At the Harbour
Smooth / Bootlick Things Over
That Skill represents the ability to negociate and to flatter. Regarding negociation and despite the expression « Smooth Things Over », that Skill covers not only cases when one tries to temper the situation but also any other case or tactic of negociation. Talking about « Bootlicking », hence flattery, the application field of that Skill is also wider and more generally covers the ability to make compliments to an interlocutor or a third person (with as well as without any ground).
Take care to well distinguish that Skill from Rumours & Mess-About!
The Skill Smooth / Bootlick Things Over use most often used by those who've Got a Nerve! Somewhat less frequently also with Cleverness.
Level 0: « Are ye the Gov'nor o' that crapped piece o' land? Me don't know ye but me want to smash yer rat face. Any reason? Yearrh, yer daughter be too ugly, yarr! And ye, ye seem such a b… landlubbah! »Level 10: « Well, Gentlemen! Let us not draw the sabres for such a petty thing! And you would uselessly dirty your immaculate uniforms… Indeed I think there's always a way to satisfy your excellencies' requirements. Here's what I would like to propose… […] So, what do you think? Is that not a most reasonable proposal? »
Won't get Nabbed!
That Skill is first of all exactly the counterpart of the Skill Smooth / Bootlick Things Over, in the same section, well at least when the negociation is fixed or cooked, in the case of a swindle, fraud or as well in the case of flattery or false compliments. To make a long story short: when you're about to get nabbed! That Skill can also be used to detect an attempt of Poker Play but in any case it allows only the detection. The countermeasures to come next depend on the reaction of the Character.
It goes without saying (And it is moreover true of many Rolls requiring Cleverness or PErception…) that the Game Master may wish to make a number of the Rolls versus Won't Get Nabbed himself in the place of the Players to maintain suspense and a realistic (if not metaphysic) doubt in their mind, particularly for the most important actions regarding the further developments of the Scenario or the Campaign.
That Skill is primarily used with Perception but also with Cleverness or less frequently with Got a Nerve! Level 0: « Aye Sir! Me told that gentleman the location o' me treasure! Why not?! He told he didn't want to steal anything! He is doing a statistical enquiry about treasures of the Curry-Bean… Don't take me for an idiot, ye! »
Level 10: The one who will nab you is not yet born! Besides, the careless one who would risk it could well become the nabber nabbed…
Discretion
That Skill covers the ability to be discreet rather widely, that is, not only a stealth ability while moving but also the ability to hide. Moreover, Discretion in the society is also that aptitude to fit well in the waters where you move around in order to stir as few water around you as possible and, thus, be noticed as little as possible.
With Nimbleness will be the number one combination in the first case of application of that Skill and with Power or sometimes Nimbleness again in the second one. When applied to relationships it willmost often be used by those who Got a Nerve! or combine to Cleverness otherwise.
Level 0: Do not search for the elephant in the porcelain shop anymore: this is you!Level 10: Gentleman in the High Society, popular in bars and pubs, grey in the night, walking in the shadows during the day, maybe you should not have become a Pirate but a Ninja! (Do not change of game for that however! Maybe I have a mission for somebody like you…)
On the Pull!
The Skill On the Pull! can serve several purposes… as many as you can imagine, actually! But here are some suggestions anyway: you can introduce yourself by a Governor by being on the pull with his or her daughter (Or his son, let's not forget that your Character can be a female… or possibly – everything's possible among Pirates! – effeminate…) or also get information from a barmaid by making sheep's eyes to her, among other possibilities. You also master some associated arts such as dance, courtesy and the baisemain by the rule book.
The exact way to manage Seduction actions is specifically described in the chapter regarding the Gaming System, when we discuss Actions in Opposition (check the second example there).
That Skill is often used in combination to Look or Got a Nerve! but Cleverness can also play an important role when there is a precise purpose behind the Seduction action…
Possible Specialities related to that Skill may be Saturday Night Fever (Beware the Baron!), Elective Affinities, Play Boy, Don Juan, etc.
