Blackguards

Nicknames: Rogues, Jacks, Soundrels

Every society has an underbelly, and that of the Triangle is certainly no exception. But what makes the Triangle rare is that much of it is purposefully out in the open, instead of behind closed doors. The Blackguards Guild are the law-abiding criminals of the Triangle, the thieves and the thugs and the spies. Children of the Triangle are taught never to trust a Jack, because you never know when they might be speaking the truth.

Legend has it that the Blackguards were once a minor guild of gaolkeepers and bodyguards - some of their oldest Guildhalls still bear witness to these origins. But as time went by, these gaols became less a prison for criminals, and more of a refuge. The guild grew corrupt as more and more criminals infiltrated their ranks. Eventually, the Blackguards started selling 'insurance' policies, especially to Harbormasters; those protected were immune to casual thefts. The more expensive the policy, the better the protection - for the higher the price a scoundrel will ask to break it.

The other Guilds opposed the Blackguards for a short while after this corruption was discovered, but they soon realized that it was easier to keep an eye on them if they were in the open, and that the Blackguards were doing a better job of policing criminals outside their ranks than anyone had been before. Gradually, a symbiosis developed, and now the Blackguards are considered an equal of the other Guilds - even if they'd never turne their back on one.

More than any other task, Blackguards are useful as spies of all types. Many are even able to pass themselves off as members of another Guild, although a combination of courtesy and threat means it is done rarely, and usually with the permission of the Guild in question. On the other hand, you never know if any Guildless is really a Blackguard, making it a favorite disguise of the Rogues. In fact, most Blackguards actually know a Guildless trade of some sort, so they can 'honest work' when necessary.

The Blackguards are one of the more numerous Guilds, if not the largest - it's very difficult to pin down their total numbers, and even the Blackguards likely don't know how many there are.

Special Abilities

Blackguards command only one small, but potent, ability - they can lie without getting caught. Blackguards can literally say anything with a straight face, and only those who know the facts will know if they mean it or not. Treat this as an immunity to all lie detection and Empathy attempts - only Skjalds can often tell, if they win an opposed Head Count.

Magic: Blackguards start with 3 charms from any list.

Traits: Agile, Cunning, Charming, Honorable, Friendly, Jack of All Trades, Streetwise, Perceptive, Stealthy.

Skills: Acting, Criminal, Concealment, Fooling, Savvy, Stealth, one other skill; Blackguards also get double their expected secondary skills.

Corsairs

Nicknames: Bucklers, Pirates, Mariners

The Triangle is a big place, especially since you can move in three dimensions. It is filled with insular States whose governors rarely think outside their walls, and whose citizenry is most comfortable living their lives in the same Edifice they were born in. But States rarely grow and prosper without the interchange and influx of goods, services, and individuals, and the sea and sky have always called those who seek a life of adventure. The Harbormen are the vanguards of the docks, but someone still needs to bring the goods.

Corsairs are the teamsters and smugglers of the deep, pilots and officers of crafts of all types. They are the ones behind the wheels of the UFOs and USOs so common in the Triangle and beyond - and some have been known to crew much stranger craft as well. One of the most well-known Corsairs is Captain Iain Farquar, whose ship is the infamous Kraken, created and maintained by several Shapers who serve as officers in his crew.

Few ships are entirely crewed by Corsairs - these are either small, or elite vessels that command a high price. Most ships have Corsair officers, who split stakes in the ship equally with one another, and with any other Guilded crew members, along with a Guildless crew who are paid a straight salary. Other arrangements are possible - there are quite a few slave ships, for instance.

Corsairs are the only Guild members who regularly reach dry land, and the only ones who are allowed to do so. Many of their cargos are picked up there, through legal or illegal means - using cash that's fallen overboard which is no good underwater, or just by stealing the stuff they need. They also shuttle regularly between the Edifices, transporting goods and people of all types, and even chauffer Archaeologists looking for their next big strike.

Corsairs are also known to prey on each other to fill their holds, though by unwritten rule this rarely happens in sight of the docks, and shipboard rivalries are supposed to be forgotten in the harbors. This doesn't always happen, however, and Corsairs preying on each other are the subject of many Skjaldings.

Corsairs do not hold a monopoly on the use of ships, though not for lack of trying - ships are simply considered too valuable and necessary for survival, and the other Guilds have always denied the Corsairs their attempts at monopoly. Corsairs do, however, have a monopoly on all travel above the surface of the water, as well as first claim on all cargo a Harborman wishes to ship.

