ANALYZE ANIMAL BEHAVIOR
Success Rate: 20% + 10% per Skill Level

  A character with this skill can, if given four turns of observation, make an analysis of whether an animal is aggressive or harmless. Further observations, for 1d10 hours, can also inform the character of whether an animal's den or lair is nearby and what its eating, drinking, and other habits are. For a complete analysis of a creature and how it fits into its surrounding environment, the character would have to use the Analyze Ecosystems skill.

ANIMAL TAMING
Success Rate: 10% per Skill Level

  This skill gives a character the chance to tame a wild animal. Once tamed the animal can only be used as a beast of burden or herd animal, unless the Animal Training skill is used to make it a pet or companion. Some types of creatures are more difficult to train than others. The following creatures have a -1 Column Shift modifier to the skill check: all tiny creatures, giant herbivores, all insectivores, large omnivores and carnivores. Giant omnivores and carnivores require a -2 Column Shift. Monsters, particularly vicious creatures, or Sathar-developed creatures, cannot be tamed. Examples of monsters would be sand sharks, queequeg, and slither, all included in the Star Frontiers Expanded Rules.
Taming a creature can be time consuming and dangerous. The time required depends on its size and type and is left to the referee's discretion.  If a character fails the skill check he must roll 1d100, 01-25 means that the creature attacks the character attempting to tame it.  A character failing a skill check may try again on the same creature after a suitable period of time has elapsed, with a +1 Column Shift bonus (-1 Column Shift if the creature tried to attack the character). Once three skill checks have been missed on the same creature, it is considered untamable.
Taming a creature requires the character with the Animal Taming skill to work with the animal day after day. If he misses more than two days of taming time, the creature returns to its original state. Once tamed, however, an animal remains so unless abandoned. Just because a creature is tamed does not mean it does not require a cage, pen, or corral, it simply means that the creature will not attack unless unusually provoked.

ANIMAL TRAINING (Pr: Animal Taming Level 2, animal to be trained must be tamed)
Success Rate: 10% per Skill Level

  A character making a successful check with this skill can train a tamed animal. Training includes teaching an animal to carry a rider and obey riding commands, to guard a location and only allow known characters to pass, or to follow a command word. Commands are simple instructions such as "fetch," "attack," "return," etc. and simple nouns, like weapon, Vrusk, box, etc. Teaching an animal requires days, sometimes weeks, of work. The time required depends on the intelligence of the animal and what is being taught. 

ARCHAEOLOGY
Success Rate: 10% + 10% per Skill Level

This skill is the scientific study of the life and culture of ancient peoples, through examination of excavations of ancient cities, relics, and artifacts.  A successful skill check allows a character to tell the approximate age of an item, what its use might have been, and what the race was like who used it. This is all subject to varying factors, of course, such as the alienness of the item to the character or cases of extreme antiquity. If an entire site is being studied, a number of successful checks over a long period of time must be made to get an overall picture.

BIOLOGY (Pr: Minimum of Botany Level 2, Zoology Level 2)
Success Rate: Skill levels of Botany and Zoology

  A character who is a botanist and a zoologist can use these skills as a foundation for becoming a biologist (at least two levels in each is required).  A  Biology skill allows for the integration of the two sciences and is an introductory skill of other skills, such as Exobiology and Analyzing Ecosystems.  Furthermore, a biologist will be able to discern information in the following areas from a specimen: organ functions, effects of glands and hormones, chemical makeup, vitamins and proteins, life functions, and parasites. This last ability, parasitology allows the character a skill check to identify parasite, know what kind of animals the will infest, know what diseases they carry, and determine the best way to eradicate them.  Biology Level 2 allows the character to remove glands and sacks from dangerous plants or animals, thus safely retrieving poison or acid.  Biologists of the third level can join the Federation Biological Society, a large and powerful group of scispecs who fund many explorations on known and newly discovered planets.

BIONICS  (Pr: Robotics: Modifications Level 2, Medical Level 3, Medical Treatment: Infection, proper equipment and facilities)
Success Rate: 10% per Skill Level

  A surgeon with this skill can attach a bionic part to a living organism. The most common uses of bionics are as replacements for lost limbs or organs. The time required to heal from such an operation and learn how to use a bionic limb is weeks, sometimes months (referee's discretion).  Both Bionics and Cybernetics will be covered in further editions of Zebulon's Guide to Frontier Space. 

