Intelligence is a critical ability modifier for skills in Realm of Runes. Not only does Intelligence have the most skills that use it as a key ability by default, the degree to which a character is good at skill in general is influenced by it. Each class provides a fixed number of trained skills to start, and the character's Intelligence modifier is added to this number to determine the final result. This can reduce the total number of trained skills a character has if negative.
In addition to these trained skills, a character with at least +2 Intelligence also gains a bonus skill increase. This can be used to increase another skill to trained, or can instead boost a trained skill to expert. The choice is up to the player, but rewards those that invest in smarts with additional skill expertise. This helps make Intelligence a more attractive choice for characters that might otherwise ignore it, in much the same way that Performance helps Charisma.
ARCANA
Arcana is the skill associated with the arcane magical tradition, one of the four fundamental sources of magic in Realm of Runes. The basic uses of Arcana are mostly useful to those that cast arcane magic, and most require the user to be at least trained in the skill. Arcane casters that want to learn more spells than granted by class, cast arcane spells in the thick of combat without triggering reactions from enemies, and recognize opposing spells and magic will get a lot of use out of Arcana. Arcana also serves as its own Knowledge Specialty for characters that are trained in it, and grants its users the ability to replace the Knowledge check with an Arcana check when making use of it as a specialty. What this means will be discussed further in the section dedicated to the Knowledge skill, below.
Arcana skill feats tend to influence magic in general, and arcane magic in particular. Runic Understanding is the most reliable way for a character to learn the esoteric ritual required to make a runic circle, an incredibly potent and versatile magical tool that holds spells indefinitely, and which causes many spells to function differently than normal. Magical Theorist makes you better at the skill uses of Arcana which are duplicated by the other tradition-associated skills, so no matter what kind of spells you cast you will benefit from the expertise instilled by training in Arcana. Legendary Arcana skill feats include Skeptical Arcanist, which lets you use your Arcana skill to determine the difficulty to fool you with tricks and illusions.
CRAFTING
Crafting is the skill associated with item creation and maintenance, and is a vital skill for anyone that makes regular use of items they make themselves, or that tend to break with use, such as shields. In addition to making and repairing items, Crafting is also the skill used to harvest materials, such as poisons, from enemies if you act quickly enough.
Making items in Realm of Runes is easy to understand, and has a potent benefit for those that make use of it. Items in Realm of Runes that require a saving throw as part of its function have a basic DC listed in their description, but when you make one of these items yourself the DC is instead based on your Crafting skill modifier. This helps even low-level items maintain their usefulness over an entire adventuring career, and is of especially critical important to alchemists, who make tons of items on a daily basis.
Many Crafting skill feats directly give you formulas when you take them. The formula for an item is a required part of making it with the Crafting skill, and while formulas can be learned from others, found, or even Reverse Engineered, these feats can save you some time and effort, and give you a bunch at once. Custom Modifications lets you take existing items and improve their properties based on your Crafting skill. Found a bomb with a save DC too low to matter at your level? Mod it to improve the DC to give it new life. Inventor lets you directly create your own formulas from scratch during downtime, allowing you to learn formulas for things that you don't have an example of and make your own unique items. Legendary Crafting skill feats include Impeccable Craft, which gives you the best of both worlds when making your own items. Normally you have to choose between making items quickly or making them inexpensively, but with Impeccable Craft making an item quickly also makes it inexpensive at the same time.
KNOWLEDGE
Knowledge has three basic and important uses, and all of them depend on your Knowledge Specialty. All characters pick a Knowledge Specialty when gaining training in this skill. This specialty represents a field of study in which you have a particular focus, and is free to choose. A specialty can be a profession, a creature type (such as dragons or aberrations), a civilization, and so on. Some other skills, like Arcana, also function as a Knowledge Specialty for those that are trained in it.
Knowledge is the home of practicing trades. If your Knowledge Specialty is a profession, you can Practice a Trade during downtime to earn some quick cash. Knowledge is also the home of Recall Knowledge and Recall General Knowledge. Recall Knowledge is the activity used to remember information about a topic that falls within one of your Knowledge Specialties. Recall General Knowledge functions the same way, but lets you remember information even if it doesn't fall within one of your Knowledge Specialties, but with a penalty to the check. In Realm of Runes anyone can try to remember something useful any time, because you never know what odds and ends of knowledge you've been exposed to.
