Isolia has Literacy 0 and Dorian has Litearcy 1. It will take Dorian 15 xp to get Literacy 2, and because learning how to read probably falls under the "some skills are more difficult to learn" umbrella, let's assume that she requires 15 xp to get Literacy 1.
She get's 2 xp per Literacy class (or 4 xp per week), and has gained 1 xp from the Literacy focused Study session we had. We have two more Literacy focused Study sessions later in the week, which will give her another 2 xp.
Without any extra Studying, she'll gain another 4 xp next week, bringing her to 11/15 xp.
If we want Isolia to gain basic Literacy by the end of next week, we will have to spend 4 Study sessions focused on helping her.
If we are allowed to change the Talk to Alchemy Professor option to Help Isolia because he has already answered most of our questions, we can bump it down to 3 sessions.
I think it's pretty important to help Isolia, and will definitely help our team come together. As a side benefit, all of the extra studying will bring Dorian's Literacy to level 2 as well.
Notice how the qm said earlier on this page not all options they offer are good options?
I don't think the professor will like Dorian apologizing to HIM for not interfering and standing up for Venta. It makes it look like we've missed the point of what he's saying, it's about bravery and decency, if anyone we should apologize to Venta but better to do something next time.
I also think asking how to test out on the first day LOOKS arrogant as hell. Good to ask questions and all, but as our lab partner just demonstrated good intentions don't mean your words will be perceived well.
If there are things you don't want Dorian to say, I would advise you to tack the "[] No, nothing else" option onto the end of your vote. When I count up the votes, I will ignore any of the options which got fewer votes than "[] No, nothing else."
There are multiple pamphlets. You'll get a chance to take some at the end of your meeting with Professor Kunrath. (In fact, since there is no actual downside to doing so, I think I'll have Dorian do it without your needing to vote for it.)
Isolia has Literacy 0 and Dorian has Litearcy 1. It will take Dorian 15 xp to get Literacy 2, and because learning how to read probably falls under the "some skills are more difficult to learn" umbrella, let's assume that she requires 15 xp to get Literacy 1.
She get's 2 xp per Literacy class (or 4 xp per week), and has gained 1 xp from the Literacy focused Study session we had. We have two more Literacy focused Study sessions later in the week, which will give her another 2 xp.
Without any extra Studying, she'll gain another 4 xp next week, bringing her to 11/15 xp.
If we want Isolia to gain basic Literacy by the end of next week, we will have to spend 4 Study sessions focused on helping her.
If we are allowed to change the Talk to Alchemy Professor option to Help Isolia because he has already answered most of our questions, we can bump it down to 3 sessions.
I think it's pretty important to help Isolia, and will definitely help our team come together. As a side benefit, all of the extra studying will bring Dorian's Literacy to level 2 as well.
Uh, I haven't explained how levelling up works in this quest. I was hoping to do that closer to the time when you'd actually be able to level up, but...
At this point, I think I should point out that having enough experience points to level up a skill doesn't guarantee that it will level up. It requires an Ability check (Insight, usually). If you fail, the DC will be lowered next time you have a chance to level up.
(The game system I'm using only has levels up to twelve, so if I didn't limit your progress somehow you'd be god-kings of the entire universe by the time you left school.)
So, when she's got enough xp to gain the Literacy skill, Isolia will have to roll an Insight check (2d6+2) and get a total of 10 or more. If she fails the check, she'll need to keep practising, but next time she's got enough xp, she can try again and this time she'll only have to roll higher than an 9. And so on.
In order to get up to Literacy level 2, Dorian will need to overcome a more difficult Insight check. He'll have to roll 2d6+2 and get a total of 13 or more. Very difficult, at the moment. But it'll get easier the more often he tries.
Getting enough experience to level up your skills will be a lot easier when I get the introductions out of the way and I can just summarise the weeks in between one story arc and the next. That's kind of the way I've planned to do it.
If there are things you don't want Dorian to say, I would advise you to tack the "[] No, nothing else" option onto the end of your vote. When I count up the votes, I will ignore any of the options which got fewer votes than "[] No, nothing else."
