Scholar

Scholar

Ever chasing the next discovery, Scholars balance the confidence to pursue their ideas alongside the humility to pivot when needed.
Starting Skill: Lore. If you choose Scholar as your starting path, gain a free skill rank in Lore.

Erudition (Scholar Talent)

Prerequisite: None.
Activation: Special Activation You’ve conditioned your mind to quickly assimilate, archive, and recall information. After a brief but intensive study, you can navigate your newest areas of focus with impressive proficiency.
When you acquire this talent, you become adroit at men­tal organization. Choose one cultural or utility exper­tise you don’t already have, and choose two different cognitive skills that aren’t Resonant skills.
When you make a test, you count as having the chosen expertise, and you count as having one additional rank of each of the chosen skills.
You can use this talent to gain skill ranks even if they exceed your usual maximum for skill ranks. This talent’s expertise and skill ranks are temporary and don’t count toward prerequisites.
After a long rest during which you had access to a library, you can reassign any expertises and skill ranks granted by this talent. Follow the same rules to choose them as you did when you gained this talent.
Leads to:

• Efficient Engineer & Narrative Expert (Archaeologist)
• Heavy Adjustment & Proficient Operator (Inventor)
• Mind and Body & Strategize (Strategist)
• Emotional Intelligence & Field Medicine (Surgeon)
  

Archaeologist

Deep Study (Archaeologist)

Prerequisite: Narrative Expert or Proficient Operator
Activation: Always Active
Driven by academic inquiry, you love nothing more than getting lost in an archive of books, scrolls, and dusty secrets.
When you acquire this talent, your Erudition talent grants you one additional cultural or utility expertise, and it grants you two additional cognitive skills that aren’t resonance skills. You can reassign these in the same way as the others you gained from that talent.
Leads to: Mind of the Ancients

Efficient Engineer

Prerequisite: Crafting 1+; Erudition key talent
Activation: Always Active
Solid work begins with practice and fundamentals like measuring twice before each cut. You’ve put in the hours, sweat, tears, and occasional blood to learn the basic tricks of the tinkerer’s trade.
When you acquire this talent, gain a utility expertise in Armor Crafting, Equipment Crafting, or Weapon Crafting.
Additionally, you gain a tier 1 Trinket, such as a cannon.
Additionally, when you attempt to craft an item or invent a trinket (see “Crafting”, your Opportunity range on those tests expands by 2, and any cost to acquire raw materials is reduced by half.
Leads to: Proficient Operator

Fine Handiwork

Prerequisite: Efficient Engineer
Activation: Special Activation
Your dedication to quality and love for innovation ensure that your designs stand out from the crowd.
When you craft an item or invent a Trinket, you can spend one upgrade to apply an advanced feature, instead of spending two upgrades. You can only benefit from this talent once per item.
Leads to: Overwhelm with Details

Mind of the Ancients

Prerequisite: Lore 3+; Deep Study
Activation: Special Activation
You can spend 1 focus to give yourself the Determined condition and raise the stakes on your next test with either Intellect or Willpower.
Leads to: Visions of Time

Narrative Expert

Prerequisite: Lore 1+; Erudition key talent
Activation: Free Action
You can spend 1 focus to give yourself an advantage on your next Insight or Deduction test.
Leads to: Deep Study

Overwhelm with Details

Prerequisite: Lore 3+; Fine Handiwork
Activation: Special Activation
When speaking about a topic you’re passionate about, you do so with unsurpassed authority and at unmatched length. The uninitiated can rarely withstand such a torrent of information without becoming lost amid the data.
Spend 2 focus to make a cognitive or spiritual test using your Lore modifier instead of the usual skill modifier for that test.

