Lore Skills for SW

by Bent C Dalager

Date: Tue, 27 Aug 1996 20:29:41 -0400

From: Bent C Dalager 

To: Multiple recipients of list 

Subject: [SW] Lore

Hi again. After the roaring success of my Griffin College request, I'm trying my luck again.

In designing the College, I will among other things have to give some though to the kind of courses they have. Most are pretty straight-forward and are covered by various skills. Academic ones are harder though. Specifically, I need to generate a list of Lore skills that are taught at the College or that can be learnt in the College's large library.

RMSR lists a few lore skills, but not nearly enough and besides, there will be some that are unique to Shadow World. So, what kind of Lore skills do YOU use in YOUR campaign? Some of mine are;

Dragon Lore

Knowledge about dragons, their ways and habits, their personality, the various types of dragons and their abilities, some history about known and mythical dragons. Some knowledge about Dragon Lords. Also covers griffins and other lesser creatures of drake origin to some extent.

Monster Lore

Very broad skill covering the basics of many different monsters. How they look, how they behave, how to detect their presence, what makes them dangerous, and their weaknesses. Generally used to 1)find out what kind of monster this is and 2)find out how to get away from it in the most efficient way possible.

Unlife Lore

Covers theories on the motivations of the Unlife and the means used to reach its goals. Also covers to some extent monsters bread by the Unlife and used by it and its servants. Knowledge about the prime servants of the Unlife and their modus operandi. Some insight into the nature of the special magical sources available to the Unlife and its servants.

Omen Lore (culture)

Knowledge about various omens recognised by the given culture and their meanings. Also covers the culture's most probable reactions to given omens.

Construct Lore

More in-depth theories about various constructs (Shards, Kaeden, etc), their abilities, their origins, and how they were made. Also, of course, covers their weaknesses.

Element Lore

Knowledge on the various elements, what can and can not be achieved by manipulation them. Overlaps somewhat with Dragon Lore. Knowledge about Elementals of all kinds, how they are summoned (but does not give the ability to do so), what they can do, how they do it, how to keep them from doing it, etc.

Planar Lore

General knowledge about various planes of existence, what people do to get there and how they survive there. Covers very general info on the inhabitants of some of the most well known planes (such as the Pales).

So, any other suggestions?

Cheers, Bent D

-- 

Bent Dalager, Ign. Techn. University of Trondheim, Norway. bcd@pvv.ntnu.no

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