The product of Academic research is called a Study. Studies can be either a strong grasp of certain kinds of information, or can be specialized techniques that come from deep expertise in a field as well as further research and experimentation. Studies are either Basic or Advanced.
A Basic Study represents expert knowledge within some field. If someone has a Basic Study in an area, they may ask the Staff any question relating to their field of knowledge and gain answers that an expert would know. For instance, a character with a Study in Architecture could ask “What sort of culture made this structure? How long ago were techniques like these used?” Basic Studies are also used to support the creation of an Advanced Study.
An Advanced Study is theory turned to practical application. These are cutting edge practices used by the best operations in the world, or techniques used by the best at what they do. Advanced Studies are founded upon principles found in other skills and Basic Studies. Once an Advanced Study is implemented through Academics, it can be taught to others as the Study itself without meeting its original Research Elements.
Advanced or Rare Basic Studies require 10 Glory (per “Secrets“) to begin play with, on top of their normal experience costs. Studies marked with Uncommon or Rare require an additional 10 or 20 respectively.
The Exoterics are volumes and subjects that make up what most academics understand, and they are common enough that the related works should be expected to be found in most libraries around the world. Some book owners also own Rare works, which are Basic Studies that are not expected to be in most libraries, such as works detailing the lives of very specific individuals, secret histories, and other very specialized books. A rare Study is learned in the same way as a normal Basic Study is, but it simply requires a specific teacher in the form of a character or book to teach it.
Another group of works, called the Esoterics, usually dealing with magic, curses, and other facets of the hidden world, also exist, but are always considered Rare.
Effect: For 2 more pieces of Hardware, your mechanical Devices cannot be Sundered, but can still be Disabled by other Engineers.
Research Elements: Physics, Metallurgy
Effect: An apothecary can use Refinement to transform an existing Drug into new delivery forms. An intravenous Drug can become an Inhaled drug, with it’s call delivered by smoke touching the target, while ingested Drugs become Contact delivered, taking effect if the person touches a certain item. Use a sticker to denote contact Drugs.
Research Elements: Apothecary 4, Botany, Physiology
Effect: You are excellent at teaching topics while tying in related material. When you create books using a Tome, if you have any remaining Instruction bonus left unspent after the first use, you may apply what is remaining to new topics until none remains. The reader can receive all Instructions in the Tome as a single Research Downtime.
Anthologized tomes must be written in Aldersabin or Shariq’a
Research Elements: Etiquette 2, Library Science.
Effect: You are stoically dedicated to certain principles, and these principles are uncoupled from your own personal happiness or sadness. When using Discipline to resist one specific Social Condition such as Cower, a successful Discipline use protects you from that effect for the rest of the Scene from the same user, so long as you do not continue to engage them.
Research Elements: Courage 2, Persuasion 2, Philosophy, Logic, Rhetoric
Effect: Your Outfit designs are inspired and new, perhaps even ahead of their time. You may make Outfits that combine two Designs if all the Key Elements are present.
Research Elements: Needlework 4, Psychology, Mathematics
Effect: You are able to work with and produce mechanisms that involve the use of explosive black powder without simply blowing apart your design, as well as making sure it doesn’t shake itself apart after successive internal explosions.
Research Elements: Engineering 4, Physics, Metallurgy, Architecture, Hydraulics
Effect: If you confirm the presence of a Corpse in the Closet on someone via Streetwise, you may gain Power on Social Conditions where you bring up the flaw as part of the delivery.
Research Elements: Streetwise 2, Persuasion 1, Intimidation 1, Temptation 1, Sincerity 1, Psychology, Rhetoric
Effect: You may create a blueprint item for an item that you can create. Working directly from (and physrepping) a blueprint reduces crafting time of that specific item by 50%. This requires a Writing kit to create and Literacy to utilize.
Research Elements: Any Crafting Skill 4, Mechanics 1, Mathematics, Library Science
Effect: You are able to barrel through challenges with pure determination and catch the enemy off guard. When you lead a Trial, all of your followers gain one use of Fear. This does not combine with other Trial Leader Studies.
Research Elements: Morale 2, , Intimidate 4, Strategy, Psychology
Effect: You can effectively maintain quiet and stealthy movement, even in Medium Armor. In order to use this effect, you must fully cover all of the Medium Armor so that no piece is outwardly visible.
Research Elements: Stealth 4, Mobility 2, Finesse 2, Stitchwork 2, Anatomy, Physics
Effect: You are a careful planner, able to account for every contingency. When you lead a Trial, all of your followers gain 1 Parry. This does not combine with other Trial Leader Studies.
