COMMON SKILLS
These are skills that anyone may learn, but it does not automatically follow that everyone has the skill. Example: Horseback Riding. Anyone can learn to ride a horse. Someone who grew up in the countryside is likely to know how. Someone who grew up in the city is less likely to have had the opportunity to learn how to ride.
Some Common skills are advanced versions of Basic skills. For example, cooking enough to feed yourself or your family comes under ‘General Life Skills’ as one of those things pretty much everyone is able to do. But Cooking, in a fashion that impresses or allows one to earn a living, is far more complex then boiling an egg or making toast. It is not a hard skill to learn, there are many teachers and scores of books available to help.
Some of these skills are also Academic skills, though there will be differences. For example, Drawing and Painting in an academic environment will include history, advanced techniques, studying and copying the Old Masters and so on. Where as someone can learn to draw and paint with little knowledge of the history or theory.
Other Common skills are ‘work’ or job related. In these cases they are usually learned as an apprentice or other ‘hands on’ means. Examples include carpentry, brick laying, clerking, sailing, etc. It is not hard to find teachers for these skills.
This is by no means a comprehensive list! If you think of something you want to work into your character that is not on the list, and can’t be easily extrapolated, let me know and we will hammer it out!
There is a normal point cost for these skills. Learning these skills, or finding a teacher, is usually easy.
| Common Skills | Relevant Ability | Notes & Points spent |
| Intelligence – 3 | .5 point | |
| Intelligence -5 | Illiterate | |
| Intelligence -1 | 1pt Village, County, Part of the City | |
| Intelligence -5 | 0pt National & some World, character’s religion | |
| Wisdom -5 | 0pt | |
| Intelligence -1 | 1pt Making change, lighting a fire… |