Scholar Discipline
Image by Nicco Salonga
Also called the Scholastic Discipline, its adherents become instructors of knowledge and archivists of the world's lore. Invest in this Discipline if:
You want to play a wise academic, a learned teacher, or a know-it-all
You want to discount learning costs to everyone for profit or for your own whims
You want to play a support character that folks turn to for knowledge or research.
Relevant Rules — Examine skills: These represent the ability to identify a person, a species, or any other information based on clues. They allow a skill user to ask a question out of game to Game Staff, a PC, or an NPC. The answer is also out of game but is supposed to be knowledge that the skill user knows from their studies/experiences. Unlike Inquiry skills, they are not blocked by Deception skills.
DISCIPLINE OVERVIEW
BASIC SKILLS
Instruction (Craft; ATN): Teach Basic or Complex skills to students
Lorebook: With assistance, create a book of your personal notes and discoveries.
Lorekeeper: Identify creatures and read Lorekeeper notes
COMPLEX SKILLS
Expert Instructor (Craft): Teach skills from your Lorebook
Researcher (Craft): Research a topic or a body of information for a short-answer
Scholarly Scrutiny: Discern details and features of items and creatures
Teach the Village: Your teaching abilities have utility outside the classroom
ERUDITE SKILLS
Crafty Improvisation (Craft): Assist a Crafting ally in their task through Admixture
Decipher Construction (Craft): Examine an item or assist a Crafter in duplicating it.
Instruct the Citadel (Craft): Teach one Erudite skill to students.
Supreme Versatility (1/P): Access and use unknown skills as though you had them.
Teach the Unknown (Craft): Use and teach esoteric and magical lore.
BASIC SKILLS
INSTRUCTION
(Basic Scholar; Active-Craft/ATN, Teach)
You are able to impart your own skill knowledge unto others.
You can teach any amount of your known Basic and Complex skills to 1-10 students. This has the following requirements:
Craft action: You may only perform one such action per Period.
Role-play: 5+ minutes of role-playing that reflects teaching said Skills.
CMP Cost: Basic Skills cost 0 CMP. Complex Skills cost 1 Rare CMP (any type)
ATN cost: This must occupy an ATN slot
Label this as “<Skill Name> Training” Game Staff must sign off on this.
-- Other requirements: Your students must have the requirements for the Skill they want to learn. However, skills in ATN slots cannot be used as requirements for other trained skills. If a student has insufficient XP to learn a Skill between Events, the training dissipates without their learning the Skill before the start of the next Event.
Co-teachers: If you combine your Instruction with other Scholars’ use of Instruction, you get the following benefits:
Each teacher chooses one or more of their Basic/Complex skills to teach the whole class. Students can choose which to learn and spend an ATN on.
The class can have 10 students per teacher.
You can also learn skills from a fellow co-teacher
Lorebook skill: If you have the Lorebook skill and a Tier 2 Lorebook, you can discount the cost for training Complex skills as though you were Self-teaching.
Augmented Craft: If an effect would Augment this Skill with Bonus Output, this would allow you to teach 10 additional students.
LOREBOOK
(Basic Scholar; Active-Craft, Teach)
This Skill allows you to create a Lorebook with help from an ally. You may also use your Lorebook to assist you in self-teaching Skills. Its subfunctions are below:
Creating a Lorebook (Craft): This requires the conditions below.
Ten minutes of role-playing that represents the making of a book
A Craft-Ritual action from a Device Maker (Tinker) or a Cloth Maker (Weaver)
Three Rare CMP of any type.
The Lorebook prop (see Prop requirements)
Effect: This creates a Lorebook (Tier 1) a Unique Item that can be lost or destroyed.
Lorebook Self-Teaching: If you use your own Lorebook to teach yourself an archived Skill therein, you may discount some of the costs of Self-Teaching. This cannot be used until you have actually learned Lorebook and it is no longer a training ATN.
