Passions

Passions grew in the revision, so social mechanics and insanity will come next time. A section on Emotions was cut and will be included with Insanity.

Thus far, there are three other sections which will feature more, specialised information on Passions:
1. Goals and Threats
2. NPCs
3. Storytelling
===

PASSIONS

Passions are the urges and drives which spur the PCs on to action and bear them up in the chaos of adventure. They fall into one of two categories - Ties and Principles.

Ties are the relationships that define your character, whether that’s venomous hatred towards an ally who deserted you in a moment of need, or a simple love of your homeland and its people. Ties are rendered as an object followed by the tenor of the Passion in brackets. For instance:

• “Thousand Scars Veteran (Hatred)”
• “The Carpathian Highlands (Love)”
• “The Banksia Men (Fondness)”

Principles are the creeds, ideals, traits and cravings that define your character. Principles are rendered as sentences. For instance:

• “The strong should hold open dominion over the weak.”
• "Nobody is irredeemable."
• "I worship Ulalia and embody her ideals."
• "I am a just king."

===Defining Passions

Passions should be short and evocative - a Tie’s tenor should not exceed 3 words, and a Principle shouldn’t be more than a short sentence.

Tie or Principle?

Many Passions can be rendered as Ties or Principles. If the Passion in question can be rendered as a Tie without sacrificing too much of its content, do so.

The Domain of Passions: Obligations and Prohibitions

In each case, Passions consists of obligations and prohibitions: that which the Passion compels you to do or refrain from doing.

As with skills, Passions should be broad enough that they could reasonably come up every session, and narrow enough that it can't be made relevant to every problem (primarily for the purpose of spending Will, which is detailed below). If a Passion seems to be coming up too often, it should be pinned down to some specific obligations and prohibitions.

Where possible, leave the question of what a Passion means open, and dramatise answers in play through the PC's response to the moral dilemmas the GM has posed. Love, for instance, is rarely only jealous, submissive, romantic, or lustful.

Unifying and Dividing Passions

Players will often want to condense their Passions: To unify some Principles under the banner of a code of conduct; to unify some Ties under the banner of a family, clan or circle of warriors. This is perfectly alright, and these higher-order Passions should be treated like any other.

This is also a good way to take Passions which, on their own, would be too narrow: Dietary restrictions, superstitious habits, points of etiquette and so on.

If a PC defines themselves mostly by their adherence to a moral code, it's a good idea to split its facets up into separate Passions.

Inappropriate Passions

If someone thinks a PC's Passion contradicts the desired tone of the game, discuss why, and change it or the game’s tone as necessary. As long as the players come up with a rough idea of their desired tone before the game, this shouldn’t be a problem.

[[Tone to be discussed in a short comment on running games in another section. Examples: Horror, heroic adventure, noir, etc.]]

Will and Rank

Passions are ranked according to what you’ve sacrificed for them, which determines the extent to which they define you. There are three ranks: Minor, Significant, and Major, which are alternately referred to as Rank 1, Rank 2, and Rank 3 Passions.

Will is the reserve of willpower and motivation held by each of your Passions. Minor Passions can hold one Will, Significant Passions two, and Major three. You can spend Will 1-for-1 to upshift the result of actions in line with your Passion.

Example: A hermit with a Principle of self-reliance and seclusion could channel his Will towards getting away from people and supporting himself once he'd done so, so long as he refused any help which he was offered.

Ties, Rank and Valence

Where relevant, Ties directed against an object will be represented with a negative Rank, and Ties in favour of an object will be represented with a positive Rank. This means Rank ranges through 7 degrees, from 3 to -3, describing Major Ties for and against an object respectively.

Example: A Minor Tie of love towards a dog is Rank 1. If it fell 3 Ranks, it would proceed through indifference (Rank 0) to a Significant Tie against the dog, whether it be hatred, fear or disgust.

Interests

PCs will often have interests or habits which neither pose much risk, nor offer them much cause to go out on adventures. If these quirks cannot be assimilated to a broader motivation, there's no need to represent them with a Passion, although they can be written down as roleplaying notes.

Example: Artaxerxes loves wine and fine cheeses, but has no particular love for the high life besides. He often indulges his tastes in the city between adventures.

