FALLEN IS GOTHAM: Fallen Sons

 

EXPERTISE

 

Intellect • Trained Only

 

Expertise is a broad skill encompassing knowledge and training in a variety of specialized fields, particularly pro- fessional disciplines and scholarship. Each is considered a separate skill and training in each is acquired separately, so a former police officer turned district attorney might have Expertise: Police Officer and Expertise: Law, each with their own ranks, for example.

 

If you are trained in an Expertise, you can practice and make a living at it. You know how to use the tools of that trade, perform the profession’s daily tasks, super- vise untrained helpers, and handle common problems. For example, someone trained in Expertise: Sailor knows how to tie basic knots, tend and repair sails, and stand a deck watch at sea.

 

The GM sets DCs for specific tasks using the guidelines provided in The Basics chapter under Checks, keeping in mind that most job-related checks should be considered routine.

 

You can also make Expertise checks to see if your character knows the answer to a particular question related to the area of expertise, such as a scientist confronted with a technical issue, or a lawyer considering a legal question. The DC is 10 for easy questions, 15 for basic questions, and 20 or higher for difficult questions. You can usually answer questions as a routine check, and the GM may make a check for you in secret, so you won’t know whether or not your character’s skill is entirely up to the task.

 

Expertise covers all areas except those tasks specifically covered by other skills. So, for example, a police detective is going to be trained in Investigation (and probably Insight and Perception) in addition to Expertise: Police Officer, the same for an intrepid reporter with Expertise: Journalism. A scientist might be trained in Technology alongside Expertise: Science, a doctor needs training in Treatment along with Expertise: Physician, and a trial lawyer is going to want skill in Insight and Persuasion (and possibly Deception) along with the training in the law that comes with Expertise: Lawyer.

 

The ability modifier for Expertise is typically Intellect, but some areas of expertise may call for different abilities, per- haps depending on the task involved. For example, a technical expert might rely on Intellect to answer questions 

and handle day-to-day procedures, but need Dexterity to perform the actual functions of the job. Performance skills, such as acting or music, may rely on Presence. The GM sets the ability modifier as needed for the specific Expertise check.

 

Characters with expertise in a profession are also assumed to be licensed or certified to practice it, if necessary. Prob- lems like licensing issues, professional rivalries, and so forth can be handled as complications.

 

The GM may allow some Expertise checks to be made un- trained, especially for “unskilled” areas, measuring broad general knowledge and life experience, but even then an untrained Expertise check cannot be routine, and the character can only handle easy or basic tasks or questions (DC 10-15). 

 

 

The following are examples of suitable areas of Expertise. This list is by no means exhaustive; the GM should feel free to add to or modify this list as needed to suit the game and the characters in it.

 

Art, Business, Carpentry, Cooking, Criminal, Current Events, Dance, History, Journalism, Law, Law Enforce- ment, Medicine, Military, Music, Magic, Philosophy, Politics, Popular Culture, Psychiatry, Science, Sociology, Streetwise, Theology. 

 

ALL THESE SKILLS CAN BE WORKED TO EARN AN INCOME.

THE RANK IN THE SKILL IS THE INCOME YOU EARN FROM IT.