Espionage

The Espionage skill is a Core skill every character receives in their starting package. A character’s Espionage skill represents their general ability to perform covert action and remain unnoticed. Characters with high espionage typically are stealthy characters who are able to blend into the shadows and remain unnoticed at will.
Espionage covers physical abilities such as: blending in with your surroundings, using a disguise, and moving quickly and quietly. This does not include actions such as pickpocketing, lock picking, or other types of larceny as that is under the Knowledge skill of Pilfering.

Skill Levels

Apprentice 1-25

The lowest level of Espionage involves a lot of failures. A character’s ability to hide relies heavily on using the environment to completely block them from sight. Disguises only work if using the genuine clothes of who or whatever they are trying to pass themselves off as (i.e. possessing a real guard uniform to pass off as being a guard), but this will only be convincing to the general population. The ability to move quietly will rely on any possible observers being distracted or having something else that is louder to cover the sounds of the character’s movements. Moving in complete silence is very slow, often requiring several minutes in order to cross a small room.

Journeyman 26-50

A character sees small improvements in all three of the main aspects of Espionage. As they progress as a Journeyman, one of these aspects can be expected to improve significantly more than the others. A character learns to hide by pretending to be an extension of the environment (i.e. positioning themselves to look like more branches when hiding up a tree) and can be successful if their coloration doesn’t contradict the environment too much. When creating a disguise a character is able to be more convincing by improving on the secondary aspects of a convincing disguise (i.e. paying attention to weapon selection or having a professional look when pretending to be a city guard). Moving silently becomes easier as the character better understands what not to step on that could make noise. They can move a little faster while being relatively quiet.

Expert 51-75

Getting past the general population unnoticed no longer proves to be a challenge. Hired professionals and very observant individuals still test the character’s Espionage. Being able to hide in the environment is less difficult, as the character now learns how to hide in plain sight. Mainly, exploring how to cross the field of vision to an alert individual without making them suspicious. Their ability to disguise improves as they work on making the finer details of their disguise work to their advantage (i.e. not pretending to be a high-ranking official who is out on patrol, or a low-ranking official trying to access a restricted area). When moving silently, the character understands how to transfer their weight in response to the conditions of their environment (i.e. how to walk through knee-high water quietly).

Master 76-100

Masters of Espionage are now at the stage where they know how to disappear into any crowd or any environment. Hiding extends to more than concealing their physical form, but also their intent. Allowing them to walk straight towards their target head-on without alerting their sense of danger. Disguises are near perfect for any pre-planned situation, down to the smallest details. A character learns how to move quickly and generate no sound in nearly every environment.