Special Abilities

All but the poorest Corsairs have a stake in a ship of some sort - be it a smaller, single-captain vessel they own themselves, to a larger galleon whose stake and well-being they share with numerous others. The Corsair and the Conductor must work out the details of their vessel together. Corsairs get a single coin for anything dealing with any sea-going vessel, and an additional coin for every stake they have in a vessel.

Corsairs are also trained in protecting their cargo (and incidentally, boarding other ships to take theirs). They get an extra coin in all uses of hand-held weapons and pistols with their Fighting skill, and can also use their Fighting skill instead of Targeting when using pistols or other sidearms in duels and close combat.

Magic: Corsairs start with one sidearm of either Salvage Tech or Shaper manufacture, and one charm chosen from any list.

Traits: Tinker, Reputable, Bold, Fierce, Shrewd, Streetwise, Cunning, Mundane, Diplomatic, Vessel, Veteran, Seaworthy

Skills: Language (2 spoken or pidgin), Transport, Fighting, Negotiation, Contacts (Harbormen), Carousing, Criminal

Edificers

Architects, Builders, Masons

There is no Guild more respected and needed than the Edificers. Sure, there are a few completely natural habitats out there, and the Tritons certainly have no need for an Edifice. Heck, there are even a few underwater habitats maintained entirely by Tinkers, but they are still seen as death traps, and rightly so. Most Triangle denizens still live in huge buildings painstakingly built from specially sculpted stones, carefully prepared and placed following principals set out in ancient Atlantean science. The Edificer's Keystones are what keep the water out and the air refreshed - the rest of the Edifice is build for support, defense, and beautification.

Most Edifices have at least one Edificer on hand to do general maintenance and ensure the place doesn't fall apart; many have more, as it is the nature of most people to settle in one place. Other Edificers find themselves working on building a new Edifice, or restoring a broken one, or expanding to an existing one. In their younger years, Edificers travel from place to place, lending their hands where it is needed so they can expand what they know.

Edificers are more than just architects - they are the keepers of the last bits and pieces of the science that the ancient Atlanteans developed. They know the Sacred Mathematics of ancient Atlantis, which allows them to repair broken Atlantean artifacts and, in some cases, even build new ones. It also allows them to bend the Radiance themselves.

An Edificer's work with the Radiance has attuned him to it - he can almost smell the stuff, and can sometimes find areas where it concentrates, known as Quarries or Radiance pools. It is in these Quarries that the Keystones and other Atlantean stonework of the Edifices are borne and sculpted, and the ancient science of Atlantis takes on a life of its own.

Special Abilities

Edificers can sense concentrates of Radiance. Using a three-coin Head Count, they can determine the following, based on the number of successes achieved:

• One Success: the RadCount of the local area
• Two Successes: the direction of the nearest area with a higher or lower RadCount
• The direction and heading of any nearby Quarry, if there are any

Magic: Edificers begin the game with one charm.

Traits: Driven, Inventive, Radiant, Tireless, Strong, Agile

Skills: Engineering, Swimming, Research, Survival, Trade (Stonemason), Science (Architecture), Art (Sculpture)

Finders

Nicknames: Huntsmen, Sleuths, Seekers

It is easy to get lost in the Triangle, especially if you don't want to be found - and that's where the Finders get in. Originally, they were hunters of those Atlantean children who fled to the Tritons, and then hunters of criminals, but did not really become powerful until the era of slavery, when they hunted down escaped slaves. Now, of course, Finders are far more - they have become the pinnacle of bounty hunters, able to fixate on a target and follow them wherever they may go. They are also the detectives of the Triangle, their skills at finding pret equally useful at solving crimes and bringing a perpetrator to justice.

Of course, this part of the Finder's Guild puts them in a rivalry with the Blackguards, one that is sometimes friendly, sometimes deadly. Not only that, but sometimes the Finders take unsavory commissions, up to and including assassination. This leads the Guildless to be very split on Finders - those who work locally are generally respected, upstanding citizens, while those who arrive at the docks are often guilty until proven innocent.

It is because of the Finders that parents usually take a lock of their child's hair at birth, and keep it somewhere safe - if their child is ever kidnapped, or runs away, or gets lost, the Finder can use it to help bring the child home again. OF course, the Finders are also the reason some Blackguards have taken to polluting crime scenes with the hair and blood of many innocents, to make them harder to isolate and track. The game of move and countermove goes on.