Knowledge Skill feats tend to make you better at working your day job or being a font of information. Additional Knowledge adds two more Knowledge Specialties to your repertoire each time you take it, significantly expanding your expertise. Cultural Osmosis, by contrast, reduces the penalty associated with Recall General Knowledge, making you more likely to remember something you only heard once mentioned in a passing conversation. Thoughtful Preparation lets you use your Knowledge skill in place of any saving throw when dealing with creatures that you personally identified using Recall Knowledge or Recall General Knowledge. Legendary Knowledge skill feats include Academic Credulity, which lets you use your Knowledge skill to replace Deception, tricking others into trusting you because you're obviously an expert.
MEDICINE
Medicine is the skill associated with medical treatment, including first aid and more intensive treatments of wounds, disease and poison. It's also the skill used for in-battle assessments, which can reveal a rough estimate of how many Hit Points a foe has left. With its strong focus on recovery from damage and ailments, the Medicine skill can be an effective tool for a party healer, able to keep pace with magic and healing items, but usually too slow to be used in combat directly without investment. Medicine allows any character of any class to effectively fill this role, so no player ever needs to be pressured into one cookie-cutter mold because it's their turn to play the group healer.
Medicine skill feats help to make the skill even more effective at keeping others alive, and making the skill more accessible. Combat Medic lets you treat wounds in the thick of a fight, while Wise Healer changes the skill's key ability from Intelligence to Wisdom. Vaccine gives you a chance of discovering the formula for a vaccine each time you treat disease, a special item which grants a permanent immunity to the disease it's created for. Legendary Medicine skill feats include Reattach Limb, which lets you perform a surgery that can put a dismembered limb back in place with such skill that it still functions, as long as the surgery is performed quickly enough after the injury.
OCCULTISM
Occultism is the skill associated with the occult magical tradition. It has many of the same basic activities as Arcana, tailored to better serve those that practice occult magic, and also functions as a Knowledge Specialty for those that are trained in it. Occultism is also used for divination folk magic, such as seances, and is unique among the magical tradition skills for being able to perform magic directly through the use of the skill.
Occultism skill feats add new ways to use the skill to perform folk magic. Prognosticate and Automatic Writing help you to learn about the future, while Phrenology and Psychometry help you to learn about the past. Obscure Rites lets you replace any skill check required for casting a spell ritual or esoteric ritual with Occultism, allowing your focus on the occult to extend to other magical traditions. Legendary Occultism feats include Faith Healing, which uses another's fervent belief in your pseudo-magic chicanery to suppress afflictions, or in the most extreme cases, actually cure them.
SOCIETY
Society is an Intelligence-based social skill used for linguistics and strategic networking. It can be used to gather and leverage contacts in a settlement and is the home of Convey Gist, an activity that allows you to communicate with others across a language barrier. Convey Gist is a unique kind of check where both parties make the attempt at the same time and combine the total to determine the results, replicating a meeting of the minds through non-lingual cues. Society can also be used as a Knowledge Specialty by those that are trained with it, helping users to remember important aspects of culture and custom, as well as creatures that have complex social structures, like most humanoids.
Society skill feats help you communicate more effectively and improve your social network. Multilingual causes you to learn two new languages, while High Society and Streetwise provide additional benefits and utility if your social network includes a majority of high or low society individuals, respectively. These additional benefits can include reliable contact with a settlement's black market or the ability to trade favors to circumvent legal troubles that might frequently crop up, depending on your lifestyle. Legendary Society skill feats include Legendary Linguist, which helps you develop pidgin languages on the fly, enabling quick and clear communication with any creature that has a language, even if you don't share a language in common. These pidgin languages can incorporate aspects of any number of different languages, allowing for shared communication between whole groups where nobody speaks the same language as anyone else.
Intelligence skills are incredibly useful, and strongly reward those that choose to focus on one of the more frequently overlooked ability modifiers. Next time we'll continue our exploration of the classes in Realm of Runes with the Cleric.
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