BOTANY
Success Rate: 20% + 10% per Skill Level

  A character with this skill is schooled in the science of plants, their life, structure, growth, classification, etc. Only a character with Botany can name a new plant life form or use a Flora-CAS to analyze a botanical sample.  A successful Botany analysis indicates the type of plant the sample is and whether it is edible or poisonous. A botanist making a successful skill check when inquiring about a plant's potential medicinal or poisonous properties is told which of these uses the plant may have. Any facet of the campaign dealing with plant life should be handled by a botanist or biologist.

CAMOFLAGE
Success Rate: 10% per Skill Level

  Camouflage is the art of concealing a large area, structure, or vehicles outside in natural cover. A vehicle painted a camouflage coloration pattern can be very difficult to see. A structure that is covered with vegetation and shaded correctly is almost invisible until you get close to it. The use of Tracking to cover tracks leading to the structure or vehicle is sometimes necessary to complete the camouflage. If the skill check is made, then there is no chance for an observer who is far away for flying above to see the camouflaged item or structure. The referee may modify this as he wishes for type of optics used, distance, etc. Any characters inside a camouflaged structure or vehicle are considered concealed. The referee should note that what is camouflage for one terrain type might draw attention in another. The skill check for Camouflage is secretly rolled by the referee. This is because the character will not know if he is successful until someone else spots or misses the camouflaged structure or item.

CHEMISTRY
Success Rate: 20% + 10% per Skill Level

  A character with this skill is schooled in the science dealing with the composition and properties of substances, and with the reactions by which substances are produced from and converted into other substances. Only a character with Chemistry can name a new chemical element or synthesis or use a vaporscanner or Atmospheric-CAS to analyze atmospheric samples. A successful atmospheric analysis (skill check) can indicate whether the air is breathable or poisonous, and what gases are present. A chemist making a successful skill check when inquiring about a synthetic medicine, poison, or acid is fully informed on the appropriate properties of the sample and what potential uses they may have.  Any facet of a campaign that deals with chemistry should be handled by a chemist.

COMMUNICATION
Success Rate: 10% per Skill Level

  This skill can be used when a character must communicate with a creature whose language he neither speaks nor understands. If the character uses this skill successfully, he can communicate using very simple messages. The referee might force players to use simple messages by restricting them to two-word phrases. Vrusk possessing this skill receive an additional +10% when using it.

MEDICAL DEVICES  (Pr: Medical Diagnosis)
Success Rate: 10% + 10% per Skill Level 

  This skill allows the character to operate the larger and more complex medical devices like a freeze field, body-jump box, body-gene box, CAT and ultrasound scanners, organ bypass machines, electron microscopes, and so forth.   A freeze field is a device that places a body in stasis and preserves it until it can be revived in a place where proper medical care can be administered. It is the last hope of many a dead character. Only a character with this skill can operate it correctly. A freeze field must be activated within two minutes (20 turns) after death, or the body cannot be revived. Activating the field takes five turns. The process can be interrupted, as long as the field is completely activated within the two minute time limit. If the character does not pass his skill check and there is at least one minute left in the time limit, he has two options: he can make a second attempt to activate the field, of he can inject the body with staydose. If the second attempt to activate the field fails, the body can only be revived through a body-jump box.  A body-jump box comes in many forms, from huge cambers in city hospitals to the small portable units that are carried into the field. A body-jump box is wired to various nerve points of the victim's body and head. When activated, beta particles are forced through the body. If the skill check is made, the "resurrects," though it may have been dead for up to 10 hours. If the skill check is missed, the body could not stand the beta ray bombardment and is completely destroyed.   Damaged medical may be repaired by characters with the Machinery: Repair skill.

CYBERNETICS  (Pr: Bionics Level 3)
Success Rate: 10% per Skill Level

  This skill is quite advanced and is used when a character has enough experience to start building cyborgs (cybernetic organisms). Cyborgs will be detailed in later editions of Zebulon's Guide to Frontier Space. 

EXOBIOLOGY  (Pr: Biologist Level 3)
Success Rate: 10% per Skill Level

  A character who is an exobiologist is schooled in the science of totally alien living organisms, that is, life forms that do not resemble known animal or vegetable life forms. Only a character with Exobiology can identify and name an alien life form or use a bioscanner, Flora-CAS or Fauna-CAS to analyze an alien sample. A successful analysis (skill check) will indicate if the alien life form is edible or poisonous and whether it is dangerous to members of the known races. Any facet of a campaign that deals with completely alien biology should be handled by an exobiologist. 

