BASIC SKILLS
All characters has a set number of Basic Skills that reflect the fact that he or she grew up in the world/society of the game. These include their native language, basic literacy, knowledge of their home area (town, surrounding countryside, neighborhood…) General History (who the King is, and the last King, neighboring countries…) Basic Manners and Social Customs, as appropriate to the social class. General Life Skill (money, common laws, personal care, cook some food, sew on a button, etc) A native Englishman will have the same Basic Skills as a Frenchman, but their actual knowledge will be different to reflect their upbringing. Characters start the game with these points in these skills as shown in the Basic Skills Chart. The points reflected there ARE NOT deducted from a character’s starting points. Raising these skills beyond the Basic Level does cost additional skill points that the character must provide.
Both the Basic Skills and SOME Class Skills come at no cost to the starting character. (See the class description.) Anything beyond that must be ‘bought’ using Skill Points. A 1st level character starts with X number of Skill Points, determined by their Class and their Intelligence, and gain more as they advance in levels.
NOTE: Social Class WILL impact the Basic Skills a Character starts with and their levels within those skills. Middle and Upper Class characters are better educated then Lower Class characters. Read the descriptions of the various social Classes for more detailed descriptions.
Lower Working Class characters are semi illiterate, have only a vague knowledge of history and the greater world, have rudimentary language skills and possess the minimum of social graces. This allows the character an extra 4 points to spend on other skills.
| Base Skills | Relevant Ability | Notes & Points spent |
| Speak Native Language | Intelligence – 3 | .5 point |
| Reading & Writing in Native Language, basic math | Intelligence -5 | Illiterate |
| Area Knowledge, local | Intelligence -1 | 1pt Village, County, Part of the City |
| General History and Religion | Intelligence -5 | 0pt National & some World, character’s religion |
| Manners & Social Graces | Wisdom -5 | 0pt |
| Life Skills | Intelligence -1 | 1pt Making change, lighting a fire… |
Upper Working Class characters are literate, but have only a rough knowledge of history and the greater world, have coarse language skills and possess the minimum of social graces. This allows the character an extra 3 points to spend on other skills.
| Skill | Relevant Ability | Notes & Modifier Check |
| Speak Native Language | Intelligence | 1 point |
| Reading & Writing in Native Language, basic math | Intelligence | .5 point = very basic skill & limited comprehension minimum education, 2+2… |
| Area Knowledge, local | Intelligence | 1pt Village, County, Part of the City |
| General History and Religion | Intelligence | .5pt National & some World, character’s religion |
| Manners & Social Graces | Wisdom | .5pt |
| Life Skills | Intelligence | 1pt Making change, lighting a fire… |
Middle Class characters are literate, generally well educated and have a general knowledge of history and the greater world, have fluent language skills and possess the fundamentals of social graces. Middle Class is the general ‘default’ social class and the starting character has 1 extra skill point to spend on other skills.
| Skill | Relevant Ability | Notes & Modifier Check |
| Speak Native Language | Intelligence-1 | 1 point |
| Reading & Writing in Native Language, basic math | Intelligence-1 | 1 pt =basic skill & comprehension |
| Area Knowledge, local | Intelligence-1 | 1pt Village, County, Part of the City |
| General History and Religion | Intelligence-1 | 1pt National & some World, character’s religion |
| Manners & Social Graces | Wisdom | 2pt Per the character’s social class |
| Life Skills | Intelligence -1 | 1pt Making change, lighting a fire… |
Upper Middle Class characters are very literate, have a solid education and general knowledge of history and the greater world, have fluent language skills and possess the fundamentals of social graces. Upper Middle Class is the highest social class available to a starting character and there are no extra points available.
| Skill | Relevant Ability | Notes & Modifier Check |
| Speak Native Language | Intelligence-1 | 1 point |
| Reading & Writing in Native Language, basic math | Intelligence-1 | 2 pt |
| Area Knowledge, local | Intelligence-1 | 1pt Village, County, Part of the City |
| General History and Religion | Intelligence | 2pt National & some World, character’s religion |
| Manners & Social Graces | Wisdom | 3pt Per the character’s social class |
| Life Skills | Intelligence -1 | 1pt Making change, lighting a fire… |