Scholarly Trees
Scholarship, Occultism, Healing.
3 trees5 advancements + 1 ultimate1 skill point each, 2 for the ultimate
Scholarship
Research, Languages, History, Ancient Lore
- 1
Researcher 1 pt
You know how to find answers.
Core: Research any topic in a library in 4 hours instead of 1 day. Know which sources are obviously reliable versus propaganda. Find the relevant section of any organized archive in 30 minutes.
Advantage: Research in 1 hour, finding information in disorganized archives, identifying subtle biases, finding hidden/restricted materials.
- 2
Polyglot 1 pt
Languages are just patterns.
Core: Speak, read, and write 3 additional languages. Recognize any language by sight or sound, even if you don't speak it.
Advantage: Learning new languages quickly (1 week immersion), understanding related languages, deciphering pidgins and dialects, communicating across language barriers.
- 3
Historian 1 pt
The past explains the present.
Core: Know the major events, rulers, and conflicts of any region you're in. Recognize common symbols, heraldry, and cultural markers. Estimate the age of artifacts and structures.
Advantage: Obscure history, identifying precise origins, dating items accurately, recognizing subtle historical references.
- 4
Dead Languages 1 pt
Even forgotten words still speak.
Core: Recognize dead languages and understand their general family/origin. Translate simple texts with 1 hour of study. Recognize when a translation is obviously incomplete.
Advantage: Complex or damaged texts, translation in 10 minutes, detecting subtle alterations, understanding extinct dialects.
- 5
Perfect Recall 1 pt
What you learn, you keep.
Core: Remember the gist of anything you've read. Reproduce simple maps and diagrams you've studied. Recall key points of conversations.
Advantage: Word-for-word recall, reproducing complex images, recalling details weeks/months later, remembering under stress.
- 6
Ultimate: Sage 2 pts
Prerequisite: 3+ other Scholarship advancements
Your knowledge spans civilizations.
Core: Read any dead language instantly. Cross-reference information across multiple sources in minutes. Recognize when a text has been altered, redacted, or forged.
Advantage: Reconstructing destroyed texts, identifying forgeries by master forgers, synthesizing knowledge across unrelated fields.
TOTAL: 7 points
Occultism
Magic Lore, Supernatural Creatures, Rituals
- 1
Arcane Recognition 1 pt
You see magic where others see mystery.
Core: Recognize when something is obviously magical by observation. Identify common spell traditions when you see them cast. Know the obvious signs of enchantment, illusion, and curse.
Advantage: Subtle magical effects, identifying specific spells, recognizing obscure traditions, detecting magic concealed by other magic.
- 2
Creature Lore 1 pt
You know what lurks in the dark.
Core: Identify common supernatural creatures by sight. Know basic weaknesses and behaviors of undead, demons, and fey. Understand basic protocols for dealing with supernatural beings.
Advantage: Rare creatures, specific immunities, obscure weaknesses, protocols for unique or ancient beings.
- 3
Magic Item Study 1 pt
Objects reveal their secrets to patient study.
Core: Determine a magic item's obvious properties with 1 hour of examination. Recognize clearly cursed items. Know when an item feels dangerous.
Advantage: Identifying hidden properties (10 min), finding command words, detecting subtle curses, understanding legendary items.
- 4
Ritual Knowledge 1 pt
You understand the old ceremonies.
Core: Recognize ritual sites by their layout. Know when a ritual has been obviously performed. Understand basic ritual components and their purposes.
Advantage: Specific ritual procedures, identifying incomplete/corrupted rituals, understanding ancient or unique ceremonies, predicting what could go wrong.
- 5
Planar Lore 1 pt
You know where the worlds touch.
Core: Recognize obvious planar phenomena: active gates, summoning circles, creatures obviously from other planes. Know the major planes and their basic natures.
Advantage: Subtle rifts, identifying specific planes of origin, understanding planar laws, recognizing dimensional weak points.
- 6
Ultimate: Ritual Master 2 pts
Prerequisite: 3+ other Occultism advancements
You understand magic's deepest workings.
Core: Identify any spell or magical effect by observation, including power, duration, and how to dispel it. Know true name conventions for supernatural creatures. Predict what magical effects will do before activation.
Advantage: Understanding unique/legendary magic, countering magic you've never seen, comprehending reality-altering effects.
TOTAL: 7 points
Healing
Anatomy, Disease, Treatment, Surgery
- 1
Anatomy 1 pt
You understand how bodies work.
Core: Identify obvious cause of death by examination. Know basic anatomy, where major organs are, where to apply pressure. Determine if someone is visibly ill or faking.
Advantage: Obscure causes of death, identifying poisoning, determining time of death, recognizing subtle signs of illness.
- 2
Diagnosis 1 pt
You see what's wrong.
Core: Identify common diseases and injuries. Know if a condition is likely treatable. Recognize when something is obviously unnatural or magical.
Advantage: Rare diseases, identifying specific poisons, determining Medicine thresholds, distinguishing natural from supernatural conditions.
- 3
Treatment 1 pt
You keep patients stable.
Core: Provide first aid that prevents wounds from worsening during short rests. Keep stable patients from deteriorating. Clean and dress wounds properly.
Advantage: Stabilizing critical patients, preventing deterioration during travel, treating multiple patients, working without proper supplies.
- 4
Surgeon 1 pt
You can cut to cure.
Core: Remove obvious foreign objects with proper tools and time (1 hour). Set simple fractures so they heal properly. Stitch wounds cleanly.
Advantage: Complex surgery (removing diseased tissue, parasites), field surgery without proper tools, setting compound fractures, surgery under time pressure.
- 5
Disease Expert 1 pt
Plagues hold no mystery for you.
Core: Identify how common diseases spread. Create basic quarantine protocols. Know standard prevention methods.
Advantage: Rare/magical diseases, creating effective quarantine for unknown diseases, developing treatment protocols, preventing epidemic spread.
- 6
Ultimate: Miracle Worker 2 pts
Prerequisite: 3+ other Healing advancements
Your skills border on the impossible.
Core: Know exactly what treatment any patient needs, no matter how obscure. Identify conditions that should be impossible to diagnose.
Advantage: Treating conditions that should be untreatable, surgery that defies medical possibility, diagnosis of unique/legendary ailments.
TOTAL: 7 points