Difference between revisions of "Test Page 7"

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This page explains the timekeeping model and action economy that Trinity uses.  
! colspan="9;" style="background:#007FFF;" align="center"|<div style="margin-left:0px;"><font color="white" style="font-size:13.5px; font-family:tahoma;">The Learner</font></div>
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|-
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| colspan="6"|&nbsp;
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| colspan="3" style="background:#79CDCD"|'''Memetics'''
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|-
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|width="5%"|'''Level'''
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|width="10%" align="left"|'''BAB'''
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|width="9%"|'''Fort'''
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|width="9%"|'''Ref'''
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|width="9%"|'''Will'''
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|width="28%" align="left"|'''Special'''
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|width="10%"|'''[[#Memes|Active Memes]]'''
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|width="10%"|'''[[#Memory|Memory]]'''
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|width="10%"|'''[[#BS|Belief-Space]]'''
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|-
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|1 || align="left"|+0 || +1 || +1 || +1 || align="left"|Memory Surge (I), Bestial Lore, Method || 2 || 2 || 1
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|-style="background:#B0E0E6;"
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|2 || align="left"|+1 || +2 || +2 || +2 || align="left"|Learner Secret || 3 || 3 || 2
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|-
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|3 || align="left"|+2 || +2 || +2 || +2 || align="left"|&nbsp; || 4 || 5 || 2
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|-style="background:#B0E0E6;"
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|4 || align="left"|+3 || +2 || +2 || +2 || align="left"|Learner Secret || 5 || 6 || 2
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|-
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|5 || align="left"|+3 || +3 || +3 || +3 || align="left"|Memory Surge (II) || 5 || 8 || 3
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|-style="background:#B0E0E6;"
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|6 || align="left"|+4 || +3 || +3 || +3 || align="left"|Learner Secret || 6 || 9 || 3
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|-
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|7 || align="left"|+5 || +4 || +4 || +4 || align="left"|&nbsp; || 7 || 11 || 4
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|-style="background:#B0E0E6;"
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|8 || align="left"|+6/+1 || +4 || +4 || +4 || align="left"|Learner Secret || 8 || 12 || 4
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|-
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|9 || align="left"|+6/+1 || +4 || +4 || +4 || align="left"|Memory Surge (III) || 8 || 14 || 4
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|-style="background:#B0E0E6;"
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|10 || align="left"|+7/+2 || +5 || +5 || +5 || align="left"|Learner Talent || 9 || 15 || 5
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|-
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|11 || align="left"|+8/+3 || +5 || +5 || +5 || align="left"|&nbsp; || 10 || 17 || 5
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|-style="background:#B0E0E6;"
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|12 || align="left"|+9/+4 || +6 || +6 || +6 || align="left"|Learner Talent || 11 || 18 || 6
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|-
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|13 || align="left"|+9/+4 || +6 || +6 || +6 || align="left"|Memory Surge (IV) || 11 || 20 || 6
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|-style="background:#B0E0E6;"
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|14 || align="left"|+10/+5 || +6 || +6 || +6 || align="left"|Learner Talent || 12 || 21 || 6
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|-
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|15 || align="left"|+11/+6/+1 || +7 || +7 || +7 || align="left"|&nbsp; || 13 || 23 || 7
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|-style="background:#B0E0E6;"
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|16 || align="left"|+12/+7/+2 || +7 || +7 || +7 || align="left"|Learner Talent || 14 || 24 || 7
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|-
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|17 || align="left"|+12/+7/+2 || +8 || +8 || +8 || align="left"|Memory Surge (V) || 14 || 26 || 8
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|-style="background:#B0E0E6;"
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|18 || align="left"|+13/+8/+3 || +8 || +8 || +8 || align="left"|Learner Talent || 15 || 27 || 8
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|-
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|19 || align="left"|+14/+9/+4 || +8 || +8 || +8 || align="left"|&nbsp; || 16 || 29 || 8
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|-style="background:#B0E0E6;"
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|20 || align="left"|+15/+10/+5 || +9 || +9 || +9 || align="left"|Learner Talent || 17 || 30 || 9
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|}
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&nbsp;
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If you are familiar with standard d20, some of this page will make sense to you, but a lot of new concepts are presented here to expand the scope of timekeeping beyond combat.
  
