Unknown Armies:Speed skills

These cover reaction time, aim, and coordination—skills governed by your sense of where your body is. There's some overlap with Body and Body skills; this is because a lot of sports and other activities have a reflex component and a physical training aspect. If in doubt, ask your GM for a decision. (If you have Speed 50 and Body 40, you can probably get away with having a Tennis skill at 45% if you really want it and your GM says okay. If you had Body 30, it might be a different matter.)

Free Speed skill: Dodge

Dodge 15%. People have natural flinch impulses when lunged at or startled. This dodge score represents that reflex. It's also your ability to avoid getting hurt in combat. If you just use your Dodge skill instead of fighting or doing anything else, it's your chance to hunker down and not get smacked.

What Dodge means

10s	You can barely get out of the way of your own feet when you're dancing.
20s	You can dodge a single falling object.
30s	You have an okay—not good—chance of avoiding being hit by a speeding car.
40s	The other kids never liked playing tag with you—you were too good.
50s	If you work at a high-risk job, your co-workers probably call you "Cat" and make jokes about your nine lives.
60s	You're darn near impossible to hit or kick when you put your mind to it.
70s	People who try to shoot at you tend to get unnerved by your uncanny ability to not be where the bullets go.
80s	Two words: Jackie Chan.

Free Speed skill: Driving

Driving 15%. This is your chance to drive safely in a tense situation—controlling a skid, swerving around a pedestrian, or stopping before you drive off a cliff. You don't have to roll for parallel parking unless somoene is shooting at you or you're trying to do it at 70 mph.

What Driving means

10s	You're a bad driver.
20s	You're an average driver.
30s	This is a good level for a professional driver, like a cabbie or a trucker.
40s	You actually are as good behind the wheel as the standard jerk in a Trans Am thinks he is.
50s	Your car could pop up on the two driver's-side wheels and you'd have a good chance of bringing it down safely.
60s	This is a good level for a professional stunt driver or an adequate race car driver.
70s	You're an honorary Duke of Hazzard.
80s	You could be a strong competitor on the stock-car circuit.

Free Speed skill: Initiative

Initiative. When danger strikes, some people stand around slack jawed, while others instantly leap for safety. Initiative is a measure of how quickly (if not how well) you respond when someone tries to shoot you, grab you, or cave in your head with a 2x4 plank.

Your Initiative score is equal to half your Speed. In a combat situation, you have a choice. You can either roll for initiative and hope to to get a result under your Speed stat, or you can just go on your Initiative score as it is.

You can improve this skill normally, either by buying it up during Character Creation, or by improving it later with experience.

What Initiative means

10s	Wha?
20s	Your first instinct when threatened is to frown angrily.
30s	You're fairly alert to troubles around you.
40s	Your jittery nerves pay off when the chips are down.
50s	This is the level that separates "fast" from "goddamn fast."
60s	You've got the combat smarts of Doc Holliday.
70s	Miyamoto Musashi reborn.
80s	The only rational explanation is a sixth sense for danger.

Speed skill examples

Do Two Things At Once. You're adept at splitting your attention without halving it. As a consequence, whenever you're successful at a Speed-based skill, and your roll was lower than your Do Two Things At Once skill, you can do something different at the same time (as long as the two actions aren't mutually exclusive). For instance, you can shoot your gun and kick someone in the same round, if your Firearms roll was low enough. Or you can yank the parachute out of your enemy's hands and pull the cord at the same time. However, the second action fails if the roll is higher than the relevant skill or if it's higher than your Do Two Things At Once skill.

Fast Draw. You're really good at getting a weapon ready real fast. Normally it takes an action to draw a weapon; however, if your initiative roll (or skill) is under your Fast Draw skill, you can draw your weapon and attack with it immediately.

Snatch. This is the skill of grabbing things out of people's hands or pockets before they can react. This is not the same as picking a pocket; the victim is immediately going to know what you've done. However, there's not a lot he can do about it. One limit to the Snatch skill is on its use in combat; if you try to snatch a gun or knife out of someone's hand, you haave to not only roll under your Snatch skill, but above the target's relelvant skill. This is only for disarming someone with a drawn weapon; it doesn't apply to weapons still in their holsters, which can be yanked with a simple Snatch roll.

Squirrelly Reflexes. You're just an intrinsically jumpy, paranoid person. When a fight starts, your first instinct is to make like a squirrel—grab your nuts and run. Consequently, when you're making an initiative roll, you can flip flop it if the roll is lower than your Squirrely Reflexes skill. You can do this even if the result would be higher than your skill level (but still under your Speed).

Do-It-Yourself Speed skills

Billiards, Ping Pong, Firearms, Darts, Sleight of Hand, Picking Pockets, Moving Silently, Sprinting, Tennis, Juggling, Horseback Riding.