Talents are matters of innate aptitude, requiring no training to develop, and they improve primarily or exclusively through experience. Characters get better at them only by doing them regularly. It's possible to attempt actions related to Talents that a character doesn't possess. The player simply rolls the character's Attribute dice pool without the benefit of Talent-based dice, but also without penalty. Everyone (or nearly everyone) possesses a rudimentary grasp of each Talent, even without the minimal competence required for one dot's worth.

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Alertness
Alertness is the ability to notice things that are going on in one's vicinity, with or without actively searching for them. Most Alertness rolls pair this Ability with Perception, and it generally applies to physical stimuli rather than matters of mood, the soul and so on.

• Novice: You're seldom taken completely by surprise.
•• Practiced: Whispers do not go unheard in your vicinity.
••• Competent: You maintain a constant vigil.
•••• Expert: Few hidden things are safe around you.
••••• Master: Your senses push the boundaries of human potential and rival those of the beasts of the field.

Possessed by: Burglars, Hunters, Messengers, Sentries, Tramps.
Specialties: Ambushes, Angelic/Demonic Manifestations, Crowds, Forests, Noises, Paranoia, Traps.

 

Athletics
Athletics is aptitude for physical exertion, be it during relatively formal sports or simply in the course of an active life. Athletic feats that are directly related to combat are covered by Brawl, Dodge, Melee and the other combat Abilities, except in the case of thrown weapons. These require Athletics.

• Novice: You lead a moderately active existence.
•• Practiced: You can compete effectively in local sporting competitions.
••• Competent: You can support yourself, at least in large measure, with the prizes you win in challenges of physical excellence.
•••• Expert: Stories of your prowess circulate widely.
••••• Master: Your reputation precedes you, and would-be rivals feel awe at your ability.

Possessed by: Barbarians, Entertainers, Spearmen, Squires, Warriors, Youths.
Specialties: Climbing, Dancing, Juggling, Running, Swimming, Thrown Objects, Tumbling

​

Brawl
Brawl is the ability to fight unarmed, whether with a specific system of techniques or simply flailing away and relying on one's experience of where and how to strike. Brawling well requires coordination, speed, the ability to withstand pain and the willingness to deal out "unfair" assaults, particularly against strong or quick opponents.

• Novice: You don't immediately fold in the face of a fight.
•• Practiced: You've had your share of tussles with neighbors and other local brawlers.
••• Competent: You fight with confidence and competence, and you can count on winning or at least coming through a fight and remaining standing.
•••• Expert: You can take on most opponents and expects to win.
••••• Master: You do as much with your fists as many soldiers and knights do with their weapons.

Possessed by: Brigands, Bullies, Soldiers.
Specialties: Arm-locks, Boxing, Drunken Fighting, Grappling, Showing Off, Throws, Wrestling.

 

Dodge
Dodge is the ability to get out of harm's way whether in combat or in the face of other sorts of danger. It encompasses the use of cover and agile maneuvering, and it comes from the systematic training of a knight or the rough-and-ready experience and instincts of a thief or brawler. Dodge plays a crucial role in the survival of any character who fights often, greatly increasing his chances of escaping damage.

• Novice: You reflexively avoid minor sources of injury and show a measure of grace in your movements.
•• Practiced: You're hard to hurt unless someone or something catches you by surprise.
••• Competent: It takes serious effort for an opponent to hit you; you get out of the way of most thrown objects as well as immediate dangers.
•••• Expert: Only skilled warriors can expect to hurt you very much.
••••• Master: Wherever a threat is, you're almost inevitably somewhere else.

Possessed by: Animal Trainers, Brawlers, Criminals, Hunters, Scouts, Soldiers.
Specialties: Backstep, Dive, Duck, Find Cover, Horseback, Leap, Sidestep.

 

Empathy
Empathy is the ability to understand others' emotional states and to present a suitable response - whether the character genuinely sympathizes with others or simply wishes to use them. It's crucial in unraveling motives and helpful in detecting dishonesty.