=Learner=
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=Timekeeping and Action Economy=
[[Image:Blue_Moogle.jpg|thumb|325px|right|Nero, iconic learner]]
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The notion of proper timekeeping being a necessary component of tabletop RPGs goes all the way back to Gygax. I find this ironic given that the early editions of D&D largely lacked a sensible timekeeping model and action economy, and the idea of tracking literal minutes in an adventuring day is cumbersome at best and absolutely insane at worst. That said, there is certainly merit to the idea, and - indeed - to accommodate more interesting mechanics that cover more territory than just combat, we need more means of tracking time that aren't annoying.
: '' "Experience is the best teacher." ''
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The petrifying gaze of a basilisk, the lightning breath of a dragon, the soul-draining touch of the undead: these powers are to be feared, most certainly. Some, however, would believe that the best way to fight fire is with fire, and so seek out ways to gain these powers - not through study or research, but through watching those who wield them. This is the way of the learner.
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==Combat Time==
 +
The smallest units of time we track is ''combat time'', which is something of a misnomer because it also covers things like navigating cliffs or other exploration hazards. However, this part of the timekeeping system in Trinity is a legacy holdover from D&D, in which it was used exclusively for combat, so: there it is.
  
It is impossible to say what a learner is capable of. An individual learner may learn dozens - if not hundreds - of abilities over the course of her lifetime, as varied in power and application as the creatures that walk the world. Calling upon the power of the Blue to enhance her memory and ability to replicate the powers of monsters, the learner is a powerful ally and unpredictable foe.
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''Combat time'' is tracked in ''rounds'', units of time that cover 6 seconds. Each participant in the encounter (generally) has a ''turn'' in each ''round'', in which they can take a number of ''actions''. Some effects allow characters to have more than one ''turn'', while other effects can cause a character to lose their ''turn''.
  
'''Adventures:''' To be a learner is to be an adventurer; there is no way around it. In order to gain new abilities, the learner must seek out danger, and not just face it, but also live to experience a fearsome foe's abilities. Learners seek out adventure not simply for the thrill of it, but because that is the only way to learn new things.
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===Initiating Combat Time===
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When an encounter occurs, all participants roll ''initiative''. This is d20 + your level bonus + the best of your Dexterity, Intelligence, and Bravery modifiers. Some effects may give you a bonus or penalty to this roll.
  
'''Characteristics:''' Those who pursue the path of the learner tend to be confident, curious thrill-seekers, and while some certainly vary from this stereotype, that is the most common personality amongst learners. They tend to be rather friendly and outgoing, as having assistance in seeking out new and more dangerous monsters is usually helpful. For a learner, no threat is insurmountable; there is always an answer, it must simply be found.
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Once all participants have rolled ''initiative'', play proceeds in order from highest to lowest ''initiative''. Once the participant with the lowest ''initiative'' has taken their ''turn'', the ''round'' ends and a new one begins, starting with the participant with the highest ''initiative''.
  
'''Ethos:''' Learners tend towards a somewhat paradoxical mix of Blue and Red virtues.
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===Combat Action Economy===
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During your ''turn'', there are four primary types of actions you can take: ''full'', ''standard'', ''move'', and ''free''.
  
'''Religion:''' Many saints look favorably on the acquisition of knowledge, and many learners revere them. Learners who worship Lucavi often worship Ajora, who prides himself on power, much as learners of a more Black bent. Naturalist learners are not terribly uncommon, as while they do not have the same relationship with Nature that geomancers do, the nature of their work is such that learners often encounter powerful parts of the Natural world.
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On a normal turn, you gain one ''standard'' and one ''move'' action. You can combine one ''standard'' and one ''move'' into a ''full'' action. You can convert a ''standard'' into a ''move''. You can take as many ''free'' actions as you like, within reason (typically three or four at most).
  
'''Background:''' Most learners tend to have had a childhood in which they witnessed powerful creatures destroying their homes or invade their city. Some learners come from a wilderness background, coming to be more interested in the abilities of what they hunted rather than the hunt itself. A significant number of learners come from Sarteri, where wild ''mementos'' often prove to be a moderate nuisance among the villages and cities there.
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===Basic Actions in Combat Time===
  
==Game Rule Information==
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===Combat Time at the Table===
Learners have the following game statistics.
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In general, after each of your actions, the DM will acknowledge it and, if appropriate, let you know what the effects of your action were.
  
