mayapuppies Posted April 11, 2009 Report Share Posted April 11, 2009 Hello folks, I am in the process of building a culture package for a society that is in the early stages of a renaissance, there are many levels within the social strata but all can be classified as either Commoner or Noble. I run a skill heavy game, as many of you know and I want to make sure I include a solid collection of everyman skills for the packages. So with that in mind, what kinds of skills would a typical "peasant" and/or "noble" have in an early renaissance society? I'm not terribly familiar with the era so any help would be most beneficial. Oh, and yes, these will find their way into the next D3 Games book, so if you have any reservations about contributing because of that, feel free not to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadowsoul Posted April 12, 2009 Report Share Posted April 12, 2009 Re: Renaissance Everyman Skills Depends on the area. But I would expect a standard Renaissance Noble-about-town to have some knowledge of High Society, Conversation, Acting, KS: Local Politics/Feuds, KS: Duelling, (for men), KS: Art and Literature, KS: Christian Doctrine, Seduction, Riding/TF Equines and some form of musical ability, (particularly for ladies). In Italian cities some knowledge of Trading would be fairly normal as well. For a Renaissance setting you might want to rebrand 'Conversation' as the art of wit and repartee as much as a way of tricking people into revealing information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ragnarok Posted April 12, 2009 Report Share Posted April 12, 2009 Re: Renaissance Everyman Skills Nobles would also probably have knowledge of at least one other language, particularly the standard for literature/religious works. Peasants/the middle class would probably have knowledge of religious works even if they aren't literate. They would also probably have knowledge of the rural area (peasants) or city (middle class). They might also have knowledge of specific trades common or preferred in that area. (blacksmithing, woodcutting, ranching, etc) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndianaJoe3 Posted April 12, 2009 Report Share Posted April 12, 2009 Re: Renaissance Everyman Skills I am in the process of building a culture package for a society that is in the early stages of a renaissance' date=' there are many levels within the social strata but all can be classified as either Commoner or Noble.[/quote'] You may want to add a third category for wealthy commoners. They have some trappings of nobility, but no title or privileges. I run a skill heavy game, as many of you know and I want to make sure I include a solid collection of everyman skills for the packages. So with that in mind, what kinds of skills would a typical "peasant" and/or "noble" have in an early renaissance society?I'm a little confused here. Are you talking about Everyman Skills or Package Deals? Anyway, here are my suggestions for Everyman Skills. Acting AK: Local Area (8-) Climbing Concealment KS: Local Knowledge (11-) Native Language (4 pts, no literacy) Paramedics (Healing) Persuasion PS: Tradeskill (11-) Stealth Survival (local climate) 1 TF (Camels, Equines, Carts & Carriages, Sleds, Rafts, Small Rowed Boats, Small Wind-Powered Boats) Anything else would be in the appropriate Package Deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mayapuppies Posted April 12, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 12, 2009 Re: Renaissance Everyman Skills Definitely Everyman skills. Thank you all, your contributions have helped immensely Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadowsoul Posted April 13, 2009 Report Share Posted April 13, 2009 Re: Renaissance Everyman Skills Survival I'm not so sure about. A rural nobleman or one who travelled quite a lot might well know how to live off the land. A wealthy city-dwelling Venetian nobleman, (Case' Vechie is the term I think), is rather less likely to know that kind of thing. I'd substitute Streetwise for Survival in that case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndianaJoe3 Posted April 13, 2009 Report Share Posted April 13, 2009 Re: Renaissance Everyman Skills Survival I'm not so sure about. A rural nobleman or one who travelled quite a lot might well know how to live off the land. A wealthy city-dwelling Venetian nobleman, (Case' Vechie is the term I think), is rather less likely to know that kind of thing. I'd substitute Streetwise for Survival in that case. I think that, "Urban" counts as a terrain type for Survival. It's all about knowing where to find food, water, and shelter. Anyways, I don't see the Everyman Survival skill as being able to live off the land, but able to stay alive for a day or two until help arrives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucius Posted April 13, 2009 Report Share Posted April 13, 2009 Re: Renaissance Everyman Skills Overall Level. What? Doesn't "Renaissance man" mean someone who is omnicompetent? Lucius Alexander Transport Familiarity: Palindromedary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilFleischmann Posted April 17, 2009 Report Share Posted April 17, 2009 Re: Renaissance Everyman Skills Nobles/Wealthy folks would might easily have some Sciences or Knowledge Skills, or even professional skills that aren't necessarily directly useful. Someone with PS: Painter would probably also have studied SS: Human Anatomy, and maybe Zoology/Botany, to accurately paint (or sculpt) human, animal, and plant images. Others would be KS: Philosophy, KS: History, maybe even SS: Medicine or Alchemy (which is to say "primitive chamistry" not deendee-style potion-making), or KS: Scientific Theories of the Day (which are not necessarily correct). