Black Market (Cha) (Difficult)

Larry: "Psst, hey general! Wanna buy elf hats, elf beards?"

City Lore would help you find the seedier parts of the city, but for security purposes, the black market stays hidden except from those who know how to find it. With this skill, the character can find and make use of use the black market in any given city. Use this skill instead of Trade when haggling for price.

Merchant: may be chosen as Any Charisma Skill"

Bureaucracy (Will) (Difficult)

Blackwolf: "The main exterminations are complete. The remaining countries are now ruled by second-rate incompetents so confused, that even now they blame the killings on those within their own ranks. "

Knowledge is useful, but patience is necessary to make your way through any system. Inevitably, the bigger the city, the more convoluted the political system. Blackwolf has had many political leaders assassinated, and their replacements are "second-rate incompetents" who try to protect themselves with red tape armor.

City Lore will only help determine how bad the system is and where the offices are located. This skill will help the character find short cuts through the pool of paperwork quicksand, including less legitimate methods, such as currying favor and the best candidates for "greasing. '

Envoy: swap Riding
Politician: swap Leadership
Sheriff swap Oratory

Carousing (Cha) (Easy)

Prostitute "Well, hello handsome!"

This is the ability to party like an animal, or to look like you're enjoying yourself when you really aren't. This skill also includes knowledge of German beer songs and drinking games. A player may opt to roll against this skill instead of Resistance to see if their character can hold his liquor.

Gambler: swap Social
Geisha: may be chosen as "Any Charisma Skill"
Lady of the Evening: swap Stamina

Cooking (Ins) (Easy)

This skill might seem unimportant, at least until one of the party members drops dead from food poisoning. Sure, Survival can be used to find food in the wild, but that doesn't mean it's palatable.

This character can whip together any pile of unappetizing, but edible glop into a fairly tasty meal. Given time and the proper equipment, he can prepare anything from a simple meal to a seven course feast for twenty.

The character is also a bit of a culinary expert and knows when a dish has not been prepared properly. A real expert might even be able to detect large quantities of a foreign substance, like poison, if it affected the presentation or taste in some way.

Craftsman swap Blacksmith
Geisha: swap Tumbling
Hunter: swap Stamina
Ranger: swap Herbalism

Craft (sex) (Normal)

The character must choose one area of specialization, such as weaving, leatherworking, basket weaving. See Carpentry, page 41, for information on construction.

Craftsman: swap Carpentry

Forgery (Per) (Normal)

The character can duplicate handwriting, and given time, official documents and money. Naturally, the character must be literate in the language to be copied, or the skill is at -5 (or worse). A passive scan of the document only requires a Forgery skill check. If the character is successful, the forgery goes undetected. If he fails, the observer must make an Alertness check at +5.

Against an active check of the document's authenticity, the character must make an opposed skill check against the observer's Alertness. Have a good lie ready, just in case.

Envoy: swap Concealment
Merchant: may be chosen as "Any Charisma Skill"
Spy: swap Concealment
Thief: swap Concealment

Linguist

The following reflect changes and additions to the Linguist skill:

Calculus (1)

French: The language of choice among some of the Elven and Gnome settlements along the southern border of East Elfland near Scortch.

German: An ancient tongue, very popular in Scortch.

Hebrew: An ancient language spoken by some faerie priests.

Infernam (I)

Latin: Another ancient language, used by priests and spellcasters.

Legalese (1): A maddeningly complex code used by politicians and lawyers. It includes misleading Latin phrases and buzz words.

Snarl: Spoken by some of the goblinoid races and pig mutants.

Television (1): Only partially understood, it is supposedly the ancient language of the masses. Made up of catch phrases and obscure references, it is the object of study by priests and archeologists.

Magic

Anyone with this skill may cast spells. Practice levels add to the skill score. A character must have a basic knowledge of magic before attempting an evocation (at least skill level 1).

Mining (Int) (Difficult)

With this skill, the character can design and build shafts, locate mineral veins, and judge the purity of minerals and metals. This skill is useful in the construction of the subterranean dwellings inhabited by Gnomes and Dwarves.

Craftsman: swap Carpentry

Naturalist (Int) (Normal)

"Strange beasts lurked about, but the dangerous mutants that lived there were gone.''

The character has studied animals at length, and can identify different species and breeds, both wild and domestic. On a successful roll, the character also has complete knowledge of the animal's feeding habits, temperament, special abilities, and natural habitat.

The character might also know whether any parts of the animal are marketable or choice eating. Naturally, this roll should be modified by the obscurity of the creature in question. A character might be able to make educated guesses about a unique monster found in some remote location, but not much more.

Hunter: swap Stamina

Propaganda (Int) (Normal)

Ork: "Blackwolf's got a secret weapon that makes us invincible. We can't lose!"

The character is familiiar with the ideas and doctrines of a particular organization, but does not necessarily believe in them. It is the nature of these groups to attempt to spread their beliefs, either through Oratory or Guile, depending upon the nature of the organization. These doctrines can also be used to boost morale among the ranks.

When used to "enhance" other skills (see Empathy), a successful Propaganda roll adds a +1 to Oratory and Leadership skill checks when dealing with a target who believes in the doctrines. Aces grant a +3, failures a -1, and blunders a -3. The player must choose one of three specializations:.

Political (Naziism is popular in Scortch, but is not recommended for PCs)
Religious
Military

Politician: swap Stall
Priest: swap Ancient Lore
Wolf Soldier: add Political (Naziism) at a level equal to Technomancy

Riding Skill

The player must choose land mounts (like rosses) or flying mounts. Other than the war dragonflies ridden by mountain fairies, flying mounts are uncommon outside of Scortch.

