Perks are special talents or advantages that customize your character with unique bonuses and abilities. They represent exceptional capabilities or thematic enhancements beyond basic skills and attributes. Characters typically select a limited number of perks during character creation (as directed by your GM), and might gain additional perks as they advance. Perks can provide constant benefits (like permanent bonuses or always-on advantages) or situational boosts that can be used once per encounter or session. Unless a perk’s description says otherwise, its benefits are always in effect.

Using Perks: Each perk describes its effect and how often it can be used. Many grant advantage on certain skill checks, meaning you roll twice and take the higher result. Some perks allow a one-time automatic success or reroll under specific conditions (often limited to once per session or encounter). Others provide permanent improvements (e.g. bonus to an attribute, increased speed, additional Vitality Points (VP), etc.). If multiple perks could apply to a situation, you may benefit from all of them as long as their effects don’t directly conflict. Always inform the GM when you’re using a perk’s ability, especially those with limited uses, to ensure the narrative accounts for your character’s special talent.

Choosing Perks: Work with your GM to select perks that fit your character’s concept and meet any narrative or logical requirements. Generally, perks do not have strict prerequisites – any character can pick any perk – but it’s sensible to choose perks complementing your character’s archetype, occupation, and skills. For example, a stealth-focused character might take Silent Footsteps, while a combat-oriented character could benefit from Sharpshooter or Tough as Nails. The GM may require a brief explanation or in-game justification for certain perks (especially those tied to backstory or training). Once chosen, a perk’s benefits are immediately available to your character.

Below is a comprehensive list of perks available in Thriller. Each perk is listed with its name in bold and its game effect:

• Adrenaline Rush: Once per session, activate to gain advantage on all Strength or Agility checks for one full round of intense physical action or combat.
  
• Ambidextrous: You suffer no penalties when using either hand equally well, allowing dual-wielding without the usual disadvantages.
  
• Analytical Thinker: Gain advantage on Knowledge or Investigation checks when deciphering complex clues, puzzles, or data patterns.
  
• Animal Affinity: Advantage on checks involving calming, communicating with, or training animals, as well as recognizing animal behaviors or tracks.
  
• Armored Fighter: Reduce any mobility penalties from wearing armor by half, and gain a +1 bonus to Armor Rating (AR) when armored.
  
• Backstreet Connections: Once per session, you can locate a hidden supplier, informant, or safehouse within an urban environment, provided you can justify the connection narratively.
  
• Battlefield Awareness: You have advantage on Perception checks to spot hidden enemies, traps, or ambushes during combat or tactical encounters.
  
• Battlefield Medic: Advantage on Medical checks during combat scenarios, and you can stabilize allies using half the normal required action points.
  
• Body Language Expert: Advantage on Insight checks to detect deception, emotional states, or hidden intentions through subtle physical cues.
  
• Calming Presence: Allies within close range gain advantage on Willpower checks to resist fear, panic, or psychological stress, as long as you remain composed.
  
• Camouflage Expert: Advantage on Stealth checks when hiding in natural environments or using environmental materials for concealment.
  
• Careful Planner: Once per session, retroactively declare a prepared contingency or item you anticipated needing, gaining a significant narrative or practical advantage in the situation.
  
• Close-Quarters Specialist: Gain advantage on melee weapon attacks and unarmed combat checks when fighting in tight or confined spaces.
  
• Codebreaker: Advantage on Linguistics or Technical checks when deciphering codes, encrypted communications, or secret messages.
  
• Cold Case Expert: Advantage on Investigation or Research checks related to uncovering previously overlooked clues, historical cases, or forgotten details.
  
• Combat Medic: You can perform first aid or stabilize a critically injured ally in combat as a free action once per encounter, without spending additional Action Points (AP).
  
• Combat Reflexes: Gain a +2 bonus to initiative rolls, and you cannot be surprised during combat encounters unless incapacitated.
  
• Commanding Voice: Once per session, use your authoritative presence to automatically succeed on a Social check, commanding immediate compliance or temporarily defusing hostility.
  
• Common Sense: Once per session, gain advantage on a Knowledge, Insight, or Survival check, representing a moment of practical intuition and good judgment.
  
• Counterfeiter: Advantage on Subterfuge or Crafting checks involving forgery, replicating official documents, or creating convincing false identities.
  
• Crisis Negotiator: Advantage on Social or Insight checks when calming hostile or panicked individuals, defusing volatile situations, or negotiating during tense encounters.
  
• Cross-Referencer: When conducting Research checks, reduce the required time by half and gain advantage when verifying or connecting complex or scattered information.
  