Research Elements: Leadership 2, Strategy, Logistics
Effect: Reduce Supply material requirements for Systems Improvements to buildings by 1 per type.
Research Elements: Civics, Engineering 3
Effect: You may operate a crane on a building site if one is present, adding your Engineering as additional Labor.
Research Elements: Engineering 2, Vigilance 2, Civics, Physics
Effect: You can encode anything you write with special codes that only you and those you teach how can read. Each code has a password associated with it, and someone with the Cryptography Study can make paper “keys” with the password on it that can decipher an encrypted document or attempt to guess the code.
Research Elements: Natural Linguist Perk, Logic, Rhetoric, Mathematics
Effect: You may perform a Streetwise action that references last Downtime’s actions. This still considers the target’s own Streetwise ability as resistance.
Research Elements: Survival 5, Streetwise 4, Logic, Civics
Effect: You are an expert of the secret subtleties and poetic double meanings of speech. You can hear the secret undertones when another person uses Doubletalk near you, and you may express complex ideas in your own uses of Doubletalk.
Requirements: Etiquette 2, Vigilance 2, Sincerity 2, Rhetoric, Philosophy
Effect: You may make natural dyes and inks out of other sources than ordinary herbs, such as for 3 units of vegetables, 3 units of soft iron, or 1 unit of charcoal or coal.
Requirements: Needlework 2, Apothecary 3, Botany, Metallurgy
Effect: You are a trendsetter, and your fashion sense changes the scene. Once per Event you may wear an Outfit that deliberately has different Key Elements than required for the Design, and treat it as correct anyway. For the next Season (or until overwritten by another Fasionista), the Key Elements for that Outfit change to be the ones that you wore for everyone in the Theater, updating the official Key Elements. A picture of the Outfit should be sent to Staff.
Research Elements: Needlework 3, Performance 2, Etiquette 3, Philosophy
Effect: You are undaunted by any challenge, able to show your soldiers your courage and inspire them to the same. When you lead a Trial, all of your followers gain 1 Discipline. This does not combine with other Trial Leader Studies.
Research Elements: Morale 2, Strategy, Psychology
Effect: You may make glass, and also cut it and work it into shapes and forms. Using this Study requires 2 Charcoal and Professional tools: Glazier.
Research Elements: Blacksmithing 2, Geology, Pneumatics
Effect: In the Wilderness, you gain the ability to Escape the scene using the Ignore signal at any time.
Research Elements: Survival 4, Mobility 3, Geography
Effect: Showmanship and excitement are your best tools, and you usually draw a crowd. Whenever you make a financial or business deal with someone, or sell them a product or service, you may immediately call Intrigue on another nearby character.
Research Elements: Temptation 2, Performance 3, Mercantilism 2, Psychology
Effect: You may frame someone else. As a use of the Streetwise Downtime, To whatever degree that you can best that person’s Streetwise, you may assign false results to anyone who uses Streetwise to look into them this Chapter.
Research Elements: Streetwise 4, Finesse 4, Sociology
Effect: Your followers are swept up in your leadership ability, able to believe that they will win the day because it is you who lead them. When you lead a Trial, all of your followers gain 3 Hope. This does not combine with other Trial Leader Studies.
Research Elements: Morale 2, Strategy, Rhetoric
Effect: You are capable of speaking the language of a given culture – Rogalt, Njor, Dunna, Gothic, Aldersabin, Hestron, Shariq’a, Capacian, or some other language. All characters begin with this Study for their own Culture.
Research Elements: Linguistics, Culture’s Basic Study
Effect: Your command of Rogalian legal language allows you to add confusing subclauses to the agreed upon text in a Contract that most people won’t understand until it is pointed out to them or explained carefully. The contract must be written in Rogalt, and you must mark an asterisk on the contract in the most related area of the text, and may notify Staff of the secret clause in the contract. This Study also allows you to immediately read and understand such clauses, and you may ask the true meaning if you see an asterisk.
Research Elements: Mercantilism 3, Etiquette 2, Law, Rhetoric, Rogalian Language
Effect: You understand the extremely high precision work that goes into making the tiny pieces that form the Hardware of Engineering Devices. This is required to make machine Hardware.
Research Elements: Blacksmithing 4, Engineering 2, Finesse 4, Metallurgy, Mathematics
Effect: You know how to process red sanguine bezoars into Rubido Essences. These can be used to create powerful Malefica concoctions, or used as Catalyst for Air magic.
Research Elements: Apothecary 4, Curses
Effect: You know how to process white phlegmatic bezoars into Albedo Essences. These can be used to create powerful Malefica concoctions, or used as Catalyst for Water magic.
