diff --git a/commands.tex b/commands.tex
index c0ad6553f8f3a067acaf3893fbf7dd8cc3c557ed..edb01b803198da67b256dc2c8a01ebfd5a51a489 100644
--- a/commands.tex
+++ b/commands.tex
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
\newcommand\bigSkillsTable{
\begin{figure*}[t!]
+ \small
\begin{nametable}[L||L|L|L|L|L|L]{Skill Table}
\label{skillChart}
@@ -20,7 +21,7 @@
Academics & Orating to a massive crowd & Forgery & Courier Runs & Recalling facts & Resisting an enchantment spell & Storytelling \\\hline
Athletics & Lifting heavy loads & Climbing & Sprinting & Finding the easiest route to climb & Identifying optimal climbing conditions & Stage acrobatics \\\hline
Deceit & Intimidation & Feigning an injury & Spreading a rumour across an entire town & Crafting a plausible lie & Making a quick excuse & Implausible lies \\\hline
- Stealth & Hiding in a hay bail & Moving quietly & Escaping into a crowd & Identifying the best hiding spot & Quickly hiding & Pretending to be anther guest at the ball \\\hline
+ Stealth & Hiding in a hay bail & Moving quietly & Escaping into a crowd & Identifying the best hiding spot & Quickly hiding & Slipping into a party uninvited \\\hline
Vigilance & Keeping watch all night & Feeling for an exit in the dark & Searching a full forest for a particular tree & Investigating a crime scene & Spotting an illusion spell & Finding the best con target at a banquet \\
Wyldcrafting & Wrestling a~boar & Untying a~horse's bridle & Fleeing a stampede & Planning a new, hidden trail & Foraging for a quick meal & Selling vegetables \\\hline
diff --git a/traits.tex b/traits.tex
index b724f79cd2cb1ac407da0c41b0e3857b5d97a153..5dc66f942925fc25f502d25b2e7962c4752a510c 100644
--- a/traits.tex
+++ b/traits.tex
@@ -188,12 +188,12 @@ Skills range from 1 to 5, but the character sheet only has three dots.
Those last bonuses are available to professionals, who take a \textit{Specialist Knack}, giving them a +2 Bonus in their narrow field.%
\footnote{See \autopageref{specialist} for the Specialist Knack.}
-As a result, \glspl{pc} will rarely match the abilities of someone who performs the same task daily.
+As a result, \glspl{pc} will rarely match the abilities of \pgls{npc} who performs the same task daily.
A shepherd, for example, will gain a +2 Bonus for herding sheep, so even when their \roll{Intelligence}{Wyldcrafting} only amount to a +2 Bonus, they will have a +4 Bonus in total.
\subsection{Academics}
-The Academics Skill covers a love of learning facts, many of which can be useful.
+The Academics Skill covers a love of learning facts, some of which may one day prove useful.
Academics study history, architecture, local politics, literature, and (very commonly) how to study more.
This `study of study', can involve reading, mnemonics, and teaching.
@@ -220,7 +220,7 @@ This `study of study', can involve reading, mnemonics, and teaching.
\item[\roll{Strength}{Academics}]
covers oration, as speaking to a large crowd requires strong lungs.
- Forest clearings might grant a +1 bonus, while a full auditorium can grant +2.
+ A full auditorium can grant a +2 Bonus to the roll due to good acoustics, or a big hat could grant a +1 Bonus for drawing everyone's attention.
\item[\roll{Dexterity}{Academics}]
covers forgery, as the work needs a steady hand, along with an excellent understanding of the meaning of every material and symbol upon coins, signet rings, and letters.
@@ -229,6 +229,9 @@ This `study of study', can involve reading, mnemonics, and teaching.
lets characters recall facts about an area's history.
Libraries grant a bonus to the roll.
+ \item[\roll{Wits}{Academics}]
+ lets people resist spells of the Mind Sphere.
+ Some think this protection comes from so many years of thinking in terms of abstraction, while others say that reading too much twists the mind, making it less intelligible to anyone who hasn't gained the same books, and therefore hasn't gained the same world-view.