'''[[The_Forces#Force_Alignment | Force Alignment]]:''' Blue.
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Due to the very small timescales involved, the overall situation will generally not change much, though there are exceptions. Combat is fast and fast-paced; in general, you probably won't find it necessary to talk much or analyze the situation too greatly, beyond what's necessary to use your abilities as you see fit.
  
'''[[The_Forces#Force_Resistance | Force Resistances]]:''' TO 5 + level, CO 5 + level.
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==Exploration Time==
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One step above ''combat time'' is ''exploration time''. This is an entirely novel concept to Trinity (and is partially imported from ''Journey'', a game system we worked on for several years) and is not in any iteration of D&D, so this is where things start to get weird if you're used to that. This time track is used when exploring a particular location, like a city or a dungeon, but not used for overland travel.
  
'''Abilities:''' Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma are all equally important to a learner. She gains bonus active meme slots based on her Wisdom, bonus memory based on her Intelligence, and additional belief-space based upon her Charisma.
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''Exploration time'' is tracked in ''hands'' and ''watches''. A ''hand'' is a unit of time that covers roughly 12 minutes, while a ''watch'' covers 20 ''hands'', or 4 hours. So five ''hands'' equal an hour, and six ''watches'' equal a day.
  
'''Hit Die:''' d8.
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The real-world duration of a ''hand'' comes from an interest in codifying the amount of time a ''short rest'' takes, which in D&D 4e, is "about 10 minutes." "Rounding" that up to 12 minutes lets us fit 5 in an hour, which is a good number for multiplying when we try to figure out how many "exploration turns" a day or a few hours consist of.
  
'''Class Skills:''' The learner’s class skills are Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Handle Animal (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (all) (Int), Memecraft (Int), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Spot (Wis), and Sense Motive (Wis).
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During a ''hand'', characters are assumed to be taking their actions more or less simultaneously. Thus, while we use ''initiative'' in exploration time, this is primarily for bookkeeping purposes and to ensure that everyone gets to act; during your turn, you only declare actions, you don't get to see their resolution until the end of the ''hand''. Once all characters have declared their actions, those actions are all resolved simultaneously.  
  
'''Skill Points at Each Level:''' 4 + Int.
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===Exploration Action Economy===
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During each ''hand'', there are four primary types of actions you can take: ''broad'', ''narrow'', ''traversal'', and ''quick''.
  
'''Alignment:''' Any.
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On a normal turn, you gain one ''narrow'' and one ''traversal'' action. You can combine one ''narrow'' and one ''traversal'' into a ''broad'' action. You can convert a ''narrow'' into a ''traversal''. You can take as many ''quick'' actions as you like, within reason (typically three or four at most).
  
'''Starting Age:''' Moderate.
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===Basic Actions in Exploration Time===
  
'''Starting Gold:''' 4d4 x 10gp.
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===Exploration Time at the Table===
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Exploration time is significantly more "fast and loose" than combat time. After the DM describes the results of actions taken during a given ''hand'', you should feel free to discuss with other players what you discovered, if anything, and decide what your next actions will be.
  
'''Favored By:''' [[Race:_Vesuvan|Vesuvan]].
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Remember that a ''hand'' represents twelve minutes' worth of actual time. Unless you're being actively stealthy, that gives your characters quite a bit of time to discuss options and what's going on around them.
  
==Class Features==
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==Adventuring Time==
All of the following are class features of the learner.
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Above exploration time is ''adventuring time'', which is used to track overland travel.
  
'''Weapon and Armor Proficiency:''' Learners are proficient with all simple weapons, all one-handed martial weapons, light and medium armor, and all shields save tower shields.
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''Adventuring time'' is tracked in ''compasses'' and ''cycles''. A ''compass'' covers about 60 minutes, while a ''cycle'' covers roughly a day, so there are 24 ''compasses'' in a ''cycle''. You might ask - why have a separate term for day? Because some settings might have weird days that last 28 hours or something, and we don't want to make assumptions about the setting.
 