There are multiple pamphlets. You'll get a chance to take some at the end of your meeting with Professor Kunrath. (In fact, since there is no actual downside to doing so, I think I'll have Dorian do it automatically, without your needing to vote for it.)
Uh, I haven't explained how levelling up works in this quest. I was hoping to do that closer to the time when you'd actually be able to level up, but...
At this point, I think I should point out that having enough experience points to level up a skill doesn't guarantee that it will level up. It requires an Ability check (Insight, usually). If you fail, the DC will be lowered next time you have a chance to level up.
(The game system I'm using only has levels up to twelve, so if I didn't limit your progress somehow you'd be god-kings of the entire universe by the time you left school.)
So, when she's got enough xp to gain the Literacy skill, Isolia will have to roll an Insight check (2d6+2) and get a total of 10 or more. If she fails the check, she'll need to keep practising, but next time she's got enough xp, she can try again and this time she'll only have to roll higher than an 9. And so on.
In order to get up to Literacy level 2, Dorian will need to overcome a more difficult Insight check. He'll have to roll 2d6+2 and a total of 13 or more. Very difficult, at the moment. But it'll get easier the more often he tries.
Getting enough experience to level up your skills will be a lot easier when I get the introductions out of the way and I can just summarise the weeks in between one story arc and the next. That's kind of the way I've planned to do it.
Does that mean that on a failed roll you have to gain all of the xp again before you can try again, or that the next time that you gain xp for a skill that you have enough xp for you can roll again?
Does that mean that on a failed roll you have to gain all of the xp again before you can try again, or that the next time that you gain xp for a skill that you have enough xp for you can roll again?
You'll need to gain another 15xp before you can try again. (Or, in the case of Abilities such as Strength, Durability etcetera, you'll need another 30xp.)
[X] "Thank you. I'll try to speak up next time."
[X] Ask him if he can spare any plants or seeds which you could grow in your garden plot. [X] No, nothing else
Wow. That's a pretty tough learning system. Prevents unrealistic skill bloat, but kinda wishing we went for Insight over Willpower now...
Willpower isn't a bad choice. You can use it when levelling up skills which involve physical activity, various magical powers, and anything else where you really can succeed if you try hard enough.
Each of the Abilities will be used as a bonus to level up different skills (alternatively, if there are multiple abilities you could theoretically use, I will apply the one which gives you the highest bonus).
Agility can be used as a bonus to level up skills which require you to be quick, nimble, or sneaky.
Charisma can be used as a bonus to level up skills which require you to be charming, persuasive, or impressive.
Durability can be used as a bonus to level up skills which require you to be patient and to endure hardship.
Insight can be used as a bonus to level up skills which require a deeper understanding and knowledge of what you're doing.
Magic can be used as a bonus to level up skills which require you to be magically powerful.
Strength can be used as a bonus to level up skills which depend on brute force and physical might.
Willpower can be used as a bonus to level up skills which depend on determination and hard work.
(Yeesh, it sounds almost like Dorian is a shōnen protagonist.)
I've ruled that learning basic Literacy depends on Insight, so you can't use Willpower as a bonus for it, because I feel that it requires understanding and an awareness of what you're doing. You can't just brute force it.
EDIT: Also, vote tally. Update coming soon!
Adhoc vote count started by Chandagnac on Apr 1, 2020 at 11:20 AM, finished with 20 posts and 10 votes.
-[X] I think it is to teach us elastic thinking and creativity. You said it yourself this lesson, anyone can follow instructions, at least if they are given them in the right way, but that doesn't grant an intimate understanding that would let one create their own spells or deduce other magics by investigation instead of having to look in a book.... Am I right?
Our potion went pretty well, I'm relieved past Sickul didn't mess things up for us.
[X] "Thank you. I'll try to speak up next time."
[X] Ask him if he can spare any plants or seeds which you could grow in your garden plot.
[X] Say something else.
-[X] Any advice on what kind of plants I should be growing for this year?
[X] No, nothing else
I know that it's probably a better strategy to trade with higher years, but his advice won't hurt and we can always ignore it.