• Crowd Blending: Advantage on Stealth or Subterfuge checks to blend unnoticed into crowds, busy streets, or densely populated gatherings.
  
• Danger Sense: You automatically get a Perception check to detect hidden dangers, traps, or ambushes even without actively looking; if you are actively on guard, you have advantage on that check.
  
• Deadeye Aim: Advantage on Combat checks involving precise ranged attacks or called shots when you are stationary and take a moment to aim carefully.
  
• Deep Sleeper: Gain advantage on Endurance or Willpower checks related to resisting fatigue, recovering quickly from exhaustion, or sleeping restfully in adverse conditions.
  
• Demolitions Expert: Advantage on Crafting or Technical checks involving handling, placing, or disarming explosives, and gain a +2 bonus on damage rolls with explosives.
  
• Diplomatic Immunity: Once per session, automatically deflect suspicion, bypass standard security measures, or avoid legal repercussions by invoking official status or a privileged identity.
  
• Divine Knowledge: Once per session, you may automatically recall vital religious lore, symbolism, a ritual detail, or a supernatural fact without a check (drawing on your extensive religious/occult knowledge).
  
• Efficient Design: Advantage on Crafting checks to build, modify, or optimize items, and you use only half the usual time or resources required for such projects.
  
• Effortless Charm: Advantage on Social or Persuasion checks when making a positive first impression, charming an audience, or smoothing over a misunderstanding.
  
• Encouraging Words: Once per encounter, spend an action to grant an ally advantage on their next check by providing timely encouragement or guidance.
  
• Environmental Awareness: Gain advantage on Survival or Perception checks to notice subtle environmental hazards, changes in surroundings, or hidden paths and shelters.
  
• Escape Artist: Advantage on Dexterity checks to escape bindings, restraints, or grapples, and you take half the time required to slip free from confinement.
  
• Fast Talker: Advantage on Subterfuge or Social checks when quickly deceiving, confusing, or distracting others with rapid speech or clever misdirection.
  
• Fearless: You automatically succeed on Willpower checks to resist ordinary/mundane fear effects, and you have advantage on checks to resist supernatural fear or sanity-altering effects.
  
• First Responder: Advantage on Medical or Endurance checks when treating trauma immediately as it occurs; you can stabilize allies rapidly without needing extensive equipment.
  
• Fleet-Footed: Your base movement speed permanently increases by 10 feet, and you gain advantage on Athletics checks related to running or quick evasive movement.
  
• Forensic Analyst: Advantage on Investigation or Medical checks involving analysis of crime scenes, forensic evidence, or biological samples, and you perform such tasks in half the normal time.
  
• Frugal: When purchasing or managing resources, you pay 20% less than the listed price or require fewer resources. This reflects careful budgeting and resourcefulness (GM’s discretion on exact savings).
  
• Gearhead: Advantage on Technical or Maintenance checks to repair, modify, or enhance vehicles and machinery, and you reduce required repair time by half.
  
• Ghost Talker: Advantage on Occult or Insight checks related to spirits, paranormal entities, or communicating with supernatural beings.
  
• Group Coordination: Once per encounter, spend an action to give all allies within close range advantage on their next initiative roll or on a coordinated group action (enhancing team synergy).
  
• Grounded: Advantage on Willpower or Endurance checks to resist psychological stress, mental manipulation, or to maintain sanity during extended exposure to trauma.
  
• Gut Instinct: Once per session, automatically succeed on an Insight or Perception check to sense an immediate hidden danger or deceit, even with minimal evidence – trust your gut!
  
• Hacker Prodigy: Advantage on Technical or Subterfuge checks involving hacking, digital intrusion, or cybersecurity, and you complete such tasks in half the normal time.
  
• Hardened Mind: Advantage on Willpower checks to resist mind-affecting abilities, psychic manipulation, or attempts to break your concentration.
  
• Hardy Metabolism: Advantage on Endurance or Medical checks to resist poisons, toxins, diseases, or harmful substances; additionally, you recover from these effects in half the normal time.
  
• Hidden Compartments: You have advantage on any checks made to hide or smuggle small objects on your person or in vehicles, equipment, and hideouts.
  
• High Pain Tolerance: You ignore penalties from minor injuries or pain, and you have advantage on Endurance or Willpower checks to remain functional despite severe physical trauma.
  
• Historical Insight: Advantage on Research or Knowledge checks involving historical events, figures, artifacts, or documents, and halve the required research time for such topics.
  
• Hold Breath: You can hold your breath for twice as long as normal (underwater or in toxic fumes), and gain advantage on Endurance checks related to breathing or inhaling hazards.
  