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<div id="Memes">
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'''Memes (Me):''' The abilities of the learner are memes, the purview of the blue. Unlike other memeticists, learners construct their own memes, using their knowledge of memory to do so, which allow them to imitate the abilities of monsters.
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A learner can know any number of memes, but she can only have so many actively accessible at one time ("Memes," on the table). The learner can change what memes she has access to after a night's rest.
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A learner cannot research memes on her own; he must learn them from monsters (described below), and all learner memes correspond at least partially to at least one monster ability. Due to various factors, however, a learner's meme may not be an exact replica of a monster's ability.
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When a learner uses a meme, it becomes temporarily unavailable to her; this is due to how the Blue deals with memory access. Each meme has a recharge value; at the beginning of the learner's turn, if she has any memes that need to recharge, she rolls 1d6, and those memes whose recharge values are equal to or less than the result are recharged. A meme cannot be recharged until its duration ends.
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You gain additional active meme slots equal to your Wisdom modifier.
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</div>
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<div id="Memory">
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'''Memory (Me):''' A learner has only so much of her personal memory that she can devote towards her memes; however, when she does so, those memes increase in power. A meme cannot have more than memory invested in it than your memeticist level.
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As a swift action, you may choose to reallocate some or all of your free memory. When you choose to invest memory into a meme, that memory becomes "locked" into that meme until the meme is recharged.
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You gain additional memory equal to your Intelligence modifier.
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</div>
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<div id="BS">
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'''Belief-Space (Me):''' As a memeticist, the learner is able to incorporate foreign memes directly into her belief-space, incorporating the meme into her personal memory. This process allows her to gain deeper understanding of the meme's pattern (and therefore, the information it contains), but it is also possible that the meme will taint and modify the learner's personality and memories.
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The learner can have the indicated number of memes bound to her belief-space. The integration or removal of such bound memes is an involved process, and so the learner can only change her bound memes after a night's rest.
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If you have a Charisma modifier, you gain an additional belief-space at every even learner level, until you have bonus belief-space equal to your Charisma modifier.
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</div>
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'''Bestial Lore:''' Learners are well-versed in the nature of monstrosities. She can make a special ''bestial lore'' check with a bonus equal to her learner level + her Intelligence modifier to determine if she knows anything about a particular creature. Making such a check is a swift action.
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You can gain the normal information about the creature with this check, but also can gain access to more "meta" information that others would usually not be able to glean (for instance, if you succeed on the check by a significant margin, you can directly examine and explain the creature's stat block).
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If your result is at least 10 + one-half the creature's HD, the creature - and all other creatures of the same kind nearby - gains the ''assayed'' status in regards to you (''You have sufficient knowledge of an assayed creature that you can learn its abilities'') for the remainder of the encounter. If you fail to grant this status to a creature, that creature is immune to the status for the remainder of the encounter.
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You gain a +2 synergy bonus on this check if you have at least 5 ranks in the Knowledge skill relevant to the target's creature type.
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<div id="Meth">
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'''Method:''' Each learner has a particular method she uses to attain the abilities of monsters. At first level, the learner chooses one of the following methods.
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Regardless of method, in order to learn a meme, the learner must make a Memecraft check against the Su or Sp ability’s saving throw DC. If it doesn’t have one, the DC to learn the ability is 10 + one-half the monster’s HD + the monster’s Charisma modifier (if the modifier is less than +0, it is considered +0 for purposes of learning). If the learner succeeds, she learns the meme associated with that ability, provided that the target is ''assayed''.
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If the learner fails, she does not learn the talent. However, the next time she attempts to learn that talent in the same combat, she gets a +1 competence bonus on her Knowledge check to learn the talent for each time she has failed.
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* ''Draw (Me):'' The learner learns her memes through drawing, a process which allows her to pull energy directly out of a monster. As a standard action, a learner may make a ray (ranged touch) attack against a single creature within 60 feet. If successful, she may choose one of that monster's abilities; if she has not already learned the meme associated with it, she may attempt to do so. If she knows the meme for the ability she chose, or if she successfully learns it, she gains one temporary active meme slot, which is immediately occupied by the meme she just learned. This temporary active meme slot lasts 1 round/level.
