Professional skills reflect general professions. In addition to providing bonus Column Shifts in their field of specialty, the Talents can be used to increase initial Resource levels through gainful employment.
Medicine: The hero with this Talent has extensive knowledge of medicine, and as such limited Talents in healing. In general. a character losing Endurance Ranks as the result of a lethal situation can have those losses stopped by any character checking on him. The individual with Medicine Talent may bring back characters that have reached the Shift 0 level up to 20 turns after they have reached that level. A character with this Talent may restore one rank of Endurance to a wounded character per week, in addition to natural healing. Finally, the character with Medicine as a Talent is +1CS on Reason FEATs that involve medical problems, medications, poisons, and surgery.
Law: The character with this Talent has an extensive background in law (the assumption being US Law, but this may vary according to the Judge’s campaign). The hero may be a lawyer or capable of applying to pass the bar (Reason FEAT of Good Intensity). A character with Law as a Talent gains a +1CS to all FEAT rolls involving the law, including correct legal procedure. A character without Law gains no benefit to Reason FEATs, and in addition, will have to make Reason FEATs more often than a character with Law Talent.
Law Enforcement: The character with this Talent has a background with law enforcement authorities. This Talent includes both Gun and Law Talents, and the character, if still a member of a law enforcement agency, may legally carry a gun and make arrests.
Pilot: The character with this Talent has a working knowledge of most aircraft, and receives a +1CS for all FEAT rolls involving an aircraft that character is controlling (including Control FEATs, Agility FEATs, and Reason FEATs involving aircraft handling and design). A character with a background that would permit it (a hero who is an alien) may extend this Talent to spacecraft as well.
Military: The character with this Talent has a background in the armed services. This Talent includes both Guns and Explosives. In military matters, the hero gets a +1CS to all FEAT rolls, and in addition may take a member of the armed services as a Contact.
Business/Finance: The hero is familiar with the world of business, corporate finance, and how money works. Initial resources are a minimum of Good, and the hero gains a +1CS for FEAT rolls dealing with money. The hero gains a Contact in the Professional category.
Journalism: The hero with this Talent gains an additional 2 Contacts to those already generated. The Contacts should be connected with the media in some fashion, such as at local newspapers, radio or TV stations, or has sources in law enforcement, political circles, or snitches of the criminal underworld.
Engineering: Engineering includes all the varied types of that profession dedicated to the design of functional items: civil, chemical, mechanical, etc. A character with Engineering Talent gains a +1CS to all FEATs involving building things, including the Resource FEAT to determine if an object can be built.
Criminology: The hero with this Talent has an understanding of the criminal mind and behavior, either from studies or first-hand observation. The character with this Talent gains a +1CS on all Reason and Intuition FEATs involving criminal practices (“If I were a crook, where would I hide?”). The hero also gains a Contact in either the police or crime areas.
Psychiatry: The hero with this Talent has a background in studies of the mind, and as such gains a + 1CS on all FEATs involving the mind. This is a popular Talent with those heroes and villains with MentalPowers, and the character with these Talents gains a +1CS on FEATs involving Mental Control, Domination, Hypnosis, Emotion Control, and Mental Probe Powers.
Detective/Espionage: The hero with this Talent has been trained to notice small clues in solving crimes. The character with this Talent gains a + 1CS to discover clues to a crime, and in addition gains a Contact in either crime, law enforcement, law, or espionage.