• Novice: You seem sympathetic to people with whom you share something in common.
•• Practiced: You share others' joys and sorrows, even when you haven't made any particular effort at it.
••• Competent: You display keen insights into others' souls and enjoy a measure of respect or fear depending on how you use your wisdom.
•••• Expert: Few people can deceive you. Enemies mutter that you deal with dark powers, and friends believe that God has given you a special perception.
••••• Master: Nothing human is mysterious to you.

Possessed by: Commanders, Diviners, Gossips, Merchants, Parents, Priests, Tricksters.
Specialties: Background Emotions, Emotions, Family Problem, Long-Term Concerns, Personalities, Truths.

 

Expression
Expression is the ability to communicate clearly and appropriately with words, be they spoken or written. Characters with high Expression ratings make their arguments persuasively, regardless of the extent to which the truth may support them. They can bring out subtle truths or convey subtle deceptions, depending on how they use their ability. Expression, although used when composing written texts, does not cover the ability to actually read and write (that's Academics).

• Novice: Sometimes you find just the right words.
•• Practiced: You routinely speak well, and (if you are literate) you can correspond reasonably clearly.
••• Competent: You can make a living with the spoken and written word, and you can count on winning arguments.
•••• Expert: Your sermons, proclamations or other acts of expression garner widespread respect, and others copy your style.
••••• Master: Your fame runs far and wide among devotees of good style, and others find it nearly impossible to argue against you.

Possessed by: Minstrels, Poets, Preachers, Rabble-Rousers, Teachers.
Specialties: Acting, Conversation, Improvisation, Poetry, Preaching, Storytelling.

 

Intimidation
Intimidation is the ability to make others do what you want, not out of respect or conviction but out of fear of the consequences if they disobey. It may include the use of threats, physical force or purely psychological tactics, depending on the individual.

• Novice: You can reliably get your way with much weaker targets.
•• Practiced: People around you know that when you make threats, you mean them, and they try not to cross you.
••• Competent: You exert the commanding presence of an authority figure, regardless of your actual status.
•••• Expert: Even those who like you feel some nervousness in your presence, and the masses fear your wrath.
••••• Master: You are well on your way to becoming one of the legendary tyrants of the age.

Possessed by: Bullies, Commanders, Lords, Thugs, Torturers.
Specialties: Blackmail, Overt Threats, Physical Coercion, Politics, Pulling Rank, Staredowns, Veiled Threats.

 

Leadership
Leadership is the ability to make others carry out orders. It doesn't change their underlying outlook or convictions; it lets the would-be leader seem credible or worthy of respect based upon whatever their standards are. It's usually rolled with Charisma rather than Manipulation to reflect this distinction.

• Novice: You've organized small ventures in your hometown with moderate success.
•• Practiced: You routinely direct small groups of your neighbors and peers.
••• Competent: Your duties include the exercise of authority, such as serving as captain of the guard or abbot of a monastery, and you discharge them well.
•••• Expert: You act capably as a leader of people throughout your region.
••••• Master: You are, or can be if you choose, a great warlord, pillar of the Church or other famous leader of your time.

Possessed by: Commanders, Constables, Ecclesiastical Authorities, Family Patriarchs, Nobles.
Specialties: Commands, Compelling, Friendly, Noble, Oratory, Pious, Stern.

 

Legerdemain
Legerdemain is ability to perform feats of manual dexterity, ranging from picking a purse from a belt, to juggling and feats of trickery such as palming objects. It encompasses the stealth and concealment involved in using that dexterity without being noticed, such as when palming an object or performing a conjuring trick.

• Novice: You've sometimes taken very small items when nobody was looking and gotten away with it.
•• Practiced: You can rob alms boxes and steal from blind beggars with impunity, and you are good enough at sleight-of-hand to entertain local gatherings.
••• Competent: You can gracefully make off with nearly anything that isn't nailed down, and you have the polished manner of a professional entertainer, even if that's not your chosen livelihood.
•••• Expert: When you perform your tricks, they seem genuinely supernatural to most observers.
••••• Master: People wonder if perhaps supernatural powers are performing the thefts you commit, thanks to your audacity and the lack of any clues left behind.

Possessed by: Beggars, Jesters, Minstrels, Robbers.
Specialties: Concealment, Conjuring Tricks, Juggling, Picking Purses.

