Rules
Qualities
Qualities describe learned, practiced, or cultivated capability: what a person, institution, or House can actually do well.
Characters
Personal Qualities
Capabilities developed through a Character’s training, practice, and experience.
Factions
Faction Qualities
Capabilities developed through a Faction’s shared training, practices, and experience.
Houses
House Qualities
Capabilities developed through a House’s people, practices, and accumulated experience.
Example Quality
Musician · 14
Playing instruments and performing music for an audience.
The name identifies the capability, the description explains its scope, and the rating shows proficiency. A Musician rated 14 is a skilled performer.
Characters
Personal Qualities
This open-ended catalogue offers examples, not a required or exhaustive menu. A Personal Quality should usually sound like something another person might reasonably call you: Navigator, Scholar,Fencer, Shipwright, or Charlatan.
Broad Qualities
Broad Qualities describe transferable competence across a meaningful field.Warrior, Scholar, or Trainerapply in many related situations.
Specialized Qualities
Specialist Qualities identify a particular discipline or body of expertise:Fencer, Hippocampus Trainer,Shipwright, or Stormreader.
Physical4 examples
Athlete
Climbing, swimming, jumping, lifting, and demanding physical movement.
Explorer
Expeditions, unfamiliar places, surveying, and operating beyond settled regions.
Survivor
Exposure, deprivation, dangerous environments, and remaining functional under hardship.
Scout
Reconnaissance, observation, moving ahead of a group, and reading terrain.
02Travel4 examples
Navigator
Routes, charts, currents, bearings, and wayfinding.
Coachman
Guiding a coach or other conveyance through difficult, confined, or locally complex routes.
Wayfinder
Traditional or intuitive navigation using natural signs and local knowledge.
Helmsman
Controlling and maneuvering a vessel under difficult conditions.
03Martial9 examples
Warrior
Broad practical experience in armed combat.
Armsman
Trained use of a range of weapons and martial equipment.
Duelist
Formal or highly practiced one-on-one fighting.
Fencer
Specialized swordplay emphasizing precision, timing, and technique.
Marksman
Accurate use of ranged weapons.
Brawler
Rough close-quarters or unarmed fighting.
Tactician
Reading and directing immediate combat situations.
Commander
Organizing and leading people under pressure.
Siege Engineer
Constructing, operating, or defeating siege works and fortifications.
Society11 examples
Courtier
Etiquette, noble society, patronage, ceremony, and court politics.
Diplomat
Negotiation, mediation, treaties, compromise, and formal relations.
Orator
Speeches, rhetoric, sermons, debate, and public persuasion.
Musician
Playing instruments and performing music for an audience.
Composer
Creating, arranging, and adapting music for performers or occasions.
Dancer
Expressive movement, choreography, and dance performance.
Performer
Entertaining or affecting an audience through live performance.
Charlatan
Deception, impersonation, confidence tricks, false credentials, and social misdirection.
Schemer
Political maneuvering, conspiracies, hidden agendas, and manipulating competing interests.
Host
Hospitality, introductions, social occasions, and putting guests at ease.
Matchmaker
Marriages, romantic arrangements, family compatibility, and alliance-building through relationships.
Commerce4 examples
Merchant
Valuation, bargaining, markets, trade, and commercial practice.
Factor
Conducting trade or business on another person's behalf.
Broker
Arranging exchanges, introductions, contracts, and deals between parties.
Appraiser
Assessing the authenticity, quality, rarity, and value of goods.
06Administration2 examples
Administrator
Organization, records, bureaucracy, accounts, and institutional management.
Steward
Managing estates, resources, households, rents, staff, and long-term upkeep.
07Scholarship7 examples
Scholar
Research, texts, history, theory, and learned subjects.
Jurist
Laws, charters, rights, precedent, and legal argument.
Naturalist
Creatures, plants, reefs, habitats, and natural systems.
Historian
Past events, chronicles, genealogy, and historical interpretation.
Heraldist
Arms, lineages, titles, noble precedence, and dynastic claims.
Archivist
Preserving, organizing, authenticating, and locating records.
