SWATT

This skill represents a familiarity with the shadier sides of urban life, and is required for all other Subterfuge skills.

For each purchase of Alias, the character gains an alter ego with their own history and half-way convincing excuse for a life. It is very hard to link the alter ego with the character. This alter ego must be the same race and sex as the character. It is permissible to buy this skill some time before defining the actual alias.

(This essentially means the player has one to four alias "slots", which correspond to, for example, places in the city where they can change into their disguise, groups of people that alias associates with, and so on.)

This alter ego may be changed over a period of 4 downtimes (8 weeks.) If this skill is not purchased at character generation, it requires 2 downtimes (4 weeks) to create a fresh alias from scratch.

You may not be in the process of changing more than one alias at once.

If you stop playing an alias in one of your alias slots, other plays can link the new alias in that slot with the old alias in that slot; this means you cannot abandon one alias because they have been detected and change it to another alias, as the new one may be discovered as the same person.

This is a required skill for Improved Alias.

The character knows how best to strike an opponent who isn't expecting it, or is otherwise engaged. To backstab, you must be standing behind the target and strike them in the rear of the torso with a weapon less than 18" long (but see Improved Backstab). After backstabbing, you may not backstab that target for ten seconds - people have an inconvenient tendency to flail around in agony, which really spoils your aim.

Backstab 1:

Your blow gains one natural degree of damage, and is converted to THROUGH damage for a sharp weapon, or SUBDUAL for a blunt weapon.

Backstab 2:

Your blow gains two natural degrees of damage, and is converted to THROUGH or SUBDUAL as for Backstab 1.

Backstab 3:

Your blow gains three natural degrees of damage, and is converted to THROUGH or SUBDUAL as for Backstab 1.

Backstab 4:

Your blow gains four natural degrees of damage, and is converted to THROUGH or SUBDUAL as for Backstab 1.

Each purchase of this skill allows you to hide a dagger, or equipment with the volume of a dagger, about your person. It must be hidden from visual inspection. You need not report it to mundane body searches, but supernatural effects which would detect it will find it.

The character grows more agile and flexible, able to dodge or roll with a blow in order to avoid damage.

For every 4 ranks of Combat Awareness, Agility and Dodge a character possesses they gain a point of Dodge.

For details about how Dodge works please see Combat

Forgery 1: The character is able to provide a fair imitation of handwritten documents. With access to appropriate tools, skills and materials, they can also forge items. Such documents or items cannot be recognised as forgeries unless you have either Recognise Forgery, or are intimately familiar with the original (for example, you wrote it). Blatantly false and untrue statements, however, are not disguised with this skill - a day pass purportedly signed by Brother-Captain Hermann Von Ulm, who died in the 1287 campaign, will not get you into the library of the Children of the Light no matter how much it looks like his handwriting.

Forgery 2: The character is able to provide an indistinguishable imitation of items or handwritten documents. You are only likely to be able to tell it is a forgery if you wrote the original and have it in your possession, and even then it isn't certain. As for Forgery 1, if the original item would not work for a certain purpose then neither will the one you create.

Every creature leaves some trace of its passing, but characters with this skill are able to reduce and confuse these traces. This skill functions as the Track skill in Wilderness, but only for the purpose of concealing tracks.

Each level enables you to do the following:

Level 1:

You may conceal your tracks from anyone with Track I, 2nd level spells or below.

Level 2:

You may conceal your tracks from anyone with Track II, 4th level spells or below.

Level 3:

You may conceal your tracks from anyone with Track III, 6th level spells or below.

Level 4:

You may conceal your tracks such that nothing short of divine intervention or the direct action of an elemental lord can follow them.

Your aliases may now be of a different race and sex to you. This skill does not, however, change their DETECT or RECOGNISE MAGIC/SPIRIT responses.

The character's mastery of dirty fighting is such that they no longer require particularly subtle weapons to inflict horrific damage. You may make full use of the Backstab skill using a weapon up to 36" long.