 

Subterfuge
Subterfuge is the ability to live convincingly and to conceal one's own motives and feelings. It serves legitimate as well as criminal purposes: Diplomats and even confessors sometimes use it to draw out information from others.

• Novice: You get away with small lies most of the time.
•• Practiced: You're seldom questioned about your chosen explanations.
••• Competent: You maintain the trustworthy demeanor of a professional thief and liar.
•••• Expert: Even wise and noble souls are pawns in your schemes.
••••• Master: Whenever the accusations fly, you're the last one anyone doubts.

Possessed by: Courtiers, Charlatans, Heretics, Minstrels, Spies, Wooers.
Specialties: Changing the Subject, Finding Weaknesses, Flattery, Patter, Seduction, Selective Omission.
 

Skills are all arts that people could learn through apprenticeship or other disciplined instruction. It's possible to attempt actions covered by Skills without having enough training for one dot's worth of the Skill in question, but the roll suffers a +1 difficulty penalty.

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Animal Ken
Animal Ken is an understanding of beasts' actions and desires. It allows one to predict their behavior, control them in difficult situations and train them.

• Novice: You work well with domesticated animals.
•• Practiced: You understand the ways of all the animals that are common in your vicinity, and you can train those species most susceptible to it, such as horses and dogs.
••• Competent: You're a skilled hunter and tracker, and you work well even with difficult animals. Everyone in the area knows you're the one to come to when there's animal trouble.
•••• Expert: No domesticatd animal resist your will, and most wild beasts regard you with at least some good will.
••••• Master: People compare your spiritual harmony with animals to Saint Francis's.

Possessed by: Cavalry, Falconers, Grooms, Hermits, Kennel Masters, Lords.
Specialties: Bears, Birds of Prey, Dogs, Farm animals, Fish, Horses, Rodents, Snakes.

 

Archery
Archery is the ability to use bows, the most common ranged weapon of the era. Experienced archers also know how to maintain and repair their weapons, and even how to make them. Archery covers crossbows and other related weapons. It does not cover spears or other thrown weapons. Using those weapons requires Athletics.

• Novice: You can shoot adequately as long as the situation isn't too distracting. You can maintain a bow, but not repair it.
•• Practiced: You can hunt and fight competently with the bow. You can maintain and repair a bow, but not craft a new one.
••• Competent: You can use a bow with grace and style, and you can make weapons that are respected for their craftsmanship.
•••• Expert: Warlords and others who need superior archers seek you out.
••••• Master: Neither distance, darkness nor anything else seems capable of stopping your arrows from going precisely where you want them to.

Possessed by: Bandits, Foresters, Guards, Poachers, Tournament-Circuit Competitors.
Specialties: Ambush, Fields, Forest, Horseback, Hunting, Moving Targets, Quick Shot, Target.

 

Commerce
Commerce is the ability to successfully bring goods to market, with all that entails. It includes the ability to evaluate goods and to identify who would want them, a knowledge of trade routes and fairs and skill at negotiating prices. Commerce is a catch-all Ability, and you should choose one class of goods as a field of expertise when you first purchase it. You can buy additional fields of expertise with experience or bonus points within standard limits. You can use Commerce outside your field of expertise to identify potential markets and experts in the field and to negotiate and haggle over just about anything. Evaluating an item or trade route with which you have no experience is beyond you, and it counts as acting without the required Ability.

In the Dark Medieval, the line between legitimate and illegitimate trade is blurry to non-existent, and Commerce comes into play just as much when buying cheese as when hiring a mercenary, soliciting a prostitute or selling stolen goods. As such, Commerce conveys a general sense of the shadier side of life - what modern folk might call being streetwise.

• Novice: You can get a fair price when you bring the harvest to market.
•• Practiced: You can broker exchanges in your field of expertise and know who in the vicinity deals in what trades, legitimate or otherwise.
••• Competent: You can make a good living as a merchant or moneylender. You can draw on the expertise of those in other trades without difficulty.
•••• Expert: You are one of the preeminent experts in your field, and you are rarely (if ever) taken advantage of. No market is closed to you.
••••• Master: You are a master merchant, expert in commerce spanning the continent.

