Talents
AX.GAN.04.01 - Talents
Andrus uses all seventeen core Talents without modification, plus one catalog addition: Survival (Wit-governed), which appears as the Sereindal Cultural Talent and fills a gap in the core framework for environmental and wilderness competency.
Foci are named specializations within a Talent, each Focus represents a particular application that a character has developed beyond general proficiency. A character with Notice 2D and the Tracking Focus rolls Notice 2D + 1D (Focus bonus) when tracking.
Foci are purchased from the character's Talent budget, at a 1:3 conversion (1 Talent Die = 3 Focus Die). A Focus must be paired with at least 1D in the parent Talent.
This document collects all named Foci referenced across lineage and profession files into a single master list. It also provides the Odd Talent index directing readers to power tradition mechanics.
Andrus Catalog Addition: Survival
Governing Attribute: Wit
Survival applies to the action of environmental competency, reading terrain, identifying safe resources, navigating unfamiliar wilderness, predicting weather, and making correct decisions about exposure, shelter, and route-finding under real conditions.
Survival is a knowledge-based Talent: it doesn't represent physical toughness (covered by the Endurance Talent) but reading the environment and applying the practical knowledge required to persist within it.
The Sereindal receive Survival 1D as a Cultural Talent, a free bonus that does not come from their Talent budget. It reflects the Sereindal's culture-wide baseline environmental literacy, which emerged from generations of provisioning long-distance travel and ultimately the World Gate migration itself.
Named Foci:
| Focus | Description | Common In |
|---|---|---|
| Navigation | Determining location and route from available references, stars, landmarks, waterways, terrain features, wind patterns; including maritime navigation by star and current | Sereindal, Kyne Daas |
| Foraging/Hunting | Identifying and acquiring food and water from the environment, knowing what is safe to eat, where to find it, and how to acquire it with minimal equipment | Sereindal, Voren |
| Shelter Construction | Building functional shelter from available materials rapidly and under pressure, not permanent construction (which is Craft) but emergency and field-condition habitation | Sereindal, Kyne Daas |
Note on Wilderness Survival overlap: The Voren and Durakai have a Focus called "Wilderness Survival" under Endurance, which represents the body's physical adaptation to adverse environmental conditions. The Survival Talent (Wit-governed) represents the knowledge and decision-making that keeps you alive. Both are relevant in harsh environments; the Survival Talent tells you what to do, the Endurance Focus keeps your body capable of doing it.
Lineage Talent Clarifications
Intimidation: Appears in profession files ("Suggested Talents: ..., Intimidate") and in the Ashari lineage ("Common Foci for Ashari: Martial Arts, Intimidation, Grappling", under Strike). No new Intimidate Talent is added. This is a reflection of two possible applications for the action of intimidating a target:
- Social intimidation (Wit-governed): This is the Persuade Talent with an Intimidation Focus. This is the Compact Warden's "Steward's Warning," the Blade Shadow's "Weight of Presence," and the House Advocate's deployment of commercial consequence.
- Physical intimidation (Body-governed): This is the Strike Talent with an Intimidation Focus. This is the Ashari's physical demonstration of elemental combat capability, the Stoneholder's refusal to fall.
When a profession lists "Intimidate" as a Suggested Talent, it means: invest in Persuade or Strike (depending on the character's approach) and take the Intimidation Focus. The single-word shorthand "Intimidate" reflects common usage.
Craft: Appears in the Infiltrator's Suggested Talents as "Craft (mechanical, locks and mechanisms)." Craft knowledge is a Focus under Lore. A character investing in Craft as a Suggested Talent invests in Lore with a Craft Focus, the Talent governs the knowledge; the Focus narrows the domain.
Odd Talent Index
Odd Talents represent access to one of Andrus's power traditions. An Odd Talent die is purchased from the Talent budget like any other die, but it can only be used by characters who have Power Access to the relevant tradition, granted by lineage, profession, or setting perk. Odd Talent dice are specific to a single tradition; a character with two traditions must purchase dice separately for each.
Rolling an Odd Talent: Governing Attribute + Odd Talent pool. The Governing Attribute varies by tradition (see table). Results are interpreted against the tradition's specific effect thresholds, not standard Talent roll resolutions. Pattern Fatigue, Backlash, and additional mechanics are tradition-specific.
Pattern Fatigue: All traditions use the same underlying recovery structure. First use in a scene is Clear (normal roll). All subsequent uses in the same scene are Fatigued (Disadvantage). Clear by Short Rest (10 min) or Primary Action + Governing Attribute + Resolve vs. Threshold 3 mid-scene. See individual tradition documents for exceptions and extensions.
| Tradition | Category | Governing Attribute | Lineage Access | Full Rules |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elemental Fire | Force | Wit or Body | Ashari | AX.GAN.09.03 |
| Elemental Earth | Form | Body or Wit | Durakai | AX.GAN.09.04 |
| Elemental Water | Resonance | Wit | Mirelen | AX.GAN.09.05 |
| Elemental Air | Resonance | Speed or Wit | Zephari | AX.GAN.09.06 |
| Consortium Arcanism | Force | Wit | Ekhari | AX.GAN.09.07 |
| Scar Reading | Resonance | Wit | Kyne Daas | AX.GAN.09.08 |
| Draconic Essence | Form | Wit | Ustara | AX.GAN.09.09 |
Murin: Not a player tradition. See AX.GAN.09.10 for GM-facing mechanics covering Blackened taxonomy, infection stages, and corruption template.
Tradition Category Definitions:
- Force, Active projection; the practitioner extends energy outward to produce an effect at range. Pattern Fatigue applies on second use in scene. Backlash from critical failure is external (effect misfires outward).
- Resonance, Perceptual attunement and environmental influence; the practitioner reads and responds to conditions rather than imposing on them. Pattern Fatigue applies; Resonance practitioners manage fatigue through the Practiced Channel perk (AX.GAN.09.01).
- Form, Material pattern-imposition; the practitioner imposes a shape or structure on matter. Pattern Fatigue applies; Form tradition Backlash tends to be internal (pattern-fracture affects the practitioner).