omorka | GURPS Jorune Part the Sixth: Professions and Types

Okay, we're back. Had great fun with

northwall and a friend of hers (argh, I forgot to ask him for his LJ handle), who appears to be very much our kind of freaky.

Now, without further ado, the sixth installment of GURPS Jorune:

As with all things GURPS, there are no character classes in a game of Jorune, thank the great gaming gods. A character can be designed around pretty much any concept. However, there are some common professions and character types that the tauther are generally drawn from, or which are just generally common on Jorune.

princejvstin has drawn several parallels to Tekumel/EotPT, but honestly, this part reminds me a lot more of Talislanta, another game world I've wanted to convert to GURPS for a long time (and made some progress on doing for 3rd ed. revised; I'm not looking forward to the work it'll take to change that over to 4th edition).

This is all adapted from Skyrealms of Jorune 3rd ed., of course.

Onward -

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Beaster

The beasters of Jorune are the seasoned handlers of animals. Ranch-hands and farmers call in a beaster when their skills are exhausted; these professionals take care of anything from overgrown hooves on horses to pregnant talmarons. Beasters who specialize in thombos are called thombocs, and have a culture very similar to the cowboys of Earth.

Races: any

Suggested Advantages: Either Animal Empathy or Talent/Animal Friend (or both, but see below)

Suggested Disadvantages: Beasters who have both Animal Empathy and Talent/Animal Friend usually have Vow (Vegetarianism). Thombocs usually have Compulsive Carousing.

Suggested Skills: Animal Handling, Knife, Knot-Tying, Lasso, Merchant, Meteorology, Naturalist, Packing, Riding (thombo), Riding (at least one other beast), Survival/Plains (or other appropriate area), Teamster, Tracking, Traps, Veterinary

Caji

A caji is a person - almost always a muadra, although some middle-aged bronth develop the talent, as do a handful of woffen and a very few crugar and cygra - who has committed to the serious study of the Colors of isho and their uses. If city-based, they study in the kerning bays after hours; if villagers or rural folk, they meet far from their houses and practice. Only the most experienced are full-time caji, spending their time teaching others and living off of the small amounts they charge for their tutoring; most caji have a day job as well.

Races: usually muadra; a few crugar, cygra, woffen, and elder bronth

Suggested Advantages: At least one Color at 10 or higher; at least two more Colors at 5 or higher; high Isho and/or high Will

Suggested Disadvantages: Either a Reputation (-1, known caji, -5 pts) or a Secret

Suggested Skills: Several dyshas appropriate for the chosen Colors, Bolt Throwing, Caji Entropy, Isho Weather, Orb Throwing, Savoir-Faire (muadra), Savoir-Faire (caji), Signature, Tra-Sense, Unweaving; at least one mundane skill such as Cooking, Farming, Fishing, Merchant, or Smith

Crafter

There are those that buy and sell, and there are those that produce the things that are bought and sold. The crafters of Jorune produce wonderful things; some of them take them to market themselves, while others sell to the merchant who gives the best deal. There are, of course, issues with supplies of raw materials; the craft klades (guilds) encourage those of their number who have the stomach for it to become tauther in hope that enough voting Drenn will improve transportation and clean up the markets.

Race: any

Suggested Advantages: Allies, Contacts, or a Patron (from the klade); skilled crafters are likely to have higher than average Wealth

Suggested Disadvantages: none in particular

Suggested Skills: Current Affairs, Finance, Freight Handling, Merchant, Savoir-Faire (area); one or more of: Armoury, Artist, Carpentry, Jeweler, Leatherworking, Masonry, Metallurgy, Sewing, Smith, or Professional Skill (craft specialty); either Brawling or any one melee weapon skill

Diyorda

A diyorda is a member of the criminal underclass of the larger cities, particularly Ardoth and Jasp. A good diyord does not have a criminal record - he (or she) hasn't been caught yet. Most diyorda specialize in smuggling of illegal substances (daij and shirm-eh are particularly profitable these days, as are the queel gems that come from cleash eggs) or in running illegal gladiatorial matches, but a few are specialized assassins. Unfortunately, it's difficult for a diyorda to retire; becoming tauther and leaving the city is one of the few ways to do so effectively.