Theologian
Doctrine, sacred history, religious law, and theological interpretation.
08Investigation1 examples
Investigator
Evidence, testimony, inconsistencies, and reconstructing events.
09Medicine5 examples
Healer
General treatment of injury and illness.
Chirurgeon
Wounds, surgery, traumatic injuries, and practical medical procedures.
Herbalist
Medicinal plants, preparations, remedies, and poisons.
Midwife
Pregnancy, childbirth, maternal care, and infant care.
Apothecary
Preparing medicines, drugs, tinctures, and other treatments.
10Craft and Artistry11 examples
Artisan
Skilled creation and repair of practical manufactured goods.
Engineer
Structures, mechanisms, infrastructure, and complex technical systems.
Artist
Visual or decorative artistic creation.
Painter
Creating images and decorative works with pigments, dyes, or paints.
Calligrapher
Skilled lettering, inscription, and ornamental writing.
Sculptor
Carving, shaping, monuments, statuary, and relief work.
Jeweler
Fine metalwork, pearls, gems, ornaments, and delicate craftsmanship.
Shipwright
Building and repairing vessels.
Armorer
Producing and maintaining armor and protective equipment.
Weaponsmith
Producing and maintaining weapons.
Architect
Designing buildings, monuments, public spaces, and major works.
Animal Handling5 examples
Handler
Training and handling animals for work or companionship.
Equestrian
Training and handling hippocampi for riding and work.
Manta Handler
Working with domesticated or working manta rays.
Beastkeeper
Keeping, feeding, breeding, and caring for animals.
Herder
Managing groups of domesticated creatures.
Cultivation3 examples
Pearl Cultivator
Tending pearl-producing organisms and managing their cultivation.
Coral Gardener
Growing, shaping, and maintaining living coral.
Kelp Farmer
Cultivating and harvesting kelp and related crops.
13Underworld8 examples
Thief
Theft, locks, sleight of hand, and covert entry.
Spy
Gathering protected information and cultivating sources.
Infiltrator
Entering or moving through guarded places without notice.
Smuggler
Covert movement of goods or people around authorities and restrictions.
Forger
False documents, seals, signatures, and records.
Fence
Disposing of stolen or illicit goods through criminal markets.
Poisoner
Preparing, recognizing, administering, and countering poisons.
Assassin
Planning and carrying out covert killings.
14ReligionSpecialist religious Qualities may be unlocked through lifepath, culture, or Faction membership.3 examples
Ritualist
Conducting complex religious or magical rites.
Cantor
Leading sacred song and sung responses in worship.
Liturgist
Preparing and conducting formal rites, services, and ceremonial observances.
EsotericSpecialist esoteric Qualities may be unlocked through lifepath, culture, or Faction membership.6 examples
Diviner
Interpreting signs, omens, visions, or other forms of divination.
Exorcist
Confronting malign spirits, possessions, curses, or supernatural contamination.
Stormcaller
Magical practice concerned specifically with storms.
Stormreader
Interpreting magical and natural signs in storms without necessarily controlling them.
Oracle
Receiving or interpreting supernatural revelation.
Relic Keeper
Knowledge, handling, and preservation of sacred or magical objects.
Organizations
Faction Qualities
Faction Qualities describe institutional capability. They tell us what an organization can reliably organize, perform, maintain, or accomplish rather than what it believes or how much it owns. This open-ended catalogue groups common examples by theme; a faction may have a relevant specialist Quality that is not listed here.
01AdministrationRunning institutions, keeping records, and coordinating people and operations.6 qualities
Administration
Managing bureaucracy, records, offices, schedules, taxation, and institutional operations.
Law
Interpreting, arguing, administering, and enforcing formal laws, charters, and legal precedent.
Logistics
Moving and supplying people, armies, expeditions, goods, and distant operations.
Recordkeeping
Creating, preserving, authenticating, and retrieving reliable institutional records.
Recruitment
Finding, attracting, evaluating, and integrating new members.
Training
Developing practical competence, discipline, martial ability, or professional skills in members.
02SocietyWorking through courts, formal relationships, public occasions, and collective opinion.5 qualities
Artistry
Producing significant visual, musical, literary, theatrical, or other creative works.