• Improvised Engineer: Advantage on Crafting or Technical checks to quickly assemble functional gear or weapons from improvised or makeshift materials.
  
• Infiltration Expert: Advantage on Stealth or Subterfuge checks to sneak into secured locations, bypassing physical and electronic security without detection.
  
• Inner Peace: Once per session, you may automatically recover Sanity Points (SP) equal to your Willpower score by spending a brief moment meditating or centering yourself, even amid stress.
  
• Instinctual Advantage: Once per session, when you would roll at disadvantage on a check, you can negate the disadvantage (roll normally) by trusting your instincts in that moment.
  
• Interrogation Specialist: Advantage on Social or Insight checks when interrogating or extracting information from unwilling, deceptive, or hostile individuals.
  
• Intuitive Leap: Once per session, you can immediately identify the solution to a complex problem, puzzle, or mystery without needing additional clues or checks (a flash of insight).
  
• Inventive Mind: Advantage on Crafting or Technical checks to innovate or design original tools, gadgets, or methods that solve unusual problems creatively.
  
• Iron Grip: Advantage on Strength checks to maintain your grip on objects (or hold onto ledges), to climb effectively, to grapple opponents, or to resist being disarmed.
  
• Iron Will: Advantage on Willpower checks to resist fear, mental coercion, or emotional manipulation. In addition, whenever you would lose Sanity Points, reduce that SP loss by 1.
  
• Jack of All Skills: Once per session, temporarily gain proficiency in one skill you don’t normally have for a single critical check or action, using your highest relevant attribute modifier.
  
• Last-Minute Rescue: Once per session, instantly move up to double your movement speed toward an ally in immediate danger and perform a single supportive action (such as administering first aid, helping their defense, or pulling them to safety).
  
• Lip Reader: Advantage on Perception or Insight checks to interpret conversations by observing lip movements, even at a distance or through soundproof glass.
  
• Locksmith: Advantage on Technical or Crafting checks involving picking locks, cracking safes, or disabling mechanical security devices.
  
• Lone Wolf: When acting independently (away from your allies), you gain advantage on one skill check of your choice once per encounter due to your heightened self-reliance.
  
• Lucky Find: Once per session, you automatically discover a useful item, clue, or piece of information in your environment without needing a check, as if by luck or coincidence.
  
• Master of Disguise: Advantage on Subterfuge checks involving disguising your appearance, impersonating others, or passing as someone else.
  
• Master of Distraction: Advantage on Performance or Subterfuge checks to create distractions, draw attention away from something, or misdirect opponents.
  
• Medical Expertise: Advantage on Medical checks to diagnose conditions, treat injuries or illnesses, and manage critical wounds. Additionally, whenever you provide healing, it restores an extra +1d4 Vitality Points (VP).
  
• Mental Calculator: Advantage on Knowledge or Technical checks involving rapid numerical calculations, code breaking, probability analysis, or precise measurements.
  
• Mental Fortress: Gain advantage on Willpower checks to resist psychological attacks, mind-altering substances, or attempts to read/control your thoughts.
  
• Morale Boost: Once per encounter, you can spend an action to inspire your allies. All allies within close range gain advantage on their next Willpower or Endurance check (your rousing encouragement renews their confidence).
  
• Multilingual: You fluently speak, read, and write two additional languages beyond those you started with. You also have advantage on Linguistics checks involving language comprehension or translation.
  
• Natural Immunity: Advantage on Endurance or Medical checks to resist infections, diseases, and toxins, as well as adverse environmental conditions. You recover from illnesses in half the normal time.
  
• Natural Leader: Allies within close range gain advantage on initiative rolls and on coordinated actions whenever they are following your lead or strategic directions.
  
• Navigator: Advantage on Survival or Technical checks involving pathfinding, charting routes, reading maps, or using navigational tools effectively.
  
• Night Vision: You reduce any penalties from darkness or low-light conditions by half, and gain advantage on Perception checks made in dim or low-light environments.
  
• Perfect Balance: Advantage on Agility or Athletics checks to maintain balance on narrow or unstable surfaces, and to recover quickly if you are knocked off-balance or prone.
  
• Persuasive Speaker: Advantage on Persuasion (or general Social) checks to convince others, sway opinions, negotiate deals, or influence group decisions through speech.
  
• Photographic Memory: Once per session, you perfectly recall any information you have seen or heard previously, automatically succeeding on Knowledge or Research checks related to that information.
  
