More Pseudoskills

In our new campaign, one of the players created a pseudoskill for his character, an unconventional healer using the Physician skill house rule.

Chemist + Physician = Paracelsian Medicine

Not gonna lie, I was pretty excited to see this idea of creating specialty skills out of the standard skill list take root in another player's character.

Here are some additional ideas for pseudoskills.

Oratory + Bargaining = Negotiation
I created this one for my own character, a smooth talking Student of Law, and used it to help his landlord get an investment loan to become an olive oil merchant. Negotiation is the polite or refined form of hustling, as represented by the Bargaining skill.

Oratory + Literacy Master = Poetry
Oratory + Seduction = Sonnetry
This one was also for my character - I wanted to make poetry a thing for him, a part of his Occitan heritage. These are pretty self-explanatory; one normally doesn't take check marks for Literacy, but a character pursuing this as a pseudoskill should be permitted to do so, using Wit as the defining attribute.

Oratory + Theology = Preaching
The ability to deliver a rousing or edifying sermon or a moving eulogy, this is an obvious choice for priests and ministers.

Theology + History = Hagiography
Hagiography is the "lives of the saints" - this is useful for identifying the connection between a saint's name and a location or an organization, similar to the Heraldry skill, or for invoking the proper patron for blessing an activity.

Horsemanship + Polearms = Jousting
Jousting was still a thing in early modern France; frex, jousts were held as part of Louis XIII's coronation celebration and appear in Richard Lester's 1973 epic The Three Musketeers. This could be a remarkable alternative to rapiers and pistols as a dueling challenge!

Magistracy + Pilot = Maritime Law
Magistracy + Heraldry = Salic Law
Two more areas of legal expertise, the law of the sea and the law of noble succession.

Student of Law: An Alternate Approach to Legal Professions in Flashing Blades

Any character who wishes to be a Student of Law must have Magistracy and Latin skills. Gentlemen may choose to start the game as Students of Law. Characters from other backgrounds may roll at the beginning of each year after the start of the game to become a Student of Law: a roll of 8 or more is required to be admitted to a College of Law (+1 to the roll if Social Rank is 8 or above). A character must be a Student of Law for 6 years before he becomes a Lawyer. Each year, a Student of Law must devote 4 months, distributed as he likes, in study. - 5.52 Entering the Bureaucracy, Flashing Blades core rules, page 32

A Student of Law in FB has one of the longest apprenticeships of any player character, so what exactly happens during those six years?

Before I get to that, first I want to expand what it means to be a "lawyer" in Flashing Blades. Advocacy in 17th century France is divided between three different professions: notary (notaire), procurator (procureur), and lawyer (avocat).

A notary handles contracts for goods and services, prepares and executes wills, and attests to and certifies some legal documents. It is a bureaucratic office, in FB terms equivalent to a Minor Official as described in 5.53 Ranks and Positions in the Bureaucracy (p. 32), rather than a legal profession; alternatively, it can be a minor job as in 5.103 Minor Jobs (p. 39), with Bureaucratics skill as a requirement and paying 12 £ per month. Because of the importance of notaries to contracts for business and finance, Banking + Bureaucratics = Notary makes a useful pseudoskill for preparing or examining contracts.

Procurators in 17th century France have two roles. In public service, procurators work with magistrates to prosecute violations of the law; they're responsible for gathering evidence and interviewing witnesses and presenting same to the court. They are not prosecutors per se; inquiries at trial are conducted by magistrates directly, using the evidence and testimony collected by the court procurator (procureur du roi). In private practice, procurators assist clients in preparing and filing necessary affadavits and other documents with the court and conduct pleadings before a magistrate; they do not, however, make arguments before the court. Similar to a notary, procurator is a bureaucratic office, equivalent to an Official of the Realm as per 5.53 Ranks and Positions in the Bureaucracy (p. 32); rather than working as a entry-level bureaucrat and a Minor Official, a player character is a Clerk of Law for six years then automatically becomes a procurator. A Clerk of Law may begin with either the Bureaucratics or Magistracy skill.

A lawyer's scope of practice is focused on interpreting and applying the law before the court. This is most often accomplished not by oral argument but in written briefs; a lengthy brief for an important case may even be printed and bound as a book! Lawyers work closely with procurators; in fact, clients hire procurators and procurators then engage lawyers to argue the client's case before a magistrate.

Okay, now that we know what a lawyer is in FB, I can circle back to that six years a prospective avocat spends in preparation. First, there's three years of study of the law at a university; law students listen to lectures and read cases, much like contemporary attorneys do, but they also attend court hearings and discuss the proceedings with their professors, many of whom will be practicing lawyers themselves. Law students may be a rambunctious bunch; their case studies tend to immerse them in local politics.

Next comes two years of internship - le stage - working in a lawyer's practice; the student of law will assit in preparing briefs and may actually represent, under supervision, pro bono clients such as the indigent, which is an obligation for lawyers throughout France. A student of law during le stage should find themselves meeting with procurators on active cases and preparing briefs, especially for peasants and craftspeople.

Finally, the last year is spent working as a clerk for a procurator. Clerks of law spend much of their time copying documents and preparing pleadings; working in a procurator's office provides the student of law with a practical foundation of legal documentation as well as developing a working relationship with procurators they will need for the rest of their career as lawyers.