Passion Tests

A Passion Test occurs whenever you have an opportunity to act in line with your Passions at significant risk to yourself. When, in the name of a Passion, you risk:

1. Embarrassment, injury, or inconvenience, take 1 Will and raise its rank to Minor if applicable.
2. Scandal, crippling injury, or detour, take 2 Will, 1 XP, and raise its rank to Significant if applicable.
3. Exile, death, or compromise of a goal, take 3 Will, 2 XP and raise its rank to Major if applicable.

Passion Tests are ranked according to what a PC could reasonably risk in the name of their Passion. If the PC could not reasonably risk more than would get them 1 Will, it's a Minor test of Passion. So on for Significant and Major tests.

If a PC refuses to risk anything in the name of their Passion, or risks less than they reasonably could, lower its Intensity by one and erase any excess Will. PCs can always choose to risk more than they're expected to, but they won't be penalised if they don't.

PCs are also encouraged to test each other's Passions, whether as a means of manipulating one another or otherwise.

[[The precise meaning of inconvenience and detour will be elaborated in the context of Goals and Threats.]]

===Judging Risk

What constitutes a significant risk is left to the GM's discretion, but a good rule of thumb is that it be more likely than not, or certain to result in a bad outcome. More than anything, it's important that the GM be consistent in their judgements.

Underestimating Risk

If all at the table have underestimated the risk of a given course of action; if a series of bad rolls make things worse than they should have been; if they were simply never sure of it, the GM can choose to reward PCs with Will and XP befitting the risk, so long as they do not swerve from their commitments when trouble has reared its head. 

The GM can never revoke Will and XP they’ve already given.

Unreasonable Risk

An unreasonably risky action is one which is significantly likely to do more harm than good to the cause of the Passion in question.

Examples: Herod hates the Romans who have occupied his land. He would be penalised for refusing to risk rescuing a fellow of his from the Roman Guard, but he would not be penalised for failing to walk directly to Caesar's palace and throw rocks at him.

To give a more nuanced example: If on the following day Herod was meant to lead a raid intended to recapture 20 prisoners, he would not be penalised for refusing to risk capture by the Guard in an attempt to, say, rescue a few prisoners on their way to the Guard's prison camp.

===Dying for your Passions

By default, facing death in the name of your Passions offers no benefits beyond those listed above. The GM may give the PC the option of spending all their Will to achieve some specific end - for instance, holding off marauding foes long enough for the rest of the party to escape - but I personally find it more rewarding to leave all that to chance.

===Indulging Passions

Players can also declare unprompted, often during downtime, that they're sacrificing something to their Passions. In this case, they declare what they're doing and suggests a rank. Once a rank is agreed on, the GM narrates consequences appropriate to it and distributes Will and XP accordingly.

Unlike a Passion Test, indulgences cannot raise the rank of a Passion.

Examples: A spoiled young dilettante prince hosts a night of feast and debauchery and wakes up with his palace trashed and several treasures stolen. (Significant Indulgence)

His father exiles a sensible courtier over a slander against the young prince. (Significant Indulgence)

Retroactive Indulgence

In certain circumstances, the GM may offer PCs the chance to declare retroactively that they made some sacrifice in the name of their Passions.

Example: A young Legionnaire of the Roman army sets off with his comrades in arms. He is known to be of a retiring disposition (Significant Principle), and it hasn't yet been established whether he has been socialising with his fellow legionnaires. The GM asks whether he has, and his player says no, that the young man has instead been keeping to himself and studying classic poets. The GM declares that relations between the man and his fellow legionnaires are frosty, and that this will probably come back to bite him. In the event that it does, the player is awarded Will and XP in accordance with the risk incurred.

On the other hand, if his player had declared that he had in fact been socialising with the legionnaires, he would have gained a Minor Tie of comradeship towards them, and lowered his principle of reclusiveness to Minor rank.

===Conflicting Passions

Internal Conflict

Sometimes, a PC's Passions’ obligations and prohibitions will come into conflict. Internal conflict is a wonderful source of drama, and so minimising potential conflict between Passions should not be a goal unless you want to focus on interpersonal or external conflict.

Only directly contradictory Passions should be prohibited, and even then only in chargen. Competing Passions can emerge in play as a PC's personality develops.

