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Old 02-19-2016, 02:55 PM   #1
johndallman
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Default [Basic] Skill of the week: Literature

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Literature is the IQ/Hard skill of knowing about things that have been written, both for their entertainment value, although that's often according to past standards, or in studying and criticising literature. The only default is IQ-6, and the only skill that defaults to it is Connoisseur (Literature), at -3, although Expert skills can sometimes substitute for it, within their area of interest, and Research can default to Literature-2, for questions within the scope of Literature. Literature dates from GURPS 1e.

Literature can be valuable as a source of information, and as a way to demonstrate that one is cultured. It doesn't take cultural familiarity penalties, but penalties for less-than-fluent language would make sense. The skill is at -5 if you're from an illiterate culture and have an oral tradition to use; I suspect it's impractical if you're an illiterate from a culture that relies on writing for its literature. Optional specialisation makes good sense for this skill, and is likely for anyone who studies it seriously.

Literature is a common skill on templates for scholars of the humanities, although it's not very adventurous. Infinite Worlds myth parallels may allow History or Current Affairs to default to Literature. Locations: Worminghall includes the skill as part of the trivium of language-based knowledge; LTC1 expands on this, and provides an example library for Literature, and LTC3 has an example teacher. PU3 and PU7 have examples, as usual. Social Engineering makes Literature useful in verbal duelling, and Back to School uses Literature in an example of the Overspecialisation quirk. Space points out that there is no default for Literature, or other skills that deal with cultures, across alien species.

How have you used Literature in a game?
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Old 02-19-2016, 03:07 PM   #2
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Default Re: [Basic] Skill of the week: Literature

I've often seen people suggest specialties of literature to fulfill odd things. Its one of those skills I'd be happy to see folded into expert skill or connoisseur or hobby skill or something along those lines.
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Old 02-19-2016, 04:16 PM   #3
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Default Re: [Basic] Skill of the week: Literature

Basic suggests it can be used to find adventure clues in old tomes. How would this skill interact with Research?
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Old 02-19-2016, 04:45 PM   #4
johndallman
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Default Re: [Basic] Skill of the week: Literature

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Basic suggests it can be used to find adventure clues in old tomes. How would this skill interact with Research?
If you lack Research, Literature could substitute, at a penalty, for that use. If you have both, Literature would probably be a valid complimentary skill.
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Old 02-19-2016, 05:08 PM   #5
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Default Re: [Basic] Skill of the week: Literature

We used it according to the suggestion from Magical Styles - Dungeon Magic as a form of Hidden Lore for Dungeon Fantasy Bards to help bolster the identification skills. It was originally planned to also use it for research before we found Expert Skill (Bardic Lore) which explicitly mentioned that particular use. It would probably have worked well if anyone ran a Bard in the game.
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Old 02-19-2016, 05:11 PM   #6
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Default Re: [Basic] Skill of the week: Literature

Thought: if Literature covers oral histories, might it also cover cinema as well?

Considering there is a connoisseur (Literature) skill, then being *just* a movie buff might be connoisseur or hobby skill as well.

Literature might be useful in a meta-world kinda campaign where heroes have to go inside of famous novels and correct them after someone perverted them... could have a plot twist where the original story is not what we know, and through some bumbling the heroes recreate those memorable moments... though you'd probably need to be leading the PCs by the nose on rails to pull something like that together.

Literature might help understand cultural morose for a time travelling party. A historian of the Mark Twain museum and fan of Huckleberry Finn finding himself in the 1850s might have a grasp of the culture in the antebellum era south.
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Old 02-19-2016, 05:18 PM   #7
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Default Re: [Basic] Skill of the week: Literature

Literature can work well with secret histories and such. Realizing that the fictional monster in Beowulf was actually real and knowing the strong and weak points from the story can help a lot when one turns up.
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Old 02-19-2016, 05:39 PM   #8
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Default Re: [Basic] Skill of the week: Literature

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Thought: if Literature covers oral histories, might it also cover cinema as well?
I would say obviously yes. After all, Literature definitely covers stage plays, whose scripts are often read in courses (it used to be nearly impossible to get through a literature major without reading Shakespeare and a couple of the ancient Greek dramatists); and stage plays are definitely primarily a performing art—Aristotle's literary theory makes music (including dance) and visual spectacle basic elements of "poetry." And these days you can even buy the scripts for some films and read them.
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Old 02-19-2016, 06:12 PM   #9
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Default Re: [Basic] Skill of the week: Literature

Troy McClure: "I've been reading a lot of scripts lately. You know, it's a lot cheaper than going to the movies."
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Old 02-19-2016, 07:11 PM   #10
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Default Re: [Basic] Skill of the week: Literature

Literature can be used in unusual ways. For instance a code can be made with literary references that no one else knows.
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