Elemental Approaches for Scholar Skills

The elemental approaches for Scholar skills function as follows.

Recall Approach (Earth Ring)

An Earth approach to a Scholar skill is thorough and detailed; it starts by establishing the fundamentals and then builds from there. Once a character has been prompted to discuss a topic, Recall allows them to draw forth facts that expand upon that topic. However, because it can only build upon a solid foundation, a character cannot Recall information about something completely novel or unfamiliar, and they must use other approaches to gather enough context to know which facts are relevant to the situation at hand.

A character uses Recall when they want to:

Remember and recite information.

Commit things to memory via rote memorization.

Create a detailed time line of a topic to date.

Pore over their own memories of something they observed firsthand.

Survey Approach (Water Ring)

The Water Ring is practical and results oriented. Survey, the Water approach to a Scholar skill, focuses on information as it pertains to the environment right in front of the thinker. This allows a character to identify things in front of them and gain broader information about their circumstances based on what they can currently perceive. A character can use Survey to get enough information to begin a deeper inquiry, but this approach generally cannot delve beneath surface-level information such as identification.

A character uses Survey when they want to:

Identify something they are currently observing.

Become oriented in an environment.

Narrow their search for something to a small area.

Look for physical clues related to a topic in their surroundings.

Perceive lurking threats in an area.

Theorize Approach (Fire Ring)

Fire is creative and flashy, even in its approach to the Scholar skill group. Theorize, the Fire approach for Scholar skills, is imaginative, seeing the possibilities instead of the certainties. It is good for approaching the unprecedented and the unforeseen, as well as for identifying notable absences, but reckless conjecture can sometimes lead to incorrect conclusions. Taking a Fire approach to a Scholar skill allows a character to come up with a novel idea about how something might function or behave based on limited evidence. However, that novel idea isn’t always the truth.

A character uses Theorize when they want to:

Connect the dots between two seemingly unrelated pieces of information.

Conjecture regarding the reasons behind a physical phenomenon or unexplained occurrence.

Brainstorm possible solutions to a problem.

Come up with a list of foreseeable outcomes of a future event.

Determine that something is conspicuously missing from an area.

Analyze Approach (Air Ring)

The Air Ring frequently deals with nuances and subtleties, and therefore the Air approach to a Scholar skill, Analyze, focuses on uncovering and understanding details. Analyze allows a character to unveil hidden things, focus on minute details, and hone in on traits possessed by people and objects. It also allows a character to infer subtle clues about people from their countenance, possessions, or statements.

A character uses Analyze when they want to:

Study the details of a physical object or idea.

Learn about a particular trait of a subject.

Infer something about a person from their countenance, statements, or possessions.

Find an object they know to be hidden in an area.

Search a small area in detail.

Untangle an apparent contradiction.

Sense Approach (Void Ring)

A Void approach to a Scholar skill is an attempt to look beyond worldly circumstances to see that physical appearances and even time are illusory. Sense, the Void approach to a Scholar skill, is rooted in an understanding that supernatural forces are at the root of the world and that what is yet to come is already written in what the viewer can observe now. It represents hunches and

Table 3–4: Sample Tasks (with Rings) and TNs for Scholar Skills

TASK | TN

1

Finding your way to the right part of a festival (Water), identifying the specific member of a lord’s staff who can actually help you get something you want (Water), diagnosing a common illness correctly (Air), determining whether someone likes you or not (Water).

2

Guessing what an unfamiliar idiom might mean (Fire), knowing whether a proposed action is legal or not (Earth), identifying useful herbs from the woods (Water), discerning whether someone is conflicted about their current course of action (Void).

3

Determining the significance behind an unfamiliar cultural practice (Void), arguing that a law be applied nontraditionally in a specific case (Fire), recalling the proper proportion of ingredients in a medical recipe (Earth), detecting a subtle tell that indicates someone is bluffing (Air).

4

Remembering the mon of a Minor Clan from a distant region of the Empire (Earth), finding a legal loophole you can exploit (Air), combining ingredients in a nontraditional way to treat a disease (Fire), assessing a statement for possible lies of omission or missing information (Fire).

5

Untangling a complex paradox created by two conflicting tenets of Bushidō (Air), foreseeing where shortfalls in supplies will occur after studying a plan for a military campaign (Void), realigning internal energy to help someone recover from a spiritual malady (Void), understanding the fears of a person from a different social class after only a brief conversation. (Earth).

other seemingly supernatural hints a character might receive about a topic. It also allows a character to take a possibility they have already considered (such as by Recalling or Theorizing it) and determine how likely that eventuality is to occur.

A character uses Sense when they want to:

Rely on their instincts and hunches for information.

Understand the spiritual ramifications of an action.

Predict the likelihood of a particular outcome to a future event.

Detect a supernatural presence or influence in their vicinity that would escape their earthly senses.