Tier 1 Lorebook (0-15 Entries): No CMP Cost for Basic skills
Tier 2 Lorebook (16-29 Entries): 3x Basic CMP for Complex skills
Tier 3 Lorebook** (30+ entries): 3x Rare CMP for Erudite skills and allows owners to Self-teach Erudite skills.
Lorebook Progress: During an Event, you can add up to 5 entries to your Lorebook.
Each entry is at least one page, with no duplicates
Entries with multiple pages should be noted as such (e.g. part 1 of 2).
On the page’s upper right, list the out-of-game month/year it was entered.
Can be hand-written during Event or computer printed before the Event
If you have multiple Lorebooks, you are still limited to 5 total entries per Event
Entries can be descriptions of an important place, event, person, a monster or even a discovered secret – sometimes with sketches. Entries can also be a Skill and how to use it as discovered/experienced by the writer (see Expert Instructor)
Prop requirements: A Lorebook, which is a durable notebook or journal. On the inside cover, it should have: its owner’s name, its current Tier, and a note that “this item’s benefits can only be used by the owner”
Its size and shape varies, but usually appears weathered, customized and/or reinforced. Take note that bringing an expensive and fragile prop into the game is not recommended.. Do not leave this prop with Staff, bring it home.
LOREKEEPER
(Basic Scholar; Active-Conc, Sense, Examine)
This skill represents your capacity as a keeper of knowledge, gained by poring through tomes, listening to experts, or your own experiences. It has the subfunctions below:
Read Lorekeeper Notes (Conc-10): After Concentrating for 10 counts, you are now able to read notes marked as “Lorekeeper” for the next 10 minutes. These notes usually grant additional information about an item or a location. The Prologues and Epilogues may also feature Lorekeeper only information.
Discern Creature (qConc-3): Discover a target’s identity or species
Step 1: Point at a creature within 5 paces of you
Step 2: While doing so, perform 3-counts of quiet Concentration (aka qConc-3)
Step 3: If uninterrupted, invoke “Examine - what are you?”
Step 4: Your target answers truthfully OOG with one of the following
-- Option 1: Identity: a common name they are known by
-- Option 2: Species: such as Human, Mantis Wolf or Blood Geist.
Improved Self-Teaching (Craft): You can Self-Teach outside of Market Hour and sign-in. This is similar to the normal Self-Teaching process and costs, except for the following:
You expend your Craft action for the current Period to do so.
Lorebook might discount the Self-Teach costs if said skill is within.
Draw out Knowledge (Examine, Aftereffect): If you use an Examine effect to ask a question, you may ask a second Examine question from that Skill’s list as an Aftereffect.
COMPLEX SKILLS
EXPERT INSTRUCTOR
(Complex Scholar; Active-Craft/ATN, Teach)
Requires: Instruction and Lorebook
This skill expands your Instruction skill. Using it has the following benefits:
Teach the Tome: You can teach a Skill that you do not know, as long as it is an entry in your Lorebook and is Basic or Complex. However, if you do not have Etheric Arcana (Channeler) or Teach the Unknown, you cannot teach Spells.
Teach the Instructor: When you teach Basic or Complex skills, you can also have any of your students or co-Teachers teach you a Skill that they possess. Your student/co-teacher’s knowledge of the subject counts as being an entry in your Lorebook for the purposes of discounting this training. This cannot be used with “Teach the Tome” or any similar abilities.
Student’s Effort (Craft): When you teach a single student, they can expend their Craft action in your stead. Similarly, your instruction does not count against your Craft-Ritual actions for that Period if all of your students do the same with their Craft actions.
Intense Instruction (Craft, ATN): You can drill lessons into your students, allowing your teaching to linger for months, even if it doesn’t sink in.. This cannot be discounted by Lorebook so use the normal Self-Training costs. However, you can use Expert Instructor to teach a Skill you do not know but is in your Lorebook.
Effect: This is similar to teaching a Basic or Complex Skill except:
This occupies 2 ATNs that last for 3 attended Events
The ATNs must be labeled “<skill’s name> Drill, Event X”
X = the amount of Events it has existed so far.
