Knowledge & Skills

Skill levels rate the competency of a character, including experience and training, but do not include natural attributes. Instead, an attribute most appropriate to the task applies.

Players may increase the target level of easy tasks in order to embellish the results of their actions. This is called adding finesse. Players are not limited in the amount of points added to increase the finesse of actions. However, failing a task at the new difficulty target means failure, even if the roll would have been successful at the original difficulty level. If the task was hazardous, attempts at finesse worsens any penalty for failure, at the GM's discretion.

A called shot in combat is an example of adding finesse. Finesse in contests is the basis for judging success. Craftsmen use finesse to determine the quality of items they produce. The table below shows simple degrees of finesse.

Example: Tividant the Swordsmith, whose proficiency at construction is 16, wishes to create an Excellent sword. If a sword's normal target level is Intermediate (20), then making an Excellent sword is +10, or 30. With a skill of 16, Tividant needs to roll a 15 or higher on 3d6 to make the sword. If he fails, he ends up with scrap metal, but aborts the task early. If he succeeds, even if his open-ended roll is higher than 35, he gets no better than an Excellent sword.

Some tasks are opaque enough to the character that finesse cannot be reliable. One example is causing injury to someone. In such a case, the task's degree of success, though based on skill, is subject to chance. Every five points made higher than the target gives the skill user an extra degree of success. Likewise, every five points made less than the target is an extra degree of failure.

Example: Faced with the difficulty of creating Excellent swords, Tividant decides to take a few pot shots, hoping to get something Excellent or better, but taking the time to finish any weak starts so that he could at least sell those. This time, the quality of weapon depends entirely on his roll: on a 5-9 he produces a mediocre sword, on a 10-14 a good sword, on a 15-19 an excellent sword, and if he is lucky enough to roll a 20+ he produces a masterpiece. An important difference with Finesse is that he must take the full time to produce a weapon whatever result he gets.

Using Multiple Skills & Attributes

Often several skills and attributes appear to be applicable to a task. The task may need more than one skill as a prerequisite. Alternatively, a skill may serve to enhance the results of a task.

The former case applies when using one skill that requires specialized knowledge. For example, the blacksmith skill is pretty generic. In order to create a particular item — for example a replica of a famous sword — the blacksmith needs to have additional information on hand to complete the task. In this example, having a detailed diagram of the sword would do; only one skill roll is required. If no such item is available, the smith may use a plan by memory. In this case one roll is needed to determine accuracy of memory, the second for the resulting quality (limited by the first roll).

The second case may be a merchant buying a product from another. The bargaining skill is used for the task, but knowledge of the items in question is helpful. Since this is a contested roll, simply add all the applicable skills together. If it were not a contested roll, add the skills together but double the target level.

Skill Training Class

A skill's training class indicates the minimum level of civilization required for the learning of that skill. A teacher (or written work) is required to learn advanced skills. Each skill also has a minimum intelligence requirement for learning it.

Teaching a skill level is a task 5 levels higher than the skill level taught, so generally a teacher should be at least 10 levels higher than the student. Most characters will have a single mentor who teaches the secrets of a particular trade. However, in developed cultures, established schools and academies provide a standardised regimen of instruction.

A rote is a memorized procedure. Rotes are used to learn dance steps, songs, spells, weapon katas, recipes, and the like. Each rote is given a complexity by the game master that is a rough indication of how difficult it is to memorize.

Rotes are not skills; they cost no experience points, since they can be learned in a matter of minutes (about 2 minutes per difficulty level). Memorizing rotes doesn't take much thinking, so a person who spends all day learning rotes is at LR 1. On the other hand, characters who are studying (at LR 3 or 4) may pick up as many as 40 (at LR 3) or 60 (at LR 4) minutes' worth of rote learning for “free”.

To use a rote, the character rolls against the appropriate controlling skill. If the roll fails, the rote is considered forgotten and must be memorized again.

The artisan field subsumes general familiarity with the fundamentals of designing, constructing, repairing, and analyzing man-made or man-modified objects and mechanisms. As skill level increases, the artisan acquires mastery of the design process, quality control, and material acquisition.

Sample crafts: Armorer, Bowyer/Fletcher, Blacksmith, Brewer, Calligrapher, Carpenter, Cook, Gemcutter, Jeweller, Mason, Miller, Painter, Potter, Sculptor, Tailor, Tanner, Tinker, Weaponer, Weaver.

Simple/Complex Item Craft: Once a design is obtained and the necessary materials are procured, the artisan does the work of actually building the project. If the necessary time exceeds a single session, then a skill roll should be made for each session until the work is complete.

Simple/Complex Item Repair: Broken items require troubleshooting skills that often have little to do with the knowledge of how something is designed. This skill is basically a troubleshooting and remedy skill. Repair both items made and the tools needed to make those items.

