The World of Novi

FREE SKILL RANKS FOR STARTING CHARACTERS

© Lowell R. Matthews 1999

Revised February 6, 1999

Starting characters in the World of Novi are given twelve free ranks in certain basic skills to reflect knowledge gained from early childhood through adolescence. These free ranks do not require the use of development points and are additions to the ranks normally developed during childhood (level 0) and apprenticeship (level 1). As shown below, the first six ranks are the same for all characters, the seventh is dependent upon gender, and the final five are dependent upon the character's living environment from infancy to early adolescence.

All Characters

  • 1 Fauna Lore
  • 1 Flora Lore
  • 1 Philosophy/Religion
  • 1 Racial History
  • 1 Region Lore
  • 1 rank of one craft skill (based on parents' skills)
    (All skills refer to the character's home region.)

    All Male Characters

  • 1 Foraging (general or specific) OR one craft skill

    All Female Characters

  • 1 Cookery OR 1 Craft-Tailor OR 1 Craft-Spinner

    Environments
    City—Port
    • 1 Foraging-Fishing
    • 1 Sailing
    • 1 Streetwise
    • 1 Swimming
    • 1 Trading
    		Ranching Town/Rural
    • 1 Animal Handling
    • 1 Driving
    • 1 Herding
    • 1 Loading
    • 1 Riding
    		Farming Town/Rural
    • 1 Animal Handling
    • 1 Flora Lore
    • 1 Weather-Watching
    • 1 Horticulture
    • 1 Riding
    Fishing Town/Rural
    • 1 Foraging-Fishing
    • 1 Rowing
    • 1 Sailing
    • 1 Swimming
    • 1 Weather-Watching
    		Mining Town/Rural
    • 1 Caving
    • 1 Climbing
    • 1 Direction Sense
    • 1 Mining
    • 1 Metal Lore OR
      1 Stone Lore
    		 Hunting/Trapping Town/Rural
    • 1 Fauna Lore
    • 1 Foraging-Hunting
    • 1 Skinning
    • 1 Set Traps OR
      1 Read Tracks
    • 1 Trap Building OR
      1 Tracking
    Noble
    • 1 Diplomacy
    • 1 Leadership
    • 1 Administration OR
      1 Military Organization
    • 1 Heraldry OR
      1 Tactics
    • 1 Seduction OR
      1 Sense Ambush/Assassin

     

    In the Environments table above, the main difference between all categories except Noble is the underlying economy of the region. In a typical fantastic medieval or Renaissance economy, it is not possible for an urban area to grow from a town into a city without navigable waterways to enhance trade. Towns and smaller rural population centers like villages and hamlets generally do not have the diversified economies of cities, but rather tend to focus upon one particular source of income. Nobles, of course, have their own specialized concerns.