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* ''Lancelet (Me):'' The learner learns her memes through a lancelet, a mark of the Blue that allows her to read the creature's memories and recreate its abilities. As a standard action, the learner may mark a creature within 60 feet.  Whenever that creature uses an (Su) or (Sp) ability, the learner may attempt to learn the meme associated with that ability. The lancelet lasts for 1 round/memeticist level.
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* ''Observation (Bl):'' The learner learns her memes through observation, using her power of sight to enable her to mimic the abilities of monsters. As a standard action, a learner can watch monsters present within 60 feet. If any of them should use an (Su) or (Sp) ability until the learner’s next action, the learner may attempt to learn the meme associated with that ability. If the learner is attacked with an (Su) or (Sp) ability while observing, she gets a +4 bonus on the Memecraft check to learn that meme.
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</div>
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'''Memory Surge (Bl):''' The learner has a reserve of powerful self-memory that she can use for a variety of effects. At each rank of memory surge, she gains one daily use of this resource. You regain your full allotment of memory surge after a night's rest.
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As a swift action on your turn, you can spend one use of memory surge to immediately recharge one meme.
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As an immediate action, when you would be able to learn a meme due to your Method ability, you can spend one use of memory surge to automatically learn the meme, without making a check.
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As a swift action on your turn, you can cause the ''assayed'' status on a single target (and all nearby creatures of the same kind) within 60 feet, even if you had already failed to grant it to that creature earlier in the encounter.
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'''Learner Secret:''' At 2nd, 4th, 6th, and 8th levels, the learner unlocks a secret of the Blue, improving her abilities in some fashion. Choose one of the following abilities; unless otherwise noted, each ability can only be taken once.
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* ''Chicanery (Me):'' When you successfully grant the ''assayed'' status, you become a font of knowledge of how to interact with such creatures to your advantage. You and all allies gain a +2 insight bonus on skill checks made against creatures with the ''assayed'' condition, plus an additional +2 insight bonus for every 10 points by which you beat the DC.
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* ''Improved Draw (Me):'' When you use the Draw ability, the temporary active meme benefits from an amount of temporary memory equal to half your memeticist level, rounded down. (''Prerequisites:'' Draw, Memeticist level 6th+)
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* ''Improved Lancelet (Me):'' The range of your Lancelet ability is now 120 feet. (''Prerequisites:'' Lancelet, Memeticist level 6th+)
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* ''Improved Observation (Bl):'' You can use Observation as a move action, rather than a standard. (''Prerequisites:'' Observation, Memeticist level 6th+)
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* ''Lucubration (Me):'' When you successfully grant the ''assayed'' status, you become a font of knowledge of how best to defeat such creatures. You and all allies gain a +1 insight bonus on attack rolls against creatures with the ''assayed'' condition, plus an additional +1 insight bonus for every 10 points by which you beat the DC.
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* ''Moxie (Me):'' When you successfully grant the ''assayed'' status, you become a font of knowledge of how best to avoid the creature's abilities. You and all allies gain a +1 insight bonus on saving throws against against abilities from creatures with the ''assayed'' condition, plus an additional +1 insight bonus for every 10 points by which you beat the DC.
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* ''Puissance (Me):'' When you successfully grant the ''assayed'' status, you become a font of knowledge of how to bring such creatures down. You and all allies gain a +2 insight bonus on damage rolls against creatures with the ''assayed'' condition, plus an additional +2 insight bonus for every 10 points by which you beat the DC.
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* ''Resistance (Bl):'' You gain a +4 insight bonus on saving throws against status effects. You can take this ability multiple times; its effect stacks.
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* ''Tenacity (Me):'' When you successfully grant the ''assayed'' status, you become a font of knowledge of how to dodge such creature's attacks. You and all allies gain a +1 insight bonus to AC against attacks from creatures with the ''assayed'' condition, plus an additional +2 insight bonus for every 10 points by which you beat the DC.
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: '''Up to here has been modified.'''
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<div id="LT">
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'''Learner Talent:''' As a learner progresses in her training, she gains access to new and unusual applications of the Blue. At 10th level, and every two levels thereafter, she gains access to one of the following abilities.
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* ''Absorb (Bl):'' Requires the Draw method. When the learner learns a meme via Draw, she may temporarily deny the creature the use of its ability. If the creature fails a Fortitude save (DC 10 + learner's Cha mod), it loses access to the ability the learner learned for 1 round/learner level.
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** ''Soak (Bl):'' Requires the Absorb ability. If the learner is the target of an ability, she may attempt to learn it. If she does so, the ability is negated.
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* ''Countermeme (Me):'' Requires the Lancelet method. The learner may counter memes and the abilities of monsters in the same manner as a wizard may counter spells.