Possessed by: Artisans, Farmers, Mercenaries, Ne'er-do-wells, Prostitutes, Traders.
Specialties: Evaluation, Negotiation, Swindling, Trade Routes.
Fields of Expertise: Clothing, Foodstuffs, Livestock, Mercenaries, Relics, Silks, Slaves, Spices, Stolen Goods, Wine, etc.

 

Crafts
Crafts is a catch-all Ability covering skill at making and fixing things with your hands and evaluating such work by others. Skilled craftsmen produce works known for their beauty as well as their utility. You must choose a field of expertise when you first purchase Crafts and buy additional ones with experience or bonus points within standard limits (see p. 142.) You can use Crafts outside your field(s) of expertise to undertake basic repairs and evaluate the craftsmanship and condition of an object, but not to build anything new. Doing so is considered acting without the required Ability.
In the Dark Medieval, the Crafts Skill covers what will in later centuries become applied sciences such as engineering. Architecture, metallurgy and so on are all fields of expertise under Crafts.

• Novice: You can repair broken goods and make gear that more or less does what it's supposed to do.
•• Practiced: You can attend to the needs of people in your immediate vicinity for the craft you know.
••• Competent: You can make a good living as an artisan or craftsman, and you enjoy the respect of all who call on your services.
•••• Expert: You routinely make excellent goods that are treasured widely for their elegance and durability.
••••• Master: You're one of the leading craftsmen in your field, and you can pick and choose from clients across several countries.

Possessed by: Artisans, Farmers, Ladies, Pilgrims, Soldiers, Townsfolk.
Specialties: Architecture, Armory, Blacksmithing, Boat-Building, Jewelry, Masonry, Sewing & Embroidery, Woodworking, etc.

 

Etiquette
Etiquette is the understanding of social customs in one or more cultures and the ability to behave as becomes one of their members. Characters begin with this knowledge as applies to the land and class into which they were born. Mastery of Etiquette encompasses speech, movement, dress, furnishings and the like.

• Novice: You avoid most social gaffes and seem reasonably well behaved in the culture you know best.
•• Practiced: You can conduct yourself without embarrassment in your cultures version of high society.
••• Competent: You understand the principles of social organization well enough to respond calmly to unexpected and unfamiliar circumstances.
•••• Expert: Lords and bishops admire your conduct.
••••• Master: You set the standards to which others try to hew.

Possessed by: Children, Courtiers, Envoys, Guild Masters, Handmaidens, Heralds, Nobles.
Specialties: Courtly Manners, Family Traditions, Foreign Customs, Peasents, Professional Conduct, Street Culture.

 

Melee
Melee is the ability to fight with hand-to-hand weapons, from sticks and clubs to swords and more exotic weapons, depending on the details of the characters training. Like Archery, Melee includes the ability to maintain one's weapons (and even to make them), but manufacturing metal weapons requires Crafts.

• Novice: You can handle simple weapons and any weapons that are particularly popular in the area where you grew up. You can maintain but not repair a weapon.
•• Practiced: You can fight moderately well with common weapons. You can do basic repairs on an axe or other simple melee weapons.
••• Competent: You know how to use a variety of weapons well, and you can make a living as a professional soldier if you choose. You can do basic repairs on a sword or more complex melee weapon. You can manufacture simple melee weapons.
•••• Expert: You routinely distinguish yourself in battles, tournaments and other martial displays.
••••• Master: Everyone who uses your favored weapons knows your deeds - which may breed challenges as well as respect.

Possessed by: Barbarians, Guards, Lords, Soldiers, Thieves
Specialties: Axes, Clubs, Disarms, Knives, Multiple Opponents, Rapid Draws, Swords, Team Tactics

 

Performance
Performance is the ability to perform artistic feats. It covers both the technical aspects of the chosen form of expression and the social knowledge of what audiences like. Performance is a catch-all Ability, and you should choose a field of expertise when you first purchase it. You can buy additional fields of expertise with experience or bonus points. Performance is useful outside your field of expertise to evaluate another's skill.

