So you’re flying a stolen helicopter through a city at night during a snowstorm, and suddenly the shadow of a skyscraper looms out of the billowing blizzard, much closer than you thought it was—the Fixer wants you to make a roll to avoid clipping the top of building. What do you roll?
Not everything a Crewmember might want to do during a Job maps neatly to one of the five Roles. Specialties are the way to represent these narrow skills that don’t quite fall under any Role. They indicate that when it comes to Specialty X, you want it to fall under Role Y. They add a d6, much like an Asset, when you use them together with their associated Role. They also signal to the Fixer that the Specialties you designate are things that are interesting about you, and things that you’d like to have the opportunity to exercise in the Job.
There are no hard and fast rules mapping any particular Specialties to particular Roles, nor is there a definitive list of Specialties available. You should be able to justify why your skill falls under a certain Role, and it should be suitably narrow in scope that you won’t be using it every scene. Note that two Crewmembers can have the same Specialty but assign it to different Roles. The Role simply describes how you express the Specialty. For instance, if you have Driving (Hacker), perhaps you drive with an awareness of the capabilities of your car, and how to exploit them. But someone with Driving (Hitter) is more of a combat driver, knowing how to use his vehicle as a weapon to escape ambushes and cut other cars off. Whatever Role you choose, it’s gonna stay associated with that Specialty.
You start with two Specialties, but you can add more as the game goes on. Like Distinctions, Specialties don’t have a die rating associated, but they do provide a bonus die when used. A d6 isn’t anything spectacular, but it can act as good back up for a d8 or d10 Role, and represent a better focus for a d4 Role. Consider this when making your assignments.
Examples: Explosives (Thief), Driving (Hitter), Piloting (Hacker), Cooking (Mastermind), Singing (Grifter), Trauma Surgery (Hacker), Cardsharp (Grifter), Sports Trivia (Mastermind), Bartending (Hitter), Snowboarding/Skiing (Thief)