stonesleeping: Sleeping on stone counts as comfortable rest for you.
  • Stonecunning: You roll with +1 advantage die when digging, seeking valuable minerals, navigating in caves or mountains, and moving or dodging rocks with mundane or magical means.
-
Earth Affinity II Miscellaneous You are some sort of sophont burrowing creature.
  • Tremorsense: Relying less on sight, you can sense the shape of movements within 10m of you through solid objects due to vibrations.
  • Digging Claws: You can dig through soft sand at your normal movement, soil at half movement, and solid rock at 1 meter per minute, leaving an unstable tunnel behind you.
Requires Earth Affinity I and GM permission.
Robotic Body Miscellaneous You have a robotic body.
  • Galvanic Metabolism: You do not eat, sleep, or breathe, and you can exist in vacuum without issues, but you require 1 charged power cell per 18 hours of operation.
  • Artifical Corpus: Damage you take must be repaired with spare parts and crafting skill. You can't take poison or psychic damage, but you may rust, corrode, get hacked, or short-circuit in water.
  • Modular Construction: 1 custom modification can be installed or exchanged to fit your needs.
  • Data Transfer: With a secure wired connection, you can exchange information (not skills) with other machines in binary code at high speed.
You must have GM permission and contextual logic.
Water Affinity I Miscellaneous You are unusually good at swimming.
  • Swimmer: You swim at your full movement value, you can hold your breath for at least 5 minutes, and you take no harm from liquid pressure up to 50m depth.
  • Soothing Waves: Resting near any large body of liquid is comfortable for you, and you heal twice as fast when doing so.
  • Marine: You can roll to attack and dodge underwater (with appropriate weapons) without disadvantage.
  • Rain and Snow: When defending from harmful cold and water effects, increase the size of one of your skill dice.
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Water Affinity II Miscellaneous You are some sort of sophont amphibious creature.
  • Proprioception: You can hold your breath for up to 4 hours and swim twice as fast as you run.
  • Oxygen Compression: You sustain no damage or illness from liquid pressure up to 200m depth.
  • Echolocation: While immersed in liquid, you can sense via vibrations instead of sight up to 50m away.
Requires GM permission and Water Affinity I.
Wind Affinity I Miscellaneous You are unusually lightweight and attuned to the air.
  • You don't trigger weight-sensitive traps and hazards that would collapse or be tripped by others.
  • When you fall, you can roll athletics, dodge, or resilience with 2d10 to control the fall and land safely.
  • You can gain special information by listening to or smelling the wind.
  • When you roll to defend vs. air-related hazards such as toxic gas, electricity, or lack of oxygen, increase the size of one of your dice used to roll.
-
Wind Affinity II Miscellaneous You are a winged sophont creature that can fly at-will.
  • Flying occupies 1 concentration slot.
  • You always need at least a 4m cube of space for flight, smaller spaces cannot be flown in.
  • If you take hits while airborne, you must succeed on a Meditation roll or fall, taking another hit from gravity when you hit the ground.
  • You cannot fly while wearing or carrying anything heavy.
Requires GM permission and Wind Affinity I.
True Grit Miscellaneous While you attempt dirty and unpleasant manual labor, you always have +1 to the skill check. -
Heroic Destiny Miscellaneous When you take this talent, declare your character's conceptual theme and theme song. When a challenging scene involving that theme occurs, you can activate this talent. Your character must speak to that theme, and then, for this scene only, is unable to fail and may apply 1 free critical success to any of their rolls. Note they can still die. You can play the theme song during that time. Other characters cannot activate this talent while you have it active. You then must choose to either refund the talent for another, or keep it and discharge it for 1 in-game week until recharged. Requires GM agreement on the theme.
Collector Miscellaneous You always find at least 1 useful item per session as long as you search for items at least once in a session. -
Companion Miscellaneous You have a sophont npc companion of some sort. If taken after character creation, there must be in-game context for it. They are willing to die for you. They have their own skills, 2 in one skill and 1 in two skills. They can be commanded as a free action, but only by you. Command of them may be delegated, but they will not blindly follow others as they do you. They are controlled by the GM but will do whatever you want, even if hurts them permanently. Note that this talent is not the only way to gain such a companion. If they die, this talent is refunded. GM has companion's details and controls them according to your orders.
Photographic Memory Miscellaneous You can accurately recall all that you have seen and heard, down to the smallest detail. -
Oracle Miscellaneous Each time you sleep or nap, you can choose to receive a mysterious vision, message, or warning related to your mission. The GM will deliver it. This requires no roll, resource cost, or arcane ability. If you like, you may combine this with prayers or ceremonies focusing on specific topics or spiritual entities. -
Quick Sleeper Miscellaneous You require only 3 hours of sleep per day. However, your rate of healing from rest is the same as others. -
Fearless Miscellaneous Once per scene, when you set yourself to a brave and dangerous purpose, gain +1 to your next roll. -
Spirit Guide Miscellaneous A mysterious spiritual entity becomes your guide and mentor. No one else can perceive this being or its words except you, but you can always talk to it and it will always give you good advice. While theoretically powerful, it chooses not to tell you everything, wanting you to be challenged, but also wanting you to grow and succeed. You can ask for it to perform a physical or arcane action to aid you, but if it agrees, it will disappear forever. If it does, then this talent is refunded and you cannot choose it again. -
Studious Miscellaneous Gain an additional +5 extra experience points. This talent can be repeated.
Hunter Miscellaneous
  • You gain +1 accuracy for all projectile or thrown weapon attacks that you make as reactions.
  • Survivalist: Once per session, you can add +1 to one check of one of the following skills: Plants, Animals, Navigation, Crafting, Perception, Stealth
  • Hunter's Sense: Additionally, at any time, you will receive a "tingly feeling" when you or the party is being waylaid, ambushed, hunted, watched, or stalked nonconsensually, with a dim awareness of what is hunting you, no roll required (you can ask the GM for this information at any time).
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Sailor Miscellaneous
  • You never have less than +1 to perform any skill check while you are aboard any type of ship, airplane, airship, submarine or interplanar vessel.
  • Sleeping within one of the above vehicles is considered comfortable rest for you.
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