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The following are new skills that are available in the Mutant Chronicles setting.
Vehicle Skills
Combat Driving (Trivial)
It's assumed that the average PC can already drive simple wheeled vehicles. However, this skill allows the driver to perform stunts and to handle a car or other wheeled vehicle in hazardous situations (such as while being shot at).
Mechanics (Minor)
Upon purchase of this skill, specify an vehicle specialty, such as wheeled vehicles, aircraft, spacecraft, hovercraft, or rocketpacks. There may be some crossover, but this would better reflect your area of expertise.
Novice skill in this presumes that you can perform routine maintenance on all but the most obscure of vehicles, and that you are especially good at maintaining the type of vehicle you're specializing in. Average skill indicates that you can be a competent mechanic working on this type of vehicle. Higher skills suggest that not only can you repair/maintain the craft, but you can "soup up" vehicles, perform emergency repairs in record time, and perhaps even scrabble together something workable out of a pile of junk at the highest levels.
This skill can supplement Combat Driving and Piloting, in special situations, since your character has an intimate knowledge of the limits of the craft, and knows various "tricks" that can be useful in emergencies.
Piloting: Helicopter; Fixed Wing Aircraft; Spacecraft; Water Vehicles; Hoverbike; Rocketpack (Trivial)
This skill can be purchased separately for each vehicle class, each as a trivial skill. Higher levels assume that the driver can perform under hazardous circumstances.
Skydiving (Trivial)
Anyone, given instruction and sufficient guts, can jump out of an airplane, count to ten, and pull a rip-cord. This skill, however, indicates more extensive training in skydiving, meaning that the character is far more likely to be able to get the timing just right, to be able to land without breaking a leg, and to avoid getting snagged in a tree, among other things. It also covers related skills, such as knowing how to pack one's own chute properly and quickly.
New Streetwise Skills
Concealment/Search (Trivial)
Detect or place objects in small hidden spaces; a master of concealment could detect secret doors or hidden compartments more easily than a novice or complete layman.
Forgery (Trivial)
Allows one to forge documents or to detect forged documents.
Streetwise (Trivial)
Could also be described as "Etiquette: Criminal". This doesn't include contacts, but rather a general knowledge of "how things work" in the underworld, and "on the street". In gameplay, the GM will tend to give you a little more insight on what's going on, and advise you if you're pushing your luck when dealing with street scum.
New Technical Skills
Computer Operation (Trivial)
Despite the Edicts of Toth, in this day and age, this is not an unheard-of skill, though it is by no means common. Computers in the Mutant Chronicles universe have clunky interfaces, and commands are often counter-intuitive. A Novice skill in this ability gives you the basic ability to get a computer to do what you want, provided it's a reasonably user-friendly program. Higher degrees of skill mean that you have greater experience in a broader range of software. Being a computer programmer does not make you good at knowing the intricacies of commands and syntax for someone else's badly written code, though it can give you an edge. Members of any corporation can have this skill, but it almost exclusive to white-collar corporate types, if found at all.
Computer Programming (Trivial)
This is the ability to program computers. It is assumed that serious programmers know a variety of programming languages, and some of the basic principles of one language can help one figure out another. It is not necessary to buy separate "languages" for programming. This skill is almost exclusive to those of corporate backgrounds, and is very rare outside of Cybertronic. It is a skill that will not endear you to the Brotherhood. You cannot purchase this skill unless you have at least Novice level in Computer Operation first.
Criminology (Minor)
Allows one to perform a detailed examination of a crime scene and pick up evidence such as fingerprints, clues left behind which don't belong, messages written on printer ribbons or the like. High levels of criminology include criminal forensics such as chemical analysis to determine origin of some substance.
Cryptology (Trivial)
The art of deciphering coded documents or creating codes with
which to encode documents to make them unreadable to
passersby; includes techniques regarding passing documents in
surreptitious methods such as microfilm or piggybacked onto
other messages.
Demolitions (Minor)
Placement of explosives for maximum or specific effect, or defusing of explosives - especially those with countermeasures to prevent easy defusing.