Level 0: Butter and bread (getting turned down) and creampies are your Speciality! You could even start a bakery! But for a Pirate, what a mess! You try to understand the feminine (respectively masculine) psychology… and you become a landlubber!Score 10 : Your beauty is maybe exceptional, however it is not so much that as your charm that works: what a seductor you are! Pirate Crews, you loot their Booties right in havens, Captain Rose Noire! And you couldn't tell how many of these Salted Dogs you nabbed liked that! That's your way of Piracy…
Intimidation
Useful in various domains: you can use the Skill not only to put a non cooperative landlubber to the question but also to dissuade unfriendly Pirates or even animals to attack you. In a broader way, used to diverse levels, that Skill can allow you to force a person to admit a fact, take a decision or renounce to act, etc. by the means of more or less veiled menace.
The occasions and motives for using that Skill differ quite significantly from Smooth / Bootlick Things Over, which corresponds to situations primarily of negociation.
As a consequence, that Skill is essentially used by Pirates who've really Got a Nerve! In some very rare cases possibly even with Strength.
Level 0: When you make those angry eyes like that… well, that would have a beaver choke on laughter! (Or possibly even a zebra…)Level 10: You have a « six-shooter's eye »… (Or wouldn't be « blunderbuss » closer to the actual effect?)
Ramming Through
If you are the back against the wall and diplomacy, discretion, lock-picking or any other rather « refined » technique won't get you out of the trap, you can still try to ram your way through it! If you are imprisoned, why not try Ramming Through the door or bend the bars?!
That Skill has a wide field of application because it can be used each time one wants to break everything. It is used strictly with Strength, whatever the concrete situation, since it goes all about a burst of virility! (If it goes about saying however…) Moreover, if one uses it, one not only adds up the Levels of Ramming Through and Strength but also half of the Level of Got a Nerve! or Constitution according to the considered case and a whit of sense. On the other hand, one has to know that such a Skill has no Speciality… It is the pure Skill of the Bourrin, it is here for that!
Be careful however, the use of that Skill can bear heavy consequences… In case of Failure, it means that the Character fearlessly tried to ram through a pack of opponents or the wood of a door… and « that didn't ram »… And as it is said, in such cases: « … » [blamm !]. Up to the Game Master to manage case by case but any Failure while using Ramming Through should accordingly bring heavy damages, if we understood us well… (In any case, the Game Master remains our friend of course…)
Level 0: At school you where disconsidered as an intellectual… Nothing changed!Level 10: « THE Horse ! The one, the true one, the strongest the most… » [shtarblamm!!!] « Yarrrh! There're some days, everyday! » (And DO NOT search for any reference here!)
Sabres & Other Blades
That's the Skill which covers the use of Sabres and other types of edged weapons with a hold, a blade and sometimes a hilt: dirks, swords, rapiers, katana, etc.
A specific type of arm can be chosen as a Speciality. Some types of exotic or rare arms (Such as a katana – under the condition that the Character knows the said weapon to start with – which, for that example, is not guaranteed anymore since many a year if one never spent time in Nip'On…) have to be taken as a Speciality to be manipulated at all. If the Level in a Speciality for those arms is equal to zero, then the Game Master has to apply a systematic Malus to the Character who wishes to try to use them.
That Skill comes most often in use with Nimbleness but Perception or Cleverness can sometimes play a role, notably in the case of making a feint. Detailed rules are given in those rules to manage fights where Sabres & Other Blades are used (check the Chapter Duels and Encounters).
Level 0: I don't like to see you with a knife in the hand… I fear that you hurt yourself…Level 10: You have the Level of the Samurai who masters the technique to draw his sabre and kill his opponent in one and the same movement… It is also the Level which the Captain Lamarck was supposed to have reached; the legend says he was anyway a specialist in both the Sabre and the Katana (By the way, two completely distinct Specialities…).