Usually, the numbers and notation on a character sheet entirely reflect personal accomplishment, achievement, or potential. In the Broken Hourglass, however, some skills reflect the knowledge, ability, and potential of the entire party. These are collectively known as "group skills."

Most skills and statistics are not group skills. For example, a character's raw ability with a sword, or command over a type of magic, or agility, are all individual skills.

Group skills reflect those activities where it is reasonable or expected that the ability and insight of each member of the party could be used in conjunction, to increase the overall chances of success. For instance, it seems only natural that a group of smart shoppers working in tandem should be able to negotiate better prices in a shop than a single negotiator. Similarly, one strong tactical mind in a group during a fight is a benefit--but two working in tandem should be able to do even better.

For instance, consider a party of three characters: Tuhan, Ioanna, and Ruvanet.

Tuhan's skill in Manipulation is 40. Ioanna's is 30, but Ruvanet, a straight shooter, has just 12. We use Tuhan's full score, since his rank is the best. Ioanna is in second place, so we use half of her skill. Ruvanet is third, so we take one-third of his value.

The group's total skill in Manipulation, then, is

40 + (30 / 2) + (12 / 3) = 59

So by aligning himself with Ioanna and Ruvanet, Tuhan is nearly "50% better" at Manipulation than he is on his own--although most of the advantage comes from Ioanna. Had he allied himself just with Ruvanet, his group would have just a 46 in Manipulation, or a mere 15% improvement.

The following are all group skills in The Broken Hourglass:

Hagging (Social). This skill determines price markups when you buy and sell items in shops and may also influence the rewards you are promised (or receive for completing) quests. Note that haggling for item prices is typically an opposed check--shopkeepers with high Haggling values do a better job of maintaining their high prices and lowball offers, and they, too, may have affiliated party members helping them out.

Diplomacy (Social). This skill covers honest and forthright communication and rhetoric.

Manipulation (Social). This skill covers deceptive communication, deceit, bluffing and intimidation. When you misrepresent reality to gain an advantage, that's Manipulation.

Perception (Exploration). Governs your ability to locate hidden traps, secret doors and stealthy opponents. Broadly speaking, the group benefit here is the advantage of having a friend watch your back and shout "Don't step on that squeaky board!" and "Watch out for that... tree!" at the right moment.

Locks and Traps (Exploration). This skill covers the disarmament of security measures such as locks and traps. Not sure whether to cut the green wire or the red wire? Ask a friend!

Tactics (Offensive). This skill covers battle plans and an understanding small group combat. Better tactical minds have more of an intuition about what the other will do next, providing an overall better group benefit.

Group skill bonuses are calculated on the fly based not just on party membership, but proximity. Party members must be a reasonable distance from one another in order to provide a group skill benefit. This is done so that individuals clear across the map (behind several closed doors, in a completely different part of the neighborhood, etc.) are not credited with offering their insight from a position where their input is unlikely to be of any use.