Skills are what characters use to act in most situations. Each skill has a rank between 0 and 10 which is added to the die roll in an attempt to hit a target number. Many skills have prerequisites; these are other skills that must be possessed to learn the desired skill. Characters possess a skill rank of 0 if they have met all requirements for that skill, but have not yet purchased it.

Skills are divided in several ways. First is by tier, which refers to how much basic knowledge is necessary to master the skill. Each level of prerequisites for a particular skill raises that skill's tier by one. For example, Mathematics has no prerequisites and is therefore a tier 1 skill. It, however, is a pre-req for Physics (a tier 2 skill), which is in turn a pre-req for the tier 3 skill Orbital Mechanics, which is a pre-req for In-System Astrogation (tier 4). You may not purchase a skill unless you already possess all of the prerequisites for it. In addition, you may not raise a skill more than 1 point higher than any of its prerequisite skills. Note that this only apllies to those skills that are direct prerequisites. For example, Medicine is a Tier III skill, so it requires Tier II skills, which in turn have a Tier I requirement. Medicine can be no more than one rank higher than its requirements, for example Diagnose, which in turn may only be one rank higher than Examination. Note, however, that Medicine is allowed to be up to two ranks higher than Examination.
The second method of dividing skills is by class, such as weapon, agriculture, or athletic. This method is used almost exclusively in character creation, although some other abilities and situations may affect an entire class of skills. An example is having access to a medical database which adds to all medical skills. Note that it is possible for a skill to belong to more than one class.
A third method of organizing skills is by type. This is a descriptive method only, such as recognizing skills that all aid survival. Generally, this is to allow skills of different classes to be grouped together. In most cases, skills can be given additional types as seems appropriate (and as approved by the GM).

A special note on languages:
Languages are skills, although they are not usually rolled. Rather, all characters receive a 5 in their native language. A character is literate if his background indicates that he is; otherwise, he must purchase literacy. Becoming literate in a language is cheaper if one already speaks the language; the cost is halved up to the character's rank in the spoken language.

Skills by Class

• Agriculture: Animal Husbandry(I), Farming(I), Animal Handling(I), Animal Training(II), Aquaculture(II), Farm Science(II), Hydroponics(III), Veterinary Medicine(III), Terraforming(IV)
• Art: Acting(II)
• Athletics: Balance(I), Conditioning(I), Endurance(I), Jumping(I), Orientation(I), Reflexes(I), Swimming(I), Throwing(I), Aquatic Ops(II), Diving(II), Fencing(II), Freefall(II), High Jumping(II), Long Distance Running(II), Long Jumping(II), Sprinting(II), Deep Diving(III)
• Business: Bargain(I), Accounting(II), Economics(II), Market(III), Administration, Marketing
• Craft:
• Criminal: Hide(I), Intimidate(I), Scrounging(I), Cheating(II), Disguise(II), Forgery(II), Interrogation(II), Stealth(II), Fixing(III), Impersonation(III), Torture(III), Alias(IV)
• Engineering:
• Humanities: History(I), Literature(I), Military History(II), Political Science(II), Classics(II), Art History(II), Archaeology(II), Religious Studies(II), Linguistics(II), Anthropology(III), Law(III), Theology(III), Psychohistory(IV)
• Melee: Brawling(I), Block(II), Dodge(II), Boxing(II), Evasion(III)
• Medical: First Aid(I), Examination(I), MedTech(II), Anatomy(II), Diagnose(II), Medicine(III), Pharmacology(III), Surgery(III), Adv Medicine(IV), Adv Surgery(IV), Adv Pharmacology(IV)
• Sciences: Life Science(I), Physical Science(I), Research(I), Mathematics(I), Biology(II), Chemistry(II), Geology(II), Mathematical Analysis(II), Physics(II), Statistics(II), Adv Mathematics(III), Biochemistry(III), Microbiology(III), Genetics(III), Orbital Mechanics(III), Quantum Mechanics(III), Planetology(III), Quantum Gravity(IV), Cosmology(IV)
• Self: Concentration(I), Observation(I), Logic(I), Tactics(II), Logistics(II), Meditation(II), Strategy(III), Cold Read, Games Theory(III), Command/Control(IV)
• Social: Conversation(I), Games(I), Human Perception(I), Style(I), Wardrobe(I), Etiquette(II), Gambling(II), Leadership(II), Persuasion(II), Psychology(II), Seduction(II), Speaking(II), Sociology(II), Command(III), Human Read(III), Negotiation(III), Oratory(III), Teaching(III), Demagogy(IV), Voice(IV)
• Tech:
• Weapons:
• Wilderness:

Skill List
In the following list, Attribute refers to the attribute that will most commonly be used with the skill. However, other attributes may be used as seems appropriate.

Skill	Tier	Attribute	Prerequisites
Accounting	II	Intelligence	Mathematics
Adv Mathematics	III	Intelligence	Mathematical Analysis
Adv Medicine	IV	Intelligence	Medicine, Pharmacology, Microbiology, Genetics
Adv Pharmacology	IV	Intelligence	Pharmacology, Medicine, Biochemistry, Microbiology
Adv Surgery	IV	Inteliigence	Surgery, Medicine, Pharmacology
Alias	IV	Memory	Impersonation, Human Read
Anatomy	II	Memory	Life Science
Animal Handling	I	Will	None
Animal Training	II	Will	Animal Handling
Biology	II	Intelligence	Life Science, Research
Chemistry	II	Intelligence	Research, Physical Science
Demagogy	IV	Charisma	Oratory, Human Read, Sociology
Diagnose	II	Intelligence	Examination, Life Science
Examination	I	Perception	None
First Aid	I	Dexterity	None
Mathematics	I	Intelligence	None
Mathematical Analysis	II	Intelligence	Mathematics, Logic
Medicine	III	Intelligence	First Aid, Diagnose, Anatomy, Biology
Medtech	II	Intelligence	First Aid
Pharmacology	III	Intelligence	Chemistry, Mathematics, Biology
Physics	II	Intelligence	Mathematics, Research, Physical Science
Surgery	III	Dexterity	MedTech, Anatomy, Diagnose

Skill Descriptions
Teaching The art of teaching is more than simply presenting information. A good teacher eases understanding and prepares a student to truly comprehend the lesson in their own fashion. Teaching allows easier and faster learning. An instructor may use their Teaching skill as part of a subtractive roll involving the subject matter, thus making it easier to learn. Also, each rank of teaching reduces the time required for instruction by 1 hour.