Forensic Medicine (Trivial)
Examine a body to determine the cause of death; at high levels, allows autopsy and analysis of inner body substances, e.g. for detection of specific poison type.
Science (Trivial)
When this skill is purchased, an area of science must be specified. This skill may be purchased multiple times for different areas of science. "Novice" level indicates the level of someone who is an assistant or student. "Average" level is sufficient to have a profession in this field. "Good" level means that the character is exceptional in this area, and could be a teacher. "Expert" means that the character is likely to be invited to interplanetary symposiums, and, if he has time, is likely to have written books in his field. "Adept" means that the character has Einstein-like knowledge within his particular field.
Some sample fields include (but are not restricted to):
Astrophysics: Not only how things work in space, but also scientific principles of the Void and warp gates -- at least, as much science as can be applied to such things.
Chemistry: For all you burgeoning mad scientists out there.
Computer Science: Not programming, per se, but how computers work.
Electronics: Complex electrical devices and circuitry.
Medicine/Biochemistry: This is the theoretical side of medicine, unlike the "healer" package. It would make sense to have a particular "specialty" in this field.
Necrotechnology: Expressly forbidden by the Brotherhood, and bound to get you shot by most corporations as well. It's listed here, however, for the sake of "completeness".
Xenology: Study of aliens; a fairly dark field, since all of the aliens humanity really knows about have come to this solar system with the Dark Legion.
Recreational Skills
Sports (Trivial)
A specific sport should be chosen, but the assumption will be made that you have at least some basic familiarity with other popular sports as well. This can be bought as a half point "Novice" skill to represent a mere hobby. Depending on the nature of the sport, certain other skills may be applicable to one's ability to play. (For instance, Strength, Agility, Running and Throwing: Unbalanced are very useful for football.)
Knowledge Skills
Lore of Dark Symmetry (Trivial)
This represents a greater knowledge of the Dark Legion. Here are some rough guidelines:
Novice: You know the differences between the Apostles, and you know the names of the most commonly encountered monsters.
Average: You have a good chance of identifying Dark Legion creatures (or at the very least figuring out which Apostle they belong to), and you know something of the powers of the Dark Symmetry.
Good:: You can name just about any non-unique Dark Legion creature, and the major Nepharites as well, as well as being able to rattle off arcana about each of them.
Expert: You probably know about as much about the Dark Symmetry as a Nepharite does, or perhaps the Curia.
Adept: The state of your sanity may be in question ... along with whether the Dark Apostles will suffer you to live, even if you're on their side.
Lore of Mutant Chronicles (Minor)
This represents a general knowledge of history, locations, the corporations, and even a bit about magic in the Mutant Chronicles universe. It basically covers the information contained in the source material that might not be "common knowledge". It roughly includes "Lore of Dark Symmetry" at the same level, plus a comparable basic knowledge of the Brotherhood, the corporations, and other major players. Having a high level in this skill may prompt the GM to "feed" you more in the way of factoids, and you can feel more confident about acting on background information you read in the guides, even if you don't come from a profession in which that information would be directly relevant. It also means that if you're fishing for information, you can ask the GM, "Do I know anything about (enter subject here)?" and the GM may roll dice for a chance that you have some tidbit of information you can dredge up from your memory.
Abilities and Attributes
Mental Strength ("MST") (Special)
Mental Strength can be purchased by magic users and non-magic users alike, but is especially useful for the former. In the Mutant Chronicles RPG, there is a characteristic known as "MST", which represents one's ability to resist magic, as well as how well one does in things magical, provided one has the training. This ability replaces the "Spell Resistance" ability from the Sinai universe. Everyone, even people without "Mental Strength" purchased, has a default "MST" rating, as shown on the chart below.