Technomancy

Only Technomancers can design and build devices dependent upon the elusive physics of the old world. Once a device has been successfully created, it should continue to function, with routine maintenance, unless damaged or otherwise tampered with--regardless of the user. In other words, this skill is no longer required to use the Small Arms or Vehicles skills.

Originally, this rule was included to limit Faerie use of technology. However, it was decided that the Technological Stigma disadvantage is more faithful to the movie. Most mutants are just too dumb to learn a skill like Technomancy.

To repair a technological item, the character should roll against their Technomancy skill. The character must also have a complementary skill which reflects a general familiarity with the function of the object. Otherwise, the Technomancy skill is reduced by half and the repair takes twice as long. For example, if Dexter wants to repair a tank, he must have Technomancy and Vehicle: Tracked.

Vehicle Skill

The character must specialize in one of the following areas:

cycles
four-wheeled (includes cars and trucks) tracked (tanks and half tracks)
railed (trains)
planes (I) (single engine and bombers) airships (zeppelins)

SPs and Exhaustion

Below is a list of sample SP costs. Remember, while engaged in strenuous activity, a character cannot recover lost shock points. Particularly harsh conditions may cost more than the value listed. For example, wading through a swamp in the driving rain is more tiring than skipping through the plains of Montagar. A Stamina roll will negate the effects.

Cost	Activity
variable	injuries
variable	poisons and toxins
1 SP/hour	riding
2 SP/hour	swimming
1 SP/hour	forced march
1 SP/turn	running
1d6 SP/turn	sprinting
1 SP/hour	flying (for fairies)
1 SP/hour	hard physical labor
1 SP/turn	per turn of melee combat beyond the first
1d6 SP/roll	Strength Feat Activity

The GM should feel free to expand upon this list and modify it as necessary. For example, Dexter decides to make a truly moving speech using his Oratory skill. The GM may decide that giving it his all" costs 1 SP, but merits a +1 to the skill roll because the audience believes he is truly sincere. Suckers.

New Beasties and Additions:

Reptilion Rex has 2 SP worth of natural armor.

Rosses: Montagar rosses have dogike heads. Scortch rosses are darker in color than their Montagar cousins and harder to tame (-3 to Riding). The cover art portrays Necron 99 riding a Scortch ross. Scortch rosses have notoriously bad dispositions. Wild rosses have ostrich-like heads and hairless stumps for tails. Wild rosses aren't much friendlier than Scortch rosses.

Salamanders have 3 SP worth of natural armor.

Screeches: These are mutant vultures found in the mountains to the west of Scortch. They are named after the horrible sounds they make. They can carry one rider of Size 10 or less. Screeches currently make up the bulk of Blackwolf's air force, at least until a cheaper method of producing aircraft fuel can be discovered.

STR 12
DEX 14
PER 8
CON 10
SIZ 16
WP10
MGT 14
DB n/a
SPI 5
MR 15
RS 11
REC 10
SP 36
HP 13


Bite (N) 3D damage, minimum 1 HP per strike.
Tail Slap (N) 4D damage.

Snack Rats: These voracious critters resemble New York rats, both in size and temperament. They are always hungry and will attack any creature, regardless of size. In fact, their fang-filled maws make up about 1/3 of their body length. Their paws have evolved into simple, clumsy hands that are capable of grasping larger prey and holding on.

STR 4
PER 10
SIZ 2
MGT 3
SPI 5
RS 12
SP 16
DEX 14
CON 4
WP 10
DB n/a
MR 8
REC 7
HP 3


Bite (E) 2D6 damage, minimum 1 HP per strike.

War Dragonflies: These are larger and tougher than than the average household dragonfly. They cannot carry any rider larger than a mountain fairy.

STR 3
DEX 16
PER 6
CON 7
SIZ 2
WP 5
MGT 3
DB n/a
SPI 3
MR 8
RS 11
REC 6
SP 14
HP 5


Tail Sting (N) ld6 damage, no minimum HP damage.

New Equipment

Demon Weapons:

Damage: +2
Reach: +1
Might: +2

These heavy, black iron weapons are forged in the fiery pits of Hell, but are unusually cold to the touch. Demons never part with their equipment willingly, and it is generally believed that a portion of the demon resides within his weapons and can see and hear everything the wielder can.

Players should not be surprised when the original owner comes looking for that big, black sword they found. Naturally, the use of demonic equipment does not come without a price: the character may find himself controlled by the demon for the duration of combat. Most likely, the character will fly into a berserk, killing frenzy and attack anyone close enough to be hit. Unless a Willpower roll is made, the character will also be controlled for an additional:

1d6 Roll	Duration
1-2	combat turn
3-4	1d6+1 combat turns
5	minute
6	1d6+1 minutes

Demon Armor:

HP: +1
SP: +2
Might: +2
Enc: +2

(For armor: equivalent of splint mail or better)

(For shields: equivalent of round metal or better)

See Demon Weapons for notes on side effects.

Fairy Armor:

Light Armor: as per Padding

Heavy Armor:

HP: 1
SP: 4
Might: 2
Enc: 1
Cost: 35

These are the only types of armor available to mountain fairies. Mountain fairy armor is too small for any other race to use as anything other than a puppet.

More Wizards

Wizards Introduction
New Advantages and Changes
New Disadvantages and Changes
New Skills and Changes