Special Abilities

Finders specialize in locating people. In order to successfully find an individual, a Finder needs a cachet. This cachet gives the Finder a bonus on all Tracking rolls with regards to finding the target of the cachet. This bonus depends on the quality of the items in a cachet, as described below. Only the highest bonus counts.

• One coin: A sketch/an item the person once used/a fingerprint
• Two coins: A photograph/an item the person used often
• Three coins: A lock of hair and/or blood from the person

Finders have also become very adept at looking between the cracks, between the words people say, and interpreting the evidence left behind when a crime is committed, or someone vanishes. They get a one-coin bonus to any roll associated with the investigation of any event.

Magic: Finders start with two charms chosen from any list.

Traits Reputable, Driven, Deductive, Shrewd, Perceptive, Honorable, Commanding, Streetwise, Courageous, Cunning

Skills: Tracking, Stealth, Observation, Savvy, Criminal, Targeting, Interrogation

Harbormen

Nicknames: Swindlers, Fences, Traders

The only way out of most Edifices are the harbors, by both tradition and Harborman monopoly. It is through these docks that goods come to be sold, bought, or traded, and visitors get their first impression of their destination. All that wealth travels directly into the hands of the Harbormen, the wealthiest of the Guilds. In the Triangle, the harbors are the bazaars - Guildless tradesmen rent spaces to sell their wares, and almost anything can be bought and sold at a Harbor, for a price.

Harbormen are the least mobile Guild in the Triangle, tied almost inextricably to the docks. Even Edificers have a journeyman period where they are not only expected, but encouraged to move from place to place, but a Harborman is nothing without the docks that are his livelihood. The Guild is a very Machiavellian place, for there are a limited number of harbors, many of the larger ones already shared by several Harbormen - thus only a limited number of Guild Members. A few elder Harbormen eventually retire, having sponsored enough Corsair vessels that they can live off their share in the profits, but that event is few and far between. New harbors being opened are even rarer, and the subject of much position-jockeying.

This Guild has a rather symbiotic relationship with the Corsairs. They sponsor stakes in many Corsair vessels and then stay behind, allowing the Corsair to control a larger ship than he might be able to otherwise. The Corsairs bring the goods, and the Harbormen sell it, renumerating the Corsairs well for their deliveries even as they rob them blind with the dock fees they charge. Corsairs are also a Harborman's first choice for outgoing cargo.

Though many States in the Triangle attempt to issue currency, the main economy is that of barter. Harbormen mostly exchange goods for other items of value - equipment, weapons, charms, services, or even a favor to be named later (usually sealed with a Finder's cachet, just in case). This system pretty much guarantees that the average Harborman has a selection of wares far more interesting than anywhere else. And what he can't get himself, he can certainly call in a favor that knows how to get it. Between their wealth and their position, Harbormen find themselves immersed in enough politics that they barely give a thought to adventuring on the high seas.

Special Abilities

Every Harborman starts with some docks under his control, either alone or shared with other Harbormen. There's no fair or equitable arrangement - everyone is different, and each Harborman is out for his own advantage. Discuss the details of this arrangement with your Conductor before gameplay - this could be anything from a small side-dock that you control yourself, to a smaller stake in a larger Harborman cartel. No matter what, these docks are the lifeblood of the character.

In addition to their docks, Harbormen start with a stash of goods and services available in their warehouse. At the start of the game, add one die to any Head Count where the Harborman is attempting to find a good, or call in an appropriate favor or marker. The Conductor decides how many successes are necessary.

Magic: Charms are one of the more common ways that people pay Harbormen for their goods. As such, Harbormen begin play with three charms taken from anywhere.

Traits: Reputable, Vessel, Tinker, Wealthy, Cunning, Fast Talker, Shrewd, Charming, Diplomatic, Cautious

Skills: Transport, Negotiate, Gambling, Contacts, Empathy, Games, Savvy

Muses

Nicknames: Visionaries, Tempests, Tragedians

To play a Muse is to play one of the condemned, but what a way to go!

In most of the Triangle, entertainment is as good as gold - better. Anyone who can bring a good distraction from the hostility of the deeps is welcomed with open arms by the citizenry of most Edifices. Muses are the cream of the crop in entertainment, able to make reality accompany their words; they are envied, but pitied; held in awe, but also in fear. For Muses are able to do what many artists merely strive for: they put life into their art, and cause the world to immediately conform to their visions.

