Zodiac Career Choices

[JohnPaulB]

Zodiac Career Choices
modeled after Chivalry & Sorcery 3rd Edition

For those who want effective Astrology, here is an example.

Here is an example of a Zodiac chart that can be used to give benefits to PCs, NPCs, and projects. This one involves Jobs and Talents.


Die..Month........Sign.............Bene 1..........Bene 2..............Mal 1.............Mal 2
1.....January.......Capricorn.......Religion...... ...Magic................Fighter............Governm ent
2.....February......Aquarius........Government..Wa ter.................Craft..............Merchant
3.....March..........Pisces...........Craft....... ......Health................Learning.........Magic
4.....April............Aries.............Fighter.. ........Entertainment.....Learning.........Thief
5.....May.............Taurus...........Farming.... ....Transportation....Entertainment..Water
6.....June............Gemini..........Craft....... ......Thief.................Transportation..Farmin g
7.....July.............Cancer...........Merchant.. .....Entertainment....Farming..........Transportat ion
8.....August.........Leo...............Fighter.... ......Transportation....Water..............Enterta inment
9.....September....Virgo.............Learning..... ..Magic................Thief...............Health
10...October........Libra..............Learning... ....Merchant...........Health.............Governme nt
11...November.....Scorpio..........Health......... .Thief.................Merchant..........Craft
12...December.....Sagittarus......Farming........W ater................Religion............Fighter


For those characters that have their Natal Chart Horoscopes casted by a Mathematics Astrologer, they can gain insight into the favored (Bene) path of careers for that Zodiac sign or avoid poor (Mal) aspected career paths.

Each month/zodiac* has two columns of beneficial categories and two that have detrimental categories. This is so that there can be some variety in the Zodiac selection.

Once the Astrologer casts the Natal Chart for the character and the Zodiac is determined, the player rolls a d6 to determine which column is selected (1-3) column 1 or (4-6) column 2.

These categories group the jobs that are potentially easier for those with the zodiac sign to learn. [see ITL Table of Jobs p58 & TFT Companion P26 for Talent Requirements.] These jobs have talents associated with them that can be purchased at 10% less cost (450 XP instead of 500XP; 900 XP instead of 1000 XP).

The neutral aspected categories are not listed and those neutral talents are bought the standard way.

For those Poorly Aspected categories, they act just the opposite of beneficial categories. Except that those talents associated with them are purchased at 10% more cost (550XP instead of 500XP, 1100XP instead of 1000XP.)

Here is an example:
Joe is a Pisces.
Pisces’ good aspected fields of employment are Crafts and Healing. The poor aspected fields are Magic and Learning. Everything else for Pisces is neutral.
Joe rolls a die to determine which columns his Pisces will get. He rolls a 3, so it will be column 1; this is column 1 of Bene and column 1 of Mal.
If Joe decides he wants to be a Fighter, it would cost him the normal amount of XP. But lets say, Joe wants to be a Blacksmith. Blacksmith (TFT Companion p 26) is a craft, which Pisces’ gives 10% off or 450XP.
If Joe had really wanted to be a Scholar, he would have a problem as Learning is poorly aspected with Pisces and would cost 1650XP. On this Cidri, there are more Virgos and Libras in the Learning fields than Pisces.
Since Joe got column #1, if he wanted to be a Healer or a Magic User (which are in column #2), he could buy these things at normal rate.


NOTE: Zodiac Talent discounts only works for already created characters as you can’t subtract 10% from a creation point, etc.


Fighter..............Those who deal with weapons and do harm: Soldiers, Fighters, Hunters, Guards.
Magic...............Those who are wizards or deal with ‘magics’, the broken souls. Wizards, Alchemists, Astrologers. Also, Psi and Supers.
Religion............Those who deal are oriented towards matters of faith and religion: Priests, Shaman, Satanists.
Thief.................Those who would gain from stealing, whether wealth or life: Robber, Beggar, Assassin, Bully, Spy, Prostitute. This category will often overlap with other categories, If a majority of the time one is thieving, apply this. If occasional, apply the other category.
Government.....Working for those who rule or the ruler himself: King, Courtier, Duke, Mayor, Tax Collector, Ambassador, Bureaucrat, Sherriff. This category will often overlap with other categories. If a majority of the time one is Governmenting, apply this. If this is occasional, apply the other category.
Craft.................Those who make creative things: Armorer, Chemist, Builder, Jeweler, Mechanician, Carpenter, Blacksmith, Tailor, Cobbler, Wheelwright, Architect.
Farming.............Those who grow food or work with food: Farmer, Rancher, Butcher, Baker, Brewer, Miller, Cook.
Merchant...........Those who sell things or services, directly or indirectly: Shop owner, Shop Worker, Street Vendor, InnKeeper.
Health...............Those who deal in making or keeping people or animals healthy: Physicker, Veterinarian, Herbalist. This category will apply if the Health Provider is doing this as a vocation and not simply dilettante.
Water................Those who deal with water predominantly: Sailors, Fishermen, Oystermen, Bargemen, Shipbuilder, Chandler, Marine. May involve other categories, but if its water related it goes here.
Entertainer.........Those who deal with enriching the lives of others: Bards, Singer, Musicians, Actors, Acrobats, Writers, Artists, Caligrapher.
Learning............Those who deal with acquisition or transfer of knowledge: Teachers, Scholars, Translators, Mathematicians, Librarian, Scientist.
Transportation....Those who deal with moving things or with animals: Teamster, Courier, Stabler, Animal Trainer. This category will often overlap with Crafting or Merchant. If a majority of the time one is transporting, apply this. If occasional, apply the other category.

There are other categories that could be created to replace the above categories. Jobs themselves could be listed instead. A list of talents could be inserted instead of jobs.

*This chart is for a Cidri that has 12 months of 30 days with the Zodiacs aligned perfectly into the month. This is for ease of play.

Note: Assigning job categories was a random affair on the author’s part. If you think that a zodiac sign would not favor a particular occupation as above, change it.

This is just one way of creating Affective Zodiacs.