Many new skills can be thought up. Some are suggested in the Deluxe rules, such as Scout (Terrain). Vis-à-vis a character who served as a soldier in mainly forest areas, may have learned how to scout in forest terrain. Thus his scout skill would be pretty useful for a party sneaking through the forest, but of little use in the desert. New skills are listed here as they are thought up.
Acrobatics
CATEGORY: Agility
BASE: 05%
Acrobatics Agility 05% The special ability to perform and acrobatic feat. Acrobatics is more advanced than simply jumping or dodging, it is a skill that takes a large amount of training to learn. Acrobatic feats can be used for entertainment (tumbling), in other, more stealthier activities (burglary) or even in combat. It should be the GMs discretion to call for an Acrobatics roll where a situation dictates that a simpler skill (such as Jump) may not suffice.
Insult
CATEGORY: Communication
BASE: 05%
In times gone by, a good insult was a prerequisite to any battle. No warrior worth his salt would deign to enter battle without severely insulting his enemies. A skilled insulter need not speak the language of the person he is insulting – body language and crude gestures can convey much. A successful insult roll can demoralize a foe (He only attacks at half his normal skill – See Demoralize Spririt Magic spell). Of course, a taunted foe can resist using his own Insult skill – A skilled insulter will be able to take what he gets.
Rope Tricks
CATEGORY: Agility
BASE: 10%
Rope tricks refers to the ability to work with rope, twine or similar items. This includes tasks such as tying knots as well as performing certain tasks with a rope – for example: tying a knot in one end of a rope and throwing it to hook a prison guards keys. Clearly this must be an agility skill, rather than manipulation as tying knots would otherwise work under a boat skill and most rope tricks involve some sort of throwing. This skill does not surmount specialist rope skills, such as using a net or rope lasso.
Row
CATEGORY:Agility
BASE: 00%
Row referrs to the ability to handle an oar on a large oar powered ship, such as on of the many configurations of galley or a viking long ship. A rower has to work in unison with other rowers and thus the skill is much more involved than that of handling a simple boat or canoe. Rowing is a profession that can pay well at times. On a galley, the crew and marines rely on rowers to keep them afloat and bring them in range of enemy shipping. A row check will usually be made when a specific skilled task is performed, such as ramming, or in other high stress situations.
Meditate
CATEGORY: Knowledge
BASE: 00%
This ability allows a character to increase the number of Fatigue Points gained during a period of rest by mentally blocking out all stress-causing factors. A successful roll means 1d3+1 Fatigue Points will be regained per round. One round, during which no roll is allowed, is required to obtain the proper frame of mind. A new roll is required each time the character wishes to ignore an interruption. Coming out of meditation is instantaneous. While meditating, all Perception rolls receive a 20% penalty. Note: This skill is published with thanks to David Smart from the RuneQuest Rules List. It is a house rule he has used for a long time so cannot vouch entirely for whether it is original or based on an idea from elsewhere.