Races: any, although few bronth are tempted by the criminal life

Suggested Advantages: Contacts (or even Allies)

Suggested Disadvantages: Enemies; if one's "profession" is known, low Social Status and possibly a poor Reputation

Suggested Skills: Acting, Area Knowledge (city), Brawling, Detect Lies, Disguise, Fast-Draw, Forgery (if Literate), Gambling, Holdout, Intimidation, Knife, Search, Shadowing, Shortsword, Smuggling, at least one transportation skill (Boating, Riding, Teamster, etc.)

Dyte Punk

The dytes are the products of the muadra ghettoes of Ardoth and other large cities. Born into poverty, they learn a few dyshas - generally those of Gobey and Desti - and use them to defend their territory. They may run singly or, more commonly, in gangs, and often are involved in illegal smuggling. They display their naull orbs as a threat whenever a human wanders into their part of town, and they often leave graffiti on walls, fences, and signs. Their primary characteristics are a mastery of either Touch of Fire or Lightning Bolt (or both) and a chip on one's shoulder.

Races: muadra, crugar raised among humans (very rare)

Suggested Advantages: Color/Desti +9 (9 pts) and/or Color/Gobey +12 (12 pts), possibly low levels of Color/Ebba and Color/Du; Combat Reflexes; possible Contacts

Suggested Disadvantages: low Social Status; low Wealth; possible Enemies

Suggested Skills: Area Knowledge (City), Bolt Throwing, Brawling, Conceal, Knife, Fast-Talk, Savoir-Faire (muadra), Scrounging, Streetwise, Urban Survival; at least one of the dyshas Touch of Fire, Firebolt, or Lightning Bolt

Entris

The entrissi are the translators and low-level diplomats of Jorune society. They may work for government officials for a realm, a province or a city; for a coalition of merchants; or for individuals. Their job is to make sure that a message is delivered as clearly as possible across all barriers of language, culture, or the stupidity of the speakers.

Races: any, although the less literate are less common

Suggested Advantages: Cultural Familiarity for at least one other culture; at least two other Languages at Native, and probably two or three more at Accented; Language Talent; Literate. Cultural Adaptability would be ideal, but is not as common as one might hope.

Suggested Disadvantages: any social disadvantages that interfere with communication are to be avoided; Xenophilia or its quirk form, Broad-Minded, are common but not universal.

Suggested Skills: Acting, Body Language, Carousing, Current Affairs, Detect Lies, Diplomacy, Gesture, Heraldry, Lip-Reading, Observation, Performance, Politics, Public Speaking, Savoir-Faire for any race or culture the language is known for, Writing

Farmer

Even with all the fighting of wars, the trading with far lands, the exploration of strange places, and the intrigue of palaces and citadels, the majority of the inhabitants of Jorune are at least part-time farmers. Growing durlig is a hard job, requiring both muscle and know-how; the other crops are even trickier, needing much more care to raise successfully. It may be a simple life, but in some ways a noble one, and some of the most loyal and upright drenn have come from the farms.

Races: any except blount

Suggested Advantages: Extra Fatigue

Suggested Disadvantages: Clueless, Gullibility, and/or Truthfulness are all traditional, although a canny farmhand is certainly possible!

Suggested Skills: Animal Handling, Area Knowledge (village or province), Cooking, Knife, Farming, Gardening, Meteorology, Packing, Riding/Thombo, Survival/Plains or Survival/Forest, Teamster

Gither

The diyorda (see above) carry on various illegal activities. The githerin carry on various activities that are unpleasant but not illegal, mostly insurance/protection rackets and their stock in trade, thievery. The Githerin Klade (essentially a thieves' guild) operates under a license from the Dharsage (or Sage, in Heridoth) to locate and retrieve objects for a price. A victim of their theft can, of course, pay to have them return the item - or a higher price to retrieve it from whoever purchased it. The githerin can also act as spies or as security - who better to defend against a thief?