Everyone in the Triangle has the potential to become a Muse, to join the secret of unlocking the flames of the heart and bending them to the will of the imagination. However, only a selecte few choose to take the plunge, preferring to live as slow-burning candles instead of flashes in the pan. For there is a price that the Muses pay - the visions granted by their inspiration can lead to madness, and the drive to create greater and greater masterpieces can lead them to waste themselves away, consumed from the inside out by the creative fires within.

The Muses don't hold a monopoly on art by any stretch of the imagination, at least not by the standard definition of monopoly - quite the opposite, they are staunch supporters of the arts, the only Guild that regularly sponsors artists, paying to allow them to live a life of luxury while they work. The best, of course, they court for Guild membership, but they appreciate all art, even - no especially - the mundane. In fact, they're somewhat jealous of those who can create that sort of art, instead of Art.

The Guild can support these artists, as well as themselves, by commanding high fees for their own Art, which shapes Life. FEw can afford the private fees of even a journeyman Muse, and their performances to the public are nothing more than an improvisation of their Art, the world moving to comply.

Muses are welcome most anyplace they care to dock, though they are often feared as well - nobody wants reality pulled out from under them. They still command a decent amount of respect, and are always entertaining and engaging, even when you don't want them to be. It doesn't hurt that an angry Muse can easily turn his Art against htose who crossed him.

Special Abilities

The power of Muses is their Art - everything they have and everything they are is tued up in what they can do with their creative spark. Every Muse has at least one art that he can do well; many learn more. Past Muses have been photographers, musicians, actors, singers, painters, poets, martial artists, sculptors, and even mimes. Any Art a Muse knows, he can use to shape reality, given the right tools and enough time. This is treated as any other use of the Art skill, although a Muse can boost his skill by sacrificing Permanent Health Levels, getting an extra coin for each Health Level sacrificed this way. Muses have been known to die while creating their masterpieces.

The power of this Guild requires a lot of adjudication on the part of the Conductor, and anyone choosing to play a Muse must accept the Conductor's interpretation of the Art. A general rule of thumb is that improvisational Art produces stronger effects, but less directed ones. The player describes to the Conductor what they are trying to accomplish with their Art, flips the appropriate coins, and then the Conductor translates it into the game world. It should be noted that even a result of no Heads should have some effect if the character was trying, although not usually to the benefit of the Muse or his audience. Improv just means art, instead of Art, was created.

Unfortunately for the Muse, it is difficult to stop from shaping reality. Every day the Muse hasn't done some Artwork, he must flip his Art Addiction score in coins. If even one head is flipped, the Muse is struck with inspiration and must work, changing reality in some uncontrolled, improvisational way. If more than one head is flipped, the Muse must sacrifice a Permanent Health level for every Head beyond the first - even if he has none to spare. If the test is failed, the character is penalized a number of coins equal to his Addiction rating until he gives in and shapes the world with his Art.

Art Addiction starts at 1 coin and raises more-or-less by Conductor fiat.

Magic: Muses concentrate on their Art! They have no charms.

Traits: Risen, Artistic, Driven, Inventive, Strong willed, Charming, Jack of All Trades, Odd, Precise, Tireless

Skills: Art (choose), Carousing, Games, Trivia, Seduction, one skill related to their Art, one other skill of any sort

Oracles

Nicknames: Augurs, Cassandras, Seers

Mankind has always had a curiosity about time, how it works, and his place in it. What happened in the past? What is happening now? What will happen? All of these are questions people try in vain to answer completely, striving to find some justification for their lives, some reason for it all. The Archaeologists search for their answers in the relics and garbage others left behind; meanwhile, the Skjalds shape the past with their words, hoping to put a different spin on the present, in hopes for the future. Castaways wonder why they came forward... and what hapened to those they left behind.

The Oracles don't have these questions anymore - they've tapped into the flow of time itself to find their answers. But that knowledge brings with it a whole new set of questions and choices. What should I do? What choice do I make? Which is the better future... and do I really have the right to choose? These are the questions every Oracle wrestles with, and each has their own take on the matter.

