Skip to content

Universal Skills of Kur

Each culture on Kur has access to a variety of technologies. These technologies “unlock” access to the plethora of skills available in Rolemaster. This article enumerates the skills for which no technology prerequisite exists. I.e., these skills are available to all of the residents of Kur.

Note that there are some skills in this list peculiar to Kur. The notes column describes these new skills. An asterisk indicates a skill group (i.e., a collection of specific skills). See the notes column for more information.

Skill Category Skill Note
Artistic • Active Dancing
Artistic • Active Poetic Improvisation
Artistic • Active Singing
Artistic • Active Tale Telling
Athletic • Brawn Jumping
Athletic • Endurance Distance Running
Athletic • Endurance Scaling
Athletic • Endurance Sprinting
Athletic • Endurance Swimming
Athletic • Gymnastics Acrobatics
Athletic • Gymnastics Climbing
Athletic • Gymnastics Diving
Athletic • Gymnastics Flying/Gliding
Athletic • Gymnastics Tumbling
Awareness • Perceptions Alertness
Awareness • Perceptions Sense Danger Replaces Sense Ambush
Awareness • Searching Detect Traps
Awareness • Searching Observation
Awareness • Searching Surveillance
Awareness • Senses Direction Sense
Awareness • Senses Sense Awareness* Specific skills include Infravision, Sight, Smell/Taste, Sound, and Touch
Awareness • Senses Situational Awareness* Specific skills include Combat, Emotion, Hengeyokai [1], Social, Spellcasting, Triage [2], Urban
Awareness • Senses Time Sense
Base Attacks Disease Attack [3]
Base Attacks Divine Attack [3]
Base Attacks Fear Attack [3]
Base Attacks Impulse Attack [3]
Base Attacks Poison Attack [3]
Base Attacks Psychic Attack [3]
Body Development Concussion Hits Characters automatically start with +10 in this skill. [4]
Body Development Exhaustion Points Characters automatically start with +40 in this skill. [4]
Combat Maneuvers Aerial Combat Applies to attacks made while airborne (either while flying or riding a flying mount)
Combat Maneuvers Blind Fighting Applies to attacks against opponents one cannot see
Combat Maneuvers Two-weapon Combat Applies to attacks made while wielding two weapons simultaneously
Combat Maneuvers Underwater Combat Applies to attacks made while wholly or partially submerged
Communications Linguistics* Specific skills for each language
Communications Lip Reading See Mentalism Companion
Crafts Wood-crafts [5]
Directed Spells Fire Bolt
Directed Spells Hurlstone From Glyphstones (Races & Cultures: Underground)
Directed Spells Ice Bolt
Directed Spells Lightning Bolt
Directed Spells Magic Rope From Magical Ropes (Essence Companion)
Directed Spells Mana Bolt From Mana Law (Arcane Companion)
Directed Spells Shock Bolt
Directed Spells Strike From Feel-Taste-Smell (Spell Law)
Directed Spells Void Bolt From Void Law (Arcane Companion)
Directed Spells Water Bolt
Influence Diplomacy
Influence Duping
Influence Interrogation
Influence Intimidation This skill provides a bonus for bending others to your will through direct or implied force.
Influence Public Speaking
Influence Rhetoric This skill provides a bonus for convincing others that a particular course of action is reasonable.
Influence Seduction
Influence Taunting This skill provides a bonus for eliciting a negative (often hostile) reaction from someone.
Influence Trading
Lore • General Culture Lore* Specific skills for each culture
Lore • General Fauna Lore
Lore • General Flora Lore
Lore • General History* Specific skills for each era
Lore • General Region Lore* Specific skills for each region
Martial Arts • Striking Boxing
Martial Arts • Striking Tackling
Martial Arts • Sweeps Blocking
Martial Arts • Sweeps Wrestling
Martial Arts Combat Maneuvers Blind Fighting Applies to attacks against opponents one cannot see
Martial Arts Combat Maneuvers Dual Attack Applies to attacks made while making multiple martial arts attacks simultaneously
Mundane Defenses Dodge [4]
Mundane Defenses Parry [4]
Mundane Defenses Shield [4]
Outdoor • Animal Animal Training* Specific skills include Aerial, Aquatic, Arthropods, Carnivorous, Dangerous Herbivores, Draft, Flying Monster, Hybrid Elemental, Land Monster, Passive Herbivores, Reptile/Amphibian, Unearthly, and Water Monster (see Creatures & Monsters and Fire & Ice)