\item[\roll{Charisma}{Academics}]
covers storytelling.
@@ -238,20 +241,32 @@ This `study of study', can involve reading, mnemonics, and teaching.
\begin{exampletext}
- Minkrash wished every one of his companions dead.
- He could cast a spell to kill them, then return with the dryad to her\ldots.
+ The \gls{jotter}'s purple veins throbbed, from his ears to his eyeballs.
- Minkrash blinked in confusion.
- His companions had done nothing, but he wished them dead -- hardly the definition of justice!
- He wanted to return with this strange creature, commonly known for eating humans.
- But he \emph{loved her}, very deeply.
+ ``Third time.
+ First, yous wouldn't help \pgls{village}, second yous were too good to clean up \pgls{bothy}, and now you've come back from the \gls{edge} without a single basilisk egg.
- Hands raised, magical energy crackled throughout the trees, and the dryad found herself pinned to the ground by his Force spell.
- Most of his companions remained under her spell, Minkrash could never pass up an opportunity to best a foe in battle.
- His axe came down, her head fell off, and the rest (still under her spell), began to wail with grief.
+ Everyone's demoted.
+ Yous are now considered `Fodder', and you can leave the swords for the new recruits.
+ Yous can go hunt bandits with sticks for all I care, and leave the armour too!''
- Minkrash just chuckled, and waited for the spell to wear off.
- Apparently a lifetime of thinking in abstractions really did have real-world applications.
+ Hunting bandits without weapons effectively meant a death sentence.
+ Luckily, Minkrash had been following the recent rulings in the \gls{court}.
+
+ Minkrash sighed -- ``Could do\ldots or we could ask the \gls{warden} if he wants to eat his words''.
+
+ ``The fuck are you talking about?!
+ You think the \gls{warden} wants to listen to you?''
+
+ ``Not exactly, but she'll listen to herself.
+ Last month \pgls{jotter} sent out a bunch of new recruits, armed only with daggers.
+ When they didn't return, the family summoned that \gls{jotter} to the \gls{court}, and \gls{warden} Carnyx agreed that he'd been negligent.
+ He's still in the oubliette.
+ It's a tiny room, barely enough room to turn around, and he never lies down.
+ They say you can learn to sleep standing up after a couple of weeks, but then the spine never really recovers.''
+
+ The \gls{jotter}'s pulsing veins changed direction, and he resolved to kill each of these miscreants one way or another.
+ But at least they'd be well armed\ldots
\end{exampletext}
@@ -283,22 +298,21 @@ This covers all manner of fancy movements, from somersaults and rolling to climb
\begin{exampletext}
Climbing the mansion's ivy-straddled walls wouldn't challenge any child of the streets, but getting the crew up required real understanding.
- Coalgrit looked at the latch on the rotten shutters -- it wouldn't hold a fat gnome, never mind the mad thug who'd joined the revolution, apparently just to crack skulls.
-
- Climbing a little further, he found an impenetrable window.
- A bronze mesh, filled with glass, hard set into the wall with deep nails.
- Nothing could get in but enough Sunlight to feed the little potted plans on the inner window.
- He took out his chisel, rested his elbows on the window's tiny sill, rummaged his foot along the ivy to find the best purchase, and pulled the hammer from his tool-belt.
+ Coalgrit looked at the ivy climbing two stories up towards the rotten shutters.
+ It wouldn't hold his first companion (a bulky gnome), never mind the mad thug who'd joined the \gls{guard} voluntarily (apparently just to crack bandit skulls).
+ He ascended carefully, and found an impenetrable window.
- A tiny shattering noise went out as he punctured a glass piece at the bottom, then another.
- Holding his tools by their head, he stuck in the handles to grab a plant by the pot's base, and manoeuvre it to cover the smashed glass.
+ It was bronze mesh, filled with glass, hard set into the wall with deep nails.
+ Nothing could get in, except Sunlight.
+ He took out his chisel, rested his elbows on the window's tiny sill, rummaged his foot along the ivy to find the best place to steady his body, then pulled a hammer from his tool-belt.
