As noted in Chapter 1: Character Creation, a focus is an area of expertise within a larger ability. A character with Communication 3 and the Deception focus is a good communicator in general, but excels at fooling others. If you have a focus, you get a +2 bonus when making an ability test related to it. The GM will usually let you know what focus applies to each test, but if it isn’t clear don’t be afraid to ask if a focus applies. You can learn more about ability tests and how focuses apply in Chapter 2: Playing the Game. Descriptions of the ability focuses follow. The GM has the final call on whether a focus applies to a given test.
Communication Focuses
Animal Handling: Interacting with and caring for animals.
Bargaining: Negotiating with others and making deals.
Deception: Lying to and tricking those less mentally adept than you.
Disguise: Making yourself look like someone else, or a different class of person.
Etiquette: Knowing the social niceties of various cultures.
Gambling: Playing games of chance and profiting from them.
Investigation: Interviewing people for information and finding and deciphering clues.
Leadership: Guiding, directing, and inspiring others.
Performance: Entertaining an audience with an artistic talent.
Persuasion: Convincing others to agree with you.
Seduction: Making winning moves in the game of love.
Constitution Focuses
Drinking: Consuming large quantities of alcohol and avoiding the aftereffects.
Rowing: Propelling a vessel with oars.
Running: Moving quickly in both short sprints and long-distance hauls.
Stamina: Enduring fatigue, disease, and privation.
Swimming: Moving through the water and staying afloat.
Cunning Focuses
Arcane Lore: Knowing about magic, its traditions, and the Fade.
Brewing: Making ales, wines, and other concoctions.
Cartography: Making and reading maps.
Cryptography: Creating and deciphering codes and ciphers.
Cultural Lore: Knowing the traditions and beliefs of various cultures.
Enchantment: Understanding the art and craft of enchanting magic items. Note to actually Enchant items one must be either a dwarf or one of the Tranquil.
Engineering: Knowing the practicalities of construction, building, and invention.
Evaluation: Determining the value of goods and objets d’art.
Healing: Aiding the wounded and sick.
Heraldry: Knowing coats of arms and royal families.
Historical Lore: Knowing important events and personalities from the past.
Military Lore: Knowing strategy, tactics, and famous applications thereof.
Musical Lore: Knowing musical traditions and songs.
Natural Lore: Knowing the flora and fauna of Thedas.
Navigation: Planning and following a route from one place to another.
Poison Lore: Knowing about poisons, their uses, and their preparation.
Qun: Knowing about the philosophy of the Qunari people.
Research: Making a systematic investigation, usually using records, archives, and books.
Religious Lore: Knowing religious traditions and practices, particularly those of the Chantry.
Writing: Expressing yourself with the written word.
Dexterity Focuses
Acrobatics: Executing gymnastic, balancing, and tumbling maneuvers.
Bows: Fighting with weapons from the Bows Group. See Chapter 4: Weapons, Armor, & Gear.
Brawling: Fighting with weapons from the Brawling Group. See Chapter 4: Weapons, Armor, & Gear.
Calligraphy: Writing with artful penmanship.
Crafting: Making items with manual skills like woodworking, sculpting, glassblowing, etc.
Dueling: Fighting with weapons from the Dueling Group. See Chapter 4: Weapons, Armor, & Gear.
Grenades: Making ranged attacks with grenades.
Initiative: Acting quickly in tense situations.
Legerdemain: Using sleight of hand to trick others, hide things, and pick pockets.
Light Blades: Fighting with weapons from the Light Blades Group. See Chapter 4: Weapons, Armor, & Gear.
Lock Picking: Opening locks without using keys.
Riding: Directing a mount such as a horse or pony.
Staves: Fighting with weapons from the Staves Group. See Chapter 4: Weapons, Armor, & Gear.
Stealth: Sneaking about quietly and out of sight.
Traps: Detecting and disarming traps and other mechanical devices.
