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Skill Descriptions

Defined by levels

Each skill has five categories, where a number 5 rating is generally the most desirable. Again it is important to note that these skills are descriptive, not prescriptive. They key to the skills is what a character may reasonably expect to be able to do. A person with a Level 3 Weapons skill can not claim the use of any military weapon perfectly. However, it would be reasonable to assume they would be able to make a competent effort. Furthermore, it is reasonable to assume they would be able to use civilian weaponry as well. There is no guarantee that having the skill will make you succeed at every attempt. Likewise not having the skill does not mean you will fail. A Scientist may train in Level 1 Weaponry, but this does not mean he cannot use a M41. It just means he shouldn’t assume competent use of it. He could reasonably assume to be better at it than someone with no Weapons training.

Contacts- Market area that a Trader, Pirate, or Salvage team can sell their Goods to. Unlike other skills they are not backwardly transferable.

Civilian	Small Business	Big Business	Government or Military	Wayland Yutani
Sometimes a person wants mail delivered or to catch a bus. Often once off tasks	Low profit means low returns on small items. Not much of a future here	Both Company subsidised or competition pay equally well	Either as part of official channels or unofficially. [Elgan, Alien4]	The company needs goods transported great distances and isn’t picky how. [Dallas, Alien]

Contract- Period for which a military person has signed on. It may also count as the amount of time a person has left to serve, having completed much of their contract already.

Lifer	1-20 Years	1-12 Months	1-4 Weeks	Honourable discharge
Here forever. Will take near suicidal risks due to their dedication. [Vasquez, Aliens]	Here for the long haul. Willing to take a career in the services. [Sgt Apone, Aliens]	Some track record of service. Usually unwilling to risk action	Often tries to avoid any risks. [Hudson had 3 weeks to serve on LV 426, Aliens]	Served your time and released to pursue other goals

Cultivation- Type of terrain and size of area to be cultivated. A smaller size of a harsher climate can be cultivated as well, so a Level 3 may Terraform a single farm, or cultivate an entire fertile planet.

Fertile Farm	Infertile City	Hostile State	Barren Country	Planetary Terraforming
Atmosphere and ground readily support life	Ground supports life reluctantly	Ground supports hostile flora and fauna	Atmosphere habitable, Ground will not support any life	Non-habitable atmosphere becomes habitable [LV 426, Aliens]

Drive- General type of craft a Pilot may control.

Ground vehicle	Heavy vehicle	Orbital shuttle	Lander	Interstellar Sleeper Ships
Cars, bikes, small boats, off-road vehicles. [Tractors on LV 426 Aliens]	Loaders, APC’s, articulated trucks. [Marine APC, Aliens]	Small craft for atmosphere and low orbit. [The Narcissus, Alien, Marine UD4L Dropship, Aliens]	Large craft for landing from larger orbital craft. [NarcissusAlien]	M class freighters. [Nostromo, Alien, Sulaco, Aliens]

Field (Lab)- Type of work a Labourer does.

Low grade ores	Refining products	Technical or Clerical	Biological or Interpersonal	Luxuries or Management
Mining, blasting, woodcutting, [Whoever loaded the Nostromo, Alien]	Ores into retail goods and merchandise	Computer programming, to typist	Cook, farmer, slave trader, sales consultant. [Elgan, Alien4]	Gems, management training coordinator

Field (Med)- General area of Medicine a person has trained in. Unlike other skills they are not backwardly transferable. A Level 5 can not necessarily use Psychology.

Physical Medicine	Chemical and pharmaceutical	Psychological	Bionics	Synthetic
First aid and emergency medical treatment	Drugs etc. [Clemens, Alien4]	Psychoanalysis, PTSD, Criminal Psychology	Artificial limbs, industrial and technical interfaces	Construction of Androids. [Bishop’s designer, Alien3]

Field (Sci)- General area of Science a person has trained in.

Physical sciences	General science	Theoretical	Biological	Subatomic
Geology, Palaeontology, Meteorology	Physics, Chemistry, Astronomy	Maths, Chaos theory, Philosophy	Zooology, Anthropology, Xenobiology	Quantum physics, Nuclear accelerators

Goods- Materials a merchant has managed to contract. They may merely require transport, or they may need to be sought out and collected.

Low grade ores	Refined products	Technical or Information	Biological	Luxuries or High grade ores
Coal, crude oil, Ferrous Oxide, Sodium Chloride. [Nostromo, Alien]	Oils, building materials, tools, weaponry	Computers or industrial espionage	Food, leathers and furs, slaves, passengers. [Elgan, Alien4]	Gems, exotic foods or animals

Improvise- Sometimes you just have to do your best, or substitute a non-standard part. These areas may be dabbled with by anyone, but a person with the skill can reasonably expect a certain amount of success. All Improvised things are prone to failure.

Theoretical	Mechanical	Technical	Biological	Atomic
Well that idea didn’t work, got any others?	All out of Self Sealing Stum bolts, would this do?	What do you mean the virus checker is detecting itself? I’ll look at it	I know supplies are short, but are you sure this stuff is safe to eat?	What do you use when your reactors coolant is all gone?