GMs are encouraged to come up with moral dilemmas which pit PCs' Passions against one another.

Internal Conflict and Passion Tests

When a PC satisfies one Passion at the expense of another, the compromised Passion's rank is lowered and the preferred Passion's is raised according to the degree of compromise. Judging the degree of compromise is largely a matter of feel, but following rules of thumb will come in handy:

In the event that a Passion is compromised irreparably, the preferred Passion is raised to its old rank. Any compromise short of utter betrayal is one rank lower. In the case of Major Passions, the rank can be lowered once more if losing two ranks feels excessive.

Example: Johnny Murgatroyd Jr. loves his cat (Minor Tie), but he's a greedy son of a bitch. When someone offers to buy his cat off him for $200, he takes the money. As a result, he loses his Minor Tie towards his cat and gains a Minor Principle: "I love making money!" 

Interpersonal Conflict

Before play begins and after players have come up with their PCs' Passions, they should be compared to make sure they won't lead to irreconcilable differences in the party. Beyond that, it's left to each group to decide whether they want to minimise in-party conflict and to what extent.

===Starting Passions

I recommend starting with 1 Major and 2 Significant Passions. These can be generated before play begins or over the course of the first session as players are exposed to the setting.

===Gaining Passions

If a PC wants or expects to gain a Passion, they can pencil it into their Passions list and leave the rank unmarked.

===Changing Passions

During downtime, or in the wake of a significant event, players may feel that their PC’s Passions have become obsolete or untenable. In this case, they’re allowed to change those Passions and retain their Intensity and Will, so long as their new Passion responds to the old in some way.

At the GM’s discretion, the changing Passion’s intensity may be lowered by one rank, to represent spiritual exhaustion. This should be done if the change is a radical one - for instance, a complete reversal of position - or if the Passion is changing too rapidly - more than once in a session, or 2 sessions in a row, say.

Additionally, Passions may develop as they graduate to a new rank in the wake of a Passion Test.

Examples:
In the wake of a wrestling match which proved more difficult than expected, Milo's contempt for his foe Lucian matures to a grudging respect.

Vices

Vices only ever get in the way of achieving one's goals or adhering to one's Passions. Vices are not ranked, and they can only be indulged. This provides Will and XP as usual, but Will is distributed to Passions which the PC feels could redeem their indulgence or guide them away from the vice in question.

Example: McGinnis is addicted to cocaine. One day, while on cocaine, it occurs to McGinnis what a great idea it would be to rob a bank. He leaves 20 incoherent voicemails on his friend's phone before speeding off to the bank with some hosiery on his head, trying to load a shotgun and steer and rearrange the hosiery so he can see, all at the same time. After causing several accidents, he makes it to the bank. The cocaine begins to wear off, but he's terrified of what will happen if he stops, and so he heads in.

===

NEXT TIME: Madness, Wealth and Social Mechanics

Probability Charts

I did these up before I worked up the complete system for special results (triple ones, triple sixes), so the chance of a critical success (18+) at 3d6+0, +1, etc. is off by 0.46%.

This next one was the product of an investigation into using the number of rolls that you have to make to do something as a measure of difficulty:

Rules, Rolls and Moves; Skills, Knowledges, Language and Etiquette

This is the blog for BUGS (Briggs Universal Gaming System). It's a system for making systems I developed so it would be easier for me to make games. There is a core system I've developed on its basis, but suggestions for alternative and supplementary rules are offered throughout the text, with advice on their effects and uses.

I'm posting it here in an effort to clean it up for publication - I'm also looking for playtesters, so if you'd like me to run a game for you, leave a comment here and I'll get back to you. Notes in double brackets are not included in the text.

The Makeup of Rules

Rules are composed of the following:

1. Trigger (”When”), or…
1. Condition (”If”)
2. Outcome (”Then”)
3. Terminal Condition (”Until”), or…
1. Duration (”For”)

Most rules are structured like this:

(When/If) ____, Then ____ (Until/For ____).

Or this:

(When/If) ____, Then: 

If ____, Then ____ (Until/For ____).

If ____ ,Then ____ (Until/For ____).

Etc.

