Tuesday, January 29, 2008

A different kind of Knack

7th Sea uses the term Knack to mean sub-skills, and they often allow for minor tricks you can do with a skill. They're rated 1-5, and grant dice.
(Scion also uses the term Knack to represent minor tricks, though the scale of Scion makes use of the word minor rather debatable. The tend to be rather powerful, actually. Instead of being derived from Skills, Scion Knacks are derived from Epic Attributes, which are rated 1-11 and greatly overpower dice. I've written up many Scion knacks on these pages.)
Below, are some minimalist descriptions of some Knacks I'd made for 7th Sea, and used in the Viola campaign. The format is: "Knack name [Skill name] Description." Unless otherwise stated, assume all are counted as Advanced Knacks.
  • Ceremony [Priest or Skald] Used to flawlessly conduct any Ceremony or Ritual in your respective religion
  • Cover (Shield) [Shield (not buckler)] This knack may be used as Passive Defense against all Ranged Attacks, and Active Defense against Thrown Weapons
  • Duck [Grenadier] This knack may be used with your Panache Roll to avoid the brunt of an explosion.
  • Innuendo [Courtesan, Courtier, Criminal, Spy, Streetwise] Roll Wits plus this knack to cleverly get a point across to someone without having to spell it out.
  • Jester [Courtier, Performer] Roll Panache plus this knack when you seek to lighten a crowd, crack a joke, or taunt an adversary.
  • Obstruct [Wrestling] This may be used as your Defense Knack (Passive or Active) when you have an opponent in a grapple.
  • Puzzle Sword [Merchant (Swordsmith), Fencing] This knack may be used with Lore Checks and Activation Rolls concerning Puzzle Swords and their Makers.
  • Syrneth Lore [Scholar] This knack may be used with Lore Checks and Activation Rolls concerning the Syrneth and their Artifacts.
  • Threaten [Criminal, Governor, Spy, Whip] This knack may be used with Resolve Rolls in Intimidation Attempts. See 7th Sea Players Guide page 193.
In addition, I house-ruled the following Knack to make it more meaningful and worthwhile:
  • Reload (Firearms) [Firearms] Modified from Player's Guide: Each Rank subtracts 3 actions from the Reload Time.
If memory serves correctly, these Grenadier knacks are also house-rules, changes from the official knacks/rules to improve functionality or better simulate reality:
  • Fuse (Grenade) [Grenadier] A Grenade detonates 1d10 phases after the fuse is lit. For each Rank you have in this knack, you may reroll that d10 once. The last die rolled is kept.
  • Throw (Grenade) [Grenadier] When you throw a Grenade as an attack, roll this Basic knack. Lighting a Fuse is 1 Action. Throwing is a Second. Range = 5 plus (2 times your Brawn).

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