TEXT: Ability
  Type
  Note
  Page
  Anthropology
  Academic
  You can make educated guesses about a cultures customs, traditions and taboos.
  31
  Archaeology
  Academic
  You can unearth, preserve, document and explain relics of the past, whether of 
  known or undocumented sentient races. 
  31
  Astronomy
  Technical
  You can interpret a star map, plot a course and understand stellar hazards
  32
  Bio Signatures
  Technical
  You can for number and species lifeforms in an area from building to planet size
  32
  Botany
  Academic
  You can identify plant species, their habitats and their derivatives
  33
  Bullshit Detector
  Interpersonal
  You can sometimes tell if sentient beings are trying to deceive
  33
  Bureaucracy
  Interpersonal
  You can get past officials, find whistleblowers, access offical records.
  34
  Chemistry
  Technical
  You can identify and synthesise compounds and understand their properties  
  34
  Consciousness 
  Simulation
  Special — Vas 
  Mal
  You can ask questions of a dead being (1 per point) via their corpse or important 
  possessions.
  34
  Cop Talk
  Interpersonal
  You can gain cooperation from the police, access their equipment, and get minor 
  offenses overlooked
  35
  Cybe Culture
  Academic
  You understand cybe ideology, implants, behaviour, slang and factions
  35
  Data Retrieval
  Technical
  You can extract useful information from a mass of data and penetrate security
  35
  Decryption
  Technical
  You can break encrypted messages, pinpoint the origin of a transmisstion and see 
  fakery
  35
  Dreamsight
  Special — Vas 
  Mal
  You can see into the dreams of others
  36
  Downside
  Interpersonal
  You are comfortable around crooks and lowlifes, and can pass as a criminal
  36
  Energy Signatures
  Technical
  You can spot non-corporeal beings, identify wepaon types, scan for non-biological 
  beings and assess the status of other vessels
  36
  Evidence 
  Collection
  Technical
  You can find trace evidence, recreate a scene, lift fingerprints and see if a scene 
  has been contaminated
  36
  Explosive 
  Devices
  Technical
  You can defuse booby traps, analyse explosions and make bombs
  37
  Flattery
  Interpersonal
  You can determine what compliments beings want to hear and make them
  37
  Flirting
  Interpersonal
  You know if a being is likely to be receptive to your flirtation, and you know how 
  to flirt
  37
  Forensic 
  Accounting
  Academic
  You can spot embezzlement and fraud, track payments or conceal them
  37
  Forensic 
  Anthropology
  Technical
  You determine the nature, cause and often the time of death and match DNA
  38
  Forensic 
  Engineering
  Technical
  You can spot damaged or sabotaged tech and identify the saboteur
  38
  Forensic 
  Psychology
  Academic
  You can guess the behaviour of anti-social or violent individuals and determine 
  interpersonal abilities to use
  38
  Geology
  Academic
  You can analyse rock samples, date fossils, spot mineral deposits and find water
  38
  ASHEN STARS
  AbiliTiES TAblES
  Investigative Abilities
  
  ASHEN STARS
  History, Balla
  Academic
  You know historical figures and allusions, translate old documentations and 
  identify when an artefact or dress was made
  38
  History, Combine
  Academic
  You know historical figures, ships and tech and about Combine presence in 
  systems
  39
  History, Durugh
  Academic
  You know historical figures and allusions, translate old documentations and 
  identify when an artefact was made and reference old military datafiles
  39
  History, Human
  Academic
  You know historical figures and allusions, understand religious origins and 
  identify when an artefact or dress was made
  39
  History, Kch-Thk
  Academic
  You know historical figures and allusions, know Kch-Thk poetry and identify 
  when an artefact or dress was made
  39
  History, Tavak
  Academic
  You know historical figures and allusions, understand Tavak philosophy and 
  identify when an artefact or dress was made
  39
  Holo Surveillance
  Technical
  You can plant recording devices and reconstruct the scene as a sensory 
  holographic
  40
  Imaging
  Technical
  Capture data openly to create a high-grade multisensory recording admissable as 
  evidence
  40
  Impersonate
  Interpersonal
  You can pass yourself off as a non-Laser with false credentials and practised 
  deception
  40
  Industrial Design
  Technical
  You can identify the designer and date of manufacture of equipment and work out 
  a planet’s tech level
  40
  Inspiration
  Interpersonal
  You can get information by appealing to faith, ideology, friendship or cultural 
  values
  40
  Interrogation
  Interpersonal
  You can extract information from people in your control using your authority as a 
  Laser 
  40
  Intimidation
  Interpersonal
  You can extract information through implied or actual threats or physical or 
  mental domination
  41
  Kinetics
  Technical
  You can pinpoint the weapon used to cause damage to a person or location (the 
  equivalent of ballistics)
  41
  Law
  Academic
  You can participate in court proceedings, know if an act is illegal and practice 
  Law (on a 2 or higher rating)
  41
  Linguistics
  Academic
  You can indentify and decipher unknown languages and then program the 
  translator. 