• Novice: You can entertain friends and family when more skillful alternatives aren't available.
•• Practiced: You take part in local entertainments on a regular basis, and you do fairly well at them.
••• Competent: You can make a living as an entertainer, and you enjoy a reputation as a good one to call upon.
•••• Expert: Your fellow performers study your work carefully. The masses flock to see you in your specialty.
••••• Master: You can pick and choose your audiences, and you are always in demand almost everywhere you go.

Possessed by: Musicians, Troubadours, Actors, Ladies, Spinsters, Monks and Nuns.
Specialties: Acting, Dance, Percussion, Singing, Stringed Instruments, Wind Instruments.

 

Ride
Ride is the ability to travel astride a horse or other riding animal, keeping it under control in varying circumstances. Experienced riders can fight from horseback, tend horses' common ailments and evaluate the quality of their mounts and related gear. See p.244 for the details of fighting on horseback.

• Novice: You can get around on a good mount so long as things don't get complicated.
•• Practiced: You can hunt, chase and sustain long rides safely, if not always comfortably.
••• Competent: Horses hold very few surprises for you, and you can fight from horseback without penalty.
•••• Expert: You can engage in fancy stunts and keep your horse calm and healthy in the midst of dangerous, rapidly changing situations. You're the one who gets called on when most people fall and fail.
••••• Master: Alexander the Great and his Bucephalus were no closer than you are with your favored steeds, as troubadours routinely remind their audiences.

Possessed by: Circuit Officials, Crusaders, Huntsmen, Knights, Merchants, Messengers, Nobles, Travelers.
Specialties: Combat,Forest, Jumping, Speed, Stealth, Stunts.

 

Stealth
Stealth is the ability to move without alerting others - to enter without permission, remain undetected while about one's self-appointed business and to leave without creating a stir. You generally roll this Skill in combination with Dexterity against observers' Perception + Alertness. It does not cover sleight-of-hand, which is the domain of Legerdemain.

• Novice: You can make your way through familiar places without attracting attention as long as no one's searching very actively for you.
•• Practiced: You can hide yourself fairly well in unfamiliar places that are related to something you know, such as any church following the standard orientation.
••• Competent: You move in mysterious ways, and it takes dedicated effort to keep you out of most places you'd like to go.
•••• Expert: You enjoy the reputation of being able to bypass almost all barriers… which makes you a frequent target of suspicion, as well as valuable to those who have need of stealthy allies.
••••• Master: You feature in the ballads of master thieves, questing knights who make their way into the Grail Castle and others who triumph over all obstacles. Your gift seems holy or wicked depending on how you apply it.

Possessed by: Burglars, Hunters, Scouts, Shy People, Spies.
Specialties: Crawling, Crowds, Prowl, Shadows, Wilderness, Tracking

​

Survival
This is the ability to cope with the challenges of harsh environments: shelter, navigating to civilization, foraging for food and water, hunting and so on. It includes knowledge of the common threats posed by a particular sort of wilderness, such as forest or swamp. Stealth rolls in wilderness cannot include more dice from stealth than the character has dots in survival.

• Novice: You can cope with the routine challenges of whatever sort of wilderness was closest to your home.
•• Practiced: You won't starve in most environments, though it won't be comfortable until you get to the next settlement.
••• Competent: You can get yourself and others to safety in most circumstances, and you can make an effective living off the fruits of hunting, trapping and the like.
•••• Expert: You can blaze new paths through the unbroken wilderness and cope with almost any challenge that the natural world can throw at you.
••••• Master: The dark powers of the night (and day) in the lands beyond civilization hold no terror for you.

Possessed by: Bandits, Barbarians, Crusaders, Penitents, Pilgrims, Refugees, Hunters
Specialties: Coasts and Shallows, Deep Sea, Deserts, Foraging, Forests, Hunting, Marshes and Swamps, Mountains, Tracking, Trailblazing.
 

Knowledges are Abilities that require intellectual mastery of information. They almost always require rolls with Mental Traits, though some other sort of Attribute may prove useful occasionally. Apart from the most general popular lore, characters who lack dots in a particular Knowledge can't even attempt an action requiring it. Note that although the descriptions of what characters with various scores in a Knowledge can do refer to formal academic instruction, this isn't the only way to develop a Knowledge. Individual teaching and institutional tutoring in a non-academic contexts also let people learn these Abilities.

