Cambridge University Treasure Trap

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Subterfuge Skills

Subterfuger

Subterfuge skills are most often taken by Thief, Rogue or Scoundrel type characters. They will most likely have spent all or most of their lives in the city, learning its ways as thoroughly as a Scout would know the surrounding woodlands.

Subterfuge skills available are:

Agility (5xp) [Wilderness n/Subterfuge n]
Provides a point of DAC for each four ranks posessed.
Alias (10xp) [Subterfuge 2n-1]
Gives a character an alter ego for each purchase
Backstab (8xp) [Subterfuge I, III, V, VII, VIII]
Deal extra damage to unsuspecting targets.
Brawling (2xp) [Melee I/Streetfighter I]
Grants the ability to fight while unarmed, or with improvised weapons.
Conceal Item (5xp) [Subterfuge 2n-1]
Hide small items (like daggers) from searches.
Forgery (10, 15xp) [Subterfuge III, VI]
Allows you to forge both documents and stuff effectively.
Hide Tracks (4xp) (Subterfuge 2n)
Allows the character to cover tracks.
Improved Alias (5xp) [Subterfuge III]
Allows aliases to be different races and genders.
Improved Backstab (10xp) [Subterfuge V]
Grants the ability to use longer weapons to backstab.
Light Armour (3xp) [Wilderness n/Subterfuge n]
Grants the ability to wear more armour.
Light Fingers (15xp) [Subterfuge IV]
Grants a character the skills needed to pick pockets.
Missile Competency (10xp) [Melee 1/Streetfighter 1]
Gives you basic competency with a bow or crossbow.
Recognise Forgery (5xp) [Subterfuge III]
Allows you to recognise as forgeries documents and stuff produced with Forgery I.
Streetfighter (5xp) [Subterfuge n]
Gives progressive levels of skill with street weapons.
Subdual (10xp) [Melee n/Streetfighter n]
Allows a character to fight in a non-lethal manner.
Subterfuge (15xp)
Grants access to the Subterfuge tree.
Thrown Competency (5xp) [Subterfuge I]
Allows a character to throw weapons designed for throwing (and rocks).

The following lists the subterfuge skills in detail.

Subterfuge (15xp)

This skill represents a familiarity with the shadier sides of urban life, and is required for all other Subterfuge skills. This skill may be taken multiple times.

Thrown Competency (5xp) [Requires Subterfuge I or Warrior I]

The character gains the ability to use thrown weapons (throwing daggers or rocks, etc) for a damage call of SINGLE. They may not throw more than one weapon per second.

Agility (5xp) [Requires Subterfuge or Wilderness of equal level] FAQ

The character grows more agile and flexible, able to dodge or roll with a blow in order to avoid damage. If you have N points of DAC, you have the option of calling NEGATE to any of the first N blows you take from a melee weapon in combat. You cannot exercise this option if you are halted or frozen, or if the damage call from that weapon includes THROUGH or VENOM.

For every 4 ranks a character possesses in this skill they gain 1 point of dexterity armour (DAC). This ability is cancelled when wearing any armour that is Level 3 or greater (anything other than heavy/studded leather). This skill may be taken multiple times. You may not buy two levels of Combat Awareness and two levels of Agility to gain a point of DAC, but they will stack if you have four levels of both to give two points of DAC.

Conceal Item (5xp) [Requires Subterfuge 2n-1]

Each purchase of this skill allows you to hide a dagger, or equipment with the volume of a dagger, about your person. It must be hidden from visual inspection. You need not report it to mundane body searches, but supernatural effects which would detect it will find it.

Alias (10xp) [Requires Subterfuge 2n-1]

For each purchase of Alias, the character gains an alter ego with their own history and half-way convincing excuse for a life. It is very hard to link the alter ego with the character. This alter ego must be the same race and sex as the character. It is permissible to buy this skill some time before defining the actual alias.

(This essentially means the player has one to four alias "slots", which correspond to, for example, places in the city where they can change into their disguise, groups of people that alias associates with, and so on.)

This alter ego may be changed over a period of 4 weeks.
You may not be in the process of changing more than one alias at once.
If you stop playing an alias in one of your alias slots, other plays can link the new alias in that slot with the old alias in that slot; this means you cannot abandon one alias because they have been detected and change it to another alias, as the new one may be discovered as the same person.

This is a required skill for Improved Alias.

Improved Alias (5xp) [Requires Subterfuge III and Alias]

Your aliases may now be of a different race and sex to you. This skill does not, however, change their DETECT or RECOGNISE MAGIC/SPIRIT responses.

Hide Tracks (4xp) [Subterfuge 2n]

Every creature leaves some trace of its passing, but characters with this skill are able to reduce and confuse these traces. This skill functions as the Track skill in Wilderness, but only for the purpose of concealing tracks.

This skill may be taken multiple times. Each level enables you to do the following:

  1. You may conceal your tracks from anyone with Track I, 2nd level spells or below.
  2. You may conceal your tracks from anyone with Track II, 4th level spells or below.
  3. You may conceal your tracks from anyone with Track III, 6th level spells or below.
  4. You may conceal your tracks such that nothing short of divine intervention or the direct action of an elemental lord can follow them.

Missile Competency (10xp) [Subterfuge I/Warrior I]

You can do SINGLE THROUGH by bow and crossbow. If you have Targeteer, there is no advantage to taking this skill. If you wish to take the Missile Competency skill, you must first pass an OOC safety test, as LARP bows are the most potentially dangerous of all the LARP weapons we use.

Backstab (8xp) [Requires Subterfuge I, III, V, VII, VIII]

The character knows how best to strike an opponent who isn't expecting it, or is otherwise engaged. To backstab, you must be standing behind the target and strike them in the rear of the torso with a weapon less than 18" long (but see Improved Backstab). After backstabbing, you may not backstab that target for ten seconds - people have an inconvenient tendency to flail around in agony, which really spoils your aim.