A PC can use a Drill even if its Skill Requirements are only Training ATNs
A PC can benefit from only 1 Drill at a time
At the end of its third Event or earlier, a Manual may be used to teach one’s self the Skill therein. This can be done during the Event or between Events, though Game Staff must be informed of this.
RESEARCHER
(Complex Scholar; Active-Craft, Research)
Requires: Any two Basic Scholar skills
You are adept at seeking out knowledge, whether it be from perusing books of the library and/or asking your contacts for information.
Step 1: Fill out a Craft-Ritual sheet
Step 2: Give Game Staff five Basic CMP (any)
Step 3: Perform 5+ minutes of roleplay that reflects this Craft action and the discussion of the topic with others.
Step 4: Submit a research question to Staff on an index card or similar medium on the board next to the Logistics room. By the end of the next Period, if not the end of the Event, you will have your answer posted on the research board.
Alternatively, you may perform this Research for 0 CMP by delving into Library Lane to seek out the answers yourself via an NPC shift at least 3 hours long.
Research Process: The question asked must be on an index card (with your in-game name or CSN) and pinned to the note board near the Staff area – other players are allowed to read these notes.
Research Limits:
The answer will be no more than 3-5 sentences
The status of Library Lane or the Crossroads can help with this skill’s scope.
Secret knowledge and forbidden lores cannot be gained from this skill (e.g. the weaknesses of specific individuals or whereabouts of hiding fugitives)
Special Note: Research is only one avenue of getting information. Writing letters to important figures or requesting a Guild use Guild Tracking between Events are other ways.
SCHOLASTIC SCRUTINY
(Complex Junker/Scholar; Active-Conc, Examine)
Requires: Any two Basic Scholar/Junker skills
With this skill, you are better able to study and discern things of greater complexity.
Discern Creature (qConc-3): This works like the Lorekeeper and Discern Details subfunction of the same name.
Discern Flaws (qConc-30; Examine): discern a creature’s weakness or resistances
Step 1: Be within arm’s reach of a living or dead creature, ideally immobile
Step 2: Perform qConc-30 while remaining in reach and simulating study
Step 3: If uninterrupted, ask one of the questions below.
Option 1: “Examine <species> - What are you vulnerable to?”
Option 2: “Examine <species> - What are you resistant to?”
Step 4: If the correct species is spoken, the PC or NPC being asked must answer truthfully OOG. Due to the vast cosmos, there are entities that defy identification.
Read Ancient/Alien Script (qConc-10): After a qConc-10 wherein you study some writing, you may read notes that are marked as “Ancient Script” or “Alien Script”. Said notes must be within arm’s reach of you while you are Concentrating but this subfunction’s benefit lasts for the next 10 minutes.
Identify Item (qConc-30, Examine): When you use Discern Flaws above, you can instead target an item that someone is holding/carrying that you can see. Add the following questions to the options:
Item Augment: “Examine! What are these item’s Augments?”
Type/Quality: “Examine! What is this item’s type and quality?”
Research Item (Craft, Aug): You can take a deep dive into an item’s characteristics and/or history. This allows you to Research an item, as per the Researcher Skill. If you already have Researcher or Detect Truth, you can augment either so that you ask a second question. Both questions must be concerning the same object or a related object.
TEACH THE VILLAGE
(Complex Scholar; Active-Craft, Aug, Teach)
Requires: any two Basic Scholar skills, including Instruction
Your erudition and instruction is a boon not only to those you teach, but also to everyone around you.
Assist Concentration: Similar to Versatile Artisan, you can work alongside allies and assist them. They only need EConc/Conc-10 next time they Repair weaponry, Disarm devices, or Patch armor (Conc-5 for Treat Injury). To aid an ally, you need to have the appropriate Skill learned or in your Lorebook.
Guidance (Aftereffect): When an ally uses a Skill you have learned or one that is in your Lorebook, you can guide them even when they err.