You think about apologising, but you quickly realise that he doesn't want an apology from you: he wants you to do better next time. If you apologise, it could make him think that you haven't understood what he's been saying. So, instead, you say, 'Thank you, sir. I'll try to speak up next time.'
'That is all I ask,' he replies. 'You may go.'
'Would you mind answering a few questions for me?' you ask.
'All right, ask your questions.' He looks contemplatively at you. 'If I can answer them, I will.'
'Earlier, you said that most pupils would probably drop this subject – Alchemy, I mean – at the earliest possible opportunity. But I don't understand how we'd go about doing that, or how we'd move from one subject to another.' Hastily, you amend this with, 'It's not that I want to drop Alchemy, you understand, it's just…'
As your voice trails away, Kunrath says, 'I understand. You want to know how the system works. Very well, I can explain the basic outline. There are forty-two weeks in the school year, not including holidays. Three terms, each of them consisting of fourteen weeks. Seven weeks in each half-term, with a week's holiday in between. At the end of each half-term, your progress will be assessed. You may have to sit a written test, or demonstrate your mastery of certain spells, or complete a project over a certain period of time. If you perform exceptionally well in one of your Alchemy or Literacy assessments, you will be allowed to drop that subject and choose one of the second-year classes to join instead. You can't drop Ritual Magic, at least not in the first year. Because it forms a vital framework for all of the other magic you will learn at this school, Ritual Magic lessons are compulsory, at least until the end of the second year.'
This is a lot of information for you to process. You stand in silence, lost in thought, until the professor gets up from his seat.
'Was there anything else?' he asks, walking over to the cupboard to inspect the glassware which your class used earlier. He notices that some of the vials and flasks have been improperly cleaned and gets them out to give them a more thorough wash.
'Yes,' you say, feeling brave. 'I have a theory about why Alchemy is a required subject for first-year pupils: I think it's meant to teach us elastic thinking and creativity. You said it yourself this lesson: anyone can follow instructions, at least if they are given them in the right way, but that doesn't give them the kind of understanding they'd need to create their own spells or figure out new kinds of magic by investigation instead of having to look in a book. One of the things you're trying to teach us is how to think for ourselves.' You pause, watching the professor's reaction. 'Am I right?'
Still washing up, Kunrath remarks, 'I probably won't discuss this during lesson time, unless your classmates seem particularly interested, but I don't see the harm in telling you, if you're eager to know. Your answer is correct, but it's not the only correct answer. There are several reasons why we teach Alchemy to first-year pupils. First off, as you've said, it's to encourage them to be creative, to experiment and think for themselves. More than that, Alchemy is a hybrid of several different disciplines and sciences which are useful for wizards to know, but there isn't enough time for you to study all of them in detail while you're at school. If you want to be a truly great wizard, you'll need an extraordinary breadth of knowledge, so you'll have no other choice but to continue your studies far beyond what we can teach you. The real purpose of first-year Alchemy lessons is to give our pupils a glimpse – just the faintest hint – of the vast ocean of knowledge they have yet to dip a toe into.' He chuckles to himself, puts the last of the glassware on the side to drain, and glances at you. 'And another thing…' He hesitates, wary of broaching a delicate subject. 'If you don't mind me asking, how are you paying for your school fees, Dorian?'
'I don't know,' you admit. 'Someone paid for me to attend the academy this year, but I don't know who.'
'Hmm. If I were you, I would make it my mission to find out. Someone has paid a large sum of money on your behalf. Presumably they want something from you in exchange. The fact that they haven't revealed themselves to you… well, that doesn't imply anything good, does it? However, before you panic, I'd suggest that you discuss this with your family. I'm sure they know more about this than you do. Perhaps they made a deal with someone on your behalf.'
A shiver of apprehension runs down your spine. 'I… uh… how worried should I be?'
'That depends. Even if their intentions towards you are nefarious, you still have options. What I would recommend you do is try to earn enough money to be able to repay them. Then, if they try to force you to do anything you don't want to do, you can simply give them their money back plus a suitable interest rate, and then they won't have any legal case against you. Which, incidentally, is why I mentioned this in the context of why Alchemy is taught to first-year pupils. You see, the faculty members here at the academy want you to be successful, to make your mark on the world, to spread the reputation of this school, and to look back on your schooldays with fondness. Not necessarily for any altruistic reasons, but because it benefits us. We don't want our pupils to end up as indebted slaves, or to flee to other countries, or to get themselves killed because of a failure to take proper safety precautions. Something the headmaster is very keen on emphasizing is that one of the purposes of this school is to give you the tools you'll need to be able to take care of yourselves.'