Outdoor • Environmental Caving
Outdoor • Environmental Fishing
Outdoor • Environmental Foraging
Outdoor • Environmental Hunting
Outdoor • Environmental Star-gazing
Outdoor • Environmental Survival* Specific skills for each habitat code in Creatures & Monsters (A, B, C, D, F, G, H, I, J, L, M, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, W, Z)
Outdoor • Environmental Weather Watching
Power Manipulation Magic Ritual* Specific skills for each kind of ritual (see Channeling Companion and Essence Companion)
Power Point Development Power Points [4]
Reflexes Initiative [4]
Resistance Disease Resistance [3], [4]
Resistance Fear Resistance [3], [4]
Resistance Poison Resistance [3], [4]
Self Control Control Lycanthropy Includes any kind of shape-shifting
Self Control Meditation
Self Control Mnemonics
Special Attacks Bite
Special Attacks Brawling
Special Attacks Claw
Special Attacks Grapple
Special Attacks Racial Attacks* Specific skills for each kind of racial attack (e.g., Bite or Claw)
Subterfuge • Attack Ambush
Subterfuge • Attack Silent Attack
Subterfuge • Mechanics Disarming Traps
Subterfuge • Mechanics Hiding Items
Subterfuge • Mechanics Setting Traps
Subterfuge • Mechanics Trap Building
Subterfuge • Stealth Hiding
Subterfuge • Stealth Stalking
Subterfuge • Stealth Trickery
Technical/Trade • General Begging
Technical/Trade • General Drowsing
Technical/Trade • General First Aid
Technical/Trade • General Gambling
Technical/Trade • General Operating Equipment
Technical/Trade • General Trailblazing This skill provides a bonus for leaving markers that can easily be followed by others.
Technical/Trade • Professional Second Aid
Technical/Trade • Professional Surgery
Technical/Trade • Vocational Evaluate Armor
Technical/Trade • Vocational Evaluate Metal
Technical/Trade • Vocational Evaluate Stone
Technical/Trade • Vocational Evaluate Weapon
Technical/Trade • Vocational Gimmickry
Technical/Trade • Vocational Midwifery
Weapon • Bow Blowgun Includes Blow Gun, Blowpipe [6]
Weapon • Chains Net Include Fishing Net, Gladiator's Net, Lasso [6]
Weapon • Crushing Sticks Includes Club, Jitte, Jo, Mullet, Sai, Tonfa [6]
Weapon • Pole Arms Quarterstaff Includes Quarterstaff [6]
Weapon • Pole Arms Spear Includes Boar Spear, Harpoon, Heavy Spear, Javelin, Lance, Pike, Spear, Trident [6]
Weapon • Thrown Direct Thrown Includes Dart, Harpoon, Javelin, Nodwick, Ranseur, Rope Dart, Spear, Trident [6]
Weapon • Thrown Rotating Thrown Includes Aklys, Bastard Axe, Boomerang, Club, Comet Hammer, Cutlass, Dagger, Handaxe, Knife, Jitte, Kyotetsu-shoge, Mace, Main Gauche, Mullet, Sai, Short Sword, Shuriken, Wakazashi, War Fan, War Hammer [6]
Weapon • Thrown Sling Includes Atlatl/Woomera, Bola, Sling, Staff Sling [6]
  1. Situational Awareness: Hengeyokai is used to determine that a given animal or person is actually a Hengeyokai.
  2. Situational Awareness: Triage is used to determine a person’s relative health, including any rounds of accumulated stun, internal injuries, percentage of concussion hits or exhaustion points remaining, etc.
  3. On Kur, the Resistance Roll Table is not used. Instead, the attacker makes an attack using the appropriate Spell skill and the defender makes a resistance roll using the appropriate Resistance skill. Base attacks provide a bonus for talents that would otherwise use a character’s level. For example, a character with a talent that made their bite poisonous might use Poison Attack to resolve the attack.
  4. On Kur, nearly every vital statistic can be improved. Skills in the Body Development category determine a character’s Concussion Hits and Exhaustion Points. Skills in the Mundane Defenses category determine a character’s Defensive Bonus. The skill in the Power Point Development category determines Power Points. The skill in the Reflexes category determines Initiative Bonus. Skills in the Resistance category determine a character’s Resistance Roll modifiers. See also Ars Certo.
  5. On Kur, instead of specific skills for each possible kind of craft, there is a single skill for each craft medium. Without the appropriate level of technology, wood is the only available medium.
  6. See Ars Certo. Also, weapons in italics require more than simple wood-crafting.