Crossfire, Defenses: Repair, Diplomacy, Dirty Fighting, Economics
Crossfire
(Roy Crisman)
Prerequisites: Weapons skill of the type being used, proper set up of enemies, missing shots.
Description: This skill gives the character a chance to cause opponents to hit each other with shots fired at the character which miss.
Defenses: Repair
(Troy Terrell)
Prerequisites: None
Description: A character with this skill can repair and maintain all defensive equipment. Only reusable equipment can be completely repaired; suits are, by nature, destroyed as they are used but can be patched (50% effectiveness) with a successful skill check and proper materials. For example, Berm patches a battered skeinsuit. He passes a successful skill check and has restored the skeinsuit to full effectiveness (provides ½ protection versus inertia attacks). The skeinsuit can only take 25 points of ballistic damage before it is destroyed, though (and can’t be repaired again). All defensive repairs are made according to the Standard Repair Rule. In addition, this skill allows a character to apply armor paint to vehicles and structures.
Diplomacy
(Brad McMillan)
Prerequisites: Persuasion 1, Politics 1
Description: This skill allows a character proficient in it to negotiate on a grand scale (with corporations, governments, alien races, religious groups, powerful individuals, etc.). Setting up embassies, establishing treaties, negotiating trade, and arbitrating a cease-fire agreement are all examples of the kinds of activities a trained diplomat can engage in. The diplomat is considered skilled in all the fundamentals of negotiating and is assumed to have researched whatever diplomatic situations she might be engaged in beforehand. A skill check is required any time a tense situation arises in the diplomatic process or any time that a character hasn’t had time to adequately prepare. This skill also provides a +10% modifier per level to skill checks during diplomatic interactions (PER checks, bluff, haggling, persuasion, etc., in the aforementioned settings).
Dirty Fighting
(Brad McMillan)
Prerequisites: Weapons: Melee or Weapons: Martial Arts
Description: The character skilled in dirty fighting is a master of street fighting. At the beginning of combat, the character can make a skill check against his dirty fighting ability to see if he can gain an advantage in combat. If the check is successful, the character gets the “attacker advantaged” bonus (+10%) for the duration of combat. It should be noted that some cultures or individuals consider dirty fighting to be cowardly or even taboo. In those situations, characters employing dirty fighting may find themselves being targeted in favor of other targets in combat.
Economics
(Roy Crisman)
Prerequisites: N/A
Description: This skill gives the character an understanding of economics, micro and macro. This skill is essential to those who wish a business to flourish and grow. This skill can also be used to modify the results of investment growth (+10% bonus to rolls). See “SF4: Mission to Alcazzar” for an example of an investments table.