Race: any, although humans and muadra are the most common

Suggested Advantages: high Perception or Acute Hearing, Contacts or Allies, Flexibility, a Patron (either a more experienced gither or the Klade itself)

Suggested Disadvantages: Duty (to the Klade, rare), low Social Status, either Greed or Overconfidence (or both)

Suggested Skills: Acrobatics, Acting, Area Knowledge (city), Climbing, Disguise, Escape, Fast-Talk, Filch, Forgery (if Literate), Gesture, Holdout, Knife, Lockpicking, Merchant, Observation, Pickpocket, Search, Shadowing, Stealth, Streetwise

Gladiator

There are several types of gladiatorial combat popular in the various human realms. Sentient-on-sentient gladiatorial combat is usually to a knockout, although rumors persist of illegal death bouts taking place in hidden arenas somewhere in the cities (exception: combat to the death is legal in Thantier, although considered low-class). More common, though is a single warrior or a small team set against a captured specimen of one of the more dangerous forms of Jorune wildlife - a corondon, a dichandra, or a pack of scragger or beagres. One of the more common types of combat pits a single sherja against a pack of small but dangerous beasts armed with nothing but a pair of thikes. Many gladiators, especially the sherja, are indentured, working off a debt; others are convicted criminals who can find no other work.

Races: any, although muadra and bronth are less likely than others

Suggested Advantages: either high Perception or Combat Reflexes, High Pain Threshold

Suggested Disadvantages: low Social Status and/or low Wealth, Callous, Illiterate. Note that a gladiator with Bloodlust is almost certainly a sherja; they won't pit him against other humans in a legal bout!

Suggested Skills: any athletic skills, any one melee weapon skill, Boxing, Gambling, Thike, Wrestling

Iscin-Student

Those who follow in the path of the great Iscin, studying the nature of things, are called his students. Some of them live their lives in the great libraries of Ardoth and Gauss, reading ancient tomes; others head out into the field, watching the things that live or collecting them and bringing them into their laboratories. A few of them make great discoveries; others are content to add their writings to those the next generation will read.

Races: acubon, blount, and crugar are never found in this profession; humans and bronth take it up more often than the other races

Suggested Advantages: Language (English) at Accented or better; Literacy

Suggested Disadvantages: any of the "naive" mental disadvantages would be appropriate, as would Absent-Minded

Suggested Skills: Astronomy, Bioengineering, Biology, Chemistry, Geology, Mathematics, Naturalist, Navigation, Limilate Lore, Physics, Research, Savoir-Faire (area), Teaching; academic types should have Writing and one or two more scientific skills; field research types should add Knife and Survival (area)

Jer

The jers are the jungle-runners who venture into the depths of the East and West Trinnu Jungle Lands in search of anything from the giggit prized by the thriddle to rare limilates to bounties on the cleash who trespass there. An intrepid bunch, they can be hired by travelers looking for safe passage through the jungle, or searching for a specific place or person, but most jers prefer taking on the jungle alone, on their own terms.

Race: any, although usually human, boccord, or salu

Suggested Advantages: Acute Vision

Suggested Disadvantages: either Curiosity or Overconfidence (or both!)

Suggested Skills: Area Knowledge/Trinnu Jungle Lands, Camouflage, Climbing, Crossbow, First Aid, Limilate Lore, Meteorology, Naturalist, Shortsword, Stealth, Survival/Jungle, Swimming, Thikes, Tracking, Traps

Learsi

The learsis are those who use a combination of limilates, basic surgery, and such practical techniques as pulling teeth and setting bones to heal the wounded and keep disease in check. Their practice requires a number of exotic ingredients, so many learsis travel to distant places and trade with such folk as the jers and the Shadow Warriors. Others cultivate a network of merchants and adventurers who do the dangerous work for them, and then patch them up afterwards.

Race: any

Suggested Advantages: Literacy, positive Reputation, Talent/Healer

Suggested Disadvantages: Sense of Duty (patients)

Suggested Skills: Biology, Diagnosis, Limilate Lore, Limilate Preparation, Naturalist, Physician, Physiology, Savoir-Faire (Area), Surgery

Mercenary

Jorune is full of swords-for-hire. Those who served in the military or militia and left to pursue the same business for profit are known as condrij; other paths to the profession are by serving as bouncers, guards for merchants, or even ex-yords. Some are more trustworthy than others; some (including most condrij) will stay bought, while others will change sides for the right price. Those who become tauther are often looking for a little respectability, and would rather get it through social advancement than by military rank.