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** ''Disable (Bl):'' Requires the Countermeme ability. When the learner learns a talent via Lancelet, she may temporarily deny the creature the use of its ability. If the creature fails a Will save (DC 10 + learner's Cha mod), it loses access to the ability the learner learned for 1 round/learner level.
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* ''Resistance (Ex):'' The learner begins to become more resistant to conditions that would impede her and her ability to learn. She gains a +2 resistance bonus on saving throws against effects that would cause the following conditions: ability damage, blinded, confused, dazed, dazzled, deafened, diseased, exhausted, fatigued, feebleminded, insanity, nauseated, sickened, stunned, and poisoned.
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** ''Resiliance (Ex):'' Requires the Resistance ability. As per Resistance, but +4.
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*** ''Immunity (Ex):'' Requires the Resiliance ability. Choose one of the conditions that Resistance gives a bonus to saving throws against. You become immune to that condition.
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* ''Conversion (Me):'' The learner has mastered the art of converting her powers of memory into a shield to enable her to survive the abilities of monsters. In effect, she gains a DR equal to her Wisdom modifier. Each time this DR prevents damage, she loses one point of Memory, which is restored after a night's rest. Each time she is dealt damage, the learner chooses whether or not to activate this ability.
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* ''Peep (Bl):'' Requires the Observation method. As a standard action, you may attempt to learn information about a creature with Close range. Make a Blue Lore check opposed by the the target's Will save. If it fails its save, you may learn the target's current hit points, its type(s) and subtype(s), and what will penetrate its DR (if any). If it passes its save, you cannot use this ability on that creature for 24 hours.
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** ''Scan (Bl):'' Requires the Peep ability. When you use your peep ability, you learn additional information about a creature, as though you had used the heightened ''creature loresight'' meme.
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</div>
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+
<div id="MM">
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'''Method Mastery:''' At 11th level, the learner has gained mastery over her methods of learning. She may choose to improve one of her existing methods, or gain access to another method of her choice.
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* ''Draw Mastery:'' When the learner uses her Draw ability, the temporary active meme she gains benefits from 2d6+1 memory.
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* ''Lancelet Mastery:'' When the learner uses her Lancelet ability, she may instead target a creature up to 120 feet away.
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* ''Observation Mastery:'' The learner has mastered the art of being continually alert. She is now considered observing at all times, and she does not need to take a standard action to observe; however, the maximum range for continual observation is 5 feet/2 learner levels. The learner can still Observe as a move action.
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</div>
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==Memes==
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What follows is a description of how a learner learns memes, and the meme lists.
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Unlike most Force-users, memes of a learner are not influenced by his memeticist level. Instead, the effectiveness of a meme is dependent upon how much memory he devotes to it. Expressions such as "100 feet + 10 feet/memory" mean that, for every point of memory you have invested in the meme, add an additional 10 feet to the range, and so on.
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The saving throw DCs for all of a learner's memes are 10 + her Charisma modifier + memory invested.
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===Learning Memes===
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Whenever a creature uses a non-extraordinary ability, the learner has a chance to learn it (depending upon her learning method). If she does so, she learns a meme that corresponds to that ability in some way - the meme a learner learns is almost never an exact duplicate of the ability she learned it from, though it will usually share many similar qualities.
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Unlike other Force users, whose abilities are static, learners' abilities are informed by the means through which they learn them: for instance, a learner can learn ''beta'' from a creature with an aura of flame, a creature whose touch ignites others, or a dragon's breath - but these all function differently, various aspects of the ''beta'' meme changing upon each use. A learner who gains access to different variations of a single meme can call upon any of those variations without allocating an active meme slot to each variation, but each variation is distinct in that qualities of one variation cannot be mixed with another.
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The base ability that teaches a meme is referred to as the meme's template.
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{|class="collapsible" width="70%" style="border:1px solid silver; text-align:center; clear:both; font-size:75%; font-family:verdana;"
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! style="background:#4F94CD;" align="left"|<div style="margin-left:0px;"><font color="white" style="font-size:13.5px; font-family:tahoma;">Learner Memes</font></div>
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|-style="background:white;" align="left"
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|'''Aero:''' Use wind to damage and move foes.
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|-align="left"
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|'''Angel Whisper:''' Restore a creature to life, remove status ailments.
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|-align="left"