Courtcraft
Navigating court, patronage, ceremony, etiquette, and elite political society.
Diplomacy
Negotiating treaties, compromises, alliances, concessions, and formal agreements.
Performance
Persuading or affecting audiences through music, theater, oratory, spectacle, and live art.
Public Persuasion
Shaping broad public opinion through messaging, rhetoric, symbols, reputation campaigns, or propaganda.
03DefenseProtecting territory, maintaining readiness, and conducting organized conflict.4 qualities
Fortification
Constructing, maintaining, defending, and overcoming fortified positions.
Patrolling
Watching territory, maintaining regular presence, detecting intrusion, and securing routes.
Survival
Functioning in hostile environments with limited support or supplies.
Warfare
Conducting organized military campaigns, battles, strategy, and large-scale armed conflict.
04ScholarshipTeaching, research, investigation, and understanding the world and its systems.7 qualities
Ecology
Understanding and managing reefs, habitats, populations, migrations, and natural cycles.
Education
Teaching, examining, training academically, and maintaining systems of learning.
Engineering
Designing, repairing, and understanding complex devices, systems, and infrastructure.
Exploration
Operating in unknown places, discovering routes, surveying territory, and mounting expeditions.
Investigation
Determining what happened through evidence, testimony, records, and inquiry.
Navigation
Finding safe and efficient routes through currents, reefs, open water, and difficult terrain.
Scholarship
Research, academic analysis, interpretation, theoretical knowledge, and learned debate.
05CommerceCreating value, building infrastructure, and cultivating or recovering resources.5 qualities
Animal Husbandry
Breeding, training, caring for, and managing animals or sea-beasts.
Commerce
Buying, selling, valuing goods, markets, commercial negotiation, and profitable exchange.
Construction
Building and maintaining structures, infrastructure, settlements, and major works.
Cultivation
Growing and maintaining kelp, coral, pearls, medicinal organisms, or other living resources.
Salvage
Finding, recovering, assessing, securing, and processing wrecks and lost materials.
06UnderworldConcealing activity, acquiring protected information, and operating outside formal systems.4 qualities
Espionage
Acquiring information that others are deliberately trying to conceal.
Secrecy
Concealing members, knowledge, locations, intentions, communications, and operations.
Smuggling
Moving people or goods covertly around laws, borders, inspections, and authorities.
Underworld
Operating through criminal markets, favors, fences, illicit contacts, and informal networks.
07MedicineOrganizing care for injury, illness, poison, disease, and other physical afflictions.1 qualities
Healing
Treating injury, illness, poison, disease, and other physical afflictions.
08ReligionUnderstanding doctrine and conducting religious or ceremonial rites.2 qualities
Ritual
Performing religious, ceremonial, or magical rites correctly and effectively.
Theology
Understanding doctrine, sacred history, religious law, divine symbolism, and theological dispute.
09EsotericPracticing magic and interpreting or influencing natural and supernatural forces.2 qualities
Magic
General institutional magical practice when a more specific Quality does not apply.
Stormcraft
Reading, surviving, predicting, and where possible influencing storms and violent currents.
Dynasties
House Qualities
House Qualities describe what a dynasty is actually good at doing, as an institution and separately from its other traits. This open-ended catalogue measures capability, not wealth, age, honor, fear, nobility, power, Prestige, Assets, History, or Traditions. Add a specialist Quality when it captures a real, distinctive capability of the House.
01AdministrationRunning the House, its household, records, and continuing responsibilities.6 qualities
Administration
Coordinating household offices, records, schedules, and routine dynastic operations.
Household Management
Coordinating domestic staff, provisions, routines, and the needs of a House's household.
Logistics
Moving and supplying household members, retainers, goods, and distant operations.
Retainers
Recruiting, organizing, and maintaining a dependable household retinue.
Stewardship
Overseeing House responsibilities and resources with continuity and care.
Succession
Maintaining clear inheritance procedures and managing transfers of House leadership.
02SocietyWorking through courts, formal relationships, ceremonies, and political agreements.9 qualities
Ceremony
Planning and conducting formal rites, observances, and dynastic occasions.
