Skills are acquired talents improved through formal training such as apprenticeship or schooling, self-study, trial-and-error, supernatural means, or technological means.
Once acquired, Skills may require continued use to maintain proficiency with them, as well as require additional training and study to keep up with current advanceements.
An Adventurer may spend their downtime between adventures training under a mentor or with a community of similarly skilled people to maintain existing skill proficiencies.
This requires finding a mentor with a greater skill level than the Adventurer or a diverse community such as a certification organization, and meeting their continuing education requirements.
An Adventurer may spend their downtime between adventures studying to maintain existing skills.
After an appropriate amount of time spent, usually determined by the Guide, the Adventurer maintains the skill.
An Adventurer may maintain any skill they already possess through trial-and-error.
Each time a skill is attempted during an adventure, but fails, the Adventurer exercises the Skill enough to maintain proficiency.
During the Adventurer's next month of downtime, any skill which has not been maintained through trial and error usage may require self-study or training to maintain instead.
Adventurers may temporarily or permanently lose skill ranks through the use or as a result of supernatural means.
Adventurers may temporarily or permanently lose skill ranks through the use or as a result of technology.
Beginning with Technology Level +1, interfaces between computers and humans can allow humans to acquire skills on a “rent to own” basis.
Misuse or overuse of skill technologies may increase the chance there skills atrophy, for example through mental conflict between skills or technologies.
Each use of a skill technology carries risk of temporary or permanent skill atrophy.
If the Adventurer fails a skill check with a skill technology, they re-roll the skill check without modifiers.
A degree of success of 0 or higher means the Adventurer has lost one rank in that skill, with a maximum possible loss equal to the rank of the skill technology itself.
Some adventure campaigns may reduce or remove skills as story milestones occur using any of the previously described means as a rationale or basis.