Skill Aspects
A skill aspect is being applied when one skill acts as an aspect on another skill.
Skill aspects are like provenance aspects in that by applying the aspect you are changing the context of the skill. They can be a lot more radical.
One of the most commonly used examples of a aspected skill roll is in engineering searching. Say that you have worked your way into a striker's computer system, and you want to look around to find the controller for the sheild subsystem. For this you could use the action roll instruction:
search(min) chk(CC)= +M(Investigate) +R(Materials)
You make Materials an aspect on Investigate, by adding your ranks in Materials to the Investigate chk. Through this application, Materials changes what Investigate means.
Agility+B when concerning you own body may well be how well you dodge things, but as a pilot you use Agility+S on the aeroplane's Agility+B.
The instruction would look like this:
Notice that the Vcl-Air qualifier skill is also brought in as a second aspect.
Both the pilot's Agility+S and the Vcl-Air qualifier change what Agility means in general and even dictates the autoaspects being used.
Common Activities Using Skill Aspects
Gathering Information from Locals
The Gather activity is about talking to many prople over the course of a few hours in some locality, in order to find out specific information, or picking up on the local rumours. it represents your ability to strike up conversations, without appearing too intrusive, nor tipping off any targets of your investigation.
gather(hrs+) chk(C) = +M(Investigate) +R(Persuade)
Working a location for information, such as picking up on rumours.
Assistance as a Skill Aspect
When you asist another on their chk(Skill), you are contributing your ranks to their check as if you are providing your aspect on their roll:
gen(act) chk(C) = +M(Skill,ally) +R(Skill,you)
For some engineering skills, the skill your ally is using and your own skill need not be the same, as in:
gen(act) chk(C) = +M(Skill-Eng(A),ally) +R(Skill-Eng(B),you)