Proficient Operator (Archaeologist)

Prerequisite: Expert Engineer
Activation: Always Active
You easily complete tasks that would frazzle others while under pressure. When you attempt a complex task under pressure, you don’t have to Use a Skill and succeed on a test if it’s a task you could reliably and quickly complete in a more relaxing situation. Instead, you can use the Interact action as if you weren’t acting under pressure.
For example, you might Interact to accomplish one of the following tasks in a stressful situation:

• Tie a complex knot.
• Write and pass a note.
• Operate a vehicle.
• Engage multiple buttons or levers.
• Look something up in a book.
• Count currency.
• Load delicate cargo.
  

The GM decides whether you can use this talent to meaningfully contribute to an endeavor.
Leads to: Deep Study, Fine Handiwork

Visions of Time

Prerequisite: Lore 4+; Mind of the Ancients
Activation: Special Activation
You tap into the Khaagaazh present in the ground and air around you, accessing the memories and identity it holds.
After spending 10 minutes attuning yourself to a location, you can spend 3 focus to perceive everything that occurred within the area currently encompassed by your senses over the last 24 hours. Make a DC 20 Deduction test to make sense of the sudden influx of information. On a failure you become Overwhelmed and can understand only enough to contextualize information you already know.

Inventor

Acute Scrutiny

Prerequisite: Lore 2+; Proficient Operator or Hasty Adjustment
Activation: Reaction
Your expert eye quickly spots shoddy construction and malfunctions waiting to happen. Through misdirection or outright sabotage, you ensure misfortune strikes at the perfect moment.
When a character you can sense attempts to use a non-Resonant object that either belongs to them or that was present at the start of the scene, you can use this reaction and spend 1 focus to make a Crafting test against that character’s Cognitive defense. On a success, the item is no longer functional; the GM determines what happens when it malfunctions.
Leads to: It's In Here Somewhere

Detonation Expert

Prerequisite: Lore 3+; Out of a Jam
Activation: Special Activation
Danger doesn’t dampen your flair for dramatics, but it certainly keeps you quick on your feet. Nothing lights a fire under you like a fire under you.
When you start your turn within 30 feet of an undetonated explosive you can sense, you gain 1 Action, which you can use only to Interact with the explosive or to Disengage or Move away from it.
Additionally, when you make an attack test with dynamite, you can use Lore instead of Heavy Weaponry.
Finally, when you acquire this talent, gain the Dynamite weapon expertise.

Gunsmith

Prerequisite: Crafting 2+; Proficient Operator or Hasty Adjustment
Activation: Always Active
Crafting firearms with bells and whistles is a fickle art but one you have an affinity for.
When you make a test to craft an item, your Opportunity range on that test expands by 2, and any cost to acquire raw materials is reduced by half.
Additionally, when you acquire this talent, gain the Munitions Crafting utility expertise, which you can use to invent firearms using prototype designs.
Leads to: Out of a Jam

Hasty Adjustment

Prerequisite: Crafting 1+; Erudition key talent
Activation: 1 Action
You’re a master of improvisational mechanics, even when time is tight. Where others see rubbish, you see a treasure trove of possibilities.
Make a Crafting test either to improvise a trap or similar device, or to alter or improve a tool or machine’s utility beyond what’s typically possible. You can combine components of another tool or machine you have to gain an advantage on this test. On a success, work with the GM to determine the new item’s effect.
Additionally, when you acquire this talent, you learn to use the Survival skill to forage for scrap materials and spare parts while in an industrial area such as a city.
Leads to: Acute Scrutiny, Gunsmith

It’s in Here Somewhere

Prerequisite: Crafting 2+; Acute Scrutiny
Activation: 3 Actions
Your bag is full of random creations, but moments like this demonstrate exactly why you haul everything around.
You attempt to create an item that would be useful in this scene, either using materials you have on hand or common materials you have enough gold to purchase (as if you’d purchased them in an earlier scene). Make a Crafting test to determine whether you succeed; for most items, the DC for this test is 15, but if you’re using nonstandard materials, the DC is 20.

