Skills

Skills are the mechanical representation of what your character is able to do. There is no universal body plan for a robot, and a robot's function can be just about anything. The skills listed here are therefore generally very broad and can represent abilities which we, as humans, may often take for granted - as well as things which a human would never be able to achieve on their own.

Robots are usually specialists, not generalists; when choosing skills for your character you should expect them to be very good at a small number of things rather than competent at many things. Your character may also have spent a very long time with their chassis exposed to the elements - it is very possible, or even likely, that they will find themselves missing what used to be a core part of their function. On the other hand, the robots have had enough time to begin to modify and upgrade themselves so they may also already have access to functions they were not originally designed to have. For the truly specialised experience, we suggest the limited application quirk.

There is no automatic advancement of skills in Romancing the Toaster, but skills may be gained through upgrades or lost through injury.

At character creation, you will have 9 points to spend on skills. Each skill costs one point. Higher tier skills may only be purchased if you already have the preceding skill(s) in that branch. For example, Land Movement 2 requires both Basic Movement and Land Movement 1; buying all three of those skills costs three points in total.

There are six very broad Basic skills which cover the fundamentals of what a robot may be able to do. Each of these is followed by between one and three branches of slightly more specific sets of abilities, which are refined further with player-defined specialisations. Specialisations are sub-fields of a skill in which your character is even better than normal, and is probably (part of) your robot's intended function. Example specialisations are listed alongside each skill.

• You must define a specialisation each time you advance a skill beyond Basic (i.e. for both Tier 1 and Tier 2).
• After obtaining Tier 2 in a skill, you may continue to add specialisations at the cost of one skill point each.
• Specialisations can be just about anything that could fall under the domain of the associated skill - however, they should avoid being too broad (e.g. Walking for the Land Movement skill) or too narrow (e.g. Making Paperclips for the Construction skill).
• All specialisations are subject to GM approval.

Please bear in mind that, outside of skills and specialisations, a certain amount of logic will be applied to what your character can and cannot do based on the description of their physical aspects. That said, the absurdist tone of this game means that the GMs will generally be quite lenient as long as it makes at least some amount of sense.

Every skill is unique in its own way, but the following table can be used as a rule of thumb for how capable your character will be at each level:

Example: Alice decides to buy Basic Manipulation (1 point) and Construction 1 (1 point), with a specialisation in Electrical Engineering. She then decides she wants her character to be even better at making things, so she buys Construction 2 (1 point) and chooses the second specialisation to be Circuit Design. She then decides to buy one additional specialisation in Robot Repair (1 point), thus spending 4 points in total and obtaining three specialisations in the Construction skill tree.

At Character Creation, you must also choose one of the six Basic skills to be disabled. By some quirk of your character's Heartdrive, they will never be able to acquire that skill (and therefore also any of the skills in subsequent branches). Even if they were to have relevant hardware installed, they would not be able to make use of it.

Example: Alice is interested in creating a character that can build and repair but not interface with machines. She selects Interfacing as her character's disabled skill.

The Movement skill represents your character's ability to move their physical chassis around under their own power. At base this is the ability to move at all, while at higher levels it also represents higher capacity for speed, agility, and negotiating obstacles. Note that if you do not take the Senses skill at any level then you will need either someone to guide you, or to find some other solution. Without the Senses skill, you will have a sense of balance and will be able to tell if you are moving or not, but will be unable to detect obstacles before hitting them.

The three branches of the Movement skill cover movement in different terrain types: land, water, and air. (Note that movement in space is, at the point of character creation, only possible at Basic level and requires taking the Spaaaaace! quirk. It is also not possible for a character to be able to reach orbit from the ground at game start.)