Races: any

Suggested Advantages: Extra Hit Points, Combat Reflexes, Danger Sense, Low Pain Threshold

Suggested Disadvantages: Greed is common but not universal, as are the negative mental disadvantages like Bad Temper; condrij should have a Code of Honor (stay bought until the job is done, finish the job if you can still walk, help out a fellow condrij or a military man in need if it won't botch the job, -5 pts)

Suggested Skills: at least one melee weapon skill; at least one ranged weapon skill; one of Brawling, Boxing, or Wrestling; Fast-Draw, First Aid, Knife, Merchant, Riding (thombo), Savoir-Faire (local or military), Search, Shield; condrij should also have Soldier

Merchant

Trading, buying, and selling are common across the globe; even the mysterious ramian trade with the hominids for many things, not just shirm-eh. And wherever there is a profit to be made, someone will show up to exploit it, whether they are from Jasp and hire a crystal schooner for transport, or from Ardoth and hire a salu chausi or a lothern caravan. While many merchants stick close to home, or hire mercenaries to do their transportation, the temptation of greater profits calls a few to brave greater dangers.

Races: any except blount

Suggested Advantages: higher than normal Wealth, Contacts, at least Semi-Literacy and possibly full Literacy, at least one extra Language, Talent/Business Acumen

Suggested Disadvantages: Greed and/or Compulsive Haggling; possibly Enemies

Suggested Skills: Accounting, Administration, Animal Handling, Diplomacy, Fast-Talk, Finance, Merchant, Propaganda, Riding (thombo or horse), Savoir-Faire for every group that is a common client, Teamster, at least one melee weapon skill (self-defense, you know; can't be too careful), at least one craft or practical skill related to your stock in trade (for example, a grain trader would have the Farmer skill, while a trader in fine rugs would likely have Professional Skill/Weaver).

Military Infantry

The armies of the realms offer full-time employment to those who tire of farming, or whatever their family job might be. In Thantier, every able-bodied man must serve a three-year term in the military. In Burdoth, it offers a chance to use the energy weapons that are the envy of all other armies. In Jasp, it offers a chance to make valuable contacts that can become profitable later. And in all cases, it leaves one more than able to defend one's self from whatever might lurk out in the strange Jorune wilderness, should one want to better one's self when one's term of service is up.

Races: any (except muadra in Burdoth only)

Suggested Advantages: one or two levels of Military Rank, any one extra language at Broken or Accented

Suggested Disadvantages: Duty (to the military), Sense of Duty (to one's realm or military unit); any of the physical disadvantages that could be the result of combat (Lame, One Eye, etc.) would be a good reason for an honorable discharge; any of the 'rough' psychological disadvantages (Bad Temper, Bloodlust, Overconfidence, etc.) might be a reason to join in the first place.

Suggested Skills: any three melee weapons, Beam Weapons (Pistol) (Burdoth humans only) or Bow, Boxing, Camouflage, First Aid, Knife, Pilot/Crystal Schooner (Jasp only), Riding/(any one of thombo, bochigon, or talmaron), Savoir-Faire (military), Shield, Soldier, Survival/(Area)

Militia

Each city and province of the major human realms has its own militia it can call up, separate from the standing military. The military is full-time and answers to the Dharsage (or Imperitur); the militia is part-time and answers to the Sage, in human lands, or the council, in Dobre or Lundere. Most militiamen are farmers, merchants, or craftsmen when not defending their province or city. Still, it's a way to become familiar with weapons and armor, and it's less arduous than the military.

