# Competencies Competencies are a faction's equivalent of skills. Like characters, factions roll their competencies when they want to accomplish something that matters. Having a competency assumes that the faction has the necessary means in the form of personnel, equipment, expertise, assets and contacts. Naturally, there is a matter of scale. There are tiny local factions like neighborhood gangs and gigantic global factions like megacorporations. When factions of different scales confront each other, their Influence is used as a modifier to their competency rolls. The same holds true when a faction acts against a character or progress, but the faction's focus or disposition is used instead. Factions have six competencies, arranged in a pyramid. One at level 3, two at level 2 and three at level 1. They are assumed to have all other competencies at level 0. * *Black ops* — Sabotage, assassination, and other things requiring a dirty hand. * *Corruption* — Dishonest and fraudulent conduct of business. Bribery. * *Diplomacy* — Managing relations with other factions in a sensitive and effective manner. * *Finance* — Finding and managing money and other liquid assets. Getting loans. * *Human resources* — Having, finding and keeping the best people for the job. * *Intelligence* — Getting information through contacts, data mining, espionage or any other means. * *Legal* — Using laws, regulations and bureaucracy to your advantage. * *Logistics* — Managing the supply chain. Getting something to the right place at the right time. * *Manufacturing* — Making things in large volumes. * *Marketing* — Positioning a product or idea so that it achieves success. * *Net ops* — Fighting in the net. Having data security. Breaking others' data security. * *Operations* — Running a multi-level organization. Managing subordinate factions. * *Public relations* — Getting along with people. Persuading, apologizing etc… * *Research and Development* — Creating new technology. * *Resources* — Having liquid and fixed assets. i.e. being rich. * *Security* — Defending against physical threats. * *Strategy* — Making and executing complex plans with multiple layers. * *Trading* — Buying and selling things. Making a profit. * *Urban warfare* — Literally, fighting with other factions in a city. --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://edgerunner.merttorun.com/the-world/factions/competencies.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.