Using Approaches from Other Skill Groups

For some tasks relating to a given skill, the approaches of a different skill group are actually more fitting than the default approaches for the skill’s own skill group. This chapter provides a number of examples of tasks that are best accomplished using the approaches of a different group than the one a skill usually occupies. GMs should feel free to resolve a skill check using the approach of any other skill groups whenever common sense dictates, such as in the following examples.

For a particular plan of his to work, Agasha Johei needs to know how much heat is required to melt bronze. The Smithing skill encompasses the knowledge of metallurgy needed for the creation of arms and armor. Even though Artisan skills, such as Smithing, are most commonly used to fabricate and maintain creations, there is no separate Scholar skill that covers the information Smithing

provides. When Johei wants to know the melting point of bronze, he treats Smithing as a Scholar skill for the check to remember this fact. Because this activity requires recalling information rather than creating or studying works of art, Johei makes a check with Smithing (Earth) and resolves the results of that check using the Recall approach (described on page 154).

In another example, Zhu Li, an aide to an Emerald Magistrate, wants to make a particularly insightful comment about her employer’s bow technique after observing him in battle. Though this skill is usually used for launching projectiles, it can also be used for discussing the technicalities of the craft. Thus, Zhu Li makes a Martial Arts [Ranged] check using an approach from the Social skill group. Because she wants to pay a backhanded compliment—in the hope that her employer will understand the subversive nuance without being able to accuse her of rudeness—she uses Trick, the Air approach, for her check.

Investigation is one particularly common activity for which characters undertake tasks using the approaches of a skill group that is not the one for the skill they are using. Legend of the Five Rings does not place the task of finding things or connecting the dots on any single skill, so when a character wants to perceive, intuit, theorize, or remember something related to a particular area of expertise, they use the skill that best applies to that body of knowledge with the Scholar skill approach that pertains to the way they want to acquire the information. See the sidebar The Art of Investigation, on page 170, for more guidance on how to use skills to investigate.

Table 3–1: Choosing Skill Group, Skill, and Approach

WHAT SPECIFIC EXPERTISE DO YOU NEED? | WHAT METHOD DO YOU USE?

DETERMINES SKILL GROUP | DETERMINES SKILL | DETERMINES APPROACH

To craft a piece of art (Artisan

Artisan skills (choose one)

• Nonutilitarian art (Aesthetics) • Literature and poetry (Composition) • Finery and worn art (Design) • Armor and weapons (Smithing)

Artisan approaches (choose one)

• Restore a damaged piece through upkeep (Earth) • Adapt an existing piece into something else (Water) • Invent a new piece from raw materials (Fire) • Refine an existing piece to make it function better (Air) • Attune yourself to a piece of art (Void)

To influence a person (Social

Social skills (choose one)

• How to assert authority over others, especially of lower status (Command) • How to appeal formally to others, especially of higher status (Courtesy) • How to discuss and play games to socialize (Games) • How to communicate with and influence an audience (Performance)

Social approaches (choose one)

• Reason with them to act based on logic and duty (Earth) • Charm them to develop positive feelings toward you (Water) • Incite them to act on their emotions and desires (Fire) • Trick them into believing something you want them to believe (Air) • Enlighten them to understand a fundamental truth (Void)

To know or learn a piece of information (Scholar

Scholar skills (choose one)

• Current events, historical trends, and etiquette (Culture) • Law, bureaucracy, posts, and positions (Government) • Health, injury, and disease (Medicine) • Psychology, emotions, and motivations (Sentiment) • The spiritual realms, mystical beings and phenomena, and religious rites (Theology)

Scholar approaches (choose one)

• Recall it from memory (Earth) • Survey the surroundings for clues about it (Water) • Theorize possibilities of its nature (Fire) • Analyze a specific thing for details about it (Air) • Sense it with your instincts or a hunch (Void)

To overcome an opponent or challenge with force (Martial

Martial skills (choose one)

• Performing athletic feats and resisting harm (Fitness) • Using close-quarters arms (Martial Arts [Melee]) • Using missile weapons (Martial Arts [Ranged]) • Fighting bare-handed and with improvised weapons (Martial Arts [Unarmed]) • Mastering oneself and controlling emotion such as anger, fear, and hate (Meditation) • Fighting with squads and armies (Tactics)

Martial approaches (choose one)

• Withstand opposing force to wear it down (Earth) • Shift opposing force to work against itself or for you (Water) • Overwhelm opposing force with a quick burst of power (Fire) • Feint to lure opposing force into a position of vulnerability (Air) • Sacrifice to let opposing force score a victory so that you can achieve a greater end (Void)

To get resources or perform work

Trade skills (choose one)

• Sales, trading, and speculation (Commerce) • Farming, construction, and production (Labor) • Sailing and living on the ocean (Seafaring) • Criminal organizations and activities (Skulduggery) • Living in the wilds beyond civilization (Survival)

Trade approaches (choose one)

• Produce what you need through physical toil (Earth) • Exchange one type of labor or resources for another (Water) • Innovate a new way to get what you need (Fire) • Con someone to get something for nothing (Air) • Subsist in your environment without disrupting it (Void)