Masteries - General Information

Welcome to training, adventurer. Here you learn how to master different feats and special abilities by purchasing them with experience points and/or coins. To become proficient, you can pay for training, travel to gain wisdom, teach yourself, or explore alternative approaches. Once the price and requirements are met, you become a master of the feat or special ability which is referred to as gaining a mastery.

Masteries aid the character in all different aspects depending on how the character is developed. Each time a character learns a new mastery, they gain a rank in it. Some masteries can be taken multiple times by paying the next ranks price and meeting its requirements. The masteries themselves explain what bonuses are granted at higher ranks. Not all masteries have ranks and some can only be taken once. If there are no ranks listed under the mastery or there is no explanation that it can be taken multiple times, assume it can only be taken once.

Focus Mastery

Some masteries require focus to maintain the effect. When using a focus mastery, you can only have one active at a time. Activating another focus, mastery ends the active one.

Focus masteries work like how focus spells are channeled. The active ability of the mastery ends if you take damage, choose to end it, run out of essence, or activate a different focus mastery. Some focus masteries will have additional parameters that can cause the ability to end.

Focus masteries are indicated by “Focus Mastery” at the beginning of the mastery.

To succeed on a focus check you must roll a d10+1 and get lower than your mental statistic. So if you have an five in your mental you must roll a three or lower. However, if you have an eight in your mental you must roll a six or lower.

Focus Mastery DR = Roll under your mental statistic

Ranks

Some masteries have a ranking system that indicates how much you have mastered the special ability. Some masteries only have one rank while others can have multiple. In order to gain the higher ranks of a mastery, the previous ranks must be mastered first.

Requirements

Each mastery has requirements that must be met before they can be taken.

Mastery and Rank

Requirements that list another mastery means you must have already learned the listed mastery up to the indicated rank (if rank is listed).

Statistic or Skill

Masteries with this requirement need you to have a statistic or skill that is equal to or greater than the listed one. For example, Archery Weapons requires fighting 3 and might 2. Your fighting statistic must be a 3 or higher, along with your might statistic having to be a 2 or higher. Skills work in the same way.

Starting Masteries

When building your character, your culture provides two masteries for character creation. Look for them in the cultures & empires chapter under cultural masteries. Starting mastery requirements and price are ignored, but only during character creation. Only the requirements listed in the “Requirements” section of the mastery are ignored. All other requirements and rules must still be met. For example, masteries that can only be taken once may not be taken more than once, regardless of when they are taken. After character creation starting masteries, price must be paid, and their requirements must be met.

Swapping Associated Statistics

Mastery skills that change a combat skill's associated statistic, like Agile Reflexes, Mind over Matter, and Cloak & Dagger, also have their requirements changed. For example, if a taking Mind of Matter and a combat mastery normally has a requirement of “Fighting 7” it would change to “Persona 7”.