Movement skills also come with very specific mechanics for movement on the map. Every tile on the map has a terrain type and the higher levels of Movement grant better mechanical advantage in moving in matching tiles. If a skill says that you have X units of movement, this means that you can move from one zone to another on the map up to X times per turn (refreshed at the start of each session). If you take multiple movement skills, the total movement your character is capable of per turn is equal to the highest individual movement limit listed, e.g. with Land Movement 1 and Air Movement 2, a character could move up to six units in total, with up to two of them being by land. Being carried does not count towards your movement limit.

If you do not take this skill, you are incapable of moving your chassis under your own power. It may still be possible for you to be carried, or otherwise moved, by other characters (players or NPCs). You can resist attempts to move you unwillingly if you have any Movement skill of your own, with any Manipulation skills, or simply by being very large.

For all movement skills, please specify the physical means by which your character moves.

You can move under your own power, albeit slowly, inefficiently, or with difficulty. Perhaps your movement mechanism is damaged or faulty, or is functional but limited. Your range of movement is somewhat less than that of an able-bodied human.

Narratively, you will struggle greatly with difficult terrain and will generally not be very fast or agile. Mechanically, you have 1 unit of movement in a tile type of your choice (land, water, or air), which you should define at Character Creation. (Note: this does not have to match the movement type of subsequent skills taken in this tree.) The tile type may be space if you take the Spaaaaace! quirk.

You have wheels, tracks, legs, or some other means of movement that is effective on land. In general aspects you are approximately as capable of movement as an average able-bodied human or a human-powered vehicle. You can probably find a way around most obstacles, but will struggle with extreme terrain unless you have an appropriate specilisation.

• Land Movement 1: In your specialisation(s), you are about as capable as an olympic athlete, a small powered vehicle, or an animal like a monkey or gazelle. Mechanically, you have 2 units of movement in land tiles.
• Land Movement 2: With appropriate specialisation(s), you may have the equivalent ability of something like an all-terrain vehicle, a racing car, or a tank. Mechanically, you have 4 units of movement in land tiles.

Example specialisations: racing, climbing, acrobatics.

You can swim or float, with some means of locomotion effective in water such as fins or propellers. In general aspects, your ability in the water is roughly equivalent to that of an athletic able-bodied human or a small human-powered vessel, although without the constraints of needing to breathe underwater. Note that by default this skill allows movement both under and on the surface of water. You will be able to navigate most obstacles, but may struggle in storms, in very strong currents, or at extreme depths without an appropriate specialisation.

• Water Movement 1: In your specialisation(s), you are about as capable as an olympic athlete, a small powered vehicle, or an animal such as a seal. Mechanically, you have 2 units of movement in water tiles.
• Water Movement 2: With appropriate specialisation(s), you may have the equivalent ability of a speedboat, military submarine or a deep sea rover. Mechanically, you have 4 units of movement in water tiles.

Example specialisations: watersport racing, seafloor traversal, underwater stealth.

You can fly, hover, or float in the air. In general aspects, you are approximately as capable as something like a small blimp or glider, or an animal like a pigeon. You may have difficulty navigating tight spaces or in strong winds without an appropriate specialisation.

• Air Movement 1: In your specialisation(s), you are about as capable as a small aircraft such as a microlight, or an animal like a hawk. Mechanically, you have 3 units of movement in air tiles.
• Air Movement 2: With appropriate specialisation(s), you may have the equivalent ability of a jet aircraft or military drone. Mechanically, you have 6 units of movement in air tiles.

At both levels of Air Movement, you may also enter or exit any surface-level water or land tile in order to land or take off, and you may move between any surface-level tiles at double movement cost (representing flying low over the megastructure).

Example specialisations: aerial combat, flying at altitude, rapid take-off/landing.

These skills represent your character's ability to perceive the physical world around them. Note that just because you can in theory detect something, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you can make sense of it or make further deductions. To be more skilled at investigation and detective work, or tracking down people and objects, you may wish to take some skills from the investigation line as well. This does not affect your ability to perceive the virtual world: all robots can perceive websites and other Network content equally well. In order to understand software and gain insight into it, see the Software skills. For detecting and interfacing with machines directly, see the Interfacing skills.