• Poison Specialist: Advantage on Crafting or Medical checks involving creating, identifying, administering, or neutralizing poisons and toxins.
  
• Practical Thinking: Advantage on Knowledge or Insight checks related to common-sense solutions, realistic assessments, or intuitive problem-solving in everyday scenarios or emergencies.
  
• Preparedness: Once per session, you can instantly produce a previously undeclared but plausibly available small item or tool that perfectly suits your immediate need (as if you had it all along).
  
• Pressure Performer: Advantage on all skill checks you make while under intense pressure, time constraints, or life-threatening circumstances – you stay focused and efficient when stakes are high.
  
• Profile Master: Advantage on Insight or Investigation checks when analyzing behavior patterns, motives, or predicting the actions of a specific individual or group.
  
• Protective Aura: Allies within close proximity to you gain a +1 bonus to their Armor Rating (AR) and advantage on checks to resist psychological terror or intimidation, as long as you remain visibly calm and determined.
  
• Protective Instinct: Once per encounter, you can instantly intervene to shield an ally from harm – you either absorb half of the damage they would take from one attack, or allow them to reroll a failed defensive check (such as a dodge).
  
• Quick Concealment: Advantage on Stealth or Subterfuge checks to rapidly hide small items or weapons (or to hide yourself) on short notice, even if someone is briefly watching.
  
• Quick Reload: Once per combat encounter, you can reload a firearm or ranged weapon as a free action (no time cost), allowing you to continue attacking without losing a turn to reload.
  
• Quick Study: You require only half the normal time to learn new skills, languages, or to adapt to unfamiliar technology or environments. (This doesn’t grant new skills by itself, but speeds up training or adaptation in downtime.)
  
• Rapid Comprehension: Advantage on Research or Knowledge checks to quickly understand complex theories, instructions, or unfamiliar systems. You grasp new concepts with remarkable speed.
  
• Rapid Repair: Halve the time required for Maintenance or Technical checks to fix broken equipment, vehicles, or structures. You also have advantage on such repair checks when working under pressure.
  
• Reflexive Dodge: Once per combat encounter, automatically negate the damage from a single attack that hit you by instinctively dodging or evading it at the last second.
  
• Resilient Frame: Increase your maximum Vitality Points (VP) by an amount equal to your Endurance score. You also gain advantage on Endurance checks related to physical durability (e.g. resisting fatigue or injury effects).
  
• Resource Magnet: Advantage on Survival or Subterfuge checks when scavenging for supplies or resources in either urban or wilderness environments. Additionally, you tend to find twice as much useful material as someone else would in those situations.
  
• Resourceful Chef: Advantage on Survival or Crafting checks to prepare edible meals from limited or unusual ingredients. Meals you prepare under harsh conditions grant a minor bonus (such as +1 temporary HP or a boost to morale for allies who eat).
  
• Saboteur: Advantage on Crafting or Technical checks to subtly sabotage mechanical, electronic, or structural targets without immediate detection.
  
• Safecracker: Advantage on Technical or Subterfuge checks to open safes, vaults, or high-security locks quietly and efficiently, in half the time it would normally take.
  
• Scavenger’s Instinct: Advantage on Investigation or Survival checks to identify salvageable materials, hidden caches, or overlooked useful items in the area.
  
• Second Chance: Once per session, immediately reroll one failed check or force an enemy to reroll one successful attack against you. You must accept the new result.
  
• Sense Motive: Advantage on Insight or Social checks to discern the true intentions, motivations, or sincerity of others in conversation, particularly when someone might be deceitful.
  
• Serendipity: Once per session, you can declare that a fortunate coincidence or minor lucky event occurs that significantly helps your situation. (The GM will determine the exact nature of this lucky break, but it will be something in your favor.)
  
• Shadow Cloak: Advantage on Stealth checks made in darkness, shadows, or dim lighting, effectively allowing you to blend into dark environments.
  
• Sharp Hearing: Advantage on Perception checks involving subtle or distant sounds — you excel at eavesdropping, detecting faint noises, and pinpointing the locations of sounds.
  
• Sharpshooter: Advantage on Combat checks when making precise ranged attacks from medium or long range. Additionally, you reduce any penalties for long-distance shots or environmental cover by half.
  
• Silent Footsteps: Advantage on Stealth checks to move quietly. You can sneak past guards or surveillance without making a sound, even across challenging surfaces that normally creak or echo.
  
• Sixth Sense: Once per session, you automatically sense an imminent hidden danger or ambush just in time to act, even if you have no obvious clues. (Think of this as a tingling “spider-sense” that alerts you to trouble.)
  