Step 1: A nearby ally misses with an Attack Skill or their Concentration is disrupted.
Step 2: Expend 1 Focus
Step 3: Invoke “Guidance”
Step 4: Touch your ally on the shoulder or back with a hand or melee weapon
Effect: Either invoke “Retry Attack” or “Retry Concentration” or clarify to them that they may immediately re-try the attack or that they may continue their Concentration. This can affect Self-Revives.
Teacher’s Bond: Anyone you’ve taught this Event counts as Bound to you for the purposes of the Shielding Binder skill and the Guardian ally skill. However, this Bond only applies to you and each student -- the students are not Bonded to each other.
ERUDITE SKILLS
CRAFTY IMPROVISATION
(Erudite Junker/Scholar; Active-Craft, Admixture)
Requires: Any two Complex Junker/Scholar skills and any two basic Junker/Scholar skills
You have delved into many books on theories and ideas, some crazier than others. This has given you your own ideas on several matters, including that of crafting.
As a Craft action, you may assist up to five individuals’ Craft/Ritual/Task actions, provided that they are doing that action within the next hour. Take note, after performing a Craft-Ritual action, you cannot perform another one until the current Period has passed.
This Skill allows you to choose one CMP type (e.g Earth, Fire, etc) -- the individuals you are assisting may consider the Minor, Basic, and Rare CMP that they are using to also be of that type. You need to be actively assisting at all of these actions.
Quench Element (requires Herb Kit and a prop): Your knowledge allows you to extinguish flame, and neutralize acid/frost, similar to a Chemist.
Step 1: You OR an ally within arm’s reach are hit by Frost, Flame, or Corrosive damage of 3 points or less.. This cannot be used vs. Ambush or Master-type attacks.
Step 2: As a Reaction, invoke “Quench”
Step 3: Stop forward momentum or step away from the attack.
Step 4: pat the damaged area with a rag prop. If you are using Quench on an ally, you may only pat their shoulder with a rag unless you have explicit permission.
Step 5: This negates the Frost, Flame, or Corrosive attack.
Use Limit: Once this is used, you need to prepare a new concoction via a qConc-10 on your Herb Kit before you can use it again.
DECIPHER CONSTRUCTION
(Erudite Scholar; Active-Craft)
Requires: Any two Complex Scholar skills and any two basic Scholar skills, including Scholastic Scrutiny
You are able to analyze items, allowing you to learn the secrets of their make.
By expending your Craft action for the current Period, you may assist another character in crafting an item that may be beyond their expertise.
Duplicate Item (Craft): To use this, the item in question must be placed in your Lorebook.
Step 1: Discover the quality and Augments of a Basic or Advanced item
Step 2: Find a Crafter/Ritualist ally who can make/upkeep a basic version of that item
Step 3: With the item in hand or within 10 feet, assist them in their Craft-Ritual action.
Step 4: With your help, your ally can ignore the Skill requirements of this action. Adept ATN, CMP costs, Scrap Kits, and other requirements still apply.
Effect: An item of the same quality and Augments is created by (or is one of the creations) of the Crafter/Ritualist that you assisted. Unlike other Craft functions, you can choose for your Craft-Action or your ally’s action to be used for this.
Special Note: If you have the necessary Skills or have temporary use of them, you can use Duplicate Item without the need for an ally.
Upkeep item (Craft): This is similar to Duplicate Item except that it allows you to assist a Crafter/Ritualist in Upkeeping (not creating) an item. This can be Advanced or Superior-quality. Just as with Duplicate Item, this requires a Craft action from you or your ally but all other costs and requirements still apply except for its Skill Requirements.
Augmented Crafting: If this Craft action is Augmented (e.g. when done during Market Hour), you may upkeep two additional items as per Bonus Output.
INSTRUCT THE CITADEL
(Erudite Scholar; Active-Craft, Instruction)
Requires: Any two Complex Scholar skills and any two basic Scholar skills, including Expert Instructor
Your knowledge and methods befit the institutions of learning or the wisest mentors of your community.