- The room had a small bed and toys lying around.
- If anyone noticed the smashed glass, they would accuse the child of covering up some mess they had made.
+ A tiny `clank' noise went out as he punctured a glass piece at the base of the bronze-meshed window.
+ He looped the hammer's claw round to puncture another bit of glass from the inside, and let it land below.
- With his work done, Coalgrit dropped the tools, letting them land in the soft earth below with the tiniest thunk, and spread his weight across different ivy strands once more, and climbed down the building's various floors.
+ With his work done, Coalgrit dropped the tools, letting them land in the soft earth below with a timid `thunk', and spread his weight across different ivy strands once more.
+ He climbed down the building's various floors with a plan in mind.
- Collecting his tools on the ground, Coalgrit began walking home, and planning the equipment for the night -- one knotted rope to tie through the openings in the bronze grate while the child slept, and a saw to cut through the rotten window-latch.
+ Collecting his tools and a single shared of glass from the ground, Coalgrit began walking home, and thought over the equipment for that night -- one knotted rope to tie through the openings in the bronze grate, and a saw to cut through the rotten window-latch.
After that, everyone would follow up the rope without issue.
\end{exampletext}
@@ -330,10 +344,10 @@ Just as most humans understand some basic Wyldcrafting, almost all dwarves and g
``And where do you think you're going, wearing that elf-getup?''
- ``It's not elvish, it's my Summer wardrobe'', said the alchemist.
- ``I don't like heavy armour -- I can use a magic shield''.
+ ``It's not elvish, it's my Summer wardrobe'', said the \gls{seeker}.
+ ``I don't like armour -- it makes me all sweaty.''
- ``And will this magic shield protect you from the cold down there?
+ ``And will this `wardrobe' protect you from the cold down there?
And what the hell are \emph{you} wearing?''
``Full plate armour'', he smiled proudly.
@@ -353,7 +367,7 @@ Just as most humans understand some basic Wyldcrafting, almost all dwarves and g
They all laughed.
Apparently hypoxia was some kind of joke to these idiots.
- The dwarf just sighed.
+ The dwarf just sighed, and regretted every decision that lead him into the \gls{guard}.
\index{Hypoxia}
\end{exampletext}
@@ -382,6 +396,31 @@ Exactly what the character can craft depends on their other Skills.
lets characters make good moulds and plans, for themselves or others.
\end{description}
+\begin{exampletext}
+ The little contingent of \glspl{guard} woke to find the \gls{village} mourning their fletcher.
+ A woodspy had unlocked his door with a clever tentacle, and entered his home.
+ Nobody could loose an arrow at it, firstly because it had entered a house, and secondly because they had run out of arrows while defending their \gls{village}.
+
+ ``Shame'', one said.
+ ``We'll miss his arrows, especially this far out''.
+
+ The \glspl{guard} knew their duty -- they would have to enter the house, and kill it, so they entered very slowly, with swords out, and carefully stabbed at every bed, cushion, shelf, or any other medium-sized object they could stab.
+
+ ``Real shame'', one of them said with a long sigh.
+
+ ``Nobody knows that we cleared the road out of here, so the traders won't come up here until we return down that road, and tell them they can come up here safely.
+ If we don't return, they'll assume we died, because of the same thing that killed everyone else coming up here.''
+
+ By the time they'd finished stabbing at everything in the house, they realized that the woodspy had long-since left, unnoticed, after eating the fletcher and his child.
+ And with the morning entirely spent, they would have to return back along the lonely road quickly, if it wasn't too late already.
+
+ Of course, that would leave the \gls{village} without any arrows, at night, which would mean that if anything approached, they would have to repel it with their weapons: two spears, a plough, and several flails.
+
+ They \glspl{guard} stared at the fletcher's equipment, and thought of trying their hand at make-shift arrows, and whether the farmers would be better off with loosely-fitted arrow-heads and false-hope than they would be without.
+
+ ``Damned shame'', they started to realize that the \gls{village} could fall before they returned with reinforcements, all for the want of their fletcher.