This skill has a single branch which covers gradually more comprehensive and detailed means of perception.

If you do not take this skill, you have no means of perceiving your physical surroundings. You will still be aware of anything that directly changes your chassis (such as being damaged, repaired, or modified), or anything that directly interacts with any physical component of your function (e.g. a toaster with the Construction skill will know when it is operated and when the toast is ready; a car with the Movement skill will know if its wheels are turning).

If you take Senses at any level, please specify how your character perceives the world.

You have some very basic senses which let you perceive your immediate surroundings at a low level of detail. By default the GMs will assume this to be short-range colour vision and hearing, but you may specify a different set of senses. Overall, you will be somewhat less able to perceive the world around you than an able-bodied human.

Aside from your specialisation(s), you have a suite of general senses which let you perceive your surroundings at a moderate level of detail, approximately equivalent to an average able-bodied human. By default the GMs will assume this to be colour vision and hearing, but you may specify a different set of senses.

• Advanced Senses 1: In your specialisation(s), you could have a sense equivalent to a specialised animal, such as a dog's sense of smell, an owl's hearing, or a hawk's eyesight. This may also be a sense generally unavailable to animals, such as radar. You could also have senses attuned to specific events, such as weather conditions.
• Advanced Senses 2: In your specialisation(s), you have a highly attuned sense capable of picking up the smallest nuance and detail. This could be something like a space telescope, an electron microscope, or a highly sensitive seismometer.

Example specialisations: thermal vision, chemical analysis, long-range radar.

Manipulation covers all forms of interaction with the physical world. At the basic level it allows for most simple interactions, with two branches covering an increasing skill in applying manipulation as a means to either a creative or destructive end. From crafting and manufacturing, to repair and modification, to demolition and sheer brute force, this skill represents any way in which your character deliberately changes the physical world around them.

Note that without the Senses then you will struggle to manipulate things in unique ways without someone to guide you. You would, however, be able to carry out predefined tasks to the extent of your ability as long as you are provided with the raw materials - for example, a toaster provided with bread can make perfect toast, a production line for paper can function if provided with wood, and an excavator can still dig if guided to the right location.

If you do not take this skill, you will have no means of deliberately or meaningfully altering the physical world. If you have any level of Movement you may still be able to carry things or push them out of your way, but deliberate alteration of physical objects will be outside your capability.

You have some variety of simple appendage(s) which you can use to interact with the physical world. They allow you to interact with most things in simple ways, such as pressing buttons, pulling levers, or picking things up. Much more nuanced or directed application will be beyond your ability. Overall, you are somewhat less capable than an able-bodied human.

In general aspects you will have approximately the same level of ability as an able-bodied but untrained human - your manipulators may be specialised for other tasks, but you are skilled enough at using them that you can attempt other creative tasks without complete failure.

Making anything of mechanical importance will generally require some amount of resources.

• Construction 1: In your specialisation(s), you have about the same capability of something like a consumer-model 3D printer or a skilled human making something by hand.
• Construction 2: With appropriate specialisation(s), you could have the equivalent ability of a factory for producing a given kind of item, a business-grade 3D printer, or be able to carry out a specific industrial process. As a feature of this tier, you have the skill to repair physical damage/physically upgrade on one robot per turn as a minor action regardless of your specialisation. If you have a specialisation such as Robot Repair, you can narratively perform more complex repairs or upgrades. With a specialisation, you may also be capable of quick response to injury such as first aid.

Example specialisations: architecture, electrical engineering, agriculture.

You have some means of causing damage to structures, objects and/or other robots. You may have some basic weaponry, something that could be used as improvised weaponry, or simply a set of powerful appendages which can be used to break things. Even if it is not part of your chassis, you also have the knowledge to use other destructive tools to similar effect. In general aspects, you will be about as capable as an unarmed but able-bodied human.

