Attributes and Skills
Attributes
Attributes are a measurement of how focused on different areas of development your character is. For example, an athlete would have a high PHYS, since they’ve developed their body primarily. A scientist would likely have a high MENT.
Attributes act as skill categories, are sometimes asked for in the form of attribute rolls (such as rolling a reflex check to determine your initiative order in combat), and also as a baseline for all skills related to them. No skill check can have a result lower than its related attribute.
For example, if your character has a PHYS attribute of 2 but a Powerlift of 0, every Powerlift check you roll will have a result of 2 or higher (even if you roll a 1 and add -1 from your Powerlift skill, which would normally give you a result of 0). This reflects that, although you are not a particularly gifted powerlifter, your generally good physique allows you to have some basic competence in that area.
Attribute | Short Form | Description |
|---|---|---|
Physique | PHYS | Physical prowess, stamina, strength, and overall fitness |
Reflex | REF | Quickness of mind and body sometimes bordering on instinct |
Social | SOC | Empathy, charm, quickness of wit, gravitas, personal magnetism, and picking up on social cues |
Mental | MENT | Acuity, keenness of mind, learning ability, and mental toughness |
Each point in Physique increases your carrying capacity
Every point in Physique increases your movement speed by 5ft
Soldiers and brawlers typically have high PHYS
Reflex is rolled to determine initiative order in combat
Pilots, Martial Artists, and Spiderman are all known for high REF
Diplomats and empaths typically have high SOC
Scientists, mechanics, and hackers are likely to want high MENT
Cool Under Fire
The one outlier to these attributes is Cool Under Fire, which denotes a character’s ability to withstand the incredible strain of dangerous situations. This attribute is determined by the following formula:
Cool Under Fire = 1 + (Instinct + Willpower + Bearing + Toughness + Tactics ÷ 5) rounded up to the next whole number.
This means if you round 2.1, it will become 3. 2.9 will also become 3. 1.9 will become 2, and so on.
Skills
Characters in Whisperspace are defined primarily through their choices in Skills.
Skill Checks
Skill levels determine what modifier you add to your skill check roll. Except for level 0 skills (completely untrained), you will add your skill rank as a modifier to all checks for that skill. For example, a Melee (weapons) skill check would entail rolling 1d12 and adding your Melee (weapons) skill rank to it.
Skill Ranks
Your skill rank is simply how many points you’ve put into a skill. So if you’ve put 3 points into your Balance skill, it has a skill rank of 3.
Untrained Rolls
A rank 0 skill is considered untrained. When rolling an untrained skill, roll with a -1 modifier. This emphasizes the difference between an untrained skill (modifier of -1) and a trained skill of rank 1 (modifier of +1).
Learned Skills
Learned skills represent training, study, and long-term practice. Learned skills outside of your chosen Learning Focus (Combat, Education, or Vehicles) cannot exceed rank 2.
If you make a skill check using a rank 0 skill within your chosen Learning Focus, ignore the usual -1 penalty for untrained rolls. Instead, treat the roll as 1d12 + 0.
Example:
Your Learning Focus is Education.
You attempt a First Aid check, but have rank 0 in First Aid.
Normally, you would roll 1d12 - 1, but because First Aid is part of your chosen Learning focus, you instead roll 1d12 + 0.
