Hello and a few questions

[Loria]

Hi all

I'm new to this forum (and it's been several years since I was involved in RPG / PBP / collaborative story-telling). I have read the lore sections more than once, but I still have a few questions.

I am working on my character sheet (Inarta), and I was hoping someone would give me some feedback on the following:

1. Skills in botany and herbalism

These are not fleshed out on their respective pages, so the difference between these two seems to be the following: botany is a broad knowledge of plants, while herbalism is specific to knowledge about plants and healing. I am aiming for my character to (over time) develop strong skills in all uses of plants, including (but not limited to) knowledge about folk medicine as it relates to plants. If I only develop botany as a skill, is it acceptable to have my PC also then know about herbalism, as a component of this broader skill?

2. Employment

Are jobs essential? My initial thoughts were that my PC would be competent in bee-keeping, with novice skills in botany and gardening. She would grow things, and produce honey and honey comb, and trade for food etc. Is this acceptable, or should all PCs have a job?

3. Lore vs skills

Despite reading this section several times, the difference is still noodling my brain! If I have skills in Beekeeping, Botany and Gardening, and a mother that was a skilled tracker, could acceptable lores be the following: "Knowledge of how to heal bee stings with plant extract", or "Knowledge of how to find [specific creature in Wind Reach, or wild beehives]". Finally, as I play, can I just add lores as I see fit, or do they need to be approved?

4. Money and trade

I see we have a starting amount. If Inartas mostly trade, then presumably I will not be using my ledger on a daily basis for everyday needs. For each IC day, do I need to track trade or is it just assumed that I get my food etc. on a regular basis? In other words, if a particular story does not require me to mention trips to the shop and market, then do I need to mention these things or is it just assumed?

Thanks in advance for any feedback. I will shortly be posting a character sheet for feedback.

[Khida]

Hi, Loria, and welcome! I think I can answer some of your questions. 1. I would say that 'botany' is the very general study of all kinds of plants, their identification, habitats and the way they grow, etc. It can include what a plant is useful for, and in that overlaps with herbalism. However, herbalism skill is what would be more involved in storing/preparing plants for medicine (which then also overlaps somewhat with Philtering). It is a little hard to say where one of these stops and the other begins, but if a character was to grow their own plants, I'd take gardening and herbalism; if they're more apt to study/collect plants in the natural environment, I'd take botany and herbalism. But your preference may vary. Ultimately, with the way skills here work, you will earn points in those skills you use. So take points in the one you think is most appropriate, and over time you'll earn points based on what your character actually does in RP. In that way your character's abilities come to align with what they do. 2. Employment is essential, because you have to account for seasonal expenses. Though I believe Wind Reach has a different setup from the rest of Mizahar due to its communal society (caveat: I don't play there myself), you generally need to pay expenses accounting for your character's lifestyle, and that means you need income. Consider that everything bartered has a certain value in mizas and so this is bookkeeping for the value that exchanges hands over the course of the season. It sounds like what you'd want to do is set up your character with her own business selling produce and honey. 3. You'll get new lores from storytellers when they grade your threads; you can't add more on your own. The sample lores you mention are nicely specific; it sounds to me like you've got a pretty good grasp on lore vs. skill. 4. As alluded to above, money is pretty much dealt with on the scale of seasons. At the end of a season, you subtract out the accumulated everyday expenses and (if your character has a job) get your wages from an ST. If you specifically buy something in-thread, then you account for it separately; otherwise, you pick the lifestyle level (poor, common, etc.) which best reflects your character's lifestyle. The stuff involved in that lifestyle (trips to market, etc.) are largely assumed unless you specifically showcase something in a thread. Hope this helps!

[Loria]

Great. Thanks for these responses. They are really helpful. Hopefully, I'll complete my CS soon and post it for some feedback.

[Edelweiss]

I had a lot of trouble with Lore’s myself but after some help I got just what to explain for them. A skill is something you can expand on a great deal. With practice they can slowly learn how take care of all manners of creatures and things. At they very start they knew how to raise bait worms; then as they learned more it grew to fish then things like cats dogs sheep and horses. Lore is not a skill, it’s just a statement; or a fact they know. Using animals again; before they even saw a Strider they read a book about them. So you get this. ‘Lore of: Strider colors.’ That’s it; they simply know whats color a Strider can be, but it doesn’t mean they know anything else about them. It works for places as well. ‘Location of Blank’. They never need to have visited the place, they simply know of the location from someone or something like a map, book or even a story. Later you can add more Lore’s about the city, like; Lore of Blanks Roadways’. Having visited Blank you walked the streets up and down and even found a map. Now you know the roadways.