 

Academics
Academics covers the standard curriculum of the Middle Ages: the trivium of grammar, rhetoric and dialectic and the quadrivium of arithmetic, music, geometry and astronomy. Anyone who attends university learns the lore of the world divided into these two categories. Any character who acquired Academics within the last 300 years must choose the trivium or the quadrivium as an initial field of expertise (and can acquire the other one later). Only vampires who were created before the rise of medieval universities or thoroughly self-taught individuals escape this requirement. Any other categories seem strange at best (and actively suspicious at worst) to conventionally educated people.

Your character must know Latin, requiring Linguistics 1, to acquire the second dot in Academics.
• Novice: You know rudimentary Latin and the most fundamental authorities in your field of expertise.
•• Practiced: You can construct solid arguments, and you know some of the important commentaries in each area your expertise covers.
••• Competent: You can make a living instructing others. You know some Greek and possibly other languages in addition to Latin, and your own commentaries and glosses earn the respect of your peers.
•••• Expert: Lay people admire your mind, but they may feel you've neglected the rest of your life for the sake of learning. You can confidently advise potentates on important matters.
••••• Master: Any library on the subjects in which you specialize seems inadequate without your works.

Possessed by: Court Officials, Monks, Priests, Scribes, Tutors.
Specialties: Instruction, Quoting Text, Research.
Fields of Expertise: Trivium, Quadrivium

 

Hearth Wisdom
This is the lore of the people, as opposed to the academy. It's unsystematic, but in its haphazard way, it covers the body of knowledge accumulated by peasants, traders and other people who do not benefit from servants or live in isolation. It includes mundane matters such as which plants and animals are safe to eat in the area, which herbs are good for cooking and for medicinal purposes, signs of impending bad (or good) weather, rules of thumb for resolving domestic disputes and the folk wisdom regarding the dangers (supernatural and otherwise) of the night. Unlike other Knowledges, those characters without Hearth Wisdom can attempt feats that require it, but they do so at a +2 difficulty. Despite its diversity of topics, Hearth Wisdom is not a catch-all Ability with fields of expertise.

• Novice: You know all the common fireside tales of your home and you can recall them at need.
•• Practiced: You know the obscure and traditional lore of your region, and very little - even if it's strange and dangerous - takes you by surprise within the fields you know.
••• Competent: You quickly acquire the lore of any area you pass through, and others know that when the unseen world makes itself visible, you're the one who most likely knows what to do about it.
•••• Expert: You are famous for your knowledge of mysterious affairs, and some fear you because of the potential for pacts with dark forces that your explorations afford.
••••• Master: Your supreme insights into the strange matters make you the target of pleas from individuals both high and low who suffer mysterious depredations.

Possessed by: Farmers, Herbalists, Hermits, Magicians, Matrons, Village elders, Witches
Specialties: By county or region (southern France, Northern France, England, Bavaria, etc.) and Arabic, Cures, Jewish, Omens, Wards.

 

Investigation
Investigation is the ability to systematically examine one's environment and analyze the results. It's the central tool for judicial inquiries, religious searches for heresy and the like. It includes a grasp of the principles of research as well as an eye for detail.

• Novice: You regularly see things that others miss, and it's hard for people of your home to keep secrets if you choose to seek them out.
•• Practiced: You know how to extract information from others without alarming them, and you can unravel many mysteries.
••• Competent: You can make a living as a professional investigator for religious or secular purposes, and even if you practice some other trade, your acuity is widely respected.
•••• Expert: The most complex and best-concealed matters unravel themselves when you confront them.
••••• Master: When all other means fail and the holy saints do not choose to intervene dirextly with supernatural revelations, people who are bedeviled by the mysterious turn to you.

Possessed by: Bounty Hunters, Confessors, Constables, Judges, Parents, Spies, Tax Collectors.
Specialties: Accounting, Locate Informant, Record-Keeping, Search, Stalking.

