Selecting Skills for a Korvosa Campaign
Overview
I am preparing to start a CotCT campaign in September, and I thought I would write up a little overview of the PfRPG skills because not all of the players are familiar with the changes from 3.5 and because I wanted to give some idea of how the skills will be useful in an urban campaign. Originally, I was thinking about "Survival" but decided to just write them all up. I thought I would share what I have done with other folks who might be interested in the list and/or have ideas about how to improve the text. -- Marnak
Acrobatics
Characters navigating the busy streets of the Midlands, working along any of the city’s decrepit docks, traversing the rooftop dwellings of the Shingles, or crossing one of the small bridges along the Narrows of St. Alika will find this skill useful.
Appraise
Almost anything that gold can buy is available in Korvosa. A good eye for the genuinely valuable and the counterfeit will serve a character well when he or she purchases or sells goods in the city. Of special importance to arcane casters is the fact that appraise can help determine the properties of magic items.
Bluff
A risky but common practice in a city where honesty is prized but scamming is an art form.
Climb
Multi-storied buildings abound in Korvosa.
Craft
Making your own goods can help you avoid paying full market price, but most items are otherwise available in Korvosa.
Diplomacy
In a city with a “hanging judge” and a zeal for enforcement of its laws, diplomacy is often a better option than the sword. Gathering information, diplomacy of a less formal sort, is also quite helpful.
Disable Device
Given the number of thieves in the city, locks and traps are common in Korvosa.
Disguise
Concealing one’s true identity to the city’s officials is frowned upon not only by those officials but by the lawful masses who pay their taxes and believe in the importance of straight talk and honest dealings. Yet, the art of disguise is defended as essential by those whose actions or ethnicity have already put them in trouble with the authorities.
Escape Artist
Sad to say, but the ability to slip from someone else’s grasp is an important ability in a city that supplies untold numbers to the slave trade. Furthermore, the poorer sections of Korvosa are crowded with tenements and apartments, making it advantageous to be able to slip into and out of tight spots.
Fly
An advanced skill studied by only a few wizards and sorcerers and members of the Sable Company Marines.
Handle Animal
Guard dogs and beasts of burden are common in Korvosa.
Heal
The city of Korvosa is never without a need for healers. Diseases often run rampant among the poor, and there are numerous venomous creatures lurking in the Shingles and Vaults.
Intimidate
This is more useful in Korvosa than in small towns because interactions with strangers are so much more common in the big city. The social distance between persons minimizes the long-term penalty that accrues to bullies who roughly treat the weak in most other environs. Of course, Korvosan bullies have a harder time figuring out who they can intimidate and who they shouldn’t mess with…..
Knowledge (Arcana)
In a city filled with the Acadamae and so many wizarding colleges, knowledge of the arcane is always useful.
Knowledge (Dungeoneering)
Those venturing into the Vaults would be lucky to travel with someone with this knowledge.
Knowledge (Engineering)
Although not as valued as during Korvosa’s golden age, engineers still have much to offer the manufacturers of Palin’s Cove, the caretakers of the Kendall Ampitheatre, and other builders and businessmen in the city.
Knowledge (Geography)
For those wishing to adventure beyond the city into the hinterlands, geographical knowledge is key.
Knowledge (History)
The rich and detailed history of Korvosa is a boon to characters in numerous situations and often provides insights and aid to characters attempting diplomatic negotiations, creating believable lies, or any number of other similar situations.
Knowledge (Local)
If one intends to move beyond the boundaries of the ward you were born in, nothing is more valuable than knowing details and rumors about the people and places of Korvosa.
Knowledge (Nature)
Understanding the sea and its tides, the dangers of the Jeggare River, and the region’s weather patterns are all useful bits of knowledge.
Knowledge (Nobility)
Given the importance and tenuous nature of the monarchy in Korvosa, everything you can find out about the King, the Queen, and the royal family is potentially a treasure trove of valuable information.
Knowledge (Planes)
Not useful on a day-to-day basis, but sometimes a life saver! Because so many Korvosans continue to pine away for an alliance with the fiend-friendly Cheliax Empire, some knowledge of the Planes could become suddenly critical.
Knowledge (Religion)
Three temples – those of Pharasma, Sarenrae, and Abadar – are very important to Korvosa, and the more one knows about them, the more one knows about how the city works.
Linguistics
This vital ability allows a character to learn more of the languages spoken in Korvosa, to decipher ancient texts or coded documents, and to detect forgeries in a city with thieves galore.
Perception
This remains, arguably, the most vital skill in the game and is perhaps more important than ever as it includes hearing, tasting, smelling as well as spotting.
Perform
Bards have more potential audience members in Korsova than anyplace else in Varisia.
Profession
Nearly every profession can be found in the city, making this skill a good choice for characters wishing to have a workplace to go to for contacts and information as well as gold.
Ride
Sable Company marines, some members of the Korvosan guard, and the sons of nobles learn to ride but few others.
Sense Motive
“If I had a silver shield for every time someone tried that one….” is a common phrase in Korvosa. What do you sense about this skill’s utility?
Sleight of Hand
You never know when you want to have a dagger hidden in your boot. Actually, you do know. You always want to have a weapon hidden in your boot in Korvosa.
Spellcraft
Vital skill for wizards and important for all spellcasters as it allows you to cast spells while taking damage or while being grappled.
Stealth
Combining move silently with hide, this skill is useful for anyone attempting to sneak up on or sneak past someone, which is far from unusual in Korvosa.