• Sleepless: Advantage on Endurance or Willpower checks to resist the effects of fatigue and sleep deprivation. You can function effectively on little to no sleep and remain alert for extended periods.
  
• Social Butterfly: Advantage on Social or Persuasion checks to quickly build rapport with strangers, gather gossip or information at social gatherings, and navigate social networks with ease.
  
• Spiritual Resilience: Reduce any Sanity Point (SP) losses from supernatural sources by half. You also gain advantage on Willpower or Faith checks to recover from fear or mental trauma caused by supernatural encounters.
  
• Street Smart: Advantage on Subterfuge, Insight, or Investigation checks when dealing with the dangers of urban environments – such as navigating criminal underworld contacts, spotting a scam or ambush in the city, or finding safe routes through bad neighborhoods.
  
• Strong Swimmer: Advantage on Athletics or Endurance checks related to swimming, resisting drowning, or handling underwater hazards. You can also hold your breath twice as long underwater without penalties.
  
• Stunt Driver: Advantage on Driving checks for performing risky maneuvers, high-speed evasion, or maintaining control of a vehicle under extreme conditions.
  
• Surveillance Specialist: Advantage on Technical or Perception checks when installing, operating, or analyzing surveillance systems and equipment (such as security cameras, bugs, tracking devices).
  
• Tech Whisperer: Advantage on Technical or Maintenance checks to quickly diagnose and fix malfunctions in devices or software bugs in programs. You also complete such tech repairs in half the normal time.
  
• Timely Escape: Once per session, you automatically find a hidden route or quick exit to escape immediate danger without needing to roll a check.
  
• Tough as Nails: Gain a permanent +2 bonus to your maximum Vitality Points (VP). Additionally, once per session, you can halve the damage from one attack or injury you suffer (declare after the attack hits but before damage is applied).
  
• Trusted Confidant: Advantage on Social or Insight checks when trying to gain someone’s trust, extract sensitive information from them, or form reliable alliances – even if the environment is hostile or high-stress.
  
• Truth Seeker: Advantage on Investigation or Insight checks specifically made to uncover lies, hidden motives, cover-ups, or obscured truths in a situation.
  
• Underworld Contacts: Once per session, gain immediate access to crucial information, illicit equipment, or a favor from criminal underground sources – provided you can justify how your character knows the right people.
  
• Unshakable Conviction: Advantage on Willpower or Faith checks to resist psychological intimidation, temptation, or coercion that goes against your personal beliefs or values. Also, reduce any Sanity Point (SP) loss by 1 when your resolve or faith is tested.
  
• Urban Tracker: Advantage on Investigation or Survival checks when tracking targets through urban environments — analyzing subtle city clues, following a trail in a concrete jungle, or reconstructing events based on an urban scene.
  
• Vehicle Specialist: Advantage on Driving or Maintenance checks involving your chosen type of vehicle (pick one category: cars, motorcycles, aircraft, or watercraft). You also reduce risks (like chance of breakdowns) and repair times by half for that type of vehicle.
  
• Voice Mimicry: Advantage on Performance or Subterfuge checks to accurately imitate someone’s voice or vocal patterns. You can convincingly sound like specific individuals or types of people, even under scrutiny.
  
• Weapon Expert: Select one weapon category (e.g. Pistols, Rifles, Blades, etc.). You gain advantage on Combat checks when using weapons of that category, and you deal +2 bonus damage on any critical hits with that weapon type.
  
• Weapon Improviser: Advantage on Combat checks when fighting with improvised weapons or ordinary items turned into weapons (chair legs, bottles, etc.), and you suffer no usual penalty for using such unconventional weapons.
  
• Weathered Survivalist: Advantage on Survival or Endurance checks when facing extreme environmental hazards (blizzards, deserts, severe storms, etc.) or prolonged exposure to harsh conditions. You also take half damage from environmental sources (extreme cold, heat, etc.).
  
• Well-Read: Once per session, you can automatically recall a crucial piece of information from your extensive studies without requiring a Research or Knowledge check (for example, recalling a passage from a book or an academic fact that can help in the scenario).
  
• Well-Rounded: You may permanently add +1 to two different attributes of your choice (as long as this does not raise either above the normal maximum). This perk represents broad development, making your character more versatile.
  

Each perk above provides a distinct edge, allowing you to further tailor your character to your playstyle or backstory. When creating or advancing your character, choose perks that reinforce their strengths or shore up weaknesses, and remember to role-play how these special talents manifest in-game. By leveraging your perks wisely, you can survive longer, overcome challenges more easily, and shine in the moments that define your story.