The life of a Student of Law should be much more than classrooms and study; they're immersed in local politics and may be active participants as well, work with the poor, and prepare actual cases for court. The referee can use campaign turns spent by the adventurer discharging their student obligations as an opportunity to introduce non-player characters and opportunities for patronage. Their careers as lawyers become an extension of their experiences as students of law.

Of Skill Synergies and Pseudoskills: A Flashing Blades House Rule

Skill Synergy

It’s possible for a character to have two skills that work well together. In general, having 5 or more ranks in one skill gives the character a +2 bonus on skill checks with each of its synergistic skills, as noted in the skill description. In some cases, this bonus applies only to specific uses of the skill in question, and not to all checks. Some skills provide benefits on other checks made by a character, such as those checks required to use certain class features. "Using Skills," The Hypertext d20 SRD

I like Flashing Blades' relatively spare skill list. It reminds me of pre-Mercenary "classic" Traveller, focused rather than expansive and with a strong sense of genre. I also appreciate that the skills as presented in the published adventures are synergistic, as seen in an example from "The Royal Hunt" in The Cardinal's Peril (p. 30):

A character with courtly graces may wish to distinguish himself in the King's presence (by making witty remarks, praising the King's policies, making fun of his enemies, etc.). This requires that the character have Etiquette skill, and that he make rolls against Charm and Wit (+2 to these rolls for Oratory skill, +1 for Social Rank 13 or more, -1 for each Social Rank below 9). (emphases added - BV)

Another example is found in "Scavenger Hunt" in Parisian Adventure (p. 29):

They could try to trick her out her bonbons somehow (by telling her they are not worthy of a Duchess, and offering to bring her a box of truly royal chocolates, perhaps). This would require a good idea from the players (as judged by the Gamemaster) and a successful roll on Charm (+2 for Oratory or Etiquette skill; +4 for both). (emphasis added - BV)

If we take examples from these adventures as referee advice, we see (1) one skill providing a bonus to skill checks for a different skill and (2) two skills providing additive bonuses to a single attribute check.

We also see multiple skills used as what I call gatekeeper skills, skills a character must possess to do or be something - 'you must be this tall to ride this ride.' Frex, in the core rules under 5.103 Minor Jobs (p. 39), in order to find a paying gig as an Actor, a character must have both the Disguise and Oratory skills, as well as Charm 13+, while a Gunsmith is required to be a Master of the Firearms skill and have Fine Manipulation as well. FB doesn't have either an Acting or Gunsmithing skill, but if your put those gatekeeper skills together, you get something like this:

Disguise + Oratory = Acting
Fine Manipulation + Firearms Master = Gunsmithing

And thus is born the "pseudoskill."

A pseudoskill is two skills taken together to represent a third skill not specifically covered by the rules as written. A pseudoskill may be created during character generation at a reduced cost in skill points; the first skill costs one, two, or three points per the existing rules, but the second skill costs only one point - the skill with the highest point cost in the pair is always the first skill. When used in tandem as a pseudoskill, each skill can expect to receive a check mark for purposes of experience; frex, sneaking past a Swiss Guard in the Louvre might get you a check mark for Stealth, but Stalking a stag on a royal hunt could earn you checks for both Stealth and Tracking if taken togther as a pseudoskill.

Here are a few examples, which are in no way intended to be exhastive.

Acrobatics + Horsemanship = Trick Riding

Leaping to or from a moving horse, riding while standing on the saddle, or concealing oneself behind a horse's neck and shoulder while firing a pistol would all fall under the Trick Riding pseudoskill.

Tracking + Stealth = Stalking

Moving quietly from cover to cover while tracking a quarry is a useful pseudoskill for poachers, gamekeepers, and sharpshooters.

Bargaining + Horsemanship = Horse Trading

A character with the Horse Trading pseudoskill can be expected to get a good price for a reliable mount, or at least end up not overpaying for a nag destined for the knackers.

Forgery + Fine Manipulation = Counterfeiting

Counterfeiters in the 17th century manufactured die stamps to change one coin into another; they also produced false seal stamps and signet rings to lend authenticity to a forged letter or document.

Magistracy + Theology = Canon Law
Magistracy + Banking = Contract Law

Lawyers who wish to specialize in Church or business law can create their own pseudoskills to represent their expertise.

Again, this list is not exhaustive; players should work with their Gamemasters to create their characters' pseudoskills as appropriate.

As for resolving a task, the Gamemaster should use the most appropriate base attribute with an automatic +2 or higher synergy bonus for the paired skill. Remember, a pseudoskill is in addition to the benefits provided by the base skills; a character with Acrobatics paired with Horsemanship for Trick Riding can still make normal checks and earn experience for swinging from chandeliers or somersaulting from a table.

Finally, characters may add new pseudoskills by learning two new skills or pairing a new skill with an existing skill; the training time for these skills is as per the core rules. A character who learns a new skill to create a pseudoskill with an existing skill may not receive the benefits of the pseudoskill until a checkmark is earned in the existing skill; frex, a character with Banking who learns Magistracy to create the Contract Law pseudoskill must first earn a checkmark in Banking before the pseudoskill takes effect.