Knowledge Points

A Knowledge Point, or Knowledge, is a unit indicating the level of skill that characters possess in a given sage study. Knowledge accumulates through instruction and through gaining experience levels. The knowledge possessed by non-leveled characters usually applies to a single sage ability rather than a whole study, such as having an ability to handle a horse.

Distributing Knowledge

At 1st level, a character will possess one chosen field and a chosen study in that field, from the list of fields that are available to their character class. NPCs will have 7-12 (d6+6) knowledge points in their chosen study; player characters will always start with 12 points in that study. With each experience level gained, an additional 1d12 knowledge will be gained in that study.

In secondary studies in their chosen field, characters will typically start with 1d8-1 knowledge points. Druids are an exception, starting with 1d6-1. Thereafter, with each experience level gained, an additional 1d8-1 (or 1d6-1 for druids) will be gained in that secondary study.

Outside of their chosen field, characters will start with 1d4-1 knowledge points, which will increase by that same amount with each experience level gained.

For example, a 1st level Player cleric chooses Legends & Folklore from their sage fields. Within that field, they choose the study of Beasts, in which they start with 12 knowledge points. The remaining secondary studies in that field include artifacts, demi-gods and heroes; a d8-1 is rolled for each of these. Last, there are 14 additional studies related to three other fields, The Church, Power and Theology & Customs. A d4-1 is rolled for each of these.

Knowledge Status

Status describes the potential sage abilities that a character possesses according to their knowledge points. Statuses include Amateur, Authority, Expert and Sage.

• To become an Amateur, the character must have 10 knowledge points in a given study. Thus, at 1st level, player characters are always an amateur in a single study. By 2nd level, they may achieve Amateur-status in one or more other studies, but this depends on the success of their rolls. It is not possible for a character to achieve Amateur-status in an out-of-field study until at least the 4th level. By 6th to 8th level, a character will typically have have achieved at least Amateur-status in every study.

• To become an Authority, the character must have 30 knowledge points in a given study. A character cannot obtain Authority-status in a study until at least 3rd level, though this is unlikely and would probably not do so until 5th to 6th level. Authority-status could not be obtained in a secondary study in the character's chosen field until at least 5th level, though 8th to 10th level would be much more likely. It is unlikely a character would reach Authority-status in an out-of-field study until at least the 14th to 16th level, and may never do so in many such studies.

• To become an Expert, the character must have 60 knowledge points in a given study. A character cannot obtain Expert-status in a study until at least 5th level (and would have to roll four 12s to achieve this); on average, and probably would not do so until 8th to 10th level. Expert-status could not be obtained in a secondary study in the character's chosen field until at least 9th level, and would be unlikely to happen before 16th to 18th level. A character would probably never reach Expert-status in an out-of-field study.

• To be come a Sage, the character must have 100 knowledge points in a given study. A character cannot reach Sage-status in a study until at least 9th level, and probably would not do so until 14th to 16th level. Sage-status could not be obtained in a secondary study in the character's chosen field until at least 15th level and without some luck it might never happen.

Investigation

Some may wonder how additional sage fields, studies and abilities are gained merely from the acquisition of experience, which is gained largely through fighting and treasure. It is presumed that any character interested in a particular form of knowledge will continue to investigate that knowledge, both from other persons and sources, and through reflection and investigation. As the game offers much time when the character's moment to moment actions are not specified, it is presumed that the character meets with people, chances to find opportunities to read books and spends long hours considering the training they had once upon a time. These actions steadily progress the character to a "moment of clarity," where they suddenly understand something their teacher tried to explain but which was not fully understood, or something they read once upon a time, or some conversation they had with a like scholar. This epiphany coincides with the moment the character progresses in level.

This may not be entirely realistic, but it is a satisfactory explanation for what is happening in game terms, and that is all that is needed to handwave non-essential details about the character's acquisition of abilities.