Each level of Light Armour taken allows the character to wear an additional 2 points worth of armour. Will not stack with Armour skill.

The character may steal items in easy reach from a character or monster. The item need not be visible but must not be being held.

To use this ability, inform a ref you intend to, and describe the item you are stealing.

Level 1:

You may steal an item by touching it or its container for 60 seconds.

Level 2:

You may steal an item by touching it or its container for 30 seconds.

Level 3:

You may steal an item by touching it or its container for 10 seconds.

Level 4:

You may steal an item by touching it or its container for 1 second.

Level 5:

You may steal an item by being in conversational proximity to a person for 5 uninterrupted minutes. Please inform a ref you are doing this and inform them of the item you plan to steal at the beginning of the 5 minutes.

Level 6:

You may steal an item by being in conversational proximity to a person for 1 uninterrupted minute. Please inform a ref you are doing this and inform them of the item you plan to steal at the beginning of the 1 minutes.

Level 7:

You may steal an item by being within MASS range of a person for 5 uninterrupted minutes. Please inform a ref you are doing this and inform them of the item you plan to steal at the beginning of the 5 minutes.

Level 8:

You may steal an item from any person you spend 10 uninterrupted minutes in a room with. Please inform a ref you are doing this and inform them of the item you plan to steal at the beginning of the 10 minutes.

You can do SINGLE THROUGH by bow and crossbow. If you have Targeteer, there is no advantage to taking this skill. If you wish to take the Missile Competency skill, you must first pass an OOC safety test, as LARP bows are the most potentially dangerous of all the LARP weapons we use.

If familiar with the original, the character is able to recognise forgeries produced by Forgery I on close inspection. So they could, for example, recognise that a signature purporting to be that of someone they know was, in fact, a forgery.

At each level the character gains the following abilities:

Level 1:

The character has a passing acquaintance with the short, brutal weapons favoured by rogues and cut-throats. They may do SINGLE damage with a weapon of up to 18" in length and parry with an off-hand weapon of up to 18".

Level 2:

The character has a professional familiarity with short weapons and the very aggressive style of combat required to use them effectively. They can do SINGLE damage with an off-hand weapon of up to 18" .

Level 3:

The character is very skilled with the tools of the thug's trade, and has learned to wield longer weapons with the same kind of efficiency. They can do SINGLE damage with an on-hand short weapon (of upto 36" in length).

Level 4:

The character may either 1.) use an off-hand 36'' inch weapon to call SINGLE with, OR 2.) make use of a buckler up to 15'' in diameter.

Level 5:

The ability not gaiend at Level 4.

Level 6:

Once per encounter / 5 minutes, may throw dirt in an opponents eyes, temporarily distracting and blinding them. Call BLIND 5 once per encounter.

Level 7:

May call SINGLE THROUGH by dagger.

Level 8:

May call SINGLE THROUGH by any sharp weapons up to 36'' in length.

These limits are slightly flexible; Rule 7 applies. The refs would like ask the cooperation of the society's weapon makers in this matter. If you bring a 18.5" weapon and try to use it as a shortsword, you will probably be asked not to; similarly for 20" daggers.

The character is now skilled in using even longer weapons, such as most straight-up warriors tend to favour. You may call SINGLE with an on-hand weapon up to 42'' in length.

Killing someone with a weapon generally requires only enthusiasm and a little training. Merely incapacitating them is much harder - a character with this skill knows how to disable an opponent without doing them any lasting damage.

You are allowed to add the call SUBDUE to damage with weapons you use.

The character gains the ability to use thrown weapons (throwing daggers or rocks, etc) for a damage call of SINGLE. They may not throw more than one weapon per second.

You have received specialised training with ranged weapons, and actually paid attention. You gain the following ability to shoot a bow or crossbow for SINGLE THROUGH. Please remember that damage from bows also automatically causes STRIKEDOWN. You do not need to call STRIKEDOWN for this to take effect.
If you wish to take the Missile Competency skill, you must first pass an OOC safety test, as LARP bows are the most potentially dangerous of all the LARP weapons we use.