Skills

Skills are an integral part of a character's development. Stats are the engines that generate the power, while skills are the gears and circuits that direct it. Another way of looking at it is that stats represent talent, while skills represent knowledge.

Of course, this is all skewed by the fact that experience has no effect on skill levels, but that is merely a peculiarity of Genesis.

Consult help skills for some preliminary information on skills.

Levels
Categories
Special skills
Skill lists:
Fighting skills
Thief skills
Magic skills
General skills

Levels

Skills are measured in various levels and within those levels they are further divided into sublevels. The levels and sublevels are shown below:

Levels	Sublevels
student	novice
amateur	junior
layman	apprentice
acolyte	[none]
journeyman	confident
craftsman	seasoned
professional	expert
veteran	eminent
master	brilliant
guru	superior

One must progress through all sublevels before getting to the next level.

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Special skills

There are certain skills that are gained through guilds that are not standard skills. They are referred to as special skills. They are useful only to members of the guild that trains the skill in question.

Examples include the Calian swarm skill and the Angmarim smash skill.

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Skill lists

Fighting skills

sword: This standard weapon skill includes knowledge of all kinds of swords.
polearm: This skill includes use of pole arms, spears and staves.
axe: This skill includes most normal axes, though some crossover between the polearm category and the axe category occurs in the case of pole axes, halberds, etc.
knife: This skill includes use of knives, daggers, and most any other short blade.
club: This skill includes use of clubs, maces, flails and most any other blunt weapon.
missiles: This skill manages use of bows, slings, and other missile projectors. It is not employed in Genesis.
javelin: This skill covers all thrown weapons. It is not used in Genesis.
two handed combat: This skill governs what happens when a character wields a weapon in each hand. A character without this skill who tries this will be worse off than he would be with one weapon. On the other hand, a character skilled in this area who wields two weapons will get more attacks in the same amount of time than will a character who wields only one weapon.
unarmed combat: The use of one's feet, fists, elbows, and knees as weapons. The very skilled can be deadly while unarmed. Unarmed combat tends to render more attacks in a certain amount of time than armed combat. However, the best weapons are far more damaging than the best fists.
blindfighting: The ability to fight well while blinded or otherwise unable to see one's target. If a person is blinded and does not have this skill, he will be very hard pressed to hit his target, no matter how skilled he is otherwise.
parry: The art of deflecting blows with a wielded weapon. This skill can greatly increase one's longevity in combat. however, it only works if one is wielding a weapon.
defence: The art of avoiding blows in combat. This skill works much like parry, but does not require that a weapon be wielded. It is essentially a measure of one's dodging ability.

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Thief skills

open lock: The ability to pick a lock.
pick pocket: The ability to steal items from another person. Note that while this skill is commonly available, the ability to use it is only granted by a few guilds.
acrobat: Effectively reduces the damage one takes from falls, and can be used to determine successes in leaping and other acrobatic activities.
find and remove traps: The ability to find or remove traps. The skill is available, but the ability to use it is not.
sneak: The ability to leave or enter a room unnoticed. Very handy.
hide: The companion skill to sneak. This is a measure of one's skill in concealing himself or objects.

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Magic skills

spellcraft: This is a measure of basic knowledge of the fundamentals of magic. This skill is to a sorceror as grammar is to a writer.
death spells: This is necromancy, the power of death and unlife.
life spells: This is the magic of healing, life and nature.
earth spells: This is mastery over elemental earth.
air spells: Mastery over elemental air.
fire spells: Mastery over elemental fire.
water spells: Mastery over elemental water.
abjuration spells: This knowledge confers the power to ward against spells, to counteract spells, or to dispel existing magics.
conjuration spells: This skill grants the ability to summon things from other places or other worlds.
divination spells: This skill deals with the gathering of information by magical means.
enchantment spells: Enchantment is the act of altering an item magically.
illusion spells: The art of sensory deception.
transmutation spells: The art of transforming one thing into another.
alchemy: The ability to mix potions and identify them.
herbalism: Skill in identifying, finding and harvesting the many varieties of herbs that grow throughout the realms.

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General skills

appraise enemy: This skill is invoked when using the compare command to reckon one's status in relation to another.
appraise object: This skill is invoked by the appraise command. It determines one's assessment of the weight and volume of an object.
appraise value: This skill is also invoked by the appraise command. It determines one's assessment of the value of an appraised object.
swim: One's ability to stay afloat and keep from inhaling water.
climb: The ability to climb walls, trees, cliffs, etc.
animal handling: The ability to calm animals. This is most often used when handling messenger animals.
location sense: Used in certain areas to determine whether or not one gets lost.
tracking: Can be used to find tracks in an outdoor room.
hunting: Only useful in rare circumstances.
language: Used to determine if a character can speak or understand various languages.
awareness: The ability to notice hidden things or objects, sneaking people, or thieves at work.
trading: One's ability to barter. I tested this a long time ago. It seems to have no effect on how much money one gets from selling things. It did, however, lower the price for things I purchased.

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