Races: any; note that Burdothian muadra who want to join the military must be militia

Suggested Advantages: none

Suggested Disadvantages: Duty (to the province)

Suggested Skills: any two melee weapons, any one ranged weapon, Brawling, First Aid, Riding/Thombo, Savoir-Faire (Area), Shield, Soldier; one or more of: Animal Handling, Carpentry, Cooking, Farming, Finance, Fishing, Merchant, Naturalist, or Smith

Querrid

The thriddle are great askers of questions and answerers of questions. However, there are some things in human society they can't find out themselves, and there are some humans who distrust the thriddle too much to deal with them directly. The thriddle have responded to this by training querrids, humans who act as go-betweens and sometimes as hired investigators for them. Between the knowledge gained from this activity and the extreme mental exertion of dealing with the thriddle, it's no wonder the querrids often retire early and attempt to become drenn.

Races: human, woffen (rare), or bronth (rare)

Suggested Advantages: Cultural Familiarity (Thriddle), Language (Triddis) at Accented or better, at least one other language, Literate; any of the mental advantages like Language Talent, Eidetic Memory, or Mathematical Talent might be appropriate

Suggested Disadvantages: Odious Personal Habit/Thriddle Language Complex

Suggested Skills: Acting, Area Knowledge (realm), Area Knowledge (city or village), Cartography, Cryptography, Current Affairs, Diplomacy, Geography, History, Linguistics, Mathematics, Observation, Psychology, Research, Savoir-Faire (area), Savoir-Faire (thriddle), any one melee weapon

Sailor

The seas of Jorune are busy, especially between the continents of Tanidoth and Lanidor (where Dobre and Lundere are). Some sailors carry cargo, others soldiers, but they all must deal with the vagaries of normal and isho weather alike, with the wildlife of Jorune's oceans, and with the gire, the ramian pirates who prey upon all ships, but especially the ones they see as slow or weak.

Races: any, but human, salu, and woffen are most common

Suggested Advantages: Absolute Direction is a big help, although far from universal; so is Acute Vision; an extra Language at Broken is also likely (foreign ports and all)

Suggested Disadvantages: Alcoholism or Compulsive Carousing are common but not universal

Suggested Skills: Cartography (if at least Semi-Literate), Climbing, Crewman/Seamanship, Fishing, Knife, Knot-Tying, Meteorology, Navigation/Sea, Shortsword, Swimming, at least one performance skill

Shadow Warrior

The Shadow Warriors are a group of woodland survivalists dwelling in the forest of Glounda and (less commonly) in other heavily wooded areas across Burdoth. While they come into the villages that ring Glounda for supplies and occasional entertainment, they live mostly off the land, hunting for their meat and defending the forest from intrusions by crugar and cleash. They have an uneasy agreement with the Burdothian military; they are left alone in return for giving frequent intelligence reports about those intrusions and teaching the upper ranks of the Ardothian military officers their techniques for hand-to-hand combat.

Races: Human, boccord, or (very rarely) muadra

Suggested Advantages: high Perception or Acute Senses; Fearlessness is rumored

Suggested Disadvantages: Code of Honor (protect the forest, be true to your word, keep the secrets of the Shadows, never leave a fellow Shadow Warrior behind; -5 pts), Sense of Duty (to other Shadow Warriors); Pacifism/Cannot Harm Innocents is common but not universal

Suggested Skills: Blowgun, Climbing, First Aid, Knife, Knife Throwing, Knot-Tying, Hiking, Mimicry, Naturalist, Savoir-Faire (Glounda), Shortsword, Singing/Whistling (this is a specialization not in the book), Sis-Naun, Stealth, Survival/Forest, Tracking

Shast

The shasts are the social lubricants of Jorune. A shast might own an inn, a brothel, an inclep (a short-term boarding house, usually with a small tavern attached), an illidge (a bar), or a shenter (a woffen combination of a tavern and a community center). A good shast can listen to a rambling story for two hours, make you feel better about whatever the story was about, and remember the salient details of the story when you visit his illidge two months later - and turn a profit selling you ale while he's doing it, without sending you home so drunk you won't come back.

Race: any, although boccord and woffen are particularly good at it

Suggested Advantages: Contacts, one or more extra Languages, Literate; Common Sense and Empathy are common but not universal, as are the Perks of Alcohol Tolerance and/or No Hangover. Shasts who run brothels as part of their business are likely to have higher than average Appearance, but this is not required.