Research Elements: Apothecary 4, Undead
Effect: You know how to process black melancholic bezoars into Nigredo Essences. These can be used to create powerful Malefica concoctions, or used as Catalyst for Earth magic.
Research Elements: Apothecary 4, Ghosts
Effect: You know how to process yellow melancholic bezoars into Citrinitas Essences. These can be used to create powerful Malefica concoctions, or used as Catalyst for Fire magic.
Research Elements: Apothecary 4, Spirits
Effect: Someone else that you are working with may touch your mark instead of you in order to Pickpocket, so long as you are within arm’s reach of the target.
Research Elements: Finesse 5, Sincerity 2, Etiquette 2, Psychology
Effect: You are able to work with and produce devices that transmit energy from natural sources, such as wind and water power.
Research Elements: Mechanics 2, Hydraulics, Pneumatics
Effect: You may work fine, thin sheets of textiles into paper to be used in books and writing kits.
Research Elements: Needlework 2, Apothecary 2, Botany
Effect: You are familiar with the human body and are capable of mending some of its harms. While looked at with some suspicion by the Hospitalier, this knowledge allows the the physicker perform two functions:
First, they may use a Bandage on an injured limb and bind it. After 30 minutes, the limb regains usability, though additional hits to the limb count as Maims until true recovery has been achieved. Further, they can treat a fresh limb Maim within an hour of it occurring, which allows the maim to revert back to a normal Injury. Either of these events requires around 10 minutes of medical roleplay with the patient, using crude tools as props. The Physicker must also apply grime and/or wound makeup to the player they are treating which shows the wounds they have received in their recent brush with death (even wounds besides the ones they treated).
Use of this Study requires Professional Tools: Physicker item and props. More advanced forms of this Study are said to exist.
Research Elements: Grit 4, Courage 2, Anatomy, Physiology, an exploratory autotopsy.
Effect: If all the attention of a crowd or gathering (5 or more) in the room is on you, you immediately gain 1 Hope, which fades when you are not the center of attention if unused.
Research Elements: Performance 3, Etiquette 3, Psychology
Effect: A character may spend a Downtime surveying and drilling into a Mountain or Hills resource area with Mining Tools and learn the contents of the first 5 shafts of a potential Mine.
Research Elements: Mining 4, Geology, Geography
Effect: You can see the Rumor list before the Event and substantially change one of them. Rumors that have been changed can’t be changed again.
Research Elements: Streetwise 2, Sincerity 2, Rhetoric, Sociology
Effect: Drawing in the dirt, writing on the corners of pages (or even on cell walls), you may, at length, perform Arcane Research without the aid of a proper Laboratorium. By spending a Research Downtime you may perform one bit of Spellwork. See Spellcraft for details.
Research Elements: Arcane Initiation, Logic, Mathematics, Astrology, Magic
Effect: Signet rings are usually specifically designed to frustrate forgeries. It works, just not against you. You are skilled enough to duplicate a signet ring and forge any signet with for you have a sample.
Research Elements: Finesse 4, History, Heraldry, Metallurgy
Slash and Burn
Effect: As a Forwarding action, a Forester can burn their way through a forest, purposefully wasting the wood that it provides, in order to get to the old growth at the center to harvest the Hardwood. A Forwarding action can remove any number of material from a forest, destroying it.
Research Elements: Forestry 4, Ecology, Geography
Effect: When you have expert knowledge on a topic you know how to play up your expertise to make sure you are heard. Social Conditions uses directly pertaining to a topic you have the Basic Study gain Power.
Research Elements: Sincerity 4, Rhetoric, Logic
Teaching Specialist (Specific)
Effect: Instruction of a specific narrow topic is done at an additional -1 xp cost.
(Example topics include: a Specific Skill, Attributes, Studies, Fighting Styles, Techniques)
Research Elements: Logic, Rhetoric, Library Science, at least 5 of the specific topic (Skill Ranks, Studies, etc)
Effect: Once a subject is Cowed by you, you may call Trauma on that character.
Research Elements: Intimidate 4, Etiquette 3, Psychology
Effect: You may use a Refinement to reverse (where applicable) the trait found on one Drug trait, such as an Excitant to a Drowser, or a Steroid to a Relaxant.
Research Elements: Apothecary 3, Botany, Physiology
Effect: After a full performance, until the end of the scene, if you approach someone who gained Hope from your Performance, you may call one Social Condition on them in conversation.
Research Elements: Performance 3, Psychology, Sociology
Effect: You gain the War Games Order, commanding two Forces to fight with each other in a mock battle, which is treated as an Attack order against another Force you control with no consequences. All Units involved on either side that were Green gain 1 Battle Experience.
Research Elements: Leadership 4, Strategy