Magic Focuses
Arcane Lance: Using the mage’s class power of the same name. See Chapter 1: Character Creation.
Blood: Understanding the forbidden art of Blood Magic. See Chapter 5: Magic.
Creation: Understanding the secrets of the Creation school of magic. See Chapter 5: Magic.
Entropy: Understanding the secrets of the Entropy school of magic. See Chapter 5: Magic.
Primal: Understanding the secrets of the Primal school of magic. See Chapter 5: Magic.
Spirit: Understanding the secrets of the Spirit school of magic. See Chapter 5: Magic.
Perception Focuses
Empathy: Discerning the feelings and emotions of others.
Detect Darkspawn: A Grey Warden’s ability to sense nearby darkspawn. Only Grey Wardens can take this focus. For more information, see pages 73-74.
Hearing: Using your auditory sense.
Searching: Finding things that are hidden or obscured.
Seeing: Using your visual sense.
Smelling: Using your olfactory sense.
Tracking: Following tracks and other signs of passage.
Strength Focuses
Axes: Fighting with weapons from the Axes Group. See Chapter 4: Weapons, Armor, & Gear.
Bludgeons: Fighting with weapons from the Bludgeons Group. See Chapter 4: Weapons, Armor, & Gear.
Climbing: Scaling walls and other vertical obstacles.
Driving: Directing and guiding carts, carriages, and other wheeled vehicles.
Heavy Blades: Fighting with weapons from the Heavy Blades Group. See Chapter 4: Weapons, Armor, & Gear.
Intimidation: Overawing with physical presence and threats.
Jumping: Springing and leaping.
Lances: Fighting with weapons of the Lances Group. See Chapter 4: Weapons, Armor, & Gear
Might: Performing feats of raw power, such as lifting or holding up heavy objects.
Polearms: Fighting with weapons of the Polearms Group. Chapter 4: Weapons, Armor, & Gear
Smithing: Forging metal items, from weapons to jewelry.
Spears: Fighting with weapons from the Spears Group. See Chapter 4: Weapons, Armor, & Gear.
Willpower Focuses
Courage: Overcoming fear in the face of adversity.
Faith: Deriving inner strength through spiritual or moral belief.
Morale: Maintaining good spirits and confidence in yourself or your group. NPCs tend to use this focus more than Player Characters.
Self-Discipline: Focusing your mental energy or controlling your impulses and emotions.
Improving Focuses
Focuses grant a flat +2 bonus to one’s ability tests. For more powerful characters, that measure of focus is not always enough to win the day or to set your character apart from others with similar training. Therefore, at higher levels, characters can take a focus for a second time to further improve their bonus on those rolls. Starting at level 11, when you would gain a new focus you may select a focus you already have to increase your bonus with that focus bonus to +3
(instead of the +2 it was before). Underline the focus on your sheet to indicate you’ve chosen it a second time.
You still must always select a focus for a primary ability on even-numbered levels and a focus for a secondary ability on odd-numbered levels, as usual.
Optional: Trade Focuses
Dragon Age is not the game of everyday life in Thedas. It’s about adventurers facing grave threats in extraordinary circumstances. This is why, while there are focuses to cover trade skills, they are quite broad. There is one focus—Smithing—that covers armorers, weaponsmiths, goldsmiths, and so on. This is not an accurate simulation of the differences between artisans, but nor is it meant to be. For the purposes of most Dragon Age games, the Smithing focus is enough.
Some players, however, may want finer distinctions than the current focus list provides. Maybe your character is a dwarf from the Smith Caste in Orzammar and it’s important to you that their skills are specifically those of a weaponsmith, rather than a common blacksmith. If you want to do that and your GM agrees, you can take almost any medieval trade you can think of and turn it into a focus. You just need to figure out the most appropriate ability (most will likely be Cunning, Dexterity, or Strength). These focuses will be much narrower than most in the game, but if that suits your character concept (or an NPC’s nature, in the case of the GM) the option is open to you.
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