Survival
The poorer districts of Korvosa count as “the wild” and successful Survival checks allow a character to find enough food somehow, someway, perhaps through panhandling or by knowing where to line up for the food being handed out by the clergy and noble philanthropists. Survival checks can also help you from getting lost in unfamiliar parts of the city. Following tracks in Korvosa is difficult (firm or hard ground) but not impossible.
Swim
Korsova is a city on a peninsula surrounded by water on three sides.
Use Magic Device
Few places in the world have as many shops for the purchase of magical devices as Korvosa.
Selecting Skills for a Korvosa Campaign
Knowledge (Religion)
Three temples – those of Pharasma, Sarenrae, and Abadar – are very important to Korvosa, and the more one knows about them, the more one knows about how the city works.
Don't forget the sanctuary of Shelyn (N8) in North Point.
[QUOTE="sempai33"
Don't forget the sanctuary of Shelyn (N8) in North Point.
Good catch!
Sense Motive
“If I had a silver shield for every time someone tried that one….” is a common phrase in Korvosa. What do you sense about this skill’s utility?
You know this skill is usefull when PC talk with NPJ, to know the way they feel or the trust they can have in what the NPJ could say to you. It can be usefull when your leader ask you to do something but you feel that it’s not a thing in what he believed in, so you understand that there’s something more important under that request and so on and so on…
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It's a fine, fine tool; I wish I would've had it available when we started! Similar to Paizo's products, it's a cool way to introduce elements of the game world (in this case, Korvosa) while also serving a practical purpose.
If I could make one suggestion, it'd be to play up "neighboring inhospitable lands" in either Knowledge (Nature) or Survival, foreshadowing adventures in the Cinderlands and the Hold of Belkzen.
My players have gotten miles of usage from Knowledge (Local) and Diplomacy. If you're a gamemaster who'd give character building pointers for the campaign to come and your players are open to such suggestions, they're excellent investments.
Thanks for sharing!
it'd be to play up "neighboring inhospitable lands" in either Knowledge (Nature) or Survival
I think that it's more knowledge History.
It's a fine, fine tool; I wish I would've had it available when we started! Similar to Paizo's products, it's a cool way to introduce elements of the game world (in this case, Korvosa) while also serving a practical purpose.
If I could make one suggestion, it'd be to play up "neighboring inhospitable lands" in either Knowledge (Nature) or Survival, foreshadowing adventures in the Cinderlands and the Hold of Belkzen.
My players have gotten miles of usage from Knowledge (Local) and Diplomacy. If you're a gamemaster who'd give character building pointers for the campaign to come and your players are open to such suggestions, they're excellent investments.
Thanks for sharing!
No problem. I am glad you liked it, and I will take your suggestion up about mentioning the inhospitable lands nearby.
Regarding Diplomacy and Knowledge (local), I agree that those seem to be very important skills. In fact, I have gone ahead and given all of my PCs a free skill rank in either Profession (their choice) or Knowledge (local, their ward of the city only) because I think it will help them flesh out their backgrounds. Knowledge (local) gives them the ability to make rolls for the whole city of Korvosa, which I hope some will take as not all wards of the city will be covered otherwise. Marnak
In fact, I have gone ahead and given all of my PCs a free skill rank in either Profession (their choice) or Knowledge (local, their ward of the city only) because I think it will help them flesh out their backgrounds. Marnak
According to me, giving 1 free rank in profession is a good idea, because few PC choose this skill because they think it's not so useful, but in my mind, I don't give any free rank in Local because theses knowledge are her to make the difference between the PC, so the local Rogue should know more things that the barbarian and so on. In the same manner the sorcerer should know more in arcana than the fighter and so on... Let your PC with their defaults, weakness, it's the only way to make them become better! In your way to do, why not given a free rank in nobility? It would be more useful for them :-D
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My players have gotten miles of usage from Knowledge (Local) and Diplomacy. If you're a gamemaster who'd give character building pointers for the campaign to come and your players are open to such suggestions, they're excellent investments.
Agreed! I have an Urban Ranger in my party who I've allowed to take Diplomacy, Bluff and Intimidate as class skills (made sense to me). Between her max ranked bluff, diplomacy, sense motive and gather info, the fighter's max intimidate, the wizard's max knowledge local, and a minimum party charisma of 14, there's pretty much nothing they can't find out! They've really got a lot out of those skills thus far.
According to me, giving 1 free rank in profession is a good idea, because few PC choose this skill because they think it's not so useful, but in my mind, I don't give any free rank in Local because theses knowledge are her to make the difference between the PC, so the local Rogue should know more things that the barbarian and so on. In the same manner the sorcerer should know more in arcana than the fighter and so on... Let your PC with their defaults, weakness, it's the only way to make them become better! In your way to do, why not given a free rank in nobility? It would be more useful for them :-D
Just to point out that the "free" knowledge skill I am proposing as an option is not identical to the knowledge (local) skill in the OGL but is restricted and limited to just the ward that the PC was born in. A ward is a fraction of one of the districts of the city. So, a rogue taking knowledge (local) would know a LOT more than a character who takes the variant half-skill I mentioned above. A rogue with this skill would have a good general knowledge of the whole city whereas the PC with the Knowledge (local ward level) skill would only know their own neighborhood.
Marnak
A rogue with this skill would have a good general knowledge of the whole city whereas the PC with the Knowledge (local ward level) skill would only know their own neighborhood.
Marnak
You can do what you want, but isn't it a little bite complicate to manage the knowledge in the manner you wish to do in cutting some knowledge in pieces? If you can manage that, well done, but i think it's just a little bite complicate.