 

Law
Law is the body of knowledge about justice and its applications to practical affairs. In the Dark Medieval world, Law covers to wildly different subjects: the organic (not to mention the chaotic and contradictory) accumulation of common law based on case-by-case rulings, and the rigorous, academic tradition grounded in Roman law and guided by logic and theology. The higher a character's social rank it, the more the latter dominates. Canon law, the religious law of the Church, draws primarily on Roman law for its assumptions and principles of development, and scholars in canon law have a significant advantage in familiarity when issues of Roman-based secular law arise. The same applies to secular legalists trying to deal with canon law.

• Novice: You know all the important laws of your home and a good sample of the less important or less frequently invoked ones.
•• Practiced: You can defend yourself and your comrades against most minor charges, and you know the grounds on which to accuse others, as long as you've had a while to study the laws of the area.
••• Competent: You can make a living as a lawyer or advisor to a court, secular or religious depending on your specialization. People in your vicinity seek you out for legal advice.
•••• Expert: Your views on the proper application of law shape practice in wide-ranging areas.
••••• Master: You're revered as one of the great legal theorists of the age,

Possessed by: Constables, Criminals, Judges, Kings, Lords
Specialties: Canon Law, Diplomacy, Feudal Obligations, Laws of Ownership and Inheritance, Local Law, Sentencing

​

Linguistics
Linguistics is the knowledge of languages other than the one most common in a character's childhood. Every character begins with one language for free. Growing mastery of Linguistics covers the principles underlying languages, their relations and evolution as well as the contents of specific tongues. Dark Medieval Europe is a warren of dialects and regional tongues, but (at the Storyteller's discretion) you can assume that skill in one major language comes with understanding of its major variants and dialects. Major languages include Latin, Occitan, French, English, Castilian, the various Italian dialects, the various Germanic dialects, Greek and many more.

• Novice: One extra language.
•• Practiced: Two extra languages.
••• Competent: Four extra languages.
•••• Expert: Eight extra languages.
••••• Master: Sixteen extra languages.

Possessed by: Diplomats, Dock Workers, Interpreters, Merchants, Priests, Scholars, Travelers.
Specialties: Diplomacy, Politics, Profanity, Technical Terms, Theology.

​

Medicine
Medicine is the lore of the human body (and, to a lesser degree, the body as transformed by vampirism, lycanthropy and other exotic conditions). Depending on a character's particular inclination, it may cover both practical relief of trauma and injury, as well as the academic tradition based in Greek and Roman scholarship, which is often greatly mistaken about the realities of anatomy and physiology. Medicine also covers the knowledge of which herbs and plants are useful for remedying ills.

• Novice: You can fix minor wounds and help people recover from fevers, minor infections and the like.
•• Practiced: You can deal with most common problems, not providing luxury or instant relief from misery but at least keeping people alive long enough for normal healing to run its course.
••• Competent: You can make a living as a surgeon or other medical professional. If you do something else for a living, such as mercenary soldiering, you nonetheless regularly get requests for aid.
•••• Expert: If you devote yourself to treating others, the area in which you live enjoys a particular reputation for health and prosperity. You often achieve new insights into pressing medical problems.
••••• Master: Popular accounts describe how you and the spirit of Hippocrates work together to cheat the imps of Hell from the dying souls they'd otherwise claim.

Possessed by: Apothecaries, Barbers, Field Surgeons, Ladies, Midwives, Squires
Specialties: Battle Wounds, Childbirth, Diagnosis, Disease, First Aid, Herbs, Minor Surgery, Poison Treatment.

 

Occult

Occult encompasses all the lores of supernatural power, most especially those that derive from formal studies, experimentation and treaties (and hence beyond Hearth Wisdom). Occult generally provides a more focused body of knowledge, with a somewhat higher ratio of truth to error and distortion, but inevitably one field bleeds into the next. Occultists can and do acquire smatterings of information about a great many subjects. The higher a character's Occult score is, the more generally reliable the results of his Occult rolls are. There is a certain overlap between Occult and Theology when it comes to a knowledge of the powers of saints or recognizing the miraculous.