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|'''Aquabreath:''' Use water to damage foes.
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|-align="left"
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|'''Bad Breath:''' Cause a variety of status ailments.
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|-align="left"
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|'''Beta:''' Use fire to damage and burn foes.
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|-align="left"
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|'''Blowfish:''' Attack a foe with a volley of spines.
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|-align="left"
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|'''Cocoon:''' Improve your natural armor.
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|-align="left"
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|'''Death Force:''' Resist death effects.
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|-align="left"
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|'''Dischord:''' Cause a creature to gain a negative level.
+
|-align="left"
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|'''Dragon Force:''' Improve your combat prowess.
+
|-align="left"
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|'''Drain Touch:''' Cause physical ability score damage.
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|-align="left"
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|'''Earth Shake:''' Cause an earthquake.
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|-align="left"
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|'''Eerie Sound Wave:''' Remove enhancements from a creature.
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|-align="left"
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|'''Exploder:''' Sacrifice self to deal massive area damage.
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|-align="left"
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|'''Feather Barrier:''' Improve ability to evade attacks and effects.
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|-align="left"
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|'''Flash:''' Blind creatures.
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|-align="left"
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|'''Force Spear:''' Use force energy to damage a creature.
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|-align="left"
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|'''Frost:''' Use cold to damage a creature.
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|-align="left"
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|'''Fusion:''' Imbue weapons with special effects.
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|-align="left"
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|'''Guard Off:''' Reduce a creature's ability to defend itself.
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|-align="left"
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|'''Haste Break:''' Cause a creature enjoying temporal manipulation to lose its enhancements.
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|-align="left"
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|'''Infrasonics:''' Reduce a creature's ability to evade your attacks and effects.
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|-align="left"
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|'''Magic Hammer:''' Reduce a creature's ability to call upon magic.
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|-align="left"
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|'''Madness:''' Cause mental ability score damage.
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|-align="left"
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|'''Mighty Guard:''' Put a variety of protective effects into place.
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|-align="left"
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|'''Moon Flute:''' Cause creature to rage.
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|-align="left"
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|'''Night:''' Cause creatures to fall asleep.
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|-align="left"
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|'''Pearl:''' Use holy energy to damage foes.
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|-align="left"
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|'''Poison Claw:''' Inflict a creature with poison.
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|-align="left"
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|'''Quasar:''' Use magnetic energy to damage foes.
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|-align="left"
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|'''Roulette:''' Cause a random nearby creature to die.
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|-align="left"
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|'''Screech:''' Use sonic energy to damage and deafen foes.
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|-align="left"
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|'''Shadow Flare:''' Use shadow energy to damage foes.
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|-align="left"
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|'''Stare:''' Confuse a creature.
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|-align="left"
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|'''Stone Breath:''' Cause creatures to turn to stone.
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|-align="left"
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|'''Trine:''' Use lightning to damage and shock foes.
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|-align="left"
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|'''Vanish:''' Cause a creature to become invisible.
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|-align="left"
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|'''Virus:''' Inflict a creature with a disease.
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|-align="left"
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|'''White Wind:''' Heal yourself and allies.
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|-align="left"
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|'''Zombie Touch:''' Inflict undead-like status on a creature for a time.
+
|}
+
 
