As a novice to this system, and since I can't seem to make the forum search system work for me, I have a couple of questions regarding the Secondary Skills: Withstand Pain and Style.

Withstand Pain) I noticed that the listing for this skill on page 47 doesn't show it as passive. To my understanding, if a character were to use this as written they'd need to use an action... taking the multiple action penalty into account doesn't this mean they'd need to roll at least a 140 Very Difficult check to even get any use out of it? And that's assuming the pain penalties don't stack on the check.

I'm guessing this might just be a case of common sense, but I always like a nice bit of clarification

Style) So... what exactly do people use this for? Coming from an Exalted background, I'm half tempted to say "Oh! So you're catapulting onto the dragon's head before running down its back to make a leap for the tower... How about a jump check, followed by an athletics check... or possibly this really hard style check to pull it off! (with a three stunt dice bonus)"

I don't know. Some ideas for this would be great, since I hate to think of it as just a way to show off some anime flash.

Thanks very much!

While I cannot give you a certain ruling on Withstand Pain, I would agree that it should be treated as a Passive Action.

Style) So... what exactly do people use this for? Coming from an Exalted background, I'm half tempted to say "Oh! So you're catapulting onto the dragon's head before running down its back to make a leap for the tower... How about a jump check, followed by an athletics check... or possibly this really hard style check to pull it off! (with a three stunt dice bonus)"

Style should NOT be used as a replacement for other skills. The way I see it, it is used as a way to make anything, even a failure, look really good. Using your example, it would go a little something like this:

Option A: Includes successful Jump and Athletics Checks.

"Prince Charming races towards the edge of the cliff, his feet smacking the ground. He stumbles as he reaches the edge, but manages to fling himself onto the Dragon, scrambling to find purchase. He shakily stands up, and runs up the beasts tail to where it is curled around the dark tower, nearly falling.

Option B: Includes successful Jump, Athletics, and Style Checks.

"Prince Charming races to the edge of the cliff, seeming to glide across the stretch of land. As he reaches the edge, he launches himself through the air, looking more at home in the sky than the birds. As he begins to descend towards the Dragon, his hair whips around his face, revealing a grin of confidence. He lands on the back of the beast, rolling to lessen the impact, and is running along the beast back, dodging the spikes that block his path. When he reaches the base of the tail, he forces himself to stop, causing him to deliberately slide along the tail and into the tower window. The amy that watches from the ledge cheer, and the legend of Charming's deed will spread like wildfire.

I see that every ability is the most basic and unrefined that it can be. Sure, you can do a backflip, but can you land in a pose that makes the action more striking? Maybe you can swing a sword and cause huge damage, but are the mores complex and elegent?

Well thank you for your quick and rather artfully explained reply. So it seems that style is simply for the sheer cool factor... And now I think of it, it can and should affect how others view a stylish character. Many thanks

Style should be used whenever the character wants to amaze someone with his/her actions, either normal or exceptional.

For example, when my characters make kill many opponents at one or make a fuge number of consecutive Open Rolls, they can make a Style check to make it look "whoa!".

I also allow it to be used instead of "Etiquette" (and treat Etiquette as a Specialization of Style) or instead of Persuasion for Seduction purposes.

Inhuman and Zen style levels should be capable of actually amazing opponents to the point they hesitate to act because they are intent observing the stylish character and might not notice other incoming menaces.

My personal example of what a character might achieve by simply using an incredibly high Style value is shown by this little scene from the Black Lagoon animated serie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umkDYShrP48

That's at the very least an "Impossible" level Style check.

I agree with Elric. His example was of speaking, so I shall use action.

Go to 0:55 of this video. Instead of just killing everything, she kills everything with style.

Thank you both for your answers there. You've helped me realise Style is actually an extremely interesting social skill, and one you don't really see in the vast majority of other RPGs.

And the videos? Fantastic! Couldn't have wanted anyone to come up with better examples. Cheers again.