Secondary Abilities are areas of knowledge and skill that differentiates a character from another character. These abilities build upon the Primary Characteristics and expand those into specialized fields and skills.
The Secondary Abilities are put together in 7 distinct groups. To calculate a character's final Secondary Attribute Score, add the base Ability Score (determined by the amount of DP you have put into them) to the modifier from the Characteristic tied to it and then add any special modifiers (Class bonuses and natural bonuses from Leveling).
Add a Natural Bonus to a Secondary Ability at every level, including level one during character creation. This allows you to add the revelant Attribute's modifier to that Skill.
If a character has not developed a Secondary Ability (he has put no DP into it), he suffers a -30 untrained penalty to that skill. Some skills cannot be used untrained.
When a player wishes to perform a particular action, he may need to make an Ability Check. The Game Master decides which Secondary Ability will be used, and sets the Difficulty Level. Anima uses ten Difficulty Levels.
| Difficulty | Number |
|---|---|
| Routine | 20 |
| Easy | 40 |
| Moderate | 80 |
| Difficult | 120 |
| Very Difficult | 140 |
| Absurd | 180 |
| Almost Impossible | 240 |
| Impossible | 280 |
| Inhuman | 320 |
| Zen | 440 |
- The following is a list of Secondary Abilities. You can follow the links for a clearer description of every Field and Ability. There are four special rules for Secondary Abilities - these are stated next to its name in its description.
- Armor : The Natural Armor penalty of your armor worn applies. (See Equipment)
- Knowledge : These Abilities have a knowledge requirement. If you do not spend any DP on it, you cannot make checks with it.
- Passive : The Game Master decides when a character rolls these Abilities, since they are always functioning. An example of this is Notice: someone notices his environment constantly.
- Specialization : You can specialize in some Secondary Abilities. This grants you a +40 bonus to checks involving that specialization, but confers an equal penalty to all other checks made in that Ability.
- Athletics
- Acrobatics
- Athleticism
- Climb
- Jump
- Ride
- Swim
- Creative
- Art
- Dance
- Forging
- Music
- Sleight of Hand
- Intellectual
- Animals
- Appraisal
- Herbal Lore
- HIstory
- Memorize
- Magic Appraisal
- Medicine
- Navigation
- Occult
- Sciences
- Perceptive
- Notice
- Search
- Track
- Social
- Intimidate
- Leadership
- Persuasion
- Style
- Subterfuge
- Disguise
- Hide
- Lock Picking
- Poisons
- Theft
- Stealth
- Trap Lore
- Vigor
- Composure
- Feats of Strength
- Withstand Pain
Mastery
You can gain mastery in any Secondary Ability by reaching a score of 200 in it. This has the advantage that from then on out, you only Fumble on a natural roll of 1 or 2.