Area Lore Rules
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(Area Lore rules taken from ArM4)
Area Lore is one of the most useful Abilities available to characters in adventures where interaction with mundane society plays as a major role. Area Lore covers information that, while not necessarily commonly known, is not actually secret - the kind of information that would be freely offered by a well-disposed knowledgeable person.
A score in Area Lore is always specific to a particular region which can be as small as a village or as wide as all of Mythic Europe. The nature and type of information available through Area Lore varies according to the size of the region: the wider the region, the more general the information. The summaries below provide a guide for what kind of information can be garnered from Area Lore. The information is broken out into the areas of Geography, History, Politics, Personalities, and Law for convenience, not because you must specialise in that area to know the relevant information. As usual, a specialisation indicates a greater scope of knowledge in one sub-category, not abandonment of knowledge in the other sub-categories.
It is perfectly acceptable to take Area Lore twice or more (for different regions, of course) during character generation, rather than take it just once for a broader region.
(Village) Lore
- Geography: hiding, hunting, or fishing places
- History: local myths and legends; origin of early settlers and later newcomers
- Politics: local feuds, friendships, and marriage connections
- Personalities: names, attributes, moral character, and relative prosperity of the main landholders, tradesmen, clergy, and "wise folk"
- Law: village or manorial customs; local precedents
("Barony" or Town) Lore
- Geography: location of main churches, monasteries, shops, noble residences, as well as local fords, bridges, and "places of mystery"
- History: formal history of the locality including foundation, recent wars, and the role played by prominent families
- Politics: alliances, rivalries, and marriage links among the local gentry
- Personalities: names, full titles/honours and reputations of nobles and major officials, clergy, and shopkeepers, and any inhabitant with five or more points of True Faith
- Law: familiarity with local customary law, regulations, or charter rights
(County) Lore
- Geography: location of castles, key roads, and mountain passes
- History: origin of the local population, the role played by various barons in recent conflicts, and the formal history of past counts and bishops
- Politics: alliances, rivalries, and marriage links among the local baronial families
- Personalities: names, reputations, and principal residences of local barons, abbots, archdeacons, and wealthy merchants
- Law: local practices surrounding the use of high justice
(Region, Principality, or Small Kingdom) Lore
- Geography: location of towns, pilgrimage sites, major castles, roads, rivers, and forests
- History: major wars and invasions; formal history of the ruling house.
- Politics: alliances, rivalries, and marriage links among the local titled nobility.
- Personalities: names, reputations, and principal residences of the bishops, major abbots, and the titled nobility
- Law: general principles of local tribal law or of the common law of the region
(Major Kingdom, or Group of Small Kingdoms) Lore
- Geography: location of significant towns, pilgrimage sites, famous castles, Roman roads, navigable rivers, and impassable forests
- History: major royal wars; formal history of the royal house(s)
- Politics: alliances, rivalries, and marriage links between local and foreign royal houses
- Personalities: names, Reputations, and principal residences of major royal officials and high profile members of the royal family (or families)
- Law: general principles of royal legislation concerning towns and royal fiefs
Mythic Europe Lore
- Geography: location and names of major towns, mountain ranges, major pilgrimage sites, and significant navigable rivers
- History: origins of the various kingdoms; significant historical events of general interest; names of ancient conquerors and heroes of the past
- Politics: alliances, rivalries, and marriage links among the various royal families
- Personalities: names, Reputations, and principal residences of kings, ruling princes, and archbishops
- Law: Not applicable. (This falls under the Civil and Canon Law Ability.)