Courtcraft
Navigating court etiquette, factions, access, and the customs of elite political life.
Diplomacy
Conducting formal relations and negotiating agreements with other powers.
Hospitality
Receiving guests, arranging their care, and sustaining House obligations of welcome.
Law
Interpreting, arguing, administering, and enforcing laws, charters, and precedent.
Marriagecraft
Arranging and negotiating marriages to meet dynastic and political aims.
Negotiation
Securing agreements and resolving disputes through deliberate bargaining.
Patronage
Supporting people and institutions in ways that sustain reciprocal House relationships.
Political Brokerage
Connecting parties and shaping coalitions to reach political agreements.
03DynastyMaintaining lineage, claims, symbols, inheritance, and continuity.4 qualities
Claimcraft
Establishing, documenting, and advancing claims to inheritance, office, or territory.
Genealogy
Tracing, verifying, and maintaining records of family descent and kinship.
Heraldry
Maintaining, interpreting, and correctly displaying House arms, emblems, and distinctions.
Legacy
Preserving and transmitting a House's institutions, works, and dynastic memory.
04IntelligenceBuilding networks, investigating events, and handling sensitive information.6 qualities
Espionage
Acquiring information that others deliberately conceal through covert agents and operations.
Intelligence
Gathering, evaluating, and applying information relevant to House decisions and security.
Intrigue
Managing concealed political schemes, shifting loyalties, and indirect influence.
Investigation
Establishing what happened through evidence, testimony, records, and inquiry.
Networking
Building and maintaining useful relationships across courts, communities, and institutions.
Secrecy
Concealing House members, knowledge, locations, intentions, and communications.
05DefenseProtecting the House and organizing defense or armed action.5 qualities
Fortification
Building, maintaining, and defending fortified positions and strongholds.
Patrolling
Maintaining a regular presence, watching territory, and detecting intrusion or danger.
Security
Protecting House members, property, information, and operations from threats.
Strategy
Setting objectives and coordinating House resources toward long-term aims or conflict.
Warfare
Organizing and conducting military campaigns, battles, and large-scale armed conflict.
06CommerceManaging trade, finances, estates, and productive resources.6 qualities
Animal Husbandry
Breeding, training, caring for, and managing a House's animals or sea-beasts.
Commerce
Organizing trade, evaluating markets, and negotiating profitable exchange.
Cultivation
Growing and maintaining kelp, coral, pearls, medicinal organisms, or other living resources.
Estate Management
Maintaining a House's lands, holdings, infrastructure, and their day-to-day operation.
Finance
Managing accounts, credit, obligations, budgets, and long-term House finances.
Salvage
Finding, recovering, assessing, and processing wrecks and lost materials.
07ScholarshipSustaining learning, exploration, engineering, and knowledge.5 qualities
Education
Teaching House members and maintaining systems for their instruction and training.
Engineering
Designing, repairing, and understanding complex devices, structures, and systems.
Exploration
Organizing expeditions to survey unknown places, routes, and opportunities.
Navigation
Finding safe and efficient routes through currents, reefs, open water, and difficult terrain.
Scholarship
Conducting research, interpreting evidence, and sustaining learned inquiry and debate.
08ArtistryCreating and sustaining notable artistic practice through House members and patronage.1 qualities
Artistry
Creating and sustaining notable artistic practice through House members and patronage.
09MedicineProviding organized care for injury, illness, poison, and disease.1 qualities
Healing
Providing organized care for injury, illness, poison, and disease within the House.
10ReligionPracticing faith, sacred rites, and theological traditions.2 qualities
Ritual
Performing religious, ceremonial, or magical rites correctly and effectively.
Theology
Understanding doctrine, sacred history, religious law, and theological disputes.
11EsotericPracticing magic, divination, and storm-related disciplines.3 qualities
Divination
Practicing and interpreting established methods of omen-reading and foreknowledge.
Magic
Practicing and organizing House magic when no more specific magical Quality applies.
Stormcraft
Reading, surviving, predicting, and where possible influencing storms and violent currents.