Skills are general non-combat or utility abilities that all character possess. There are eight different skills, and each of the four stats has one skill associated with it. When rolling a skill check, a character rolls 1d20 and adds the associated attribute and the ranks of the skill he has.
A starting character begins play with 20 skill points, and may distribute up to 5 points into any one skill. No matter how many skill points a character has, his highest skill cannot have more than 5 ranks more than his lowest skill. A character must distribute skill ranks to all skills in order to level up his highest level skills.
When attempting a skill-based task, the character must match or exceed the Target Number (TN) with a skill roll. Basic tasks that anyone can accomplish are TN 10, while tasks that a typical practioner can succeed at are TN 15. Tasks that only the gifted can do begin at TN 20. By TN 30, only the greatest of heroes can succeed.
Acrobatics represents a talent for fast, sudden movements and gymnastic manuvers. Acrobatics rolls can be used for jumping, flips, running speed, and swinging.
Athletics governs physical activities that rely on brute strength and endurance. Climbing, holding your breath, and lifting heavy objects are all uses of the Athletics skill.
Precision is the character's manual dexterity. Precision checks can be used to disable mechanical devices, pick pockets, palm objects, hide small weapons, and tie knots.
Stealth is how well the character can keep himself from being noticed. Stealth checks can occur when a character attempts to hide, disguise himself, or shadow an opponent.
Perception allows a character to be highly aware of his surroundings. Perception checks are used to spot clues, notice lurking assassins, or find hidden objects when searching an area.
Lore is a catch-all skill that represents a character knowing useful knowledge. Lore checks can be used to identify monsters, recognize an opponent's techniques, and any other situation when a general check is called for. Lore checks are often enhanced by a character's Backgrounds.
Motivate allows a character to foribly convince others to do things they wouldn't normally do. Motivate checks are just as useful for leading troops into battle as they are to intimidate a foe.
Persuasion is the skill used when a character attempts to win others over with kind words or honeyed lies. Persuasion checks are used to act in a diplomatic fashion, win others to your side, and tell believable lies.
Backgrounds represent a character's knowledge and professions that do not fit into skills. A starting character begins with 4 backgrounds of his choice. Sample backgrounds could include an animal trainer, blacksmith, guild thief, medic, and noble. A character can also choice "Basic ~mancy" as a background, tied to one of the seven magical paths, which allows the character to perform small tricks (such as lighting a campfire with Basic Pyromancy) with that Background. If a character has more Backgrounds in mind for his character than he is allowed to select, it's suggested that he take the four that he thinks he'll gain the most benefit from, mechanically or story wise.