Specialty aptitude ideas for modern characters set in a universe of crime, espionage, and corporate intrigue… Some are obviously practical for game use, others might just be for background flavor with a +1 modifier.
* Academic Researcher (locate and interpret peer-reviewed information)
* Acrobatics (tumbling, parkour, vault obstacles, climb quickly)
* Admin (navigating bureaucracy, permits, forms, cargo paperwork)
* Adventurer (go where sensible people would rather not)
* Agent (covert operations for government, corporation, or syndicate)
* Anthropologist (study cultures, rituals, customs, and taboos)
* Arms Broker (trade weapons across embargoes and sanctions)
* Attorney (navigate legality, contracts, liability, and privilege)
* Bartender (mix drinks, gather rumors, defuse tensions)
* Black-Market Broker (finding illicit goods or forbidden tech)
* Bodyguard (protecting assets from personal and local threats)
* Bounty Hunter (tracking fugitives across various jurisdictions)
* Cargo Handler (loading, stowage, and securing freight)
* Carousing (socializing to gain information, allies, or access)
* Charter Pilot (passenger routes for short-haul flights)
* Chef (prepare meals, manage kitchens, source ingredients)
* Chemist (mix agents, synthesize compounds, handle solvents)
* Clerk (maintain records, manage schedules and filings)
* Computers (programming, hacking, data networks, system intrusion)
* Construction (building structures, infrastructure across environments)
* Contractor (install, repair, renovate, demolish properties)
* Corporate Handler (manage assets, budgets, and internal politics)
* Cultural Attache (interpreting customs and etiquette)
* Deception (concealing truth through lies, guises, or misdirection)
* Demolitions (arm, disarm, and deploy explosives)
* Detective (find clues, interrogate suspects, analize evidence)
* Diplomacy (formal negotiation between groups and factions)
* Diplomat (resolve conflicts through protocol and treaty)
* Driving (Groundcraft) (operating wheeled and tracked vehicles)
* Educator (tutoring students, staff, or elite leaders)
* Electrician (wire systems safely, map power grids)
* Electronics (Comms) (operating communication systems and arrays)
* Electronics (Jammers) (electronic warfare and signal disruption)
* Endurance Training (withstand fatigue, pain, and stress)
* Enforcer (intimidation, protection, and debt collection)
* Engineer (design, repair, and troubleshoot machines)
* Entertainer (performance, morale, and celebrity economy)
* Executive (high-level negotiations, commanding resources)
* Explorer (chart ruins, caves, jungles, and catacombs)
* Explosives (grenades, breaching charges, and demolition)
* Farming (cultivating crops and managing agricultural cycles)
* Fence (disposing of hot goods through the black market)
* Firefighter (enter burning structures, rescue, suppress)
* Fixer (find people, make introductions, get things done quietly)
* Forensics Analyst (analyze blood spatter, trace, fibers, chemicals)
* Forgery (creating or altering identity papers and cargo manifests)
* Gambling (probability play, cheating, and reading opponents)
* Heavy Weapons (crew-served guns, rockets, and artillery)
* Influencer (leverage social platforms for attention or persuasion)
* Intelligence Contractor (spy for a corporation, not a nation)
* Interrogation (extracting information through coercion or leverage)
* IT Security (penetrate or defend systems, investigate breaches)
* Journalist (investigate stories, interview sources, push deadlines)
* Lab Technician (run tests, assess samples, handle chemicals)
* Laborer (wage worker in agriculture or manufacturing)
* Lawyer (weaponize rules, precedent, and legal pressure)
* Logistics (supplies, depots, shipping lanes, and scheduling)
* Manufacturing (assembling goods using industrial machines)
* Mechanic (repair engines, vehicles, and heavy equipment)
* Media Expert (manage optics, spin crises, evade scandal)
* Merchant (profit-driven trade of cargo, contracts, and passengers)
* Minister (provide spiritual counsel, perform rites, calm the terrified)
* Natural Sciences (biology, chemistry, geology across worlds)
* Navy Tech (operate systems aboard ships and submarines)
* Negotiator (broker deals between hostile parties)
* Occult (supernatural lore, secret societies, cults, relics)
* Pain Resistance (function through injury or shock)
* Pickpocket (small-item theft in urban streets or crowds)
* Pilot (operte all manner of fixed-wing or rotor aircraft)
* Playboy (wealthy socialite leveraging charm, status, leisure networks)
* Plumber (handle water, sewage, gas lines, pressure)
* Police Officer (access records, apply law, force compliance)
* Private Investigator (shadow, surveil, and document wrongdoing)
* Professor (research, lecture, deduce, publish, university resources)
* Psychologist (read behavior, diagnose disorders, guide therapy)
* Real Estate Shark (spot undervalued properties and zoning opportunities)
* Recon (spotting threats, scouting terrain, and detecting ambush)
* Research (finding and analyzing data to reveal information)
* Rogue (crime, deception, and underworld opportunity)
* Salvage Operations (strip ruins and wrecks, retrieve valuable components)
* Scholar (researching, documenting, and teaching specialized knowledge)
* Security Systems (bypassing keypads, locks, alarms, and cameras)
* Sensors (interpreting scans, emissions, and spatial data)
* Smuggling (concealing contraband across borders and ports)
* Social Sciences (psychology, anthropology, economics, politics)
* Social Worker (handle welfare cases, crises, complex human need)
* Software Engineer (write, debug, automate, model, and architect)
* Soldier (military procedures and vehicles, squad tactics)
* Stage Magician (create illusions without actual magic)
* Stealth (moving unseen and unheard through varied environments)
* Steward (passenger service, galleys, and morale aboard ships)
* Tactical Analysis (identify chokepoints and vulnerabilities)
* Tech Entrepreneur (convert ideas into influence and capital)
* Union Organizer (mobilize workers, coordinate strikes)
* Urban Navigation (subways, megastructures, cityscape sprawl)