Combat Learning Focus
Combat Learning Focus Skills | Description |
|---|---|
Melee (weapons) | Proficiency with melee weapons (bar stools, katanas) |
Melee (unarmed) | Unarmed fighting |
Weapons (light) | Pistols, SMGs |
Weapons (medium) | Shotguns, rifles |
Weapons (heavy) | Autocannons, mortars |
Weapons (exotic) | Experimental weapons, high-tech weaponry |
Power Armour | Use and abuse of the best armour there is |
Explosives | Make things go boom without going boom yourself |
Tactics | Strategic thinking, setting up ambushes perhaps (or spotting where they may be set up by someone else), and other military-type training that focuses your character on the battlefield |
Education Learning Focus
Education Learning Focus Skills | Description |
|---|---|
Material Sciences | Chemistry and geology |
Computers | Hacking, coding |
Cryptology | Encoding and decoding secrets and ciphers |
Electronics | Power grids, computer hardware, cybernetics |
Engineering | Ship maintenance, repairing drones, cutting through locked doors, or designing new mechanical parts |
First Aid | Saving lives in emergencies |
Forgery | Making stuff look like stuff it isn’t. Like signatures. |
History | What happened before you were there to see it and why |
Linguistics | Languages. Lots of languages |
Research | Finding information in databases, scientific journals, data centres, etc |
Natural Sciences | Biology, botany, zoology; study of organic creatures and how they work, flora, and fauna |
Vehicles Learning Focus
Vehicles Learning Focus Skills | Description |
|---|---|
Gunnery | Shooting things from ships |
Navigation | Figure out the best way to get where you’re going |
Piloting | Flying ships, driving vehicles |
Remote Operation | Using drones or unmanned ships |
Sensors | Interpreting a whole heap of scan data to find anomalies or things of interest |
Systems Interface | Your ability to operate and interact with digital control systems—whether on a starship bridge, station terminal, outpost console, or emergency override panel. Systems Interface governs real-time manipulation of user-facing systems like power reroutes, system lockdowns, navigational tools, environmental controls, and automated safety features. |
Inherent Skills
Contrasted with Learned Skills, Inherent Skills are things your character is naturally good at (or bad at); they are a measure of who your character is. Each inherent skill is tied to one of your character’s attributes. Some people have a natural gift when it comes to diffusing a difficult or tense situation. Others seem to have a gift for hand-eye coordination, math computation, etc. These are things that are inherently a part of a person.
Physique | ||
|---|---|---|
Physique Skills | Max rank | Description |
Athletics | 5 | Running, jumping, climbing. Overall fitness. Whether you’d make a good triathlon-ist or not. |
Cybernetics | 5 | Can incorporate one level of cybernetic implant per level of this skill. So with 3 points in Cybernetics, you could equip one Level 2 cybernetic implant plus one Level 1 implant, three Level 1 implants, or one Level 3 implant. |
Powerlift | 5 | Ability to move heavy things. Lifting, carrying, pulling, prying, etc. |
Endurance | 5 | A measure of physical stamina. Push through fatigue, hunger, etc. |
Toughness | 5 | Pain tolerance, etc |
Reflex | ||
|---|---|---|
Reflex Skills | Max rank | Description |
Balance | 5 | Ability to maintain control over your body in motion, react fluidly to unstable conditions, and perform complex physical tasks with grace and precision. |
Evade | 5 | You may use your reaction in combat to attempt to dodge an incoming melee attack. To do so, roll Evade and get a score higher than the roll your opponent made to hit you. |
Finesse | 5 | Skill at unnoticed dexterous actions. Pickpocketing, magic tricks, etc. |
Instinct | 5 | Natural ability to react to signs of trouble before they happen. Helps against surprise. |
Stealth | 5 | Blending in, keep out of sight, and move without making noise |
Social | ||
|---|---|---|
Social Skills | Max rank | Description |
Subterfuge | 5 | Lie, disguise, or otherwise talk your way out of situations. Come up with convincing cover stories, false identities, etc. |
Bearing | 5 | Appearance and posture; manner of carrying yourself. Confidence, related by body language. |
Negotiate | 5 | Haggle your way to a better deal, whether in a store or while negotiating with a mob boss. Unlike Persuade, which often appeals to emotion or logic, Negotiate is rooted in mutual gain - or at least the illusion of it. |
Persuade | 5 | Your ability to convince others through speech, reasoning, charm, or emotional appeal. Persuade is used to shift someone’s beliefs, decisions, or behavior, especially when you want them to act without any guaranteed personal gain. It’s the skill of leaders, con artists, diplomats, and silver-tongued wanderers. |
Streetwise | 5 | Your ability to read the unspoken rules of the environment, especially in disreputable, dangerous, or politically charged spaces. Streetwise covers your knack for picking up on indirect social cues, tension in the air, or subtle shifts in behavior that reveal deeper truths. Whether you're spotting a con artist in a crowd, sensing an ambush in a quiet alley, or reading the performative lies of a smooth-talking diplomat, Streetwise lets you interpret what’s going on beneath the surface. |
Mental | ||
|---|---|---|
Mental Skills | Max rank | Description |
Composure | 5 | Affects reactions under pressure; high-stakes social or stress-related moments. |
Psychology | 5 | Analyze someone’s motives, try to figure out their end goals, tell if they’re lying to you, etc. |
Observe | 5 | See things others may have missed. Investigate a crime scene. Spot a frog or a dog on a log. |
Recall | 5 | Remember things from your past. Were there three guards or four? Was her hair purple or brown? What planet are you from? |
Willpower | 5 | Ability to withstand mental manipulation. |