Re: out of character 11
Long term Prednisone usage can cause diabetes as well. I managed to get from 3 doses a day of opiates to none, although I might need something post PT, but I have been on a taper.
Alastrine, can I suggest "Modular Book Learned wisdom" as a partial replacement to Wild talent?
Book-Learned Wisdom: By reading suitable manuals, you
can temporarily learn or improve IQ-, Will-, or Per-based
skills, Cultural Familiarities, and Languages. Maps will suffice
for Area Knowledge specialties. You can acquire spells and
special skills if you have appropriate manuscripts, but you
aren’t exempt from their prerequisites – including Magery and
other spells – so mundane knowledge is usually more worthwhile.
For more on books, maps, and spellbooks, see Writings
(pp. 13-16).
Each Book-Learned Wisdom slot can hold one piece of
knowledge at a time. To fill the slot with a capability, you must
study a suitable work for two hours per character point.
Maximum points are the lower of the points you have in the
slot and the points your source is rated for. A Speed-Reading
roll halves study time, but the GM rolls in secret and any failure
means your memory fails you the first time you try to use
your newfound wisdom for an adventuring task! As with all
Modular Abilities, switching points into a new ability means
losing the one to which those points were previously assigned.
Given the time requirement, memorizing new abilities is
typically done in camp. In light of the weight of books, it might
even be best to prepare whatever you think you’ll need before
you leave town! Still, there will be times when it’s sensible for
the whole party to pause while you refresh your memory on
obscure lore from a book in your pack.
Cost per slot: 5 points base + 2 points per point of abilities.
Example: Mandrake the Mad buys three Book-Learned
Wisdom slots. Base cost is 5 points/slot, so this comes to 15
points. Two slots can each hold one piece of memorized lore
worth up to 2 points, and so cost 4 points apiece. The third can
hold up to 4 points of wisdom, for 8 points. Total cost is 31
points. This appears on Mandrake’s character sheet as “Book-
Learned Wisdom 3 (2, 2, 4) [31].”
Before departing for the frigid Ice Caverns, Mandrake studies
the party’s map of the Caverns for 4 hours and acquires Area
Knowledge (Ice Caverns) (E) IQ+1 [2]. He buys a manual on
arctic survival and peruses that for 4 hours, gaining Survival
(Arctic) (A) Per [2]. Finally, he purchases a guide to the ice-troll
language, pores over it for 8 hours, and ends up with Ice
Trollish (Accented) [4].
In the Caverns, Father Mulberry – the party cleric – ends up
unconscious after a failed exorcism. Nobody knows what to do,
but fortunately, Mandrake has a rare manuscript on holy medicine
in his pack. It was dead weight . . . until now. Since the
Caverns have ice weasels but no ice trolls, he concludes that he
doesn’t need his new language. Mulberry is turning chartreuse,
so Mandrake risks Speed-Reading. He studies the manual for 4
hours and shifts 4 points from Ice Trollish to Esoteric Medicine
(Holy) (H) Per [4]. He then tries to undo the curse, hoping his
hasty reading will suffice .