Rolling Dice

When a move tells you to roll+(something), roll three six-sided dice (3d6) and add that value to their sum. The sum of your 3 dice is your roll, the values you add or subtract from this sum are called modifiers, and the sum of all these is your result. Positive modifiers are called bonuses, and negative modifiers are called penalties. Modifiers cannot add up to less than -3 or more than +4.

Example: You’ve got Mighty +1 and a move tells you to “roll+Mighty”, so you roll three dice and add 1 to their sum.

Degrees of Success

If your result’s 9 or less (9-), you fail.
3- is a dismal failure.

If your result’s 10 or more (10+), you succeed.
10-13 is a weak success.
14+ is a strong success.
18+ is a remarkable success.

Special Results

Rolling triple ones or Fates is very good! Whoever rolls Fates succeeds in the most spectacular way imaginable, beyond all reason.
Rolling triple sixes or Devils is very bad! Whomever should roll this accursed number fails in the most squalid and dismal way possible, shaming their ancestors living and dead.

Variations on the Basic Roll

Roll d6/2: Roll d6, then divide the result by 2 and round up.
Flip a coin: Self-explanatory.
Take: Take a specific result without rolling. eg. “Take 10-13”. Also used with reference to modifiers, eg. "Take +1".

Variations on Modifiers

Upshift/Downshift: Improve/Worsen your result by one rank (eg. 10-13 becomes 14+)
Cap/Floor: Your result cannot rise above/fall below the number indicated.

When to Roll?

Only roll when:

1. The outcome of an action is unclear.
2. The stakes are significant.
3. The most likely outcome is not the most interesting.
4. Failure is as interesting as success.

The Basic Move

This is the basic template for all moves, and should be employed when no relevant rule can be found:

When the outcome of an action is in doubt, roll+(relevant modifiers). 

14+: It succeeds. 

9-: It fails. 

10-13: It's a weak success, which means one or more of the following:

1. Unwanted Consequences
1. You succeed, but other bad things happen as a result.
2. Worse Outcome
1. The goals you achieve are deficient in some way.
2. You only achieve some of your goals. (Partial Success)
3. Hard Bargain
1. You are faced with a worse outcome or unwanted consequences, but you can pay a price to avoid it.
4. Ugly Choice
1. You must choose from a list of worse outcomes or unwanted consequences.

[[List of examples of worse outcomes, partial successes to come. 

eg. You do less damage; The outcome is temporary where it would have been permanent.]]

Lists, Tokens and Points

Where most moves have a single predetermined outcome which occurs at the moment they’re made, lists allow you to choose from a range of options, tokens allow you to choose when it happens, and points allow you to choose from a range of options of different value.

When should lists be used?

1. When there are multiple desirable outcomes and you don’t want to make a move for every situation in which a single outcome is desirable. (Solution: Provide a list of options, one of which can be picked)
2. When you can’t come up with a single benefit which is worth the risk of a roll. (Solution: Provide a list of smaller benefits, a number of which can be picked.)

When should tokens be used?

1. When you can’t come up with a single benefit which is worth the risk of a roll. (Solution: Provide tokens which allow a smaller benefit to be collected multiple times.)
2. When it would be tedious to roll every time you attempted to use the power, but you need limits on how often it can be used. (Solution: Provide a number of tokens at the start of the session)

When should points be used?

1. As lists and tokens, but when certain options are clearly better than others.

Consequences of a Weak Success

Weak success on a move which forces you to choose from a list can mean:

1. Choosing fewer good options.
2. Choosing more bad options.
3. The GM chooses for you.

Weak success on a move which bestows points or tokens can mean:

1. You get fewer of them
2. You can't hold onto them for as long
1. You have to spend them that instant.

Skills and Knowledges

Skills and knowledges (henceforth skills) have four ranks, each adding a bonus to rolls made with them:

+1: Apprentice
+2: Journeyman
+3: Adept
+4: Master

1 XP improves a skill by 1 rank. By default, PCs start with 3 XP to buy skills. Any XP they don’t spend is retained.

With sufficient justification (GM’s call), you can improve skills in play. PCs can always train other PCs to their rank in a skill.

(Alternate rule: Escalating skill costs: The cost of improving a skill equals the rank you’re improving it to, so improving from rank 3 to 4 would cost 4 XP. Provides a barrier to mastery, and encourages generalisation of skillsets.)