Out of a Jam

Prerequisite: Lore 2+; Gunsmith
Activation: Reaction
Tending to firearms has become second nature. You coolly attend to weapon malfunctions without missing a beat.
After a weapon within your reach runs out of loaded ammunition or breaks, you can use this reaction and spend 1 focus to reload the weapon or make a Crafting test to repair it.
Leads to: Detonation Expert

Proficient Operator (Inventor)

Prerequisite: Erudition key talent
Activation: Always Active
You easily complete tasks that would frazzle others while under pressure. When you attempt a complex task under pressure, you don’t have to Use a Skill and succeed on a test if it’s a task you could reliably and quickly complete in a more relaxing situation. Instead, you can use the Interact action as if you weren’t acting under pressure.
For example, you might Interact to accomplish one of the following tasks in a stressful situation:

• Tie a complex knot.
• Write and pass a note.
• Operate a vehicle.
• Engage multiple buttons or levers.
• Look something up in a book.
• Count currency.
• Load delicate cargo.
  

The GM decides whether you can use this talent to meaningfully contribute to an endeavor.
Leads to: Acute Scrutiny, Gunsmith

Strategist

Composed

Prerequisite: Strategize
Activation: Always Active.
Through practiced composure, you push your limits without becoming distracted or losing track of threats.
When you acquire this talent, your maximum and current focus increase by a number equal to your tier. When your tier increases by 1, your maximum and current focus do as well
Leads to: Contingency, Deep Contemplation

Contingency

Prerequisite: Lore 3+; Composed
Activation: Reaction
History is strewn with the debris of those who failed to learn from the past. You’re determined not to join them, so you prepare for anything that might derail your plans.
After an ally you can influence within 20 feet of you rolls a Complication, you can use this reaction and spend 2 focus to remove a Complication from their test.
Leads to: Turning Point

Deep Contemplation

Prerequisite: Lore 2+; Composed
Activation: 2 Actions
You methodically search your mental archives for facts and information to help resolve your current situation.
Reassign up to 2 of the skills and expertises gained from your Erudition talent.
Leads to: Keen Insight

Keen Insight

Prerequisite: Deep Contemplation
Activation: Always Active
Everyone has weaknesses—and you have a knack for uncovering and exploiting them.
After you succeed on a test to Gain Advantage, you exploit one of your target’s crucial traits, strengths, or flaws. Unless the target resists your influence, they gain a disadvantage on their next test during this encounter.

Know Your Moment

Prerequisite: Deduction 2+; Mind and Body
Activation: Always Active
Conflict follows its own beat, rising and falling as powers struggle for dominance. Your knowledge of strategy, rhetoric, and history guides you on when to act for greatest effect.
After the beginning of each round, each of your defenses increases by 2 until the start of your turn.

Mind and Body

Prerequisite: Erudition key talent
Activation: Always Active
You expand your intensive studies to include martial arts and fitness in addition to the cerebral arts.
When you acquire this talent, your Erudition talent grants you an additional skill, and you can use Erudition to choose physical skills that aren’t Resonant skills. Additionally, gain one weapon expertise of your choice.
Leads to: Know Your Moment

Strategize

Prerequisite: Deduction 1+; Erudition key talent
Activation: Special Activation
You carefully observe and assess your problem from novel angles, creating a cunning plan to remove an obstacle, gain the edge, or counter a foe’s next move.
After you succeed on a test to Gain Advantage using a skill gained from your Erudition talent, you can choose an ally you can influence. That ally gains the benefits of your Gain Advantage action instead of you. When you use this talent, you can also spend 2 focus to prevent the target of your Gain Advantage from using reactions against the ally you chose until the end of your next turn.
Leads to: Composed

Turning Point

Prerequisite: Deduction 3+; Contingency
Activation: 2 Actions Battles often pivot on a single crucial moment. Through studying the history of warfare, you learn to identify such opportunities and gain the upper hand.
Once per scene, you can spend 2 focus to find a weakness in an opposing group’s strategy. Make a Deduction test against the Cognitive defense of the top-ranking enemy leader in this scene; to target this leader, you must be able to sense them. If you took a slow turn, you gain an advantage on this test. On a success, you and your allies you can influence gain an additional action on your next turns.

