Abilities
An Ability is anything your character can do beyond ordinary human competence. Everyone can walk, drive, argue and search a room. You do not need an Ability for those.
Abilities come in four kinds.
| Kind | Covers |
|---|---|
| Physical | Strength, speed, toughness, fighting, marksmanship, the senses |
| Tech | Repair, engineering, hacking, vehicles, drones, implants |
| Magic | Spellcraft, psychic talent, healing, wards, illusion |
| General | Professions, crafts, knowledge, social standing, temperament |
You can hold Abilities from all four. There are no classes and nothing stops a scholar from also being a mechanic.
Every Ability file says three things. Description is what it is. In Play is what it lets you actually do in a scene, and it is the part the Game Master reads. Limits is what it cannot do and what it costs you in the fiction. Read the Limits. They are not decoration and the Game Master will use them.
An Ability is the thing that lets you attempt what nobody else at the table can. That is the whole point of having one, and it is why the answer to "how do I get better at this" is always "take the Ability that covers it".
Some Abilities form named chains. Chef leads to Expert Chef, which leads to World Class Chef. Popular leads to Influencer, which leads to Famous. You cannot skip a link.
You may rename and reskin any Ability to suit the world. Pyrokinesis can be a bloodline gift, a burning implant or a saint's blessing. What matters is the In Play text.