Oracles are a strong force of change in the Triangle; most are itinerant, wandering from place to place through the virtue of whims and omens, trading in their insights for some food and a song. Though their oracular skills are certifiably genuine, their visions of the future are often unclear and symbolic, and are almost never what the seeker desires. An Oracle's silence can be more revealing than his words in such cases, for Oracles have certainly learned how to speak in riddles when needs be.

Parents always want an Oracle present at the birth of their child, or shortly thereafter, to foretell the path of their offspring's life. Oracles also often act as the court of last resort - most Lords are willing to allow an appeal to an Oracle if a prisoner requests it, and often abide by the Oracle's judgment and sentence (although they are not bound to do so.

Oracles realize the value of entertainment in their line of work, and thus know the standard tricks of the fortune-telling trade. This not only pleases those who come to see them, but also helps them to hide the parts of their visions that they feel the need to keep secret.

An Oracle's foreknowledge is responsibility as well as burden, and they sometimes give wrong information or riddles in order to guide people to the future they have judged the best. Oracles have also been known to take direct action in trying to stop, or cause, a potential future. Many of these actions are probably unknown and unnoticed, for if you know the futures to come, how hard is it to change a path simply by hiring a ship to go one way instead of another?

Special Abilities

All Oracles have the ability to divine the past, the present, and the future - although how they do it varies widely from Guild member to Guild member. Each Oracle must choose a primary means or technique of divination to use with their Trade - tea leaves, tarot cards, tossing bones, having dreams or induced visions, or anything else the player can imagine. When divining, then, the Oracle uses this Trade as the skill in their Head Count, also adding any applicable Defining Traits. Each divination costs a single Temporary Health Level - additional levels can be sacrificed for more coins.

For viewing into the past, only a single Head is necessary. Two Heads are necessary for attempts to view the future, or spreads of both the future and past. Three heads are necessary to far-view the present - for as much as the future is ever-changing, the hardest thing to see is what happens when it crashes against the rocks of the past. These Heads give the minimum - some sort of relevant information, usually vague or symbolic. More Heads add additional relevancy or clarity to the information being gathered. In all cases, if no Heads come up at all, the Oracle has a false vision - sometimes irrelevant, sometimes damaging. Some Oracles have spent their lives chasing these false divinations.

The future is always in flux - what the Oracle sees as he looks ahead tends to be the most likely future, or multiple futures at the crux of a significant branching. As Oracles are well-aware, however, the paths of the future are always being changed by the actions in the ever-advancing present. The past, on the other hand, is unmoving, which is why Oracles have a better chance of looking behind. Divinations can also come upon many oracles spontaneously - these often happen when touching some item or place charged with history, or coming across a person fated to play a pivotal role in an upcoming branching. The Conductor will decide when, and if, that happens. In all cases, an Oracle knows only events, never reasons. He must deduce those himself.

An Oracle's sense of the future, and how little things can cause drastically different results, can help not only the Oracle, but also their allies in the short term. Any time short of a combat situation, an Oracle can re-take or cancel an action of their own, or cause a friend or enemy to re-rest or cancel theirs, assuming there was something they could reasonably have done to affect the actions of that other individual (this should usually be roleplayed out). This can only be done once for any given action, and the second result or action must be accepted, whatever it might be.

Note that in all cases, an Oracle's powers do not work on Lanathenein - this includes themselves, if they are Lanathenein.

Magic: None. Their visions have probed the mysteries of all charms, making it impossible for them to ever learn any.

Traits: Charming, Risen, Deductive, Knowledgeable, Strong-willed, Intuitive, Zealous, Shrewd, Perceptive, Diplomatic, Castaway

Skills: Empathy, Observation, Fooling, Acting, Divination, Trivia, Negotiation, Trade (Fortune Telling), one other skill

Reapers

Nicknames: Death, Leeches, Hadeans

The hostile environment of the Triangle encourages a certain pragmatism; in the crushing depths, skills tend to be evaluated on usefulness instead of morality, and people on what they contribute to society, vs. what they take away. Though the focus of the Reapers Guild is unsavory to many, they offer services that are available nowhere else, and have made great contributions to Triangle life. In addition to providing the disposal of bodies, Reapers commune with spirits, bringing the unanswered questions of the living to the dead, and occasionally coaxing a ghost back into this world.

Reapers are the students of the dead, and have developed a number of magical techniques in the pursuit of their studies. Quite unlike the stereotypes most often associated with their trade, these necromancers are rarely the sinister evil the UpWorld likes to imagine them being - they're simply businessmen with a slightly different trade.

