A better-than-Average success level provides the character with additional information about the trap. On a Good success, the character can pinpoint the trap's trigger and figure out how to avoid setting it off. An Excellent success tells the character what type of effect (i.e., crushing, smashing, poison, and so on) the trap uses. An Extraordinary success gives the character a step bonus equal to the character's rank in Detect Trap when disarming the trap. The character adds the bonus to any tests he or she makes when attempting to disarm the trap.

Once the character detects a weapon, he becomes alert to possible treachery. This alertness lasts for a number of minutes equal to the result of the Detect Weapon Test. If the character carrying the detected weapon tries to initiate combat, the alerted character has a first-round Initiative step bonus equal to his rank in Detect Weapon.

The person or object must be within a number of miles equal to the character's rank in Direction Arrow for the talent to work. Thus, a character with Rank 4 Direction Arrow could look for a person who is up to 4 miles away.

The character makes a Disguise Self Test. The effect lasts for a number of hours equal to the result of the Disguise Self Test or until the character chooses to drop the disguise.

The required Karma Point is not spent for the Talent Test. Instead, the disguised character rolls the Karma dice and adds the result to the Sensing and Disbelief Difficulty Numbers of the illusion (see Spell Magic). For the purposes of Sensing and Disbelief Tests against the disguised character, consider the Disguise Self Talent a Circle 3 illusion spell.

A player assigns his Archer character Rank 3 Durability. According to the list, this will increase an Archer's Death Rating by 6 points per rank of Archer Durability and his Unconsciousness Rating by 5 points per rank. This character permanently adds 18 points to his Death Rating and 15 points to his Unconsciousness Rating.

Earth Skin adds to the effectiveness of a character's Wood Skin talent, making the character's skin even tougher. Earth Skin allows the character to take even more damage before falling unconscious or dying. Its primary magic increases the character's Spell Defense. As with Wood Skin, the character's skin still appears bark-like or wood-like, but with veins the color of dark earth.

The character's Spell Defense and Death Ratings increase by a number equal to his rank in Earth Skin.

To perform Emotion Song requires at least half an hour. At the end of each half-hour the character makes a Talent Test against the highest Social Defense among the members of the audience. The success level determines how many members of the audience the character affects. An Average success indicates that one-quarter of the audience is affected by the song. A Good success affects half the audience, an Excellent success affects three-quarters, and an Extraordinary success means the entire audience is affected by the song.

Consecutive uses of Emotion Song create a cumulative effect. For example, two consecutive Average successes have the same effect as one Good success, two Good successes create the same effect as one Excellent success, and so on.

The effects of the song last a number of days equal to the character's rank in Emotion Song. During this time, affected characters are more susceptible to suggestions related to the emotion of the song. Characters making such suggestions add +1 step to any Interaction Tests. Characters making suggestions counter to the Emotion Song suffer a -1 step to Interaction Tests. See Gamemastering Earthdawn for information about Interaction Tests.

If a character fails an Emotion Song Test, he or she must immediately stop performing. The crowd has grown weary of the performance, and the character may not use Emotion Song again until the following morning.

The Empathic Sense talent allows a character to sense the feelings or emotions of another character. In order to use Empathic Sense, the character must "attune" the talent to a target character. This attuning remains in effect for a year and a day, or until the character changes the attunement. A character may attune to one character per rank of Empathic Sense. For example, a character with Rank 4 Empathic Sense could attune to up to four characters. To attune with a target character, the character must spend three minutes of quiet meditation with that character.

To use Empathic Sense, the character makes an Empathic Sense Test against the Spell Defense of the attuned target character to sense emotions or feelings. Empathic Sense also gives a character a vague sense of the location of an attuned character, within a 90-degree arc, but does not reveal distance. Empathic Sense is effective up to a range of miles equal to the character's Empathic Sense Rank.

Cedric takes 9 points of cold damage from a Blizzard Sphere spell. His player rolls an 11 on an Endure Cold Test, removing all 9 points of damage, and so Cedric takes no damage from Blizzard Sphere. The remaining 2 points worth of the Endure Cold talent cannot be used to reduce any other damage Cedric may have taken.

The talent can be used against targets under attack, but a successful attack that causes a Wound negates the effect of Engaging Banter, making the target character immune to further Engaging Banter for the next 24 hours.

Callera wants to switch the purses of 3 merchants, so that each merchant ends up with another merchant's purse. The merchants have Spell Defenses of 4, 6, and 5, respectively. The highest is 6, + 3 for the number of items being switched, resulting in a Difficulty Number of 9.

A character using the talent transforms when he is charging. His eyes grow larger or glow, his teeth become pointed or the canines become longer, and his hair stands away from his head in a wild tangle. The character makes a Fearsome Charge Test against the Social Defense of his opponent. On an Average success, the opponent is frozen with fear and cannot move. On a Good success or better, the opponent flees at his fastest movement rate. The Fearsome Charge talent works against all opponents who see the charge. Compare the result of the Fearsome Charge Test to the Social Defense of any other characters who witness the charge (as above) to determine their actions.

An opponent affected by Fearsome Charge may overcome its effects on any subsequent round. The opponent must make a Willpower (or other fear-resisting talent) Test against the character's Fearsome Charge step number. A successful test means the opponent overcomes his fear in that round.

The character declares how many extra Recovery Tests he is attempting to gain with this talent. Fire Heal requires 30 minutes for each additional Recovery Test the character desires. He or she must attempt to gain at least 2 Recovery Tests. The character makes a Fire Heal Test using a Difficulty Number determined by the gamemaster. Then the gamemaster rolls 1D6 for each Recovery Test the character attempts to gain. If the character's Fire Heal Test is equal to or higher than the gamemaster's dice roll for the fire, the character earns the Recovery Tests and makes them normally. The Recovery Tests remain available for 24 hours after the successful Fire Heal Test. If the gamemaster's dice result is greater, the character automatically takes a Wound, plus a number of Damage Points equal to the difference between the Fire Attack Test and the Fire Heal Test. This damage can result in a second Wound.

The Fire Heal talent requires that the character be in full contact with the elemental power of fire. If a spell or item protects the character from fire, the Fire Heal Talent has no effect.

Characters with this talent often charge others for the time they spend using it. The base rate to forge a special weapon is 50 x a number of silver pieces equal to the character's talent rank per week. This charge is in addition to the actual cost of the weapon. For example, a character with Rank 3 Forge Blade would charge 150 silver pieces a week to forge a weapon. Buying a broadsword that such a character improved by 2 Damage steps would cost at least 325 silver pieces.

Despite its name, the Forge Blade talent may be used to improve any melee weapon, not just bladed weapons. The name came because people with this talent originally made their reputations by forging swords and daggers.