+\end{exampletext}
+
\subsection{Deceit}
Someone proficient at deception can make others see white as black by sheer confidence.
@@ -407,55 +446,39 @@ Someone proficient at deception can make others see white as black by sheer conf
\begin{exampletext}
- Sindon and Stoatmail listened with horror as the guards crashed into the first room in the hallway.
-
- ``We're dead.
- We're fucking dead, Sin.
- There's five waiting outside on horses.
- Let me check the chimney\ldots no it's big at the bottom, but gets narrow above.''
-
- ``So you can stand inside?'', Sindon asked as the guards crashed into the room next door, grabbing the guests to examine their faces for signs of polymorphing.
+ Vanw\"e returned to the \gls{broch} with that creepy elven scowl that looks half-way between solving a puzzle, and getting ready to stab someone.
+ \Gls{jotter} Coriolis began hopefully, before reorganizing her attitude.
- ``Stand up?
- Sure.
- Move up?
- No.
- It's a dead fucking end we're fucking dead, Sin.''
+ ``So what did you find in the city?
+ How much gold can I put in the\ldots
+ where are the others?''
- Sindon's eyes lit up as an idea possessed him.
+ The scowl didn't move.
+ ``At the tavern, in \emph{town}, all drinking.''
- ``Stand here!
- Pull your hood over your head.
- Hold my wrist hard and tell the guards your want the bounty on my head.
- When you see a light, cover your eyes, as usual, then jump up the chimney as quick as you can.''
+ ``Vanw\"e'', she said, trying to sound like an authority.
+ ``You know that you can't go into towns.
+ It's forbidden for the \gls{guard} to\ldots''
- ``What's the plan, Sin?
- I don't understand''
+ ``Three days we searched.
+ The place looks a century old.
+ Not a bit of wood remains.
+ It's pretty obvious that the place must have been raided ten times over by now, but we trusted you when you said it had valuables.
- The guard crashed through the door.
+ We searched through the ruins for two days, and found nothing but acidic creatures, slowly inching towards us.
+ And we could out-run them, but had nowhere to sleep.
+ Did you send us out to die?''
- ``I, uh\ldots
- I want the bounty'', Stoatmail mumbled weakly.
+ The \gls{jotter}'s attitude had finally turned full circle.
+ She'd have to mark the abandoned city off her to-do list and her map if it really was that old and ravaged.
- Sindon looked dramatically at Stoatmail's hooded face and sneered, ``you are nothing but old soot!'', and threw his spare hand out to summon the light.
-
- The guards averted their eyes, and clamped together, blocking the door.
-
- ``Where did the man go?'', the first guard asked as debris from the fireplace filled the room like a snowstorm.
+ ``I had no idea.
+ I am sorry.
+ Listen, I'll write you all a note, stating some business in town.
+ Why don't you join the others, and you can all have a few nights in town to relax after the dangerous journey?''
- ``He is nothing but soot.
- All of you!
- You are all\ldots''
- Sindon raised both hands as if beginning a mighty spell.
-
- ``NOTHING BUT SOOT!''
-
- The guards jumped back out the door.
- They knew spell casters had to see people to cast a spell on them.
- They did not know that elven magic cannot transform people into inanimate material.
-
- ``Come on, Stoatmail.
- We should go quickly, before they realize my spells wouldn't hurt a fly.''
+ Vanw\"e held her vicious gaze silently, then took the note of permission, and went to town.
+ And on the way, she nipped into the forest, to pick up the little bag of golden rings, rubies, and ancient alchemical books they'd found in the abandoned city.
\end{exampletext}
@@ -481,14 +504,15 @@ The art of understanding people is practised by kind souls as well as malicious.
Eleven or twelve eligible young ladies.
One elf, polymorphed into a young noble.
- The investigator requested a dance, and complemented the young lady's style.
+ The \gls{seeker} requested a dance, and complemented the young lady's style.
It wasn't her.
She was strong, but hid her strength well.
The second was clumsy -- she didn't know the dance.
She repeatedly looked up at him with a little flecks of embarrassment.
- The third was disinterested, but still trying to lead the dance, but hadn't the muscle to properly telegraph her movements.