The very nature of the Reaper's occupation cultivates detachment from the world - something some Reapers embrace, and others constantly struggle against. Certainly, many Reapers enjoy their job and the unique opportunities it provides, but bringing life back to the fallen, and relaying the answers of the dead back to the living can be emotionally draining (and for every answer they give, they usually learn one thing they'd rather not know). Some Reapers are driven over the edge by the stress of their job duties, but most usually retire long before the stress breaks them down.

One of the more frightful and disconcerting things about the Reapers are their zombies. Zombies are reanimated corpses who have just enough awareness to function and remain cohesive. Although zombies don't decompose, they are usually in various states of decay and disrepair, and find themselves used as pack animals and servants by the average reaper. Some have been known to procure zombies for less savory tasks - this is alternately viewed as a sign of pretention or vulgarity.

Special Abilities

Most come to the Reapers to ask questions of the dead, or to say goodbye to one of them. To talk to the dead, the Reaper casts 3 coins - each Head is one question that can be asked, and each Tails is one bit of unrelated, often information that comes to the Reaper whether he wishes it or not. Additional questions can be asked at the cost of one Temporary Health Level spent before the coins are flipped. However, questioning the spirits too much can draw their wrath.

Reapers can also raise the dead, bringing spirits back into waiting bodies. This is immensely draining for the Reaper, who must give some of his own life energy to spark the body back to life. When supplied with an adequate body, the Reaper may flip one coin, plus one coin for every Permanent Health Level he takes. A minimum of two heads is necessary to revivify the body and coax the right spirit into it - a single head reunites spirit and body, but only animates, instead of revives the corpse. No successes generally means the soul refuses to return, but sometimes an errant spirit comes to inhabit the prepared body. A person who has already been raised subtracts one coin from any Reaper's attempts to raise him again, per successful faise.

Animating a zombie is effectively the same process, only the Reaper expends Temporary Health Levels instead of Permanent ones. One head revives the body - each additional head increases the complexity of the commands the body can understand and obey. Zombies with enough complexity, with the proper training and programming, can almost mimic real life. Reapers usually have at least one zombie servant, but rarely have too many - a zombie requires a new Temporary Health level every once in a while, or they collapse. (Note, though, that Health Level doesn't have to be the Reaper's - some sick Reapers keep blood-slaves for this purpose.)

Magic: Reapers start with one charm chosen from any list.

Traits: Precise, Driven, Clever, Radiant, Calm, Odd, Library, Knowledgeable, Risen, Benevolent, Deductive, Studious

Skills: Science (Anatomy), Trivia, Lore, Interrogation, Trade (Mortician), First Aid, Disguise, Research

Shapers

Nicknames: Sawbones, Moreaus, Greenthumbs

Reapers study how far across the barrier of life they can reach, and what they can accomplish there; in contrast, the Shaper focuses on the abilities and aptitudes of life, and how far those limits can be pushed before they break - and what it means when a limit is broken. If an injury is too much for First Aid care, the Shapers are skilled surgeons and doctors. Less often, but still rather commonly, people go to Shapers to be enhanced in one way or another, or to have some tool grown and created for their purposes.

Many Shapers are perfectionists; in particular, their body is often viewed as a constant work in progress, creeping slowly towards total optimization, becoming less and less...natural along the way. Some Shapers, however, prefer to remain pure in form and work only on others. Others refuse to provide internal enhancements to anyone, focusing only on their gardens and biological tools.

Enhancements go far beyond what many might expect. The Kraken is a Shaper, once a man, now captained by Iain Farquar. Another Shaper crafted Iain's famous sidearm, the Needle. On the flip side, Shapers are responsible for the creation of many monstrosities, the biggest being whatever caused Ghede to collapse.

A Shaper's labs are often filled with experiments and creations - they are the minds behind the sangreal, and have also been responsible for many of the culinary delicacies that can be found within the Triangle. A Shaper gourmet, cooking with foods from his private garden, is a luxury few can afford.

Special Abilities

Shapers can use their Shaping ability for quick healing of others - this is a 3 coin action, with each success turning one Permanent Wound into a Temporary Wound. This can only be done once for a person on a given day, and cannot be done to themselves.

Shapers can also build enhancements into flesh, or create biological tools. See the Appendix for details.

Magic: Shapers start with no charms. Instead, every Shaper starts with three enhancements or tools.