Sample Skills

Before chargen, GMs should provide a list of sample skills which can be taken by the PCs. This list should short descriptions of what each skill does if it's not obvious. Some examples:

1. Architecture
2. Sculpture
3. Writing
4. Painting
5. Carpentry
6. Animal Lore
7. Smithing
8. Mathematics
9. Medicine
10. Cooking
11. History
12. Chemistry
13. Sailing
14. Riding
15. Breaking & Entering
16. Forensics
17. Riding
18. Driving
19. Sailing
20. Programming

The Domain of Skills

The domain of a skill is the set of scenarios in which it can be made use of. Skills should be broad enough that the GM doesn't have to make any particular effort to make them come up, and narrow enough that they can't solve every problem.

As they cost the same, each skill should be roughly as broad as the others. It's impossible to ensure that every skill will be as useful as every other in all circumstances, but a resourceful player should be able to make use of each skill in most.

[[Aside on do-everything skills: Do-everything skills are boring because they solve every problem and leave no room for improvement. Doing things is not fun - working within constraints to overcome obstacles is fun. Do-everything skills are like cheat codes or crack - really fun for a little while, then boring as shit. It doesn't matter if your do-everything skill does everything in a Batman way or a Viking way or a Wizard way, it's still boring. This applies to FATE's aspects and 13th Age's backgrounds when they're handled poorly (though the concepts and their implementations are flawed).]]

Variations on Skills

Minor Skills

If a skill doesn’t quite come under the banner of another but the GM decides it’s not worth a skill of its own, it can be purchased for 1 XP, or provided to characters with relevant skills for free. (eg. SCUBA diving to a character who can swim). Whenever you would use the minor skill, roll with the bonus of the skill that's most similar to it.

If the skill is essential to the game, the GM can provide it to all players for free as a starting skill.

Skill Requirements and Costs

Skills might require certain traits to take, or impose certain traits on their bearers. Skills of the former kind may not function as well in the absence of these traits.

The use of a skill should be proportional to its cost. Any skill which demands costs above and beyond the norm should provide benefits to match.

Examples: 
Ranks 2, 3 and 4 of Xenopsychology require a Minor, Major and Ruling insanity respectively. If this insanity is cured, your rank falls to the rank whose requirements you do meet, as only the mad comprehend the impossible wisdom of the Outsiders! When you again meet the requirements, you regain access to that rank. Alternately, ranks in Xenopsychology might cause this insanity permanently, as understanding these things drives one mad.

Ranks in Abyssal Lore and Telekinesis require a degree of insanity as above, or a Willpower of +1, with minor variations on their capabilities and consequences depending on which requirement is fulfilled.

Ranks in Ride Pegasus require ranks in Ride Horse and Charisma +1. Your rank in Ride Pegasus is limited to your rank in Ride Horse.

Skills, Perks and Moves

Ranks in skills might be a prerequisite for the purchase of other moves, or offer them as a bonus on some rank's attainment.

Examples:
A character’s bonus on rolls made while mounted is limited to their ride skill.
An adept rider can purchase a move which allows them to handle flying mounts.
A master rider can attempt to tame monsters in combat and ride them.

Move: Use Skill

When you use a skill to do something, roll:
+(rank), or
-1 If you’re untrained but there’s a chance you could do it.

14+: You do a fine job which no reasonable person could take issue with.
10-13: You do a passable job with a single flaw (GM’s call).

Difficulty

An action’s difficulty is applied as a penalty to the result of a roll.

There are two steps to take when determining an action's difficulty:

Firstly, consider an average application of the skill. The average application should be just difficult enough to justify a roll. Its difficulty is 0.

Example: Cooking a meal with familiar ingredients in a kitchen to satisfy an important diner.

For every significant point of difficulty differentiating an action from the average, increase difficulty by one.