FORENSIC MEDICINE  (Pr: Medical Treatment: All, Biology, Chemistry)
Success Rate: Level +X or Level /0

  This skill allows a character to perform an autopsy on a deceased character or animal and determine what was the cause of death. This information, along with being able to interpret any other signs of violence on the corpse, what the victim ate the day of his death, and determining how long the victim has been dead, can be used as evidence in a court of law. If the character or animal was an unknown alien, then the skill level is reduced to Level /0 and the information may not be accepted as evidence, unless the character is also an exobiologist, in which case his full Forensic abilities would apply.

GENETICS  (Pr: Biology Level 5)
Success Rate: 10% per Skill Level

  A character with this skill is schooled in the branch of biology that deals with heredity and variations in similar or related animals or plants. A geneticist who creates the proper environment and spends an adequate amount of time can cross-breed two similar plants or creatures to create a new plant or creature (like a tiger and a lion forming a liger); the time and environment required is at the referee's discretion. After the fulfillment of the required time, the player must make a skill check to succeed with his experiments.  Even if the experiments work, there is a 10% chance that the creature or plant has an aberration (deformity, psychological instability, etc.) Only a character with Genetics can create a new life form this way and name it. This skill is also necessary in a character specializing in a medical background who wishes to do work on virus research and immunology. Bioengineering, that is genetically "improving" or altering characters or future characters for the purpose of creating a "super soldier," is illegal. It is known that the Sathar have perfected an improved, bioengineered "super Sathar." Any facet of a campaign that deals with genetics should be handled by a geneticist.

GEOLOGY
Success Rate: 20% + 10% per Skill Level

  A character with this skill is schooled in the science dealing with the physical nature and history of most types of planets, including the structure and development of their crust, the composition of their interiors, individual rock types, the forms of life found in fossils, etc. Only a character with Geology can name a new planet or mineral or use a geoscanner or Geo-CAS to analyze a geological sample. A successful geoscanner analysis (skill check) indicates what minerals are present in the sample and the possibility of finding rich ore or gas deposits in the area. Any facet of a campaign that deals with geology or mineral lifeforms should be handled by a geologist.

GEOPHYSICS
Success Rate: 20% + 10% per Skill Level

  A character with this skill is schooled in the science that deals with the physics of a planet, including weather, winds, tides, earthquakes, volcanoes, etc. and their effects on the planet. Only a character with Geophysics can name a new weather type found on an alien world or use equipment for the purpose of measuring and predicting the weather, volcanoes, earthquakes, etc. Any facet of a campaign that deals with geophysics (potential natural hazards, a planet breaking up, etc.) should be handled by a geophysicist.

MEDICAL TREATMENT: VETERINARY  (Pr: Medical Diagnosis)
Success Rate: 10% per Skill Level

  This skill is identical to Medical Treatment: Wounds I, but is designed for use with animals, not characters. If the player wishes to advance his character's knowledge of veterinary medicine, he can do so by taking the identical skills for medical treatment of characters (Infections, Wounds II, III, & IV, etc.) and switch them to veterinary treatment. Once a medical skill has been designated veterinary it cannot be used to treat characters. The success rates and prerequisites are identical.

MEDICAL TREATMENT: WOUNDS IV  (Pr: Medical Level 1, medkit or proper medical facilities)
Success Rate: 10% per Skill Level

  This skill is the equivalent of surgery and is absolutely necessary for the treatment of broken bones, massive lacerations, ruptured organs, tumor removals, amputations, etc. All of this is left to the referee's discretion and these occurrences should be rare, but when they do happen the character must receive surgery or die. Wounds II or III can set a broken limb and minor surgery can be put off for a while, but in many cases, especially those dealing with internal injuries, major surgery is required within a few hours.  Wounds IV brings the character up to a surgeon's level of expertise and is required for some other skills, such as Bionics and Cybernetics.

STABLE MOUNTS  (Pr: Ride Mount)
Success Rate: Automatic

  A character with this skill knows the proper case, feeding, and stabling of mounts. In addition, he knows the best way to hobble or protect mounts during times of sudden danger (dust storms, thunderstorms, blizzards, etc.).

ZOOLOGY
Success Rate: 20% + 10% per Skill Level

  A character with this skill is schooled in the science of animals, their lives, structure, growth, classification, etc. Only a character with Zoology can name a new animal life form or use a bioscanner or Fauna-CAS to analyze a zoological sample. A successful bioscanner analysis (skill check) indicates the type of animal and whether it is edible or poisonous. A zoologist making a successful skill check when inquiring about an animal's potential medicinal or poisonous properties can tell which of these properties the animal may have. If the medicinal or poisonous properties lie in a gland or sac within the animal, only a character with Biology Level 2 can safely remove them. Any facet of a campaign that deals with animal life should be handled by a zoologist or biologist.

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