Surgeon

Anatomical Insight

Prerequisite: Field Medicine
Activation: Special Activation
Your anatomical knowledge aids you in striking vital points to incapacitate enemies while minimizing permanent harm.
When you hit a target of your size or smaller with an unarmed attack, you can spend 1 focus or Opportunity to apply the Exhausted condition to your target. The penalty applied by this condition equals half your ranks in Medicine, rounded up.

Applied Medicine

Prerequisite: Lore 2+; Collected
Activation: Always Active
You’ve studied chemistry, anatomy, social behavior, and much more. Thanks to this broad foundation, you practice the complex art of healing with flexibility and confidence.
When you cause a character to recover health, they recover additional health equal to your ranks in Lore.

Collected

Prerequisite: Emotional Intelligence
Activation: Always Active
You remain mindful of your immediate goals without losing sight of your deeper value, staying even-keeled amid chaos. When you acquire this talent, increase your Cognitive and Spiritual defenses by 2.
Leads to: Applied Medicine

Emotional Intelligence

Prerequisite: Erudition key talent
Activation: Always Active
You hone your intuition and understanding of others, enabling you to spot easy-to-miss signs of hidden symptoms and complicated feelings.
When you acquire this talent, your Erudition talent grants you an additional skill, and you can use Erudition to choose spiritual skills that aren’t Resonant skills.
Additionally, you gain a utility expertise in Diagnosis.
Leads to: Collected

Field Medicine

Prerequisite: Medicine 1+; Erudition key talent
Activation: 1 Action
You treat a comrade’s minor wound by bandaging their wound, applying salves, or resetting a dislocated joint.
Spend 1 focus to make a DC 15 Medicine test to treat a conscious willing character within your reach, and roll the target’s recovery die as part of this test. You gain a disadvantage if you’re treating yourself. On a success, your target recovers health equal to the result of their recovery die + your ranks in Medicine. On a failure, your target only recovers health equal to the result of their recovery die.
Leads to: Anatomical Insight, Swift Healer

Ongoing Care

Prerequisite: Lore 3+; Swift Healer
Activation: Special Activation
Medical care can be an arduous process that requires patience and periodic reassessment. You’ve studied the connection between physical and mental health, learning to support both on the long road to recovery.
You can forgo the usual benefits of a short or long rest to instead spend that time treating an ally within your reach. After that rest, make a DC 10 Medicine test, increasing the difficulty by 5 for each injury the target has beyond the first. On a success, you remove a single condition or similar effect caused by one of the target’s injuries (but the injury itself remains until healed).
A target can’t benefit from this talent more than once every 24 hours (or 1 day).
Additionally, when you acquire this talent, gain a utility expertise in Mental Health Care.

Resuscitation

Prerequisite: Medicine 3+; Swift Healer
Activation: Special Activation
You efficiently treat a mortally wounded creature, seeking to pull them back from the brink by applying a tourniquet, administering an antidote, or even restarting failed organs.
You can use your Field Medicine talent to attempt to resuscitate a fallen character. When you do, spend 3 focus (instead of 1) to target a character within your reach who is Unconscious or who died within a number of rounds equal to your ranks in Medicine.
That talent’s test DC increases by 5 for each injury the target has beyond the first. On a failure, the target doesn’t recover health. On a success, the target recovers health as usual for that talent, and if they were dead, they return to life. If they were Unconscious, they can choose to remove that condition.

Swift Healer

Prerequisite: Medicine 2+; Field Medicine
Activation: Free action
Your practiced hands quickly dress wounds, even as the tides of battle ebb and flow around you.
You can use your Field Medicine as Free Action.
Additionally, when you acquire this talent, you become more skilled in healing. When you use an ability that restores health to another character, they recover additional health equal to your ranks in Medicine.
Leads to: Ongoing Care, Resuscitation