Infiltration- The type of facility an Agent is trained to enter and the sort of defenses they can be expected to overcome.

Physical Civilian	Technical Business	Personal Government	Forceful Wayland Yutani	Hostile Military
Locked doors	Security devices and data encryption	Guard dogs and ID checks	Armed patrols, security devices	Armed guards, shoot to kill, no exceptions

Inspiration- Faith can overcome all sort of obstacles. But how long will people remember the message, and what will stand out the most to them?

Speech	Example	Reputation	Memory	Conversion
Pep-talks can have people raring but the effects lasts only minutes. [Morse, Alien4]	When people can see you living what you say they can be enthused for hours at a time	Word of your deeds can inspire others to follow your example for weeks on end	Months after meeting you people remember what you stood for and continue in the way	So inspiring are you people take the faith themselves, and for years are true to the cause. [Dylan, Alien4]

Language- The ability to translate a language pattern you are not readily familiar with. The amount of time it takes to do so varies at the DM’s discretion

Foreign	Human code	Animal	ETI	ETI code
Many far distant worlds have other Human languages and dialects	With the help of a computer any code can be broken	Their behaviour is a language which can be studied and interpreted	Many lesser Extra Terrestrials have been found with animal like languages	Although not met, many ET races have been heard. [Ripley, Alien]

Organise- Number of people that a character has experience commanding. Obviously they may end up commanding more, it is just they are not used to doing so and can not rely on the same sort of effective communication and following of instructions.

5 people	10 people	100 people	1000 people	Unlimited
A small team or working party. [Ripley, Alien]	A Marine squad or large work group. [Hicks, Aliens]	A large force or single facility. [Apone, Aliens]	A small colony or major division. [General Perez, Alien4]	A large colony, army, city or planet. [Van Leuwen, Aliens]

Plot- The area a Navigator may be readily familiar with and be used to compensate for that environments particular difficulties.

City	Planetary	Interplanetary	Interstellar Sleeper Trade Routes	Exploration
Traffic hazards and short cuts. Best path through a buildings air ducts	Weather and atmospheric patterns, trade routes	Shortest windows given planetary rotations and gravity wells	Well mapped courses between stars	Deep space, where no maps have been before

Politics- By smear campaigns, rumour, and careful manipulation a person may change certain things about their positions as well as others. This may backfire on the antagonist though.

Fringe benefits	Project reassignment	Hierarchical reshuffle	Occupational dismissal	Terminal dismissal
Who does and does not get company cars and Christmas bonuses	Who gets the good jobs with promotion prospects	Who is in charge of who and what	Who get hired and fired	Who lives and who dies

Punishment- The type of sentence a Convict may serve. It will be based on the severity of the crime. A Murderer will not be out on a good behaviour bond unless they have served a significant part of their Sentence already and have managed to convince the Wardens of their genuine penitence.

Bond or Bail	Public Service	Incarceration	Labour	Hard Labour
Fined, released and watched very closely. [Ripley, Aliens]	Some menial job designed to bore dissidents into submission	Period of interment and loss of liberties	Interment and required low grade production, such as Level 3 or 4 Field (Lab)	High productivity in Level 1 or 2 Field (Lab) with remote internment [Morse, Alien4]

Red Tape- A clever bureaucrat may slow a process to almost a standstill, or through having paperwork carefully organised ahead of time may accelerate a process markedly.

Check	Examine	Process	Hearing	Investigation
When minutes count the appropriate cross reference checks can be crucial	A document may be sent to another branch and it can be days before it is returned	Once it is checked it can be weeks before the appropriate bodies take action	If a query comes up it could be months before the matter is cleared	A serious error in punctuation could tie a drivers license in the courts for years

Region- The general area in which an Explorer or Salvage team may work. The closer to the core the higher the competition and the lower the chance of high cash Returns. It took the Nostromo 10 months to reach Earth from LV 426, Ripley’s escape shuttle took 28 years, the Sulaco arrived in 17 days. Note that the size of Space makes it nearly impossible to effectively police more than small sections of the standard trade routes. There are areas of deregulated space within three hours of Earth that are frequented by those with less than pure motives.

Core Worlds	Outer Veil	Outer Rim	Remote worlds	Deep Space
Planets: 120 Pop: Dense Policing: Heavy Comm: Close [Gateway Station, Aliens]	Planets: 85 Pop: Heavy Policing: Medium Comm:3 months [Fiorina "Fury" 131, Alien3]	Planets: 55 Pop: Light Policing: Light Comm:6 months [LV 426, Aliens]	Planets: 40+ Pop: Scarce Policing: Rare Comm:1 year [Loading port for the Nostromo, Alien]	Unexplored territory Planets: Unknown Pop: Nil Policing: Nil Comm: Impossible

Religion- Rather than the actual religion, this refers to the style of religion and who it is likely to appeal to. The more zealous the believer the more they are likely to influence their flock.

