From OKCbyNight

See also: Lore

Lore Abilities are similar to Academics or Science Abilities in that they represent accumulated knowledge and training. The difference is that Lore pertains to less mundane topics in the World of Darkness. It covers a diverse set of subjects, but most are specific to the history and politics of a supernatural type of creature or organization of supernatural creatures.

Lore is rated at levels one through five. A player can purchase Lore with Experience Traits as with other Abilities, but doing so has additional in character requirements after character creation. Each type of Lore is considered to be a separate Ability, so a character could have Lore: Camarilla x4 and Lore: Sabbat x4 without exceeding the maximum level.

Lore is not meant to restrict what information a character can remember about what he is told in a game. A few bits of information hardly constitutes as Lore of the subject (or a valid reason to learn the Lore Ability), even if the information passed includes secrets known only to those with high levels in the Ability. Lore is meant to allow characters to know certain important pieces of information from the World of Darkness source books, such as the history of the Silver Fangs or the natural weaknesses of Changelings.

One level of Lore represents a more-than-passing knowledge of the subject, and it is the lowest level of understanding that requires Lore to back it up. The character can cite basic, widely known concepts within the Lore’s area, such as the Escheat (for Lore: Changeling) or the Litany (for Lore: Garou).

A second level of Lore represents a higher-than-basic understanding of the subject in question. At this level, the character has heard of a few bloodlines, special societies or other low-level secrets from within, but he has no expansive knowledge of them. Having three levels of Lore represents a specialized study in the particular subject. This level is generally more common to the leaders and powerful political figures within the subject Lore’s area. The character becomes more familiar with the workings of many secret societies, and can probably name a few members. The character understands higher-level politics better at this level, as well as some of the truth behind the whispered secrets.

Those who attain four levels in Lore are aware of the goals and the movements of most of the secret factions within the Lore’s area. Their knowledge of the subject’s secrets lays bare the truths to which the elders and ancient texts only allude. Lore at this level and higher represents many elements specific to your chronicle, so work closely with your Storyteller to get the information. Having five levels of Lore represents the pinnacle of understanding. You can often expound upon ancient historical texts as though you’d been present at the time in question. This level goes beyond the books and delves almost entirely into chronicle-specific information.

Lore is not a straight-jacket, but a way of establishing commonality among knowledge levels of different characters from game to game. A Lore skill is no substitute for roleplaying.

The Lore outlined here serves as examples of the knowledge you would have at each level. If you have any doubt over where something is covered by a level of Lore, consult your storyteller.

Purchasing Lore at Character Creation

At character creation, a character receives a number of free levels of Lore equal to half their Mental Traits, rounded down. Each character receives a minimum of 3 free levels of Lore.

This is determined at creation before any additional experience points have been spent. Each additional Lore costs 1 Experience Trait.

Example: Bobby the Brujah has 7 Mental Traits after character creation. 7 / 2 = 3.5. Round that down and he will receive 3 free levels of Lore. If he had 5 Mental Traits (5 / 2 = 2.5), he would have received 2, but that is then increased to 3 because of the minimum rule.

Purchasing Lore from a group the character does not belong to at creation requires Special Approval. For example, Bobby the Brujah may purchase Lore: Kindred, Lore: Camarilla and Lore: Brujah at creation without any special approvals. In addition, a character may not take more than three levels of any given Lore at creation without Special Approval.

Learning Lore During Game Play

After character creation, characters must be taught Lore in order to gain more levels in it. Simple observation of the subject can hardly justify learning levels of the Ability. Since it is difficult for one person to teach someone the entirety of her knowledge on a subject (especially in an unbiased manner), a character must learn Lore levels beyond the first from multiple teachers.

The number of teachers required is equal to the level of Lore being learned, and each teacher must have that level of Lore to be able to teach it. For example, to learn Lore: Brujah x3, Bobby the Brujah would have to be taught it by three separate teachers who already have Lore: Brujah x3 or higher. Lore can be learned from certain tomes and texts at the Storyteller’s discretion, but such a source never counts as being more than a single level, regardless of how many ancient libraries the character sifts through.