Note that this skill alone will not determine your ability in combat (some ability in Movement and Senses would be very helpful, for a start), but it is necessary for causing direct, deliberate damage to your opponent. It is also not purely a combative skill and may have other applications, for example in obstacle clearing, demolition, and resource gathering.

• Destruction 1: In your specialisations(s), you could be about as skilled as a trained human with simple or improvised weaponry, or as strong as something like an excavator.
• Destruction 2: With appropriate specialisation(s), you could be as capable as something like a tank, automated gun turret, or tunnel boring machine.

Example specialisations: firearm combat, demolition, excavation.

The Software skill is your ability to manipulate and alter any aspects of the Net (mainly websites and virtual constructs) as well as to create programs for a specific purpose. It has two branches, Software Development and Hacking, and can be thought of as the virtual counterpart to the Manipulation tree. Software Development is akin to Construction, covering all aspects of creating software, virtual constructs and websites. Meanwhile Hacking covers all the destructive aspects, such as breaking firewalls and causing software to fail.

If you do not take this skill, you will have no means of deliberately or meaningfully altering any part of the virtual world. You can still access websites and make use of any software given to you, but you will not know how it works or be able to use it in any way other than that which its creator intended.

You understand the basic principles of how software works. You will be able to gain some insight into how simple software operates, and recognise when something may be harmful to your system unless it has been deliberately disguised. You can repurpose existing software to tackle similar but different tasks, and make simple modifications to existing virtual constructs.

You can design software to tackle computationally complex problems or automate simple tasks. Outside of your specialisations, you can make functional but simple programs, websites, and constructs. In general, you are about as capable as a human hobbyist.

• Software Development 1: In your specialisation(s), you are about as capable and knowledgeable as a skilled human who does this professionally. You can implement just about any code from scratch though it may still have unforeseen bugs, especially if it is overly complex. You could make things like professional-looking websites, indie games, and productivity apps.
• Software Development 2: In your specialisation(s), you have an almost instinctive understanding of the virtual world and can implement code as quick as you can think it into existence. Even complex code will do what you want it to, and be very reliable. You could make things like comprehensive antivirus software, triple-A games, and operating systems. As a feature of this tier, you have the skills to fix or upgrade one player character per turn as a minor action if a software solution is narratively appropriate, this is independent of specialisation You may specialise in Software repair for additional mechanical and narrative benefits as suggested in the Construction skill tree.

Example specialisations: website design, virtual reality creation, game development.

You can bypass simple security measures in order to gain access to websites and virtual constructs which you shouldn't have access to, and extract information or cause them to fail. In general, you are about as capable as a human hobbyist.

• Hacking 1: In your specialisation(s), you are about as capable and knowledgeable as a skilled human who does this professionally. You could do things like bypass low-level encryption and firewalls, hide your network presence in order to eavesdrop, or design malware and viruses to deter or inconvenience other robots.
• Hacking 2: In your specialisation(s), you could do things like break military-grade encryption and firewalls, hide your network presence while also altering a system, or design viruses which cause hardware failure.

Example specialisations: encryption & decryption, wiretapping, data manipulation.

Interfacing involves accessing other machines (sentient and non-sentient) via both the Network and other direct methods, and interacting with them via electronic signals. If you are attempting to electronically operate a physical component of a machine, that falls under Interfacing. For interactions purely involving software, websites, and virtual constructs, see software.

Interfacing has a single branch of advanced skills which represent increasing capability and utility in remotely operating electronic systems.

If you do not take this skill, you will have no means of interacting with physical systems via the virtual Network. You will still be able to send and receive messages to and from other robots, and receive signals from any system which are sent specifically to you.

You may interact with simple physical systems by means of electronic signals according to their predesigned functions, such as opening electronic locks or accessing footage from cameras (provided that they have not been protected by any kind of firewall or other means of actively preventing access). You will also be able to detect machines with which you can interface in your physical vicinity.