Example: Cooking a meal with unfamiliar ingredients (+1) on a camp stove (+1) to satisfy a famous gourmand (+1)

Secondly, check your difficulty against the probability chart. [[Here]] This will become easier as you become more familiar with it. Here is a helpful heuristic:

Ask how often a PC of some rank should succeed flawlessly or fail at an action of that difficulty:

Examples:
What should a Master (+4) be able to succeed at flawlessly 25% of the time (3d6+1)? Difficulty 3. 
What should an Adept (+3) fail at 50% of the time (3d6-1)? Difficulty 4. 
What should a Journeyman (+2) fail at 40% of the time (3d6)? Difficulty 2.
What should an Apprentice (+1) fail at 15% more often than they usually do? Difficulty 1.

If the probability of success seems far too low or too high, adjust the action's difficulty accordingly.

Trivial and Prohibitive Difficulty
If you’ve got a less than 10% chance of failure (3d6+3 or 4), the action is trivial. If you've got a greater than 60% chance (3d6-2 or 3) of failure, it's too hard. In either case, don't roll except in exceptional circumstances.

Time and Difficulty
Generally, it's only worth considering whether a person has significantly more or less time than they need. If they have more, waive a single point of difficulty. If they have less, add a point.

Help and Difficulty
In any scenario where helping hands could make things easier, waive one point of difficulty. In any scenario where they would usually need help and have none, add one point.

Reducing Difficulty
On being informed of an action's difficulty, PCs will usually want to take steps to reduce it. They can do this by addressing points of difficulty.

For example:
Our chef sends someone away to delay the gourmand (-1), recruits some help (-1), then commandeers a kitchen (-1). 

Knowledges

A PC’s rank in a knowledge corresponds to their capacity to learn more about it, as well as their crystallised knowledge. For instance, a PC’s rank in History represents both their accumulated knowledge of historical facts and their capacity to conduct historical research, and so increases the chance that relevant information can be found in a library or that they know it off the top of their head.

Working Knowledge

Where sensible, skills double as knowledges.

Examples:
A doctor of medicine diagnoses a wound.
A cat burglar figures out how a house was broken into.
A painter recalls the biography of an old master.

Move: Consult Knowledge

When you consult your knowledge on an obscure subject, roll
+Rank, or
-1 if you're uneducated but there's a chance you might know it.

14+: You have comprehensive knowledge on the subject, and you might know a secret or two. The GM will tell you everything he judges relevant, and answer further questions at his discretion.
10-13: You know a few fragments which don’t quite add up to a whole. The GM will not answer questions, but may tell you where you could learn more.

Once you’ve made this move, you can’t use it on the same subject again. (See Libraries below)

Knowledge and Difficulty

The difficulty of a knowledge roll is determined by two factors:

1. The obscurity of the knowledge sought.
2. The usefulness of the knowledge sought. 

In practice, this means three things:

1. Knowledge should typically be as obscure as it is useful. 
2. The GM should not make something absurdly obscure just because it's useful, nor should they make arcane facts common knowledge because they're useless.
3. The GM should feel free to include a few useless, obscure facts for flavour's sake on a successful roll.

That said, difficulty will generally follow this chart:

0: Typically only know by professionals and enthusiasts.

1: A little obscure.
2: Obscure.
3: Very obscure.

+1 if the connection to your field of knowledge is tenuous.

For example: Knowledge with a tenuous connection to architecture includes architectural history, famous architects, the significance of a piece of architecture to a people, etc.

Library

A library is an extensive repository of knowledge on a subject. At the GM's discretion, you can use it to raise your result if you rolled a failure or a partial success on Consult Knowledge, or to roll again with or without a bonus.

Alternately, the GM can simply tell you what you could find out  about and how long it would take. This is simple enough to eyeball by comparing the cost of the time spent against the benefit of the knowledge: Labouring under ignorance, how long would it take the PC to achieve what they could with the knowledge, assuming they could at all?

What Should a PC Be Able to Learn by Consulting Their Knowledge?

The knowledge offered by a roll should be that which the PCs would otherwise learn the hard way.

Examples with regard to an enemy: Its patterns of attack, its weaknesses, its vices, its special abilities.

Secrets offered on a 14+ should provide leads for the PCs to follow up on foot.

Players should be rewarded for seeking out knowledge, but not to the extent that they opt for research over action. Significant, plot-relevant revelations should come about as a result of adventure and risky investigation on the part of the PCs, not as the result of a dice roll.