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadowsoul Posted April 17, 2009 Report Share Posted April 17, 2009 Re: Renaissance Everyman Skills I think that, "Urban" counts as a terrain type for Survival. It's all about knowing where to find food, water, and shelter. Anyways, I don't see the Everyman Survival skill as being able to live off the land, but able to stay alive for a day or two until help arrives. I would agree that 'Urban Survival' is a perfectly legitimate skill. But I don't think that it applies to a nobleman. Survival is the art of keeping body and soul together. By definition a normal nobleman is someone who is rich enough in land or money to not need to worry about such elementary concerns. A noble should as a rule be able to wander back to their estate and command their servants to cook them something or head down to an inn, cafe etc and buy a meal. They don't have to hunt down their dinner. I would define Urban Survival as the ability to scrounge edible stuff from rubbish dumps, to hunt vermin for food and avoid the long hand of the law. That skill suits a gutter rat and perhaps even a merchant who has fought his way up from poverty, but not a typical nobleman. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markdoc Posted April 17, 2009 Report Share Posted April 17, 2009 Re: Renaissance Everyman Skills Nobles/Wealthy folks would might easily have some Sciences or Knowledge Skills, or even professional skills that aren't necessarily directly useful. Someone with PS: Painter would probably also have studied SS: Human Anatomy, and maybe Zoology/Botany, to accurately paint (or sculpt) human, animal, and plant images. Others would be KS: Philosophy, KS: History, maybe even SS: Medicine or Alchemy (which is to say "primitive chamistry" not deendee-style potion-making), or KS: Scientific Theories of the Day (which are not necessarily correct). All of these things are possible skills for a Renaissance nobleman. None of them are what I would consider everyman - or even "everynoble" skills. cheers, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbywolfe Posted April 19, 2009 Report Share Posted April 19, 2009 Re: Renaissance Everyman Skills Trading at the familiarity level (8-) could very well be an everyman skill for nobles and peasants alike. It was still very much a bartering culture. Nobles traded land and money and even their own children in politically or financially motivated arranged marriages. Peasants, on the other hand, traded goods and services constantly. While “money” was becoming much more prevalent, at the street level you might be as likely to be offered a basket of vegetables as actual currency. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilFleischmann Posted April 19, 2009 Report Share Posted April 19, 2009 Re: Renaissance Everyman Skills All of these things are possible skills for a Renaissance nobleman. None of them are what I would consider everyman - or even "everynoble" skills. cheers, Mark True. I forgot about the "everyman" part. But it does seem that most (every?) noble would have some type of education and might have a "pick one of the following" more-or-less-useless background SS's or KS's or Language, etc. Maybe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markdoc Posted April 21, 2009 Report Share Posted April 21, 2009 Re: Renaissance Everyman Skills True. I forgot about the "everyman" part. But it does seem that most (every?) noble would have some type of education and might have a "pick one of the following" more-or-less-useless background SS's or KS's or Language' date=' etc. Maybe.[/quote'] Sure. Those kinds of thing are entirely appropriate to a template: for example, for NPCs I tend to make generic templates like "50 point noble" or "100 point noble" and then build out from there. So in my current game (medieval rather than renaissance, but close enough for discussion), the "everynoble" skills are: Climbing, Concealment, Conversation, High Society, Stealth, Transport Familiarity (local riding animals or vehicles), 4 points with native language (plus literacy), AK: Home area. The template includes 8 or more points spent on: Acting Conversation KS: Calligraphy KS: Dancing KS: Classical literature KS: Divining KS: Gardening/Herbology KS: Geography KS: Famous Families/personages KS: Hawking KS: Heraldry KS: History KS: Healing KS: Magic KS: Music KS: Painting KS: Philosophy KS: Poetry KS: Siege warfare KS: Ships and seafaring KS: Woodcut art High Society Seduction Tactics cheers, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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