SeventhSun:Talents

Talents

Talents are short, memorable exceptions and advantages.

Talents

Talents are exceptional capabilities that distinguish heroes. A Skill says that a character is trained; a Talent says that the character can do something unusual, decisive, or reliably heroic.

The Talents on this page are General Talents available to any hero who meets a stated requirement. Path Talents and Phasmic Talents are presented separately.

Starting Talents and Flaws

Every hero begins with one Talent at no cost. Choose it from the General Talent list or the Talent list belonging to the hero’s Path.

At character creation, a hero may take up to two additional Talents. Each additional Talent must be accompanied by one Flaw.

Starting Talents	Required Flaws
1	0
2	1
3	2

The free Talent gives every hero a distinction from the beginning. Additional Talents permit greater specialization, while their accompanying Flaws give the hero sharper edges and more ways for the story to make trouble.

A profession does not require a separate Path or package. A hero becomes a resurrector, waylander, healer, investigator, or orator by choosing the Skills and Talents that make that work possible. The title follows the abilities; it does not grant them.

Talent Standard

A Talent normally has one sentence and one memorable effect.

A Talent grants a clear permission, exception, or strong advantage rather than a trivial numerical improvement.

When a Talent improves or impairs a roll, it normally grants a bonus die or imposes a penalty die rather than changing the numerical total.

A Talent should be visible in play. If nobody notices when it matters, it probably is not worth a Talent choice.

Talents never require other Talents. A Path, Skill rating, or Phasmic Formula may be required when the ability genuinely depends upon it.

Talents should not repeat the general rules or enumerate every edge case in which they might apply.

If an ability requires a long procedure, it belongs in the general rules. If it reshapes phasm, it probably belongs among the Phasmic Formulae or Phasmic Talents.

No Talent exists merely to cancel a penalty created so that the Talent can cancel it.

Description Format

Talent Name — State one effect directly; add only the limit needed to run it.

A player should be able to read a Talent once, remember it, and use it without reopening the book.

Combat Talents

Combat Talents improve a hero’s command of weapons and immediate violence. They are not restricted to Blades.

Talent	Effect
Blind-Fighting	Opponents gain no bonus die merely because you cannot see them, provided you can locate them by another sense.
Deflect Missiles	As a reaction before a physical ranged attack you perceive, gain 2 Defense against that attack.
Quick Draw	Draw or ready a weapon as part of the action used to attack with it.
Signature Weapon	Choose one weapon. Once per scene, reroll a failed attack made with it; you must accept the second result.
Stunning Attack	On a melee hit, forgo damage and roll the weapon’s damage against the target’s Vigor Resistance; success makes the target Stunned.
War Cry	Spend 1 Nerve as a short action; enemies who hear you suffer a penalty die on their first attack before your next turn.

Fate and Resolve Talents

These Talents represent luck, conviction, self-command, and the refusal to yield when ordinary ability has failed.

Talent	Effect
Beginner’s Luck	Spend 1 Nerve to use one Untrained Skill as Trained for the remainder of the scene.
Dedicated	Attempts to coerce you into betraying a declared person, cause, or duty suffer a penalty die.
Fortunate	Once per session, reroll a failed roll; you must accept the second result.
Iron Will	Gain a bonus die when resisting fear, coercion, psychic intrusion, or imposed control.
Skill Mastery	Choose three Skills. Once per scene, reroll a failed roll using one of them.
Unshaken	Increase your maximum Nerve to 4 and begin each session with 4 Nerve.

Knowledge and Investigation Talents

These Talents reward learning, research, reconstruction, and the discovery of facts that change the problem.

Talent	Effect
Deep Data	Search an archive, library, memory system, or other substantial body of information in one quarter the usual time and recognize deliberate omissions or alterations.
Eidetic Memory	Accurately recall anything you personally witnessed and attempt relevant Lore rolls without training.
Mentor	Once per scene, give another hero a bonus die on a test when they follow your specific and relevant advice.
Pattern Reader	After examining an anomaly, disturbance, or inexplicable event, ask whether its immediate cause is natural, phasmic, technological, or still indeterminable; the Narrator answers truthfully.
Provenance	After examining an object, record, work, or machine, determine its origin and learn one significant fact about its makers, owners, use, or history.
Reconstruction	After examining the surviving traces of an event, determine its general sequence and identify one important inconsistency or missing element.

Perception Talents

Perception Talents sharpen awareness without turning ordinary observation into supernatural certainty.

Talent	Effect
Assessment	After observing someone, roll Insight against their Guile Resistance to learn whether their Combat rating is lower, equal, or higher than yours.
Battlefield Awareness	You cannot be surprised by an opponent you can perceive.
Keen Senses	Gain a bonus die on Awareness rolls and ignore ordinary penalties for dim light.
Manifold Sense	You can perceive active phasmic disturbances and may use Awareness to locate a concealed or lingering Phasmic effect.

Physical and Survival Talents

These Talents concern endurance, movement, bodily resilience, and survival under the hostile conditions of Old Earth.

Talent	Effect
Beast-Friend	Ordinary animals do not attack you without provocation, training, or outside control, and you gain a bonus die when calming or handling them.
Diehard	When reduced to dying, stabilize automatically unless you suffer further damage.
Endurance	Gain a bonus die on Vigor rolls against fatigue, deprivation, exposure, and prolonged exertion.
Evasion	When an area attack hits you, reduce the Wounds it inflicts by 1, to a minimum of 0.
Fleet	Increase your Speed by 2 squares.
Forager	In an environment containing usable provisions, find enough safe food and water for your company during a day’s travel without slowing the journey.
Hardy	Once per scene when you would take a Wound, take 1 Fatigue instead.
Pathfinder	When you lead a journey through difficult country, reduce the time required by one quarter or avoid one ordinary travel hazard; choose when the route is set.
Poison Resistance	Gain a bonus die on Vigor rolls to resist poison or venom.
Sure-Footed	Ignore movement penalties from ordinary rough ground, rubble, and precarious footing.
Trailwise	After examining tracks or other signs of passage, ask one question about the travelers, their direction, their pace, or when they passed; the Narrator answers truthfully from the signs available.
Unyielding	Once per scene when an attack would inflict one or more Wounds, reduce the number inflicted by 1.