• Novice: You know the general framework of the good and evil (and neutral) powers at work in your area.
•• Practiced: You understand many things about the supernatural world. You may have had some direct expirience with supernatural beings, though you likely misunderstood at least some of what happened to you.
••• Competent: You're known as a scholar of the mysterious, regarded with a hopelessly tangled mixture of fear and respect by those who need you to explain the supernatural to them. You may have regular contact with some sort of supernatural being.
•••• Expert: The mysteries of the night society lie open before you. If you possess any significant social rank, some secular or religious authority probably wants you as an advisor.
••••• Master: The demon named Legion may seek you out for a second try at defeating the age's holiest man, but it won't win.

Possessed by: Heretics, Inquisitors, Judges, Magicians, Pagans, Priests, Satanists, Witch-hunters.
Specialties: Ancient Secrets, Paganism, Kabbalah, Sufism, Vampires, Witches.

 

Politics
Politics is the theory of the practice of governance: what ancient and modern governors have written and how people respond to authority of various sorts. It includes insights into how people gain power, how they maintain it and how they lose it. High levels of Politics include more theory and more information about the practices of realms far from home.

• Novice: You know how things work in your home community and you can usually use the local system get what you want.
•• Practiced: You deal confidently with authorities if you're outside the hierarchy, or confidently with the governed populace if you hold some local office.
••• Competent: You know how to make use of the hierarchy at every level that thouches your existence, and you can conduct yourself effectively whenever you need to deal with political matters.
•••• Expert: You're known widely as a competent govenor or advisor, and your comments garner widespread respect.
••••• Master: People look to you as a modern Plato or Cicero.

Possessed by: Counselors, Courtiers, Heralds, Jesters, Lords
Specialties: City, Feudal Obligations, Heraldry, Historical, Religious

 

Seneschal
Seneschal is the ability to administer holdings, from households to kingdoms. It covers the knowledge of physical assets and their needs, from crop harvesting to the maintenance of buildings, and the social skills to coordinate others labor, resolve disputes, keep those who must be paid satisfied and so on.A skilled seneschal can evaluate the state of others' holdings based on personal experience and theoretical knowledge, too.

• Novice: You can keep your family's household going smoothly and manage a few other resources as long as there's no intense pressure or stress.
•• Practiced: You can manage a business or manor and keep almost everyone involved reasonably happy.
••• Competent: You successfully oversee multiple properties over an extended area, even in times of war, famine and other calamity.
•••• Expert: Rulers know that they can give you custody of their lands and goods and get them back in better condition than you received them.
••••• Master: Preachers illustrate the contemporary significance of the parable of the talents with stories of your accomplishments.

Possessed by: Innkeepers, Knights, Lords, Seneschals, Stewards, Wives.
Specialties: Common Households, Farms, Feudal Estates, Inheritance, Noble Households, Religious Orders, Urban Holdings.

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Theology
Theology is the lore of the queen of the sciences, the study of God's will in all things. It combines historical scholarship with logic and a measure of artistic expression. Theology by itself does not make a character articulare, but it can provide the information necessary for effective persuasion, and it's crucial in evaluating many social matters. Nothing human or physical lies outside the scope of God's commandments, as heretics and the orthodox agree, and there is a theological dimension to political, economic and other disagreements. Keep in mind that, for medieval people, this is not a matter of unfounded supposition and personal conviction, but of knowable truths susceptible to a reasoned analysis. It is as rigorous a matter as medicine or ballistics.

• Novice: You know the major tenets of whatever faith prevails in your home, and you grasp the essential spirit of common doctrines even when you're unclear on details.
•• Practiced: You know holy writ and important teachings, past and present.
••• Competent: You can debate the technical points of right belief, as you understand it, and readily understand the beliefs of others even when you disagree with them.
•••• Expert: Heretics and infidels fear to contest with you, and you're a pillar of the community of faith wherever you are.
••••• Master: You are a latter-day Saint Paul or Saint Peter, depending on whether you turn your attention primarily to winning unbelievers' hearts or ministering to the needs of those who already believe.

Possessed by: Devout Laymen, Heretics, Magicians, Monks, Priests, Troubadours.
Specialties: Confession, Debate, Exposition, Heresy, Orthodoxy.
 

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