Suggested Disadvantages: None are required, but most shasts eventually make an Enemy or two - either they permit an illegal activity to occur, and make an enemy among the yords, or they refuse to allow an illegal activity, and make an enemy among the diyorda! Minor Addictions are also common, as is Gluttony.

Suggested Skills: Brawling, Cooking, Current Events, Erotic Art (if appropriate), Finance, Games, Holdout, Housekeeping, Lip-Reading, Merchant, Professional Skill/Bartender, Professional Skill/Brewer, Psychology, Savoir-Faire (whatever the local clients may be), Sex Appeal (if appropriate), Streetwise, one melee weapon skill

Yiordeh

For most law enforcement jobs, a toth will call the yords (see below). However, there are investigative jobs that the yords can't or won't take, either because of lack of evidence or because no law has been broken. The yiordeh are investigators-for-hire, somewhere between a private detective and a small-time spy, who will look into the things that need looking into . . . for the right price.

Race: any except acubon, blount, or trarch

Suggested Advantages: high Perception, Contacts, a second Language

Suggested Disadvantages: Semi-Literate or better; Callous and Greed are common, but not universal

Suggested Skills: Area Knowledge (city), Body Language, Boxing, Detect Lies, Fast-Talk, Forced Entry, Forensics, Law, Lip-Reading, Lockpicking, Merchant, Observation, Psychology, Savoir-Faire (whatever type the clients usually are), Search, Shadowing, Stealth, Wrestling, at least one weapon skill

Yord

A yord is a combination of a police officer, a fireman, and a royal guard. Their first duty is the protection of their city's chell (equivalent to a mayor); the second, the protection of their city; and the third, the upkeep of law and order. They actually spend most of their time on the third, except in times of plague or fire. In theory, they report directly to their chell, and in smaller cities that is in fact the case; in larger ones, they typically report to a retired yord who serves on the city's bureaucracy. They are often allowed to go into semi-retirement to become tauther - it's nice for the force to have highly placed friends.

Race: the majority race of the realm - humans in Burdoth, bronth in Dobre, etc.

Suggested Advantages: Extra Hit Points, high Fatigue, high Will; if more than one language is widely spoken in the area, you probably speak the second one at at least Broken; Legal Enforcement Powers at 5 points (you may have had more at one point, but you lost them becoming tauther); at least Semi-Literate

Suggested Disadvantages: Duty (to the chell, fairly rare - after all, you are semi-retired), Enemies

Suggested Skills: at least one melee weapon skill, at least one ranged weapon skill, Area Knowledge (city or village), Boxing, Criminology, Detect Lies, Fast-Draw, Forced Entry, Forensics, Interrogation, Intimidation, Law, Observation, Psychology, Running, Search, Wrestling

Zell

The zells are the professional entertainers of Jorune. They range from street performers busking for gemules to the formal actors of high society; while not highly regarded themselves, they can pass both in the most rarefied social atmospheres and the lowest denominator of the street. The Zells' klade (guild) covers the impoverished and the celebrities with equal ease, and encourages a few members to become drenn, so as to ensure that the political climate remains open for the more bawdy and/or satirical works.

Races: any

Suggested Advantages: Allies, Contacts, or Patrons (from the klade); depending on their art area, any of high Appearance, high Perception, Charisma, Fashion Sense, Flexibility, Musical Ability, Social Chameleon, or Voice might be appropriate

Suggested Disadvantages: low Social Status, low Wealth; minor Addictions or Compulsive Carousing are popular

Suggested Skills: Artist, Body Language, Current Affairs, Diplomacy, Fast-Talk, Heraldry, Makeup, Savoir-Faire (area), Savoir-Faire (one other group), Streetwise, one or more of: Acrobatics, Dancing, Erotic Art, Fire-Eating, Fortune-Telling, Group Performance, Musical Composition, Musical Instrument, Panhandling, Performance, Poetry, Professional Skill/Courtesan, Public Speaking, Sex Appeal, Singing, Sleight of Hand, or Stage Combat

Note: It's now more than 36 hours after I started this. I'm going to try to go to bed now.