Relic and Mysterium Talents

These Talents concern ensouled objects, ancient intelligences, phasmic anomalies, and surviving works of the Legacy. They do not allow a hero to create artifacts or command intelligences without consequence.

Talent	Effect
Attendant Mentis	A minor intelligence inhabiting an ordinary object accompanies you. It can observe, remember, speak, and perform simple tasks appropriate to its vessel.
Dream-Sense	You remain aware while dreaming and may navigate natural, induced, or phasmically constructed dreams as though awake.
Ensouled Weapon	You possess an intelligent weapon with a distinct personality and motive. Once per scene, accept its counsel to gain a bonus die on one attack made with it.
Malign Compact	You have an agreement with a hostile or forbidden intelligence. Once per session, invoke the compact to gain a bonus die on any roll; the Narrator may later require the promised service or price.
Mekwise	Recognize the moods and behavioral signs of Meks and gain a bonus die when using Influence or Technics to communicate or negotiate with one.
Mentis Listener	Sense when a nearby object contains an active intelligence and communicate with it even when it possesses no voice or visible interface.
Touch of the Impossible	Once per session, turn a failed roll into a success; the Narrator introduces an immediate phasmic or technological complication.

Social Talents

Social Talents shape how a hero uses status, reputation, appearance, and command. They influence other characters without removing their agency.

Talent	Effect
Commanding Presence	When a Command roll succeeds against people who can hear you, affect the entire group rather than a single member.
Connected	Once per adventure, declare a useful local contact; the Narrator decides what help they offer and what they require.
Courtwise	After observing a court, council, or similar gathering, ask who holds the real authority, what custom must not be violated, or what favor would open negotiations; the Narrator answers one question truthfully.
Fearsome Reputation	Gain a bonus die when intimidating someone who knows your identity and reputation.
Silver Tongue	Once per scene, reroll a failed Influence or Guile roll; you must accept the second result.
Unsettling Beauty	Gain a bonus die when your appearance directly helps you attract, impress, distract, or unnerve someone.

Subtlety Talents

Subtlety Talents support infiltration, disguise, escape, and advance preparation without replacing the Skills used to perform them.

Talent	Effect
Case the Place	Once per scene after observing a location, ask one question about its entrances, exits, defenses, concealed routes, or other vulnerabilities; the Narrator answers truthfully.
Escape Artist	Gain a bonus die when escaping bonds, confinement, or a restraint that still permits movement.
Many Faces	Gain a bonus die when creating a disguise, maintaining a false identity, or imitating a person you have studied.

Tactical Talents

Tactical Talents change how a hero moves, defends, and controls position. They specialize Combat without creating separate melee and ranged Skills.

Talent	Effect
Battle Harness	Armor counts as one category lighter when determining Speed and movement penalties.
Battle Leader	Once per scene as a short action, choose one ally who can hear you; that ally may immediately move up to half their Speed.
Canny Defense	While unarmored and neither Prone, Restrained, nor Down, use either Intellect or Spirit instead of Agility for Defense; choose when you acquire this Talent.
Close Fighter	Once per turn after you hit with a melee attack or successfully Parry one, move yourself or your opponent 1 square, provided the movement is physically possible.
Combat Reflexes	Gain a bonus die when avoiding sudden hazards or resisting forced movement.
Dodge	Gain 2 Defense while you are neither Prone, Restrained, nor Down.
Duelist	Gain a bonus die on Parry reactions while only one opponent is within your reach.
Long Reach	Use a Reach weapon against adjacent opponents without suffering the usual disadvantage.
Master Plan	After meaningful preparation, you and participating allies gain a bonus die on each person’s first roll to execute the plan.
Mobile Fighter	Divide your movement before and after making an attack.
Skirmisher	Leave an opponent’s reach without provoking a reaction or spending additional movement.
Sure Shot	When you Aim, ignore either one penalty die imposed by range, cover, or poor visibility, or 1 Defense provided by cover.

Technics and Resuscitation Talents

These Talents reward practical ingenuity and mastery of the surviving works of earlier Suns. Anyone may attempt technical work or resuscitation; these Talents distinguish heroes who make it a profession.

Talent	Effect
Diagnostician	When you successfully diagnose a machine, learn one additional useful fact about a Fault, its remedy, or the consequences of restoration.
Improvised Tools	Suffer no penalty for lacking the proper tools when an improvised substitute is reasonably possible.
Jury-Rigger	Restore one function of a machine despite one unresolved Fault; it operates for one scene or use and gains a Complication disclosed by the Narrator before you proceed.
Relic Rapport	After handling a relic for at least a minute, ask one question about its intended purpose, present condition, or immediate danger; the Narrator answers from the evidence available to the relic itself.
Salvager	When extracting or examining a component, determine whether it is intact and learn one machine or family of machines with which it is compatible; a successful Technics test removes it without damage.
Substitution	When a machine lacks a required component, identify an available substitute or the kind of source likely to contain one; the Narrator discloses any Complication before you commit to using it.

Seventh Sun Codex
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