  1. Your blow gains one natural degree of damage, and is converted to THROUGH damage for a sharp weapon, or SUBDUAL for a blunt weapon.
  2. Your blow gains two natural degrees of damage, and is converted to THROUGH or SUBDUAL as for Backstab I.
  3. Your blow gains three natural degrees of damage, and is converted to THROUGH or SUBDUAL as for Backstab I.
  4. Your blow gains four natural degrees of damage, and is converted to THROUGH or SUBDUAL as for Backstab I.
  5. Your blow gains five natural degrees of damage, and is converted to THROUGH or SUBDUAL as for Backstab I.

Improved Backstab (10xp) [Requires Subterfuge V]

The character's mastery of dirty fighting is such that they no longer require particularly subtle weapons to inflict horrific damage. You may make full use of the Backstab skill using a weapon up to 36" long.

Streetfighter (5xp) [Requires Subterfuge of equal level]

This skill may be taken multiple times. At each level the character gains the following abilities:

  1. The character has a passing acquaintance with the short, brutal weapons favoured by rogues and cut-throats. They may do SINGLE damage with a dagger or cosh and parry with an off-hand dagger or cosh.
  2. The character has a professional familiarity with short weapons and the very aggressive style of combat required to use them effectively. They can do SINGLE damage with an off-hand dagger or cosh.
  3. The character is very skilled with the tools of the thug's trade, and has learned to wield longer weapons with the same kind of efficiency. They can do SINGLE damage with an on-hand short sword or short mace.
  4. The character has developed their brutal fighting style to the point where they can take on most warriors in a straight fight as well as the unfair fights they prefer. They can do SINGLE damage with an off-hand short sword.
  5. May wield a 42" sword in one hand for SINGLE.
  6. May wield 42" swords in each hand for SINGLE by each.
  7. May call SINGLE THROUGH by dagger.
  8. May call SINGLE THROUGH by any sharp weapon you may call SINGLE with.

A 'dagger or cosh' is defined as a weapon of less than 18 inches in length. A 'shortsword or short mace' is defined as a weapon too long to be a dagger or cosh, of less than 36 inches in length. These limits are slightly flexible; Rule 7 applies. The refs would like to encourage a clear demarcation between daggers and shortswords, and between coshes and short maces, and thus would ask the cooperation of the society's weapon makers in this matter. If you bring a 18.5" weapon and try to use it as a shortsword, you will probably be asked not to; similarly for 20" daggers.

Light Armour (3xp) [Requires Subterfuge or Wilderness of equal level]

Each level of Light Armour taken allows the character to wear an additional 2 points worth of armour. Will not stack with Armour skill. May be taken multiple times.

Forgery (10, 15xp) [Requires Subterfuge III, VI]

Forgery I: The character is able to provide a fair imitation of handwritten documents. With access to appropriate tools, skills and materials, they can also forge items. Such documents or items cannot be recognised as forgeries unless you have either Recognise Forgery, or are intimately familiar with the original (for example, you wrote it). Blatantly false and untrue statements, however, are not disguised with this skill - a day pass purportedly signed by Brother-Captain Hermann Von Ulm, who died in the 1287 campaign, will not get you into the library of the Children of the Light no matter how much it looks like his handwriting.

Forgery II: The character is able to provide an indistinguishable imitation of items or handwritten documents. You are only likely to be able to tell it is a forgery if you wrote the original and have it in your possession, and even then it isn't certain. As for Forgery I, if the original item would not work for a certain purpose then neither will the one you create.

Recognise Forgery (5xp) [Requires Subterfuge III]

If familiar with the original, the character is able to recognise forgeries produced by Forgery I on close inspection. So they could, for example, recognise that a signature purporting to be that of someone they know was, in fact, a forgery.

Light Fingers (15xp) [Requires Subterfuge IV]

The character may steal items in easy reach from a character or monster. The item need not be visible but must not be being held.

To use this ability, inform a ref you intend to, and describe the item you are stealing. You must touch the pocket, pouch or container it is in without the holder noticing and objecting. The ref will then request the item from them and, assuming an item matching your description is in the place touched, secretly pass it to you.

Subdual (10xp) [Requires Melee (and therefore Warrior) or Streetfighter of equal level] INFO

Killing someone with a weapon generally requires only enthusiasm and a little training. Merely incapacitating them is much harder - a character with this skill knows how to disable an opponent without doing them any lasting damage.

You are allowed to add the call SUBDUE to damage with weapons you use, the greatest degree of Subdual damage you can do being equal to your level in the Subdual skill, assuming it is less than or equal to your maximum damage call. E.g. if you can call SINGLE, and buy the first level of Subdual, then you may call either SINGLE or SUBDUE SINGLE. Buying any more levels of Subdual will have no effect. If, however, you can call DOUBLE, then one level of Subdual will allow you to call SUBDUE SINGLE instead of your normal call of DOUBLE (and of course SINGLE). A second level of Subdual will allow you to call SUBDUE DOUBLE.

This skill may be bought multiple times.

Brawling (2xp) [Requires Streetfighter I or Melee I]

The character is able to engage in a 'bar room brawl' using natural and improvised weaponry. All damage is SUBDUE SINGLE. Natural weapon blows (fist, feet, etc) should not come closer than 6" of target; if it is unclear what you are miming, please call them ('knee to groin', etc) instead of miming in a more aggressive fashion. Please be very careful when using this skill, as over-enthusiastic use can lead to unpleasantness. Do not ever use props that are not larp safe to mimic hitting people. To reduce the number of fists flying during melee combat, you may not employ the Brawling skill on a character with a drawn weapon.