101. SCHOLAR
Amongst any society, there are those who spend their lives in pursuit of knowledge. They may be history buffs, philosophers, scientists, or even just monks adding to their libraries. Their goals are discovering new knowledge as well as preserving the old.
[101.1] A Scholar must be literate.
Scholars must be able to read and write at rank 4 in at least one language, and may not advance in rank beyond their highest rank in reading and writing of a language.
[101.2] A scholar will specialize in one or more areas of knowledge.
At ranks 1, 4, 7, and 10, the scholar must choose a specialty area of study. After rank 10, additional specialties cost 2000 experience points each. Scholars can choose the same specialty more than once, thereby getting cumulative bonuses for that topic.
Scholars may specialize in any particular area of knowledge, including (but not limited to): history, legends & folklore, religion, philosophy, magic, geography, heraldry, flora, fauna, monsterology, or particular sentient races (elves, dwarves, etc).
[101.3] Scholars will pick up languages more easily and will only have to pay ¾ the experience cost to raise any language to a rank less than or equal to their Scholar skill.
[101.4] Scholars must have access to a library of at least equivalent rank pertaining to their specialties to advance beyond rank 2.
If a scholar does not have easy access to such a library, they will have to stock their own private library. Such a library will initially cost the scholar 1000 SP to acquire sufficient scrolls and books.
[101.5] There is always a chance that a scholar has come across some piece of information in his studies and research.
This is of course more likely if the information falls within the Scholar’s own specialty, but any researcher will pick up some tidbits from fields outside his/her own. Furthermore, if the scholar is also a spy, then it is possible he/she may have overheard some relevant information in a conversion.
In determining whether a scholar knows a particular piece of information, the GM must assign a difficulty factor based on the obscurity of the information, with a 1 meaning the knowledge is very rare and a 5 meaning it is quite common. It is up to the GM’s discretion as to whether some piece of information may not even be available to or knowable by the scholar.
If the information is outside the scholar’s specialties, the chance is:
(5 + [Rank x Difficulty] + [Spy Rank / 2])%
If the information falls within at least one of the scholar’s specialties, then use:
([5 x number of specialties it is within] + [4 x Rank x Difficulty] + [Spy Rank])%
The scholar’s chances are further improved if he has access to a library in which to research. Libraries are considered to be of the rank and specialties of the scholar who stocked them.
If the library is poorly kept, add (Scholar Rank)%
If the library is well kept, add ([2 x scholar Rank] + Library Rank])%
If the library is well-kept and the information falls within its specialty, add (3 x [scholar rank + library rank])%
Normally, if the scholar misses the roll by 10% or less, then they do know the information or it does exist in the library, but they cannot remember or find it. In such cases, second attempts can be made. There should be a bonus on the second attempt if the character takes some time to think about this or something happens that may jiggle their memory.
A scholar can always attempt to discover some bit of information they did not recall earlier if they get access to a(nother) library.
[101.6] The scholar will develop a photographic memory for details of objects or events which he/she spent time studying.
Since the Scholar’s interest is in gaining and preserving knowledge, they will tend to study things they find of interest. If possible, scholars will take notes on any such things, but in cases where that is not possible, they will consign as much information as possible to memory for later recording. The chance of success for correctly remembering details is ([2 x Perception] + [10 x Rank])% for the first (1 + Rank) days. For recalling beyond that time limit, treat the scholar as 1 rank less per day extra.
[101.7] A scholar may know of other libraries in the world which could help in his/her research.
If a scholar does not have the information needed or cannot find it, he/she may know of another library which would be likely to have such information. The base chance of this is (Rank x 6)%.
[101.8] The scholar must spend (500 + (Rank x 200)) Silver Pennies per year for library access fees or to keep his personal library well-stocked and well-kept.
If the scholar fails to keep the library up-to-date, then he/she operates as if he is two Ranks less proficient. If this Rank is reduced to a negative number, the scholar temporarily loses the use of this skill. Furthermore, the scholar cannot advance in skill if there is no available library of rank at least equal to the scholar’s current rank.