As mentioned before, Abilities are the Traits used to describe what you know and what you've learned to do. Whereas Attributes represent your raw potential, Abilities represent the ways you've learned to use that potential. You may not need anything but brute strength to smash through a door - but if you're trying to use sheer muscle power to force an engine part into place without breaking anything, you'd better know something about mechanics. When rolling dice, you'll probably have to pair an Ability with an appropriate Attribute, in order to properly depict the combination of potential and know-how that's necessary for getting things done.There are 30 Abilities: 10 Talents, 10 Skills and 10 Knowledges. Each Ability typically covers a broad range of aptitudes. For certain Abilities (Expression, Crafts, Performance, Academics, Science), it is best to pick a specialty, even if the character's rating in the Ability is not yet 4 or higher. Thus, a character with the Crafts Skill is generally versed in handiwork of all sorts, but might be particularly adept at auto mechanics.
Primary abilities purchased at the time of character creation, with Freebies, cost 2 points. Primary Abilities purchased after this time however, cost 3 points, to purchase a new ability, and to purchase additional dots, it costs current rating x2. Meaning, the current number of dots, multiplied by 2. Now, strangely enough, some Abilities are Primary for some characters, however, they're secondary for other characters. This applies mostly to things of a supernatural variety. Unless your character is of a specific nature (Mage, Vamp, etc), they must Purchase this Ability as Secondary, instead of Primary. If you have a question about it, please, ask a Storyteller for assistance.
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