+
&nbsp;
+
 
+
==Design Notes==
+
November, 2003. Twelve years later, still working on making this class viable in D&D. Maybe this time, we can put this beast to rest.
+
 
+
Memes do not need power scaling. That is my final decision. Memes will function akin to gifts in that the power scaling is controlled by points; whereas gifts require some number, memes are controlled by how many you can pump into them.
+
 
+
Oh right. Once you use a meme, until it recharges, all the memory you stuck into it are "locked" into that meme until it recharges. This completely avoids the akashic craziness of having all your memory available all the time.
+
 
+
Also this meme list is bad and you should feel bad. Fix it.
+
 
+
Lower-level learner abilities, and the ''assayed'' concept, taken from [http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?61312-Base-Class-Psionic-The-Blue-Mage-Redux here].
+
 
+
[[Category:Classes]]
+
[[Category:Blue]]
+

Latest revision as of 21:58, 26 March 2017

This page explains the timekeeping model and action economy that Trinity uses.

If you are familiar with standard d20, some of this page will make sense to you, but a lot of new concepts are presented here to expand the scope of timekeeping beyond combat.

Timekeeping and Action Economy

The notion of proper timekeeping being a necessary component of tabletop RPGs goes all the way back to Gygax. I find this ironic given that the early editions of D&D largely lacked a sensible timekeeping model and action economy, and the idea of tracking literal minutes in an adventuring day is cumbersome at best and absolutely insane at worst. That said, there is certainly merit to the idea, and - indeed - to accommodate more interesting mechanics that cover more territory than just combat, we need more means of tracking time that aren't annoying.

Combat Time

The smallest units of time we track is combat time, which is something of a misnomer because it also covers things like navigating cliffs or other exploration hazards. However, this part of the timekeeping system in Trinity is a legacy holdover from D&D, in which it was used exclusively for combat, so: there it is.

Combat time is tracked in rounds, units of time that cover 6 seconds. Each participant in the encounter (generally) has a turn in each round, in which they can take a number of actions. Some effects allow characters to have more than one turn, while other effects can cause a character to lose their turn.

Initiating Combat Time

When an encounter occurs, all participants roll initiative. This is d20 + your level bonus + the best of your Dexterity, Intelligence, and Bravery modifiers. Some effects may give you a bonus or penalty to this roll.

Once all participants have rolled initiative, play proceeds in order from highest to lowest initiative. Once the participant with the lowest initiative has taken their turn, the round ends and a new one begins, starting with the participant with the highest initiative.

Combat Action Economy

During your turn, there are four primary types of actions you can take: full, standard, move, and free.

On a normal turn, you gain one standard and one move action. You can combine one standard and one move into a full action. You can convert a standard into a move. You can take as many free actions as you like, within reason (typically three or four at most).

Basic Actions in Combat Time

Combat Time at the Table

In general, after each of your actions, the DM will acknowledge it and, if appropriate, let you know what the effects of your action were.

Due to the very small timescales involved, the overall situation will generally not change much, though there are exceptions. Combat is fast and fast-paced; in general, you probably won't find it necessary to talk much or analyze the situation too greatly, beyond what's necessary to use your abilities as you see fit.

Exploration Time

One step above combat time is exploration time. This is an entirely novel concept to Trinity (and is partially imported from Journey, a game system we worked on for several years) and is not in any iteration of D&D, so this is where things start to get weird if you're used to that. This time track is used when exploring a particular location, like a city or a dungeon, but not used for overland travel.

Exploration time is tracked in hands and watches. A hand is a unit of time that covers roughly 12 minutes, while a watch covers 20 hands, or 4 hours. So five hands equal an hour, and six watches equal a day.

The real-world duration of a hand comes from an interest in codifying the amount of time a short rest takes, which in D&D 4e, is "about 10 minutes." "Rounding" that up to 12 minutes lets us fit 5 in an hour, which is a good number for multiplying when we try to figure out how many "exploration turns" a day or a few hours consist of.

During a hand, characters are assumed to be taking their actions more or less simultaneously. Thus, while we use initiative in exploration time, this is primarily for bookkeeping purposes and to ensure that everyone gets to act; during your turn, you only declare actions, you don't get to see their resolution until the end of the hand. Once all characters have declared their actions, those actions are all resolved simultaneously.

Exploration Action Economy

During each hand, there are four primary types of actions you can take: broad, narrow, traversal, and quick.

On a normal turn, you gain one narrow and one traversal action. You can combine one narrow and one traversal into a broad action. You can convert a narrow into a traversal. You can take as many quick actions as you like, within reason (typically three or four at most).

Basic Actions in Exploration Time

Exploration Time at the Table

Exploration time is significantly more "fast and loose" than combat time. After the DM describes the results of actions taken during a given hand, you should feel free to discuss with other players what you discovered, if anything, and decide what your next actions will be.

Remember that a hand represents twelve minutes' worth of actual time. Unless you're being actively stealthy, that gives your characters quite a bit of time to discuss options and what's going on around them.

Adventuring Time

Above exploration time is adventuring time, which is used to track overland travel.

Adventuring time is tracked in compasses and cycles. A compass covers about 60 minutes, while a cycle covers roughly a day, so there are 24 compasses in a cycle. You might ask - why have a separate term for day? Because some settings might have weird days that last 28 hours or something, and we don't want to make assumptions about the setting.