Research

Research allows the character to probe the limitations of their knowledge, via investigation and experimentation, to improve on their skills – or even to unlock wholly new abilities.

Where training takes place in scheduled group sessions, research is conducted by players in their own time, either individually or alongside other researchers.

Research must be monitored by a research referee, a staff member who observes and feeds back on the work and tracks progress (sometimes while also playing a tutor non player character in the game). Research referees vary as to when and where they can be found, but the best place to start is the Bastion.

Study Paths

All research advances the character along a study path, a loosely-defined area of knowledge and expertise. All study paths build on archetype skills. Standard paths are listed within each archetype’s description.

Progress along a study path is measured in a character’s skill level, from novice to master; masters are generally non player characters (although see Blaze of Glory).

For the purpose of calculating experience points, Creator and Magician study paths are further divided into sub-paths, describing specialisms within each path, e.g. a character researching within the Alchemist study path might progress in the Healing Potions sub-path. Scout and Warrior paths aren’t divided in this way, as each ability is costed individually.

Characters may pursue a maximum of three study paths (and any number of sub-paths within each path), which don’t all have to belong to their archetype. They may pursue one study path (and all sub-paths within it) beyond novice level.

Complexity and Skill Level

All researched abilities have a complexity, from novice to adept, expert and master. The research referee will advise the player of the complexity of the ability they’re attempting to research.

A character’s skill level reflects the number and complexity of abilities they know:

• Novice: One novice ability.
• Adept: Five novice abilities and one adept ability.
• Expert: Five novice abilities, five adept abilities and one expert ability.
• Master: Five novice abilities, five adept abilities, five expert abilities and one master ability.

Skill level determines how hard abilities are to research. Any character can begin learning any ability at any time, but learning more complex abilities than your skill is harder and takes longer, reflected in a higher cost in study units.

Since, per the above list, one must learn an ability of the relevant complexity before achieving that skill level, this means that the first ability at each level of complexity will take longer to learn.

Skill level has no bearing on the experience point value of the character’s abilities.

Player characters may only proceed to adept or greater skill level in at most one study path. They are not normally expected to achieve master level at all, but may do so if they agree to retire their character after achieving this feat.

Research Objectives

A research project begins with an objective. This could be anything: a new rite, recipe or design, a new combat move, an improvement on an existing ability.

Examples

• A duellist mastering a special attack to carve a symbol onto their opponent’s shirt
• A rogue learning to use the Move in Cover skill multiple times per day
• A blacksmith investigating a new unshatterable alloy
• A necromancer tackling the rites to raise a powerful death knight

The researcher should always have a practical mechanical effect in mind.

All research is based on archetype skills (e.g. learning to summon a wild animal requires Beast Empathy skill, while researching a new potion requires at least Apothecary skill). General skills do not unlock research.

Every researched ability is part of a study path. Standard study paths are listed under each archetype.

Pure Research Not all investigation into the cosmology of the world has to lead to researching a new technique; characters are welcome (indeed, encouraged) to delve into the world for no reason other than discovery. As with any research, this might involve the use of skills and spells to make observations, debate and discussion to glean insights, and experimentation to confirm conclusions. Pure research never costs study units – just the characters’ time and effort.

Starting a Project

The character starts by seeking out the relevant research referee to discuss their objective. They should go prepared with some ideas about how to proceed. The research referee will give some initial feedback on the project, including:

• Whether it is possible at all (and if it is not, what might be a more realistic goal)
• Appropriate mechanical effects of the ability
• The experience point value of the ability, if relevant
• A rough timescale for achieving it

The referee will review new projects with the rest of the research team between events, and may provide updated feedback at a later date.

Once an objective is agreed, the referee will open the project on the system and begin logging progress.

All research is tracked by study units. By default, characters are assumed to be spending the full 5 study units every day on one project, but if a character is pursuing multiple projects, whether training or research, they will have to decide how to split their 5 study units between them.

Modifiers to Research Targets

A number of things can reduce the study units target to complete a research project.

Examples

• Magical research may progress more quickly using a path focus.
• Crafting, alchemy and surgery research can benefit from using higher quality workshops
• Similarly, warriors and scouts can benefit from using higher-quality weapons, armour and other tools
• Consuming work units, magic points, alchemical ingredients, crafting materials or other resources can aid work
• The research referee can grant discounts for exceptional roleplay, outstanding use of props or difficult and dangerous research
• A teacher can shoulder some of the burden, spending their own study units on the student’s behalf
• Group research reduces the target for all those involved

Discounts do not stack endlessly; there is a limit to the applicable benefit. All discounts are applied at the referee’s discretion and the exact details may not be revealed to a player.

Research Steps

There is no one correct way to go about researching a project, but some possible steps are discussed below. Most projects will repeat some steps multiple times (e.g. unsuccessful experiments might grant fresh insights for investigation, inspiring further experiments).

Research is a roleplaying-led process. It should arise from the researcher’s understanding of the world and their approach to their skills. A magician’s research, in particular, is a perfect chance to showcase their magical method, while a creator’s research should reflect their creative method.