Alternate System: Depth of Knowledge

Here, difficulty is replaced with a system which buries knowledge of the subject at different depths.

The depth of a PC's knowledge = (their result on Consult Knowledge - 10). Depth counts from 0, representing surface knowledge.

The GM can offer a fragment of knowledge or two from a lower depth at their discretion, but I don't recommend he do this by default.

The Depth of Knowledge Chart:
All Depth of Knowledge charts are derived from the chart below:

RAW DEPTH OF KNOWLEDGE CHART

How often a PC of a given rank will know something of a given depth.

Because separating information about a thing into 12 different degrees of value is too difficult, and because it's not really worth devising results for Depth 10 and below, we're going to use the following chart as our basic template:

BASIC DEPTH OF KNOWLEDGE CHART

It's probably not worth working up results for Depth 6-7 until one of the PCs is an Adept in some field of knowledge, and it's probably not worth working up results for Depth 8-9 at all. This leaves us 3 degrees of success to work with: 0-1, 2-3, 4-5.

Example: Depth of knowledge chart for study of a local building:
0-1: Details about architect, local history.
2-3: Layout.
4-5: Secret passages.

Libraries and Depth of Knowledge
Under this system, Libraries can be rated on how deep their knowledge goes on certain subjects. This is represented as follows: (Subject: Depth)

Example: Library (Local History: 4-5) could get you to Depth 4/5 knowledge on subjects of local history.

===
Extended Example:
Gascon, an Apprentice of History (+1), rolls 14 to consult his knowledge of the local courthouse, at which his companion Bertrand will be charged with treason on the following day. With his result of 15, he would know that the courthouse was once also a prison (designed by Porthos Lemarchand, the debauched uncle of the Queen Mother), and that secret passages extend from the old cells to a trap door beneath the Judge’s bench. After hours spent poring through documents under the royal library, Gascon finds the building’s blueprints hidden inside a book of old recipes (authored by Lemarchand’s chef!).

Gascon employs his Apprentice talent in Writing (+1) to forge a notice from the Viceroy urging the judge to acquit Bertrand. With his roll of 11, it’s only a partial success (12). That night, sneaking past the guards into the old prison, Gascon gets under the judge’s bench through the trap door and exchanges his forgery for the Viceroy’s orders. Bertrand is released, but it’s only a matter of time until the viceroy recognises Gascon’s hand on the forgery…

If Gascon were an Apprentice of Medicine, he might know which herbs could induce an allergic reaction in the judge. If he were an Apprentice of Law, he could discover some arcane technicality which would delay the case.

Language and Etiquette

Languages are purchased like skills and knowledges, but they only have 2 ranks: Passing (1) and Fluent (2). Ranks in a language apply to both spoken and written communication.

The rules on languages also cover:

1. Operation in unfamiliar or hostile social settings. (eg. Ball ettiquette, navigating bureaucracies, dealing with hostile crowds.)
2. Codes. (eg. Thieves’ cant, flag semaphore.)

Move: Use Language

When you’re fluent in a language, you speak, write and understand it flawlessly.

When you try to speak, write or understand a language in which you have passing knowledge, the GM will flip a coin and conceal the results.

Heads: You communicate flawlessly and understand what they mean.
Tails: You miscommunicate or misunderstand them (GM’s call).

One flip is enough to cover a single conversation, although the GM can flip again if any party tries to communicate a particularly difficult or obscure idea.

If the parties involved have the time and inclination to sit down and talk something out, they will almost always come to an understanding, and no flip will be necessary.

Dead Languages

If it becomes clear that a language will be of no more use to a player, the GM can return the XP they spent on it.

Minor Languages

The GM can grant free ranks in language and etiquette at their discretion. This is usually done if its field of use is very narrow.  Once these ranks are granted, the GM cannot revoke them.

Eavesdropping

When you try to eavesdrop on someone, the GM will flip a coin and conceal the results.

Heads: You understand them and remain concealed.

Tails: You misunderstand them or are found out. (GM's call)

Optional Rule: Linguistic Difficulty

Instead of flipping a coin, the GM can roll a D6 and set the success threshold at 2+, 3+, 4+, 5+, or 6 to represent easy or difficult tests of linguistic proficiency.

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Next Time: Passion and Insanity