The "MST" rating listed on the table below is important to spell-users. First off, many magical effects test against the defender's current MST rating. The higher this is, the more resistant the person is to the effect. Second, the character can "use up" MST in order to cast spells. Each MST point spent adds a "Magnitude" of power to the spell, and may change the effects of the spell. Of course, the more MST one spends, the weaker one gets, and the more susceptible one is to hostile magic. If MST drops low enough, the caster will lose consciousness, and there are even more horrible things that can happen, if someone is not wearing a power stabilizer (a piece of equipment used by the Brotherhood). MST points are regained (up to the user's maximum) by getting a good night's sleep.
| Cost | MST |
| 0 | 5 |
| 1 | 10 |
| 2 | 15 |
| 3 | 20 |
| 4 | 25 |
| 5 | 30 |
| 6 | 35 |
| 7 | 40 |
| 8 | 45 |
| 9 | 50 |
| 10 | 55 |
| 11 | 60 |
| 12 | 65 |
| 13 | 70 |
| 14 | 75 |
Grit (Trivial)
By and large, it is up to you how brave or cowardly your PC is. However, there are just certain situations where even a brave man is going to have trouble keeping a straight face and standing his ground. The Dark Apostles are capable of grotesque atrocities, delighting in the horrors they produce. And humans can be pretty sick puppies, too. The higher this rating, the better you are able to weather the most bizarre of horrors. This is one attribute that it's easy to justify gaining and improving in, during the course of play, but beware of getting at the highest level -- At that point, you might lose something of your humanity (or the dog-man or cat-man equivalent).
It's possible that some Disadvantages might actually give you bonuses here, so long as they are absolutes. If you "never abandon a comrade", or, more drastic, you "never run away", then at least that part is fairly settled.
This does not mean that every PC who doesn't get this attribute is a weak-in-the-knees lily-livered coward. Far from it. This just accounts for people who are likely to be unfazed by things that would give even a veteran cause to wince.
| Cost | Rank | Description |
| 1 | Average | Seen the Elephant. You've seen death up close and personal, you've had buddies die in battle, you're the county coroner or maybe you've had a personal encounter with the Darkness. In any case, while you might still be given pause at the sight of a grisly murder, you aren't likely to lose your lunch, and you don't fill your boots with liquid fear when you're faced with a horror of Darkness. |
| 2 | Good | Hardened. Perhaps you did time in one of the gulags of the Ministry of Fear, or you've served a tour of duty in the trenches around the Citadels of Alakhai or Saladin, or maybe you're a ronin Samurai who has no fear of death. By and large, you only run when you feel like it. |
| 3 | Expert | Haunted. Odds are, whatever horrors you face are nothing compared to the nightmares you have every night ... or perhaps there's just something unnatural about you. Perhaps you've got Cybertronic "brain grease" motivating you. Or perhaps you were a prisoner in one of the Citadels or of one of the heretic cults, and, by some miracle, you were rescued ... at least in body. Blood and gore are nothing. Supernatural phenomena are nothing new to you. Only something truly unspeakable could move you. |
| 5 | Adept | Robot. You know no fear or revulsion, period. Perhaps you're one of the Cybertronic "brain-in-a-box" so-called robots. Perhaps you were never human to start with. |
Possessions
One's Social Standing determines one's total money to spend on starting equipment. If that isn't enough, and if you can't work out some trades with the GM to get the equipment you want ("Instead of a car, I want a motorcycle.") then you can choose to spend points on extra starting equipment. Warning: In this setting, equipment isn't "part of your legend", as some GMing theory works on SinaiMUCK. If you start off with a chainripper, and you lose it, it's gone. You may get more money, you may get to buy a replacement, or maybe you had it insured, but you don't get character points back for material possessions lost, and it is entirely possible that your Social Standing could change during play, regardless of your character point balance. Think of your initial character points as being spent to determine your starting point in the campaign universe, and the additional points you get to spend can give fate a little helping push in a favorable direction for your PC.
If you want to have additional Cardinal's Crowns to spend on starting equipment, you can get the Bonus of "Possessions", which doesn't really follow the normal "skill" scale of points.
| Cost | Additional Starting Funds |
| 0.5 | 12,500 Crowns |
| 1 | 25,000 Crowns |
| 2 | 50,000 Crowns |
| 3 | 100,000 Crowns |
| 4 | 250,000 Crowns |
| 5 | 500,000 Crowns |
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