The research referee assigned to the project will attempt to attend some of these stages when available. When the research referee is not present, the researcher should always ensure their efforts are witnessed by a referee so they can be logged.

Theoretical Research

A research project for a more academic character might look something like this.

• Investigation: Completing many projects requires a clear understanding of the relevant cosmology. Investigation can include pure research into the laws of magic, asking questions and debating conclusions with other players and scholarly NPCs, poring over libraries and texts, and comparing notes with those who have unlocked similar abilities.
• Theory: While investigation creates a picture of how the world works, a theory is a guess at how to make the skill work – an alchemist might assemble a list of ingredients and processes for mixing them, for instance, while a magician outlines where a proposed rite channels magic from, where to, and in what form. A good theory should reflect the cosmological basis of their project, translated into a practical application.
• Experiment: An experiment is an attempt to produce the desired effect, usually observed by the research referee. Conducting an experiment will consume the relevant materials, work units or magic points. After the experiment, the referee will confirm whether it was a success or failure, and provide some feedback on how and why it did or didn’t work.

Trial and Error Research

A more practical, hands-on research project might involve the following.

• Trial (Experiment): Trial is learning by doing. The character puts themselves into situations where they might use the desired ability, and reflects on what using it might feel like. Existing abilities can be improved by testing them under difficult or dangerous circumstances – fighting a battle without armour, tackling multiple opponents, casting spells under a barrage of distraction.
• Explore (Investigation): Bolder characters might seek out insights through exploration. A warrior might track down a particularly challenging monster to fight, while a demonologist could travel to the Demonic Plane to better understand the creatures they deal with. The world is large and full of wonders, and much can be learned by venturing into it.
• Demonstration: Similar to an experiment, above, a demonstration is a bid to make use of the ability, usually observed by the research referee. Demonstrations consume the relevant resources, and may succeed or fail depending on how well the researcher has explained the intent.

Mystical Research

A seeker after deeper truths might approach research something like this.

• Meditation (Investigation): Whether from the Intuition or Oracle skills, or by drinking a Philtre of Visions, or through prayer or other forms of meditation, the character seeks new insights from pure inspiration, prompting further discussion of how the desired ability might work.
• Spirit Communication (Experiment): The researcher consults with spirits for wisdom, either through the Oracle skill, by summoning a spirit or demon, or by simply seeking them out in the world. Some mystics establish a relationship with one spirit to act as a guide. Insights from the spirit world are often abstract, symbolic or obscure; puzzling out their meaning and applying them to research is half the task.
• Celebration (Demonstration): Similar to an experiment or demonstration, a celebration is a ceremony in which the researcher attempts to use the new ability in front of fellow believers, as an act of devotion. Celebrations consume the relevant resources, and may succeed or fail depending on the researcher’s understanding.

A successful experiment, demonstration or celebration produces an imperfect outcome with a very short duration (i.e. only as long as the attending referee is present). It cannot produce a carded item. The researcher can then perfect the method in the final stage of research.

Having performed a successful experiment, the researcher will be told how much longer the project will take to complete.

Completing the Project

After a successful experiment, demonstration or celebration, the researcher knows in theory how the skill or technique works, but cannot yet pull it off reliably or perfectly. The work continues, now focused wholly on refining and practising the technique they’ve discovered, until the researcher has met the study units target for the project.

Practice generally doesn’t require the research referee to attend; it can be completed at the researcher’s convenience and logged by any referee. For appropriate research projects, attending training sessions can count towards practice.

On meeting the target, the character will be awarded the new ability, which will appear on their character card or a separate card at the next event. If it doesn’t appear in the rules, the player may also be given a lore sheet or card with the mechanics of their ability printed on it for reference.

Skills learned through research are always permanent, requiring no upkeep, and have a point value counting against the character’s points cap.

Experience Points

Researched abilities don’t cost experience points; players earn them through in-character effort during Time In, tracked via study units. They do, however, have a value in experience points, which is added to the character’s total and counts against their points cap.

For Scout and Warrior skills, the character is awarded points for each ability they research.

For Creator and Magician skills, the character is awarded a block of points on first learning an ability of a given complexity in a given sub-path, as follows:

Complexity	Experience Value
Novice	2 points
Adept	5 points
Expert	10 points
Master	20 points (but see Blaze of Glory, below)

Having been assigned these points, the character can learn as many new abilities of that complexity in that sub-path as they wish without increasing their point total.

Values are cumulative, and a character must be awarded all lower complexities before being awarded a higher complexity (e.g. a character with an expert ability in a sub-path must be awarded the experience for Novice, Adept and Expert complexities in that sub-path, for a total of 17 points, even if they don’t know any novice or adept abilities).

Examples

The necromancer Godfroie du Lac has previously researched novice-complexity and adept-complexity rites in necromantic protection (one of three sub-paths within the Necromancy study path), worth 2 points and 5 points respectively.

He completes research in Untouchable Heart, an expert-complexity protection rite. The research referee awards him the trait Expert Protection, worth 10 experience points.

