CrownedSun/LoreSystem
Contents
Common Knowledge
a 'Twilight' System for Lore, and Occult
It's often come up in my game, as I create a number of backstories and locations and 'new stuff' that players desire to know exactly how much of the material I've presented to them they actually KNOW. Similarly, when new stuff comes up in the game it's quite logical for the player to ask if they know anything about what's going on. Usually, I accomplish this through a simple system of rolling Intelligence + Lore and deciding how much they might know by the number of successes they roll.
This system here is basically a system to better quantify that, and allow me to manipulate the rolls in a way that I find likeable -- the goal is to create a differences between types of knowledge in a few ways. One way is by location; the stuff that someone from the Realm might know is very different from that which a Northern Barbarian might know, and so forth. Similarly, character background has a play in it -- some characters are likely to know a lot more about some things than others. Lastly, /available knowledge/! Research is something that I don't see quite as much of, and I desire that to change somewhat. Thus, two iterations of the system -- one for 'knowledge you can find out with a little research' and another for 'knowledge that you know right away, just as common knowledge'.
Here's a few of the concepts...
- The most commonly used roll for determining if you know something or not is Intelligence + Lore. Occult might be used instead, when the subject being inquired about is particularly suitable. The dead, the fae, sorcery, gods and elementals -- these things more often fall under Occult.
- The amount of knowledge that is available to you right off the top of your head is smaller than that if you do research (checking tomes, talking with other savants, etc.) If checking to see if something is available off the top of your head, divide the successes in half (round up). If you take your time and do a little research, you make the full roll.
- Successes have to be divided between two areas. The first, scope, covers how far flung the information is related to your character. The second, depth, covers how much you actually know about the subject in question.
Lastly, characters can stunt as normal on these rolls! If you can come up with a cool reason why your character should know something, it can help you to get the information you need!
the rules
Scope
The first step in determining how much a character knows about a given subject is deciding just how closely related this bit of lore is to the character, both personally and as a character. This relates to the informations scope!
Scope 0 -- This is information that is easily available to the character. It might be a common rumor of his hometown, knowledge that those of his profession typically know, or something that someone with a similar background would have easy access to.
Example: A nexus character's information about the laws of the town, a mercenary with knowledge of a company operating out of Nexus, or a Great Forks character with information about the Gods of his city.
Scope 1 -- This is information that is connected to the character and that he might know, but which is less certain. Information about villages and cities near the characters home, or rumors that aren't in the characters immediate circle. Stories and tales of the characters' homeland in the past also usually fit into this scope, as does information linked with his background/profession but which is not common.
Example: A character from Chiaroscuro knowing Grandmother Brights connection to the city, a character knowing that the Dragon-Blooded whom he is facing was once a Outcaste from his hometown, a begger in Gem knowing about a rumor flitting through the cities nobility, or the knowledge a master swordsman might have a magical blade.
Scope 2 -- This is information that is foreign to the character's experience, but still somewhat 'localized'. He might not have heard of it a lot, but he shouldn't have much trouble finding out in general and he might have heard it a few times from others. In general, you can consider most information from the same direction/region as the character to fall into this scope. Similarly, information that is rare but not unknown to his profession/background can fall into this category.
Example: A character from lookshy might know some lore about the Forest People (not 'common knowledge' stuff, but real useful lore), while a blacksmith might be able to tell you about a legendary blade that is legend throughout craftsmen of Creation. Anyone from the West (but not from Onyx) MIGHT know who one of the Silver Princes deathknights is upon meeting him.
Scope 3 -- Here we reach information that is alien to the character and which he is unlikely to know, yet which is not actually obscured from him. While he's unlikely to know much at first hint, he can probably figure it out with a bit of effort. This is information from outside the characters region or direction, or knowledge that the character really has no real reason to know about at all. Yet, this knowledge is not being hidden or considered secret/guarded.
Example: A Dynast from the Blessed Isle might very well be able to find out about the tragic lover story of Ludmi, Matacha and Iol...but he is unlikely to know it out-of-hand. Similarly, a Southerner very likely doesn't know the actual details of slavery in the Realm -- as opposed to what people in his region believe about it -- but he could discover it if he wished to do so.
Scope 4 -- This is information hidden from the eyes of most, known only to a select few. Yet, while it is hidden, it is only hidden by mortal hands or efforts. It might cover state secrets, legends and tales suppressed by the Immaculate Order (but not banished by the magics of the Sidereals or the Scarlet Empress), and other such lore that rests only in a few scattered hands.
Example: No one is likely to know about a suppressed Riot that occured in RY 330, which was taken off the history books by the Scarlet Empresses own edict (but not erased from the minds of most by her powerful magics, or scourged from the face of all who knew by Exalted assassins). Yet a particularly dutiful scholar could discover this knowledge...
Scope 5 -- This is knowledge that no one is likely to know - that obscured by the powerful magic of the Sidereals, the Gods, epic sorcery, or just so obscured and difficult to discover that it's effectively lost to time. Only the most epic scholars of the land have even a CHANCE of discovering this kind of knowledge.
