The Academic
For our first basic build I will focus on one that is fairly straightforward, the Academic.
An academic can be any character who eschewed the hard labors of… well, hard labor. These are your scholars, your scribes, your newspeople, your scientists, your researchers of all kinds, and your educated populace. This archetype could be used equally building a freelance journalist or a behavioral scientist, even a medical professional. It is largely up to your imagination and choice of skills.
This build begins unsurprisingly by purchasing the Academic Category (5cp) to unlock the lion’s share of the skills we want. The one truth about all well-known or successful Academics is that they didn’t get where they are on their own, so we will purchase membership in the Research Guild (10cp, 15cp spent). This grants you access to the most valuable guild for an academic styled character to be a part of, and gives you access to the research guild libraries. It also gives you access to the quests available to the research guild, which often ask for written pieces of information, or personal research, which will help us in our playstyle.
The next skill purchase is entirely driven by your idea for character build and will be the first of our research skills purchased. At 10 Cp each, these skills are Analysis, Consultation, Deduction, Historical Research, Magical Research, Scientific Research, and Search Area. While the focus on these skills varies, the way they are used remains the same- during gameplay the character may spend 1 stamina to ask 3 yes or no questions related to the area of expertise given by their skill. Outside of the event each research skill may be used to ask plot for information regarding that area of expertise if the request is sent with time for staff to respond before an event (usually two weeks prior to the event). These skills are often a way for your character to gain additional rewards when submitting written research to the guild as well, making them a valuable skill to have.
For a basic barebones build let us assume you are a professional who focuses on only one area of research (as you will have the free character points to pick up more skills) and say that our character is a no nonsense investigative journalist and take the Deduction skill (10cp, 25 spent) which allows us to ask questions regarding people or creatures to get our next big scoop.
At this point we have to ask ourselves is this character someone who can stand up to the horrors of adventuring life? Are they a coward? Are they stalwart and tough? Only you can answer these questions but for the sake of our basic build let us assume that our character may be a rough and tumble kind of person while in the city, but monsters terrify them. So with the final character points for my 30 point basic build we will buy Cower (5cp, 30 spent). This allows our character when threatened by a creature to cower in a way that some creatures will not attack them. This has our character looking like such
5cp Academic Category
10cp Research Guild
10cp Deduction
5cp Cower
30cp Total
So with the barebones build our character is able to interact with the Research Guild for jobs and information, deduce the truth of a person or creature to better paint the picture of their research, and should they be attacked while investigating they can cower in an attempt to escape the conflict unharmed. Not bad for half your character points spent.
Past this point I would encourage you to think about who your character is and what they would build to. The above character might do well with Historical Research to supplement what they can learn about important people through deduction. Your character may not be a coward and they may swap out Cower for a weapon skill granted to them through their Lineage or pick up another Category for other skills.
My personal flavor on this character would lead to the following build at an advanced basic layout:
5cp Academic Category
10cp Research Guild
10cp Deduction
10cp Merchant Category
10cp Diplomacy
45cp Total
This character keeps his no-nonsense demeanor but he’s no coward. His parents are well-off merchants and he’s seen his fair share of ugliness, but when he’s on the job he’s like a dog with a bone and he won’t take no guff from no one. When he talks people WILL LISTEN due to his use of Diplomacy. This allows him to press his cases and ensure they cannot just walk away without giving him the information he needs.
This however, is my build. How would you do it?
Bonus Tips
Acting Tips
While each of the characters that can be built from this archetype vary wildly, they are all educated. My suggestion for playing an academic is to phrase your speech in a manner befitting someone educated. One simple way to sound smarter is to avoid contractions and make sure each part of a word is enunciated. Such a difference:
“Don’t talk like you don’t know what you’re saying” compared to “Do not speak as if you do not know what you are saying.”
If you want to add the feeling of age to your character to give them a wise old mentor feel, make sure to pace your speech and to not speak too quickly or too freely. Intelligent people listen, fools speak.
Costuming Tips.
Again, while this will vary depending on your Lineage and what direction you decide to take your skills, but my suggestion is usually counter to what LARP costume suggestions say:
Keep your costume clean.
An academic coming from the heart of the city would be in a place where damaged outfits can be mended and they could be readily cleaned. As such an academic would look out of place on the frontier, showing up much more put together looking than a grizzled huntsman.
In addition, their attire may not be the most ideal for a frontier campaign so don’t be afraid to shy away from things that you’d normally want for a wildlands travelling character. Though as with all costume choices make sure you are comfortable and safe for the weather conditions.
Prop Tips.
I cannot stress the importance of a book, a bag to carry it in, and a writing implement. Knowledge is your weapon, and research is your trade. Neither can be done well without a book and writing implement. This can be as simple as a journal stuffed into a thrifted purse, or a leatherbound tome with it’s own medieval styled cross body bag. As a research oriented character you will be writing things down a LOT.
To add to the air of intellect, see if you can thrift a pair of glasses. With the lenses removed glasses are a great way to add to your bookish look.
Well with those tips I’d call this one a wrap! Is there anything you’d add? Are there any basic builds you’d like to see in the future? Make sure to come to the next Discord Hangout and let us know!