Godfroie can now research more expert-complexity (and below) protection rites without further raising his point total. If he researches a master-complexity protection rite, or an expert-complexity emulation or summoning rite, his point total will rise again.

Researched abilities never count as a character’s “pinnacle skill.”

Group Research

A group of between three and nine researchers on the same study path can research an ability together, registering a group research project. All members of the group must have the prerequisite skills and level for the project.

Working together as a group speeds progress, as researchers share notes and discuss ideas together. Each researcher learns the ability individually, tracking their study units separately – they don’t “pool” their points – but the whole group need only perform one successful experiment between them, and the study units target for all members is reduced by 25%. However, if any member of the group logs any work on the project away from the group, they lose both benefits for the duration of the project.

Any number of researchers can leave the group at any time without the remaining members losing the benefits, as long as at least three researchers remain through to the completion of the project. Researchers cannot join the group after the project has begun, although the whole group can abandon the project and start again if wished. Those who leave the group will not benefit from any completed research.

Example

Four characters with the Apothecary skill – Mhairi Mac Roth (expert), Jan von Hanover (adept), Running Stag (adept) and Sembling Meg (who has not yet completed her first novice project) – choose to work together on a healing poultice, which the research referee has determined is a novice complexity potion, with a research target of 12 study units (lowered to 9 study units as this is a group project). On the first day, all four researchers spend the maximum 5 study units.

On the second day, Running Stag can’t find the time to meet up with the other three, so sits down on his own to work on it, spending another 5 study units. At this point, he has left the group project; his target is raised back to 12 units, and he must perform a successful experiment on his own before completing it.

Mhairi, Jan and Meg meet up to work together, conducting one successful experiment between the three of them, and each spending the outstanding 4 study units to complete the project. All three now know the formula for the poultice.

Collaboration

Multiple researchers can work together on a collaborative project, where each is learning a different part of the whole. This is especially suitable for a project combining different study paths.

Examples

• A gemcutter preparing a diamond for a ritualist to invest with ritual power.
• An alchemist mixing a magical amalgam.
• A carpenter inlaying the amalgam in a wand.
• An invoker investing it with power.

Where possible, a collaborative project will be managed by a single research referee familiar with all associated areas.

Each character is set separate research requirements and study units targets; unlike group research projects, there is no discount for working together, although they will tend to find investigation and experiment goes quicker than if they worked apart. Each member of the collaboration learns only their own part of the project.

It is possible for characters with the same skill to work collaboratively, by breaking a project down into parts: for example, three apothecaries could research a philtre, a powder and a cream respectively, which individually do nothing, but are the three ingredients of a more powerful potion than any of them could readily research on their own. This is a lot quicker than a group research project, but since each researcher only learns their part, and all three parts are needed, the knowledge is at greater risk of being lost if e.g. one of them dies.

It is possible to combine collaboration and group research, with several groups each working to complete one part of a collaborative whole.

Teaching

A character may teach any researched abilities they know to another character with the prerequisite skill and level to learn it. They can only teach abilities of a complexity lower than their skill level:

• Novices cannot teach at all,
• Adepts can only teach novice abilities,
• Experts can teach adept and novice abilities, and
• Masters can teach abilities up to expert.

Learning an ability from a teacher has the same study units target as researching it independently; the main benefit to teaching is allowing the student to shortcut the investigation and experiment requirements for learning the ability.

The teacher explains the ability to the student, detailing the process and materials required and explaining the underlying cosmology, and then leads them, in sight of the relevant research referee, to perform an experiment. If the research referee is satisfied that the student has understood the lesson and performed the experiment successfully, the student may now proceed to refining and practising; the teacher is not required after this point, but can continue to work with the student as they complete the project if they wish.

As with all study, this process should entail at least 30 minutes of roleplay. Both the teacher and student must spend at least 1 study unit each, and all study units spent by both teacher and student count towards the student’s target to learn the ability. In total (in the initial session and in any later sessions) the teacher may meet a maximum of 25% of the Study Unit target for the student to learn the ability.

One teacher can teach multiple students in a single lesson, but must spend at least 1 study unit per student they are teaching (thus, a teacher can teach a maximum of five students at once). Each student must perform a successful experiment.

Example:

Presta Magnifico, an adept elemental sorcerer, teaches a novice rite, Burning Grasp, to her apprentice Gema Brightflame. The rite has a research cost of 24 study units.

Presta spends 1 study unit teaching, while Gema spends her maximum 5 study units learning. At the end of the lesson, Gema is able to briefly explain the cosmological basis of the ability to the research referee, and perform a successful experiment, and can now progress to practising and refining her knowledge of the rite independently. She has logged 6 study units on the rite: her own 5 study units, plus 1 study unit from Presta.

The next day, Gema meets with Presta for further tuition. Gema and Presta each spend the maximum 5 study units on the lesson, bringing Gema’s total to 16 study units: her own 10 study units, plus 6 from Presta.

Presta has now contributed 25% of the final target of 24 study units and cannot help anymore; Gema will have to spend the final 8 study units on her own.