You can detect viable machines for interfacing both across the Network and in your physical vicinity, and you can get an idea of their capabilities before connecting to them. If your target is another player character or NPC, they must be willing to let this happen.

Outside of your specialisation(s), you can operate any electronic device according to its designed function, but may not exceed or alter that in any way.

Within your specialisation(s), you may set up automated systems of networked electronic devices with feedback and monitoring. This could be things such as factory processes or CCTV networks. You can manipulate systems into operating outside of their usual operating conditions, for example overclocking an engine or overriding the safety protocols on heavy machinery. You can diagnose and find workarounds for simple hardware faults.

• Advanced Interfacing 1: In your specialisation(s), you can cause systems to operate outside of their usual behaviour or automate them to continue to operate without your direct input. You may connect to willing or non-sentient machines and control them remotely. You can use any basic-level physical skill¹⁾ which the target robot has but which you do not have (e.g. Basic Movement, Basic Senses), unless it is your disabled skill. If you and the target both have a skill, you can use it up to whichever level is lower.
• Advanced Interfacing 2: In your specialisation(s), you can alter the behaviour of a system to be anything it is physcically capable of, and automate it to continue to operate in that way. You may connect to willing or non-sentient machines and control them remotely. You can use any physical skill²⁾ which the target robot has but which you do not have up to Tier 1 (e.g. Construction 1, Advanced Senses 1), unless it is your disabled skill. If you and the target both have a skill, you can use it up to whichever level is lower.

Example specialisations: diagnostics, overclocking, communication networks.

The Processing skills represent your character's ability to analyse information and make deductions and informed decisions. There are two branches, Information Processing and Supervision. Information Processing investigation and the ability to filter through large amounts of data and analyse it for patterns or causal relations. Supervision covers specialist knowledge and the ability to organise groups of robots to a common goal.

If you do not take this skill, you will have no specialist knowledge beyond that which is required in order to use your other skills. What knowledge you do have will be very instinctive, and you will not be able to explain it to other characters in a way which is useful. You will not be able to track down specific objects or people except by luck or if you are told where to look.

You can spot non-obvious patterns in data, events, or a person's actions as long as you are paying attention to them. If you are trying to find someone or something or work out why something is happening, you will at least not be entirely at a loss about where to start looking.

You are competent at picking up on details from events around you, both virtual and physical (so long as you have the senses to detect them); or, given a set of information, you can come up with a few reasonable guesses as to what happened or is happening and why.

• Information Processing 1: In your specialisation(s), you are about as capable as a skilled human detective or researcher. You may have data analysis programs ready to comb through data sets, and can pick out overall trends or specific oddities. You often spot hidden objects (if you have the senses to do so), and readily pick up on meaningful changes in your environment.
• Information Processing 2: In your specialisation(s), you excel at picking out the most subtle changes and discrepancies in data or locations. You may be able to pick up on the smallest changes in the search for clues, or simulate multiple possible scenarios before they happen. You can quickly analyse truly immense amounts of raw data and pick out overall trends or specific oddities in real-time.

Example specialisations: locating robots, big data, forensic analysis

Supervision represents specialist knowledge and the ability to relay that to other machines, coordinating them to a single effort. In general, you will have a decent grounding in logistical and organisational skills which can be applied to most tasks, but you will rely on the skills of your team to fill in the gaps in your knowledge.

• Supervision 1: In your specialisation(s), you are about as capable as a trained human overseer. You can recognise the strengths and weaknesses of members of your team and delegate tasks accordingly. Group projects overseen by you will usually be successful, but may be set back by unforeseen events.
• Supervision 2: You have nearly comprehensive knowledge in your specialisation(s). You have a superhuman ability to foresee and plan for challenges. You can recognise the strengths and weaknesses of your team as a whole and reorganise the project to account for them. Projects you supervise will succeed even in dire circumstances.

Specialisations will be the area(s) in which you have specialist knowledge.

Example specialisations: farming, software development, megastructure engineering.