The Artisan Guilds

Artisan skills are typically protected secrets of families, clans, or guilds, depending on the society. Generally, as a guild increases in importance (i.e. the more money involved), it becomes more protective of its secrets and imposes more difficult requirements for joining.

Members of a guild are generically known as associates.

Requirements for Joining as an Apprentice:

• The applicant must be a family member of, or be sponsored by, an associate in good standing. A sponsored applicant generally cannot be of a foreign nationality. Sponsorship requires being friends with an associate and possessing some talent.
• The applicant must be at least 13 years old.
• The applicant must spend two to nine years (with 4 to 7 being most common) as an apprentice under an established master.
• The applicant must pay any apprenticeship fees as established by the particular guild.

Benefits of Membership:

As an apprentice, the character will learn a single craft by spending experience points in each of the craft's four skills as desired. A typical apprenticeship educates the apprentice at LR2. Most of the time is spent working.

Requirements for Promotion to Journeyman:

• The apprentice must have satisfactorily completed the full term of apprenticeship. A master will not be satisfied unless the apprentice has achieved a field rank of 10, and level 10 in two of the four skills.
• The apprentice must be at least 16 years old.
• The apprentice may be required to undergo an initiation ceremony.

Requirements for Promotion to Master:

• The journeyman must produce a work of his craft (the masterpiece) demonstrating his skill. He must use his own tools. The target for this task is 30. So for example, the item created may be of only Beginner difficulty to make, but the quality of the item must be Masterful. The candidate may make as many attempts as necessary (spending the required time to do so).
• The masters of the guild observe and test the candidate to ensure that his field rank and skill levels are at a minimum of 15 each, independent of the completion of the masterpiece.
• Most guilds limit the number of artisans that may practice in the town depending on the state of the economy. Either the death of a master or an increase in demand may create a vacancy.
• The journeyman is required to demonstrate a minimum level of wealth and success.
• The journeyman must garner enough votes from the guild electors to be accepted as a master. A journeyman not in favor is unlikely to be accepted.
• Some guilds may have mysterious initiation rituals involving a patron saint or deity, much drinking, and the application of bodily markings.

Requirements for Election to Guild Office:

• The office must have a vacancy. Guild elections are held regularly as terms in office are limited, but not every office will be vacant in any given year. The actual offices vary from guild to guild, though most will have Guildmaster.
• The candidate must be an established Master of the guild. He must have been a master for at least two years.
• The candidate must demonstrate an appropriate level of wealth and success. This includes possession of status symbols and a standard of living equal to or exceeding other masters in the guild.
• Offices are hotly contested, as the position frequently allows one to greatly increase one's income. The candidate will find it necessary to bribe guild electors with favors and gifts to receive sufficient support.

Everyone has some ability to push their body to its limits. The athlete specializes in this, fine tuning the physical attributes of Strength, Endurance, and Agility. The athlete becomes intimately familiar with the internal dynamics of motion and the relationship of the body's movement to space and objects. Because of this, the level of knowledge as an Athlete can be used as an emergency Defense, but its use as such does not allow attack responses.

Acrobatics: Control self airborne or landing.

Balance: Walk a tightrope or narrow beam.

Climbing: Scale walls, trees, and other vertical surfaces.

Jumping: Propel self through the air.

Lifting: Use strength efficiently to elevate heavy loads.

Running: Move long distances at low to moderate speeds.

Sprinting: Move short distances at high speed.

Swimming: Move through water.

Throwing: Propel an object through the air.

This field encompasses occupations that specialize in caring for people and animals — including feeding, raising, training, healing, and sexual relations. Caregiving fundamentals include sensitivity to the needs of others, observation and recognition of symptoms, and a practical approach toward matters that untrained people may find distasteful.

Animal Husbandry: Breed and raise animals.

Animal Riding: Ride animals in non-combat situations.

Animal Training: Train animals for riding, war, tricks.

Cures: Treat diseases.

Farming: Work the land like the peasant that you are.

First Aid: Treat superficial and minor wounds.

Lovecraft: Make love.

Massage: Treat aches, pains, and fatigue.

Service: Treat customers nice.

Surgery: Treat serious and critical wounds.

Veterinary: Treat animals medically.

The skills of performing for an audience, presenting or packaging something in a way that alters its apparent reality, and in understanding the psychology of an audience that makes deception effective.

Entertainer skills are generally learned by attaching oneself to a personal tutor or mentor. The best way to learn them is through practical experience. Only minimal supervision is required, as feedback from the audience (or victim) comes swiftly, for better or worse. Therefore, the Entertainer may train his skills on his own at LR2. Periodic visits to a qualified mentor are still required to increase field rank.