Teach Erudite Skills (Craft, Teach, requires Lorebook Tier 3): When you use the Instruction skill, you can teach Erudite skills that you know. Each skill requires 3 Rare CMP per person that you teach, instead of 5 Rare CMP.
The entirety of your lesson must be devoted to teaching one Skill and one Skill alone to your students – you are not able to benefit from the versatility of your Lorebook as you would with instructing a Basic or a Complex skill. If you have Teach the Unknown, you can teach Erudite skills that are in your Lorebook but have not learned.
Teach Erudite Drills (Craft, requires Lorebook Tier 3): You can imbue Erudite Drills upon your students. . They require 3 Rare CMPs to make and occupy 2 ATNs
Masterful Instruction: When you teach a Basic Skill that you have learned or that is in your Lorebook, it does not count against your Craft actions.
SUPREME VERSATILITY
(Erudite Scholar; Active-Periodic, Craft, Research)
Requires: Any two Complex Scholar skills and any two basic Scholar skills
Your delving into various knowledges and lores has granted you some insight in matters that you have yet to master. The swordsman’s feint, the courtier’s mask, the blacksmith’s forge – all of these are of some familiarity to you.
Once per Period, choose one of the options below to use this Skill. As a Periodic Skill, it cannot be used again until the next Period and after you have completed a 10 minute Rest.
— Option 1: Supreme Versatility -
Invoke “Supreme Versatility” to gain the “Factotum” status. This allows you to use any Basic Skill that uses Focus or requires Conc/Targ, even if you do not have it. You cannot cast Basic Spells unless you have the Etheric Arcana skill.
“Factotum” lasts for the next 10 minutes, or until the current combat ends, whichever happens last. It ends prematurely if you go to 0 HP.
— Option 2: Supreme Assurance -
For the next 10 minutes, you can assist a Crafter/Ritualist in their action. This allows them to use any Skills that you possess or that are in your Lorebook to fulfill any Skill requirements when performing said action. Other requirements, such as CMP costs, Adept ATNs, and the like must be fulfilled normally.
If you wish, you can also choose yourself as a target for this, expending the Craft-Ritual action as per normal.
— Option 3: Supreme Hypercognition -
You go through everything that you’ve heard and discovered, remembering the most minute details and deducing events from them. You may ask a Research question, as per the Researcher skill. This does not waive the CMP cost, but it does not count against your Craft-Ritual for that Period.
TEACH THE UNKNOWN
(Erudite Scholar; Active-Craft, Instruction, Attunement)
Requires: Any two Complex Scholar skills and any two basic Scholar skills, including Expert Instructor
You have delved into the realms and treatises of the unknown and the forbidden. This grants you some knowledge of the arcane.
— Etheric Knowledge (Craft): You have some know-how in magical matters. You can now teach Spells as though you had learned “Etheric Arcana”.
— Quell the Occult (requires Runewand or Warbanner): You are able to ward away attacks from yourself and/or a nearby ally using your strength of will and knowledge of the occult. Instead of a Runewand, you can have an Eldritchcraft/Runic weaponry item or a Crystalline/Bravery Rune/Oculisk Banner.
Step 1: You OR an ally within arm’s reach are hit by Psychic or Shadow damage of 3 points or less.. This cannot be used vs. Ambush or Master-type attacks.
Step 2: As a Reaction, invoke “Quell”
Step 3: Stop forward momentum or step away from the attack.
Step 4: Raise the banner, shield, or weapon. If you are using Quell on an ally, you may convey the effect via hand touch or weapon touch.
Step 5: This negates the Psychic or Shadow attack.
Use Limit: Once this is used, you need to recenter yourself via a qConc-10 while raising your weapon/shield/banner before you can use it again.
— Unknown Erudition (Craft): If you have Instruct the Citadel, you can now teach an Erudite Skill in your Lorebook, even if you did not learn it yet.