+ The third was disinterested, but still trying to lead the dance.
+ Her fragile arms hadn't the muscle to properly telegraph her movements, and the dance soon became awkward.
Bingo.
\end{exampletext}
@@ -496,6 +520,7 @@ The art of understanding people is practised by kind souls as well as malicious.
\subsection{Larceny}
Theft, looting and arson all benefit from experience.
+Of course the \gls{guard} have no use for any of those horrible things, but since most \glspl{guard} begin as criminals, most groups have a pick-pocket, cut-throat, or brigand, ready to employ their abilities if they find half a chance.
\begin{description}
\item[\roll{Dexterity}{Larceny}]
@@ -514,34 +539,34 @@ Theft, looting and arson all benefit from experience.
\end{description}
\begin{exampletext}
- ``I don't want to get swindled'', she said.
- ``Of course I understand that magical items can't be sold easily, but I still think I should get a fair price''.
-
- ``No I know, I understand, the price isn't the issue, we just need to confirm we can use it.''
-
- ``\ldots okay, the magic words are \ldots''
+ ``This is fucking ridiculous.
+ The painting alone should be worth fifty \glsentrylongpl{gp}.
+ And we can't buy a sword, crossbow, or even a fucking bed with a back-pack full of treasures.''
- She whispered into his ear, he held the talisman aloft, he spoke the words, and a ball of raging fire surged out, nearly hitting one of his companions.
+ Gritsnatch slumped by the fire, and dumped the oversized canvas backpack full of more valuables than he could buy in a hundred lifetimes with a \gls{guard}'s wage.
- A knock came at the door.
+ ``We need a fence'', Vanw\"e told him.
- ``Everything alright in there?''
+ ``Nah, a hedge won't hide it.
+ Besides, the water will get in eventually.
+ We need to sell it, but there's nobody -- I've asked all over town.''
- ``Fine!
- All good, barkeep!
- Just\ldots knocked over a candle, we're picking it up, we're fine in here!''
+ The rest moaned, hands on faces, but Vanw\"e continued her glass-eyed stare.
- ``Well it works fine'', he grinned.
+ ``A fence is a type of human who buys valuable things without regard to the laws of the other humans.''
- ``We'll contact you when we know what price to give you'', and he put the amulet in his pocket.
+ ``Oh, you mean a `fence'?
+ Like I said, the town has none.
+ I've asked.''
- ``This one has a shorter activation'', she said, producing an identical amulet, ``but I'm keeping for a high bidder, perhaps forty \glsentrylongpl{gp}''.
- ``I'll give you that when I get\ldots thirty'', and put out her hand.
+ ``You asked to sell.
+ We should try to buy instead.
+ We should ask to purchase art to decorate a small mansion.''
- Reluctantly, he counted out some coins, then returned to his smile as he admired the amulet in his hands.
+ ``Why in the blue fuck would I want to buy art when I have art, and have no fucking money and no kind of mansion?''
- She left immediately, also smiling.
- When the flames roll out, nobody can really tell where they come from\ldots
+ Vanw\"e swivelled her stare to the other humans, which indicated that she hard started to count how long until they figured something out.
+ This ranked among her top-three most annoying habits, but everyone started pondering anyway.
\end{exampletext}
\subsection{Medicine}
@@ -562,7 +587,7 @@ Medicine is a primitive but effective art, regrettably full of nonsense and supe
\end{description}
\begin{exampletext}
- ``Blood-letting doesn't work on elves'', he protested.
+ ``Blood-letting doesn't work on gnomes'', he protested.
``We need all our blood to work''.
``Not the bad blood'', she smiled.
@@ -572,7 +597,7 @@ Medicine is a primitive but effective art, regrettably full of nonsense and supe
\subsection{Performance}
This skill covers acting, instruments, crowd control, and storytelling.
-Those with performance will pick up at least one instrument per level.
+Those with Performance will pick up at least one instrument per level.
\begin{description}
\item[\roll{Strength}{Performance}]
@@ -676,38 +701,44 @@ While sneaking, players can say anything about what their character does, but an
\end{description}
\begin{exampletext}
- Sandfen would be breathing down the man's neck if the man in question were not wearing such a thick hood.