Acting: Assume the role of a character.

Camouflage: Conceal yourself by using of blending materials.

Conceal Item: Disguise or conceal objects on yourself or in a place.

Dance: Move your rhythmically to music.

Disguise: Use stuff to assume a misleading appearance.

Filching: Pick pockets and cut purses.

Hiding: Conceal yourself through use of cover.

Juggling: Keep objects in the air by alternately tossing and catching them.

Legerdemain: Sleight of hand, prestidigitation.

Playing: Use a musical instrument.

Sneaking: Move silently.

Song: Sing.

Storytelling: Tell stories.

Fighting is the skill of the noble. It is the art of offense and defense in conflict. The Fighter rank itself serves as the character's basic Defense rating. Fighter rank also directly modifies initiative rolls in combat.

Entering the Fighter field means learning how to fight with skill and technique. A skilled fighter can deliver more damage, strike with greater accuracy, and expend less energy doing so. A skilled fighter can adapt many techniques across different weapons, and can pick up new weapons after some practice. A skilled fighter understands the proper use of body mechanics, strategy and tactics, timing and distance, and will have a growing bag of tricks (for recognizing opponent's intentions, not necessarily for using).

The table below summarizes combat benefits from fighter skills. Use the lower of either Fighter field rank or weapon skill level when determining the benefits. In a fight Defense is based on the Fighter field rank, not on any skill. Also note that Athlete field can be used as an emergency Defense, but forfeits attacks (and ends a flurry).

The art of combat requires constant physical training, practice with suitable partners, and attentive study under a competent master. Fighters are always trying new weapons, observing the techniques of others, and incorporating new techniques into their own styles. Fighting may be learned by taking an “apprenticeship” with an experience fighter, by joining a militia, by joining a fighting society (e.g., mercenary company, tribal fighting band, or gladiator pool), or by enrolling in a military academy.

The Merchant symbolizes the effective personal communicator. Merchant skills are like personal combat with words and ideas. Fundamentals of this field include persuasion, supply and demand, diplomacy, compromise, and an intuitive understanding of game theory applied to a social context.

Administration: Oversee lands and business.

Bargaining: Haggle; make a deal when buying or selling stuff.

Bribery: Exchange gifts or money for unethical favors.

Carousing: Drink and revel.

Etiquette: Act in polite society.

Gambling: Play games.

Interrogation: Get information from people by being mean.

Interview: Get information from people by being polite.

Liaison: Communicate with people nicely.

Persuasion: Argue a point with rhetoric.

Seduction: Get someone into bed.

Streetwise: Survive in the urban environment.

The Guild Merchant

The most powerful guild in a town is the Guild Merchant. It consists of the town's wealthiest individuals who monopolize trade and often control the government. Not every town will have a Guild Merchant, but the largest trade centers will.

The knowledge possessed by thinkers and men of learning. The scholar field subsumes an understanding of critical thinking, the research process, and the organization of information.

The following table describes language skills, but may also be useful for describing the ability to communicate ideas encompassed by other skills.

The scholar skill is taught via a personal tutor or in a University.

Astronomy: Celestial bodies.

Chemistry: Analysis and synthesis of drugs, potions, and poisons.

Counting: Enumeration and basic mathematics.

Customs: Habits and practices of a particular culture.

Engineering: Designing public works and fortifications.

Folklore: Traditions and legends of a particular culture.

Herbalism: Identification and use of plants.

History: Study of past events.

Investigation: Examination of evidence and acquisition of information.

Law: Knowledge of legal procedures.

Literacy: Reading, writing, and basic literacy.

Mineralogy: Study of rocks.

Music: Study and composition of songs.

Observation: Learning through seeing.

Religion: Knowledge of the gods.

Research: Finding or uncovering information.

The Universities

Medieval universities taught theology, law, medicine, and the seven liberal arts: grammar, rhetoric, and logic which comprised the trivium; and arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy which comprised the quadirivium.

Guild of Masters: A university might be thought of as a guild of master scholars, organized to provide education to paying students.

Student Associations: Some societies have students organized into guilds, whose purpose is to hire teachers for instruction. Such associations may be powerful enough to create or ruin a school, whether literal physical existence or reputation.

• Universities are a relatively new phenomenon, and there is less competition for enrolling than there is for acquiring students. Therefore, the only requirements for acceptance are paying the fees and showing up.
• A student may be of any age, nation, or social class.
• Low-cost housing is available during the period of instruction.
• Universities provide education to any social class, provided they can afford it. Historically, even peasant families were able to provide a child with a university education, in the hopes that it would open opportunities for a well-paying job in a town or castle.
• Scholarships for poor students may available from the community, from friends, or from religious organizations.