View source for Professional Skill

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==Professional Skill==
{{Skill}}{{DX/Average}} or {{IQ/Average}}

''Defaults:'' Special.

Many realistic job skills are more useful for making a living than for adventuring. Most such skills do not appear in this skill list – but you can still learn them if you want! Each is a separate Professional Skill. If your "adventuring" skills aren't useful for earning money, a Professional Skill can help you earn a steady income. To qualify for most jobs, you will need the relevant Professional Skill at 12+ (unless you are ''supposed'' to be incompetent!)

Most professions encompass a body of knowledge. The associated Professional Skills are IQ/Average and default to IQ-5, because the smarter you are, the better you can recall and employ the techniques used at your job. Examples include air traffic controller, barber, brewer, cooper, distiller, dyer, florist, game designer, journalist, prostitute, tanner, vintner, and zookeeper.

A few professions – glassblower, tailor, weaver, etc. – focus more on precision than on recall. These Professional Skills are DX/Average and default to DX-5.

At the GM's option, a given Professional Skill might also default to other skills. For instance, "Journalist" would logically default to {{Writing-3}}. The skills associated with highly paid or respected professions often have prerequisites. For instance, "Air Traffic Controller" might require [[Electronics Operation]] (Sensors) skill. Like defaults, prerequisites are up to the GM.

You are free to create your own Professional Skills, subject to GM approval. They should be unique and well defined, not just a compilation of existing skills. For example:

{{Knowledge Skill}}

===Bartender===
{{IQ/Average}}

''Defaults:'' {{IQ-5}} or {{Carousing-3}}.

This is the skill of maintaining a professional-quality bar and interacting with customers in a professional yet friendly way. A successful skill roll lets you mix drinks, recall local laws regarding alcohol, gauge the intoxication level of a customer, or calm an unruly drunk before the bouncer needs to get involved. At higher levels, this skill takes on an element of showmanship, allowing you to present drinks in unique and attractive ways, and to mix them with showy tricks and flourishes.

==Low-Tech Professional Skills==
===Brewer===
{{IQ/Average}}<br>
''Defaults:'' {{IQ-5}}, {{Cooking-3}}, or {{Professional Skill (Distiller)-4}}.

This is the skill of producing alcoholic beverages through fermentation. [[Familiarity]] applies to different processes for converting starches into fermentable sugars; e.g., using sprouted grain vs. using starter cultures.

===Brickmaker===
{{IQ/Average}}<br>
''Defaults:'' {{IQ-5}}, {{Artist-4}} (Pottery).

This skill covers refining and mixing clays, building forms, drying earthen blocks, and firing bricks.

===Clothmaker===
{{unfinished}}

===Courtesan===
{{IQ/Average}}<br>
''Defaults:'' {{IQ-5}}, {{Carousing-3}}, or {{Streetwise-3}}.

This skill covers the business and basic practical aspects of exchanging sex and/or companionship for money. It may be used to find and solicit potential customers; dress properly or locate appropriate venues for transactions (often, courtesans and prostitutes were legal in low-tech societies, but sumptuary laws required them to wear distinctive garments or restrict their activities to particular districts); avoid pregnancies; and identify potential legal difficulties.

===Distiller===
{{IQ/Average}}<br>
''Defaults:'' {{IQ-5}}, {{Chemistry}}, or {{Professional Skill (Brewer)-4}}.

This is the craft of producing alcoholic beverages through distilling a weaker alcohol solution. It covers operation and routine maintenance of large-scale distillation equipment. This skill is unavailable before [[TL4]].

===Dyer===

===Forester===

===Glassblower===

===Masseur===
{{IQ/Average}}<br>
''Defaults:'' {{IQ-5}} or {{Esoteric Medicine}}.

This is the skill of manipulating the body for muscular relaxation. It may include rubdowns, stretching limbs, and treating the body with heat, cold, and ointments or oils.

===Midwife===
{{IQ/Average}}<br>
''Defaults:'' {{IQ-5}} or {{Diagnosis-4}}.

This is the skill of providing medical advice and assistance to pregnant women, particularly during childbirth. A successful skill roll identifies complications during pregnancy and assists the birthing process (see [[GURPS Low-Tech Companion 1]]).

===Miller===

===Scribe===

===Sericulturist===
{{IQ/Average}}<br>
''Defaults:'' {{IQ-5}} or {{Gardening-5}}.

The art of cultivating silkworms and producing silk fiber, which includes basic care of mulberry trees.

===Tanner===

[[Category:Low-Tech]]