Traditionalist	Enthusiast	Fundamentalist	Fanatic	Zealot
Highly formalised worship and rites. Tend to draw older, more sedate flock	Had some experience that caused a Born Again approach. Tends to attract middle aged flock	Takes their Faith seriously and moulds life around it. Tends to attract young couples	Uses their faith as an excuse to behave in rebellious ways. Tends to attract youth	Militant in their approach. Tends to attract criminals and vigilantes. [Dylan, Alien3]

Reputation- This refers to the image you have as a Pirate. The worse the image, the more likely you are to be contracted for unpleasant or difficult jobs which pay well, but the greater the danger. From authorities. A public enemy can still be a high member of Wayland Yutani, just not publicly recognised by the Company.

Public enemy	Wanted Dead or Alive	Wanted Alive	Reward for Information	No record
All authority figures are working to arrange your demise, even those you trade with	High bounty is out, and any opportunity to report you or betray you is likely to be used	An example is to be made of you so your life is more valuable than your demise, but only just	Anyone may set the cops onto your whereabouts, but they would be unlikely to tackle you themselves	Either new to crime or has managed to keep a clear name through careful deals and trade

Returns- This refers to either the percentage of the profits, or the level of pay a character will get for working. This can be taken as an Other Skill only if the character can develop a reason they are being paid that is acceptable to the DM.

No Share, 0% Profit	Half Share, 25% Profit	Full Share, 50% Profit	Bonus Share, 75% Profit	Double Share, 100% Profit
Passenger working ticket off. [Newt, Aliens]	Engineer , minor crewman. [Parker, Alien]	Standard crew. [Lambert, Alien]	Officer, danger pay. [Dallas, Alien]	Extreme danger pay, Single crew.

Sentence- Period for which a Convict has left to serve on their Punishment. They may have completed much of their time already, or they may be just starting to serve.

Lifer	1-20 Years	1-12 Months	1-4 Weeks	Sentence served
Here forever. Will take near suicidal risks due to their dedication. [Vasquez, Aliens]	Here for the long haul. Willing to take a career in the services. [Sgt Apone, Aliens]	Some track record of service. Usually unwilling to risk action	Often tries to avoid any risks. [Hudson had 3 weeks to serve on LV 426, Aliens]	Served your time and released to pursue other goals

Species- Type of species a Breeder is capable of reproducing. The time required varies depending on the DM, and accounts for preparation time as well. It does not guarantee that the species will react positively to the Breeder at all.

Domestic	Hostile	Bacterial/Viral	Cloning	Extraterrestrial
Cat, Dog, Horse, Cow, Pig Sheep, etc. No real difficulty	Big cat, shark, endangered species, etc. Dangerous or reluctant to breed	Germ warfare, antibiotics, etc. Microscopic and potentially fatal	DNA collected from the Level 1 to 3. Can retain some memory as well	Flora and fauna from non-terran planets. Variety of complications

Terrain- Size of area and type of preliminary exploration work that needs to be done before they can operate effectively.

Well charted region	Mapped country	Surveyed Planets	New Systems	Deep space
Checking specific areas that change regularly	Thorough exploration of inaccessible areas	Surface has been imaged from orbit, but still needs to be manually mapped	Imaging of planet surfaces, and recording gravity wells for navigation	Boldly going where no one has gone before

Trade- Field of Engineering in which a character trains. Unlike other skills they are not backwardly transferable. A Level 5 can not necessarily fix a computer.

Mechanical	Technical	Civil	Atomic	Planetary
Fixing of engines and structure, be it vehicle or building edifice	Computer programming and electrical circuitry	planning structures and layout for colonies and civilian developments	Nuclear power, subatomic particles, and quantum mechanics	Terraforming of hostile planets. Shake and Bake colonies

Training (Med)- The amount of accredited training a Medic has received. It does not necessarily indicate any amount of field experience.

Paramedic	Nurse	GP	Surgeon	Specialist
First aid training, and minor emergency procedures. [Dietrich, Aliens]	assistant Medics without permission to prescribe drugs. [Gateway Station nurse, Aliens]	Standard fix everything from coughs to chicken pox. [Clemens, Alien3]	Transplants, major internal repairs, etc	Neurologist, ENT, Cardiologist, Paediatrician, Obstetrician, etc

Training (Sci)- The amount of accredited training a Scientist has received. It does not necessarily indicate any amount of field experience.

Undergraduate	Honours	Masters	PhD	Expert
Some general knowledge on subject. 10% chance of new knowledge	Good general knowledge on subject. 20% chance of new knowledge	Thorough knowledge on subject. 50% chance of new knowledge	Thorough knowledge on subject and related issues. 75% chance of new knowledge	Complete knowledge on subject and related issues. If it’s known they know it

Weapons- Training in the competent use and maintenance of a specific style of weaponry.

Civilian	Paramilitary	Military	Military Special	Vehicle mounted
Club, knife, axe. [Brett’s cattle prod, Alien, Dylan’s axe, Alien3]	Weapons based on military versions. [Brett’s flame thrower, Alien]	High grade weapons used in combat. [M41, Aliens]	Heavy or special weapons. [Vasquez gun, M41-A, Aliens]	Weapons to large to be carried. [Marine drop ship’s missile racks, Aliens]

Marine Specialist Skills