Example: I do not have the Lore skill to give you an example of this kind of knowledge;P
Note, while scope is to some degree based on the character -- it can be a fairly 'hard' system. As an optional rule, in order to represent finer degrees of familiarity, you can add fine modifications to a specific bit of knowledge as it relates to the character without changing the scope. I.e., a certain character is MORE likely to know something of a given scope than another bit of knowledge of the same scope -- or less likely, as the case in question might be. This is accomplished through a bonus or penality to the roll of 1 or 2 dice.
Rule: Each level of scope requires one successs be spent on it. So any scope 5 requires five successes be "wasted" just so you have a chance to know the item at all.
Rule: One *cannot* learn anything about knowledge with a Scope rating higher than your Lore or Occult (as appropriate) ability. So everyone knows the commmon knowledge at Scope 0, but only the most puissiant scholars even have a CHANCE of discovering the secrets of Scope 5! Most Dynasts, by contrast, know a bit about everything connected to the Realm -- but not generally things utterly unconnected to it. They might know about something in the South, but only as it relates to the Dynasty. Similarly, Siderealls generally know a little about everything not obscured/hidden.
Rule: You can, if you choose to do so, lower the Scope of an item by one for all purposes -- however the resulting information is overwhelmingly slanted in a way related to your own scope. The higher the scope was previously, the more effect this will have. The slant on something at scope 2 is just bias, while the slant on something at scope 5 is going to be deliberate lies and propaganda. None the less, this lets you more easily gain information that you otherwise might not have access to. This also lets those without any lore gain access to common information.
Depth
Not that we know the Scope of the endeavor in question, the Depth is the next most important matter. This actually covers how much you actually know about the item in question, and it requires that you make the roll in question. There isn't a "preset" depth, only whatever your successes manage to buy you. However, that's not to say that everything (outside of scope) is equally easy to discover! Certain bits of knowledge are harder for even those close to them to discover than others, and thus Depth has a "difficulty" attached.
It is important to note that, unlike scope, the depth-difficulty rating of a item is the same regardless of character. Some items are known to all, others are virtually lost to the ages. The only difference the scope makes is that some people are more likely to be able to know than others by some narrow margin. Like scope, this difficulty ranges from 0 to 5.
A difficulty of zero is used in most cases, with information that is generally available to those with the correct scope. A difficulty of 1 or higher is unusual. A bit of information with a difficulty of one is rare even within those that should know it; a story of shame that few in the village tell and is seldom repeated. A difficulty of three is something that little is generally known about; the knowledge has been lost and nobody really knows anymore. Finally, information with a difficulty of five is generally unavailable -- the abyssal exalted only appeared in the last five years, so attempting to learn about them has this difficulty.
Rule: Apply successes to scope first, then to Depth. Finally, subtract the difficulty. If you have zero successes left in depth, you can choose to know a little about the subject -- the information is of dubious quality, and you KNOW it's of dubious quality (unlike a botch). However, it might be better than nothing? The lower your final result, the more misleading the information. This option is only available based on the storytellers whim, with him taking account the Scope and Difficulty of the information.
Breadth Chart
1 success -- You have a basic overview of the information, basically correct but not with a lot of detail. You can generally separate truth from hopeful fiction or outright speculation, but can be fooled by a particularly cunning misunderstanding or lie on occasion.
2 successes -- You have an technically complete understanding of the information in context, but don't understand all the hows and whys. You might not understand it's interactions with other bits of lore, but can make intelligent guesses.
3 successes -- You have an essentially complete view of the information. You understand how it works, and more importantly how it /doesn't/ work. You can make jumps into related endeavors (Nexus..to Lookshy), but your assumptions in these efforts might not bear out.
4 successes -- You understand all the details of the information, and have a functional working grasp of related subjects.
5 successes -- You have a perfect and complete understanding of the subject, and understand as much as is necessary of related subjects.
Example
to be filled in later
Comments
I like this. I might raise the numbers on scope a litle but then again i might not
This seems like just a restatement of the Difficulty / Degree of Success deal from the core book, where Scope is Difficulty and Degree of Success is Depth, with additional clarification and such. I'm wondering if you intended that, or if there's supposed to be something more wacky going on that I'm missing. Is Scope possibly restricted or increased by the materials at hand? A savant may have vast amounts of lore at hand, but even they would have their reach extended with the resources of the Imperial Library and a dutiful team of students at their beck and call... DS
Scope is different than difficulty for a few reasons. First, it's a bit more formal and it's limited in ways. Either by Lore (which works at the lower levels but I'm not hugely happy about), or by available materials onhand. Second, it's specifically noted as being somewhat 'shifted' toward the character's own knowledge and stuff. As opposed to just "this has a scope 1", it's more "for your character, that's scope 1."
Difficulty is actually included under Breadth, in fact. I envision scope as something a bit different, and difficulty as being something reflecting when it's actually DIFFICULT to get information about something. Scope is more related to how hard it is for your character to find it, as opposed to in general or overall. Though at high levels it overlaps.
Lastly, the big change I see here is the 'half-successes to see what you know right now'. That provides a nice reliable limit (without being too nasty; I had a player roll 10 successes last game!), which helps me out when a player asks rather or not he knows something. I could just say "yes" or "no", of course, but this takes the characters intelligence and lore into more account so I kind of prefer this answer:D
--CrownedSun