Traits: Studious, Resilient, Healer, Driven, Intelligent, Feral, Inventive, Benevolent, Cautious, Precise, Shrewd, Tireless

Skills: Animal Handling, Cooking, Empathy, Research, First Aid, Science (Biochemistry), Trade (Surgeon)

Skjalds

Nicknames: Bards, Arbiters, Speakers

If you want the latest gossip from across the Triangle, you usually want to go to a Skjald. If you've been accused of a crime and want to be exonerated, you really should go ask a Skjald. If you want to be entertained by a good story, look for the nearest Skjald; he'll always be willing to spin a yarn. And if you want an honest eulogy for your funeral, talk to a Skjald; he'll weave the good and the bad effortlessly into a fitting tale.

Skjalds are some of the most active participants in the social life of the Triangle. They have little need for money - in every place they go, people offer them room, board and even the occasional luxury in exchange for tales and gossip. But there is a glass wall between Skjalds and people, one only Skjalds normally see. A Skjald who runs out of stories has overstayed his welcome, and so they rarely have the luxury of staying in any place for very long, of making long friends, of putting down roots. This is what makes the Skjalds so fervent in their pursuit of social activities - the knowledge that their involvement with these people will soon come to an end.

Accuracy is important to the Skjalds - they enjoy the embellishment of their tales, but prefer to know what, exactly, they are embellishing; over the years they've developed an ear for falsehood, and can tell the difference between the truth and a falsehood. The Skjalds are always aware of their role as oral historians - their knowledge of legal precedent is why they are asked to be arbiters. They are also favored eulogists - despite their intense honesty about the faults as well as the gifts of the deceased, their oratory abilities are able to give funeral-goers a closure none can match.

As journalists and carriers of news, Skjalds try their best to be at the forefront of any potential story. And unlike a journalist in the UpWorld, the Skjalds have the useful skills to make them welcome, so they consequently find themselves the subject of many first-hand accounts, and often stories of their own. Skjalds are also well-aware of the power of gossip - to piss of a Skjald can mean the destruction of a reputation, and in the Triangle, fame has the power to create Relics.

Special Abilities

As storytellers, Skjalds have an almost photographic memory that adds to all of their attempts to recall information; it starts at one coin and can grow through play, and applies to all uses of the Lore, Trivia or Knowledge skills. Skjalds are also trained orators, gaining an extra coin for any action in which they speak to a group.

Skjalds have a good ear for stories, and can almost always tell the difference between the true and the false; only the Blackguards give Skjalds a challenge, forcing them into an opposed Head Count where each side gets 3 heads. This only can tell whether or not the person speaking believes the story.

Finally, Skjalds can weave the effects of any charm they know into their tales, though the effects are more often literary than they are literal. Weaving Hot Rocks into a tale, for instance, might ensure everyone sleeps warm that night, although no actual fires are made.

Magic: Skjalds start with three charms from any list.

Traits: Agile, Artistic, Vessel, Cute, Charming, Diplomatic, Bold, Friendly, Reputable, Perceptive, Knowledgeable

Skills: Lore, Acting, Carousing, Contacts (area), Contacts (area), Storytelling, Observation, Trivia, Savvy, Seduction

Guildless

The average denizen of the Triangle doesn't belong to a Guild. They are the many who have no Guild to protect them, and simply live their lives day-to-day as part of the general population of the deeps. The Guildless include all of those minor professions which have no organizing structure to speak of, including professional Tinkers, food service, clothiers, the crew of Corsair ships, and so on.

Occasionally, members of a profession band together and a minor Guild is created, but it is a rarity, since few are strong enough to organize on that level. Usually, they just continue to toil away as Guildless - some thankful that they do not have to contend with the politics of the Triangle.

Guildless do not have the range and depth of skills that the members of other Guilds have, nor do they have any real classy special abilities of their own. Nonetheless, they can make good Main Characters.

Special Abilities

Guildless have no Special Abilities, but may choose an extra Defining Trait from the main list. They also may double the number of Secondary skills that they receive.

Magic: Guildless start with no charms, but may trade a Guild-bestowed skill for a charm or a piece of salvage tech on a 1:1 basis; with the Conductor's consent, the Guildless may trade all four skills for a Relic of some sort instead.

Traits: Reputable, Cautious, Blessed, Myrmidon, Loyal, Apt, Friendly, Tinker, Library, Vessel, Torch, Honorable, Bold