  41
  Negotiation
  Interpersonal
  You can make deals with others, haggle, and mediate hostage situations 
  42
  Neurosight
  Special — Vas 
  Mal Only
  You can view the emotional state (2 points), health (1), of a subject and tell if they 
  have been psionically influenced
  42
  Reassurance
  Interpersonal
  You can put people at ease, and get information through trust 
  42
  Respect
  Interpersonal
  You can get information from people who consider themselves figures of authority
  42
  Timesight
  Special – Vas 
  Mal only
  Get a brief glimpse of the futureor past of a scene with a core clue
  43
  Vas Mal Culture
  Academic
  You know recent culture of the Vas Mal, important personalities and competing 
  schemes for reevolution
  43
  Virology
  Technical
  You understand and recongise mental and body mods caused by engineered 
  viruses
  43
  Xenoculture
  Academic
  You know the tech, potted history, culture and the approach to deal with sentient 
  species other than the Seven Peoples
  44
  Zoology
  Academic
  You can determine the cause and time of death of animal lifeforms, understand 
  their behaviour and niche.
  44
  
  Ability
  Type
  Note
  Page
  Athletics
  General
  Running, jumping, dodging and climbing etc. Less than 8 and your Hit Threshold 
  is 3, otherwise 4.
  44
  Battle Console
  General
  Operate and program the ship’s weapons 
  44
  Business Affairs
  General
  Manage the ship’s budget, get new contracts and make trade deals
  44
  Communications 
  Intercept
  General
  During space combat, scan or tamper with computer systems or protect your own
  44
  Emotion 
  Suppression 
  (Balla)
  General
  If you are a Balla, use this to resist being overwhelmed by emotion
  45
  Enhancement 
  Integration 
  (Cybe)
  General
  Stops you suffering Health loss when you don’t pay upkeep.
  45
  Farsight (Vas 
  Mal)
  General
  View locations remotely, or spot and even identify remote viewers
  45
  Filch
  General
  Pick pockets, plant, hide or steal objects
  46
  Ground Craft
  General
  Pilot ground vehicles
  46
  Health
  General
  Your ability to sustain injuries / a measure of the narrative plausibilty of you not 
  being damaged by an attack
  46
  Helm Control
  General
  Pilot a starship
  46
  Infiltration
  General
  Sneak in and out of locations, pass locks and traps without being detected and 
  surprise suspects
  47
  Medic
  General
  Perform first aid on most known species. 
  47
  Migrate 
  Consciousness 
  (Kch-Thk)
  General
  Place your mind in a new larval body after death
  47
  Naval Tactics
  General
  Command and coordinate your ship during combat
  48
  Neural Rewiring 
  (Cybe)
  General
  Use academic or tech investigative abilities you don’t possess from a specific list
  49
  Pathway 
  Amplification 
  (Vas Mal)
  General
  Once per episode, add this to another player’s single investigative rating on a one-
  for-one basis
  49
  Phase (Durugh)
  General
  Walk through solid walls
  50
  Preparedness
  General
  Allows you to have minor bits of gear to suit the situation
  50
  Probability 
  Override (Vas 
  Mal)
  General
  Spend 4 points to allow another character to reroll
  50
  Psychic Vitality 
  (Vas Mal)
  General
  Allows you to resist Psychic Depletion
  51
  Public Relations
  General
  Keeps your crew’s Reputation intact
  51
  Resist Battle 
  Frenzy (Tavak)
  General
  Make rests to resist frenzy when comrades are injured
  51
  Scuffling
  General
  Hand-to-hand fighting
  51
  Sense Trouble
  General
  Spot danger - only one player makes the attempt each time
  51
  Shooting
  General
  Fire ranged weapons
  52
  Shuttle Craft
  General
  Pilot sub-orbital vessels
  52
  Surveillance
  General
  You can watch others without being watched in turn
  52
  Systems Design
  General
  You create and supervise the construction of engineered systems
  52
  Systems Repair
  General
  You fix machines, ships and computers in or out of combat
  52
  Viro 
  Manipulation
  General
  You install and maintain engineered virus-derived mods
  52
  General Abilities
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Ashen Stars/Misc/Abilities_Tables.pdf