- The man's left foot sloshed into the snow, and Sandfen placed his foot into left footprint the man had left.
-
- Left, right, left\ldots
-
- The man in the hood looked right then left; Sandfen leaned left then right.
-
- Left, right, left, right, and the keep stood ahead, archers strolling along the wall hailed the man in the hood.
- He hailed back, and Sandfen hailed too.
-
- \emph{Right}, left, and the man in the hood wrapped on the door.
- Sandfen stayed still.
-
- The doorman opened the door as the man in the hood walked in.
-
- The man in the hood said ``hello''.
-
- The doorman said ``hello''.
-
- Sandfen smiled, bowed his head a little, and gave a little salute.
-
- ``Hi'', said the doorman.
-
- ``Hello'', said the man taking off his hood, ``I need to see the Overseer immediately''.
-
- The doorman looked at Sandfen, fiddling with the little candle, and asked what on earth he was doing, then told the hoodless man which direction to turn.
-
- ``My father always told me, when it comes to the subject of candles, that should a man wish to be frugal with his usage, he need only apply a rare yet useful trick\ldots''
-
- The hoodless man, already bored, left.
+ Snow changes travel, but with enough cosy clothes, some pies, and a little gumption, \glspl{jotter} can still order the \gls{guard} to go anywhere, as if it were the height of Summer.
+
+ Grogfen cursed the \gls{jotter} for the tenth time that journey.
+
+ ``I hope she lies down with \gls{sable} until her fingers turn black and rot away.''
+
+ ``Not all bad though'', she mused.
+ ``The frost brings some safety, since the basilisks and chitincrawlers hibernate.
+ I hear the basilisks go underground.
+ What do you think happens to the chitincrawlers, Sootfilch?''
+
+ ``Is that one there?''
+
+ ``Nah, Soot.
+ They're hibernating.
+ But where do you think they hibernate?''
+
+ ``Right here'', she said again.
+ {\small
+ ``That's the mouth-bits, sticking out.
+ That's them in those snow-mounds, and the black bits at the top are the mouth-bits, so we should\ldots''
+
+ ``\Gls{sylf}-crap, stop making that noise when you move.''
+ }{\footnotesize
+ ``We're all making noise when we walk.
+ That's one of the back legs sticking out --- is it moving?
+ Do you think they laid webs under the snow?''
+
+ Grogfen stopped moving.
+ Don't be stupid, webs can't be in snow\ldots can they?
+ }{\scriptsize
+ ``Wait'',
+ Grogfen held up her hand as three long, black, legs slowly came out of the first snow pile.
+ ``We don't have to move back.
+ We can move forwards.
+ They haven't woken yet, so we could just\ldots maybe\ldots
+ }
- ``I should follow him'', said Sandfen.
\end{exampletext}
\subsection{Tactics}
@@ -773,8 +804,8 @@ The enemy resist with \roll{Wits}{Tactics}.
\subsection{Vigilance}
-This is the flip side of a number of Skill related to hiding one's doings or presence.
-It is practised by guards or the eternally paranoid.
+Everyone in the \gls{guard} practices paranoia daily.
+When the new fodder enter, they see their superiors flinching at every noise and staying awake all night with their backs to the fire, staring into the darkness wide-eyed, for hours; and they think `maybe that could be me one day'.
\begin{description}
\item[\roll{Strength}{Vigilance}]
@@ -891,7 +922,7 @@ Losing \glspl{fp} can mean any number of things.
However, everyone (including \glspl{npc} present in the scene) regains $1D6$ \glspl{fp} at the end of each \gls{interval}.%
\footnote{See \autopageref{intervals} for more on \glspl{interval}.}
-\Glsentrylongpl{fp} never stop \glspl{ep}.
+\Glsentrylongpl{fp} never stop \glsentrylongpl{ep}.
Character who can survive a dozen archers through luck can still become exhausted, or punched in the gut and dragged away.
\end{multicols}