Kunrath takes a deep breath. 'Hence, Alchemy. Even if you have nothing, even if you have to search through piles of rubbish to get the parts you need, a skilled alchemist can always make something that other people will want to buy. One of my former pupils started off as a penniless waif, but by collecting rags and using alchemy and her rudimentary sewing skills to improve them, making them thicker and warmer, giving them bright colours and unusual textures and so on, she became a highly regarded fashion designer. I believe she now has a privileged position in the imperial court in Samanothrax.'
'I've joined the Gardening Club,' you say. 'Maybe I could grow plants and then sell them.'
'That's a decent idea, but you'll need to very carefully plan for the future. For example, if you want to sell winter marigolds in the spring, you'll need to plant them around about now. But, if you make an effort, it could work out very well for you. Let's imagine that by the springtime you'll have forty marigolds available to sell. You'll need to buy or borrow a little cart and some pots to put them in, which will cost you five or six shards. Let's say you manage to sell all of them, three shards each – you could probably get a better price than that if you're really charming about it, but three is about average, I reckon – then afterwards you'll have one hundred and twenty shards, minus your costs. That's a lot of money you could put towards either paying off your debt or saving for next year's school fees.'
You consider the little square of land which has been allotted to you. 'I think I could fit a great many more than forty marigold plants into my garden.'
Kunrath beams at you. 'Exactly.'
'So… you'd recommend that I grow some marigolds, would you?'
'Very useful plant, in many ways. Popular for decoration, so you should have no trouble selling them. The petals are edible and can be used in salads, soups, or stews; or they can be used as a source of yellow, orange or brown dyes. An oil extracted from them is supposed to have anti-inflammatory, antifungal and antibacterial properties, which makes it useful for healing potions. And in some religions, they're held to be sacred, used to make crowns and garlands which are draped around statues of their gods, or worn by their worshippers during ceremonies. Very useful Alchemical ingredient, as I'm sure you can imagine.'
'Would you like me to grow some marigolds for you, sir?'
He laughs. 'Ask me closer to the time. I'm sure I can offer you a fair price.'
'I don't actually have any money,' you admit. 'And there's still plenty of space in my garden. Could you spare any plants or seeds for me to grow? Please?'
'I suppose I could give you some seeds or cuttings from some of the plants used in today's lesson,' he says, considering. 'And I'm sure I've got some marigold seeds somewhere. Come back to me this evening, I'll have them ready for you.'
'Thank you, sir.'
'Now, you'd better get going. You don't want to miss lunch, do you?'
You assure him that you probably wouldn't, if you were able to remember any of it. On your way out, you take one of each the pamphlets he offered to you earlier. Maybe they'll be of some use to you.
As usual, lunch is filling but strangely mind-numbing. Afterwards, it's gone out of your mind completely.
From his enlightening conversation with Professor Kunrath, Dorian has gained 2 experience points towards increasing his Insight.
At this point, I think I should give you the opportunity to reorganise Dorian's timetable. During the second part of Day Three, you've voted to "Study Alchemy". It may be that you're still happy to do that (in which case Dorian will read through the pamphlets Professor Kunrath gave him) or you might want to do something else.
What do you want to do during the second period? (Choose one)
[] Study Alchemy (read pamphlets, gain 2 xp towards Alchemy)
[] Study Ritual Magic (read illusory textbook, gain 2 xp towards Ritual Magic)
[] Get together with Cadre 1F to practice Literacy (gain 2 xp towards Literacy, help Isolia gain Literacy)
[] Do something else (write in).*
*This period is supposed to be study time, so keep that in mind if you want to write in. Yes, it's possible to skive off and do something else, but you'll get into trouble for it.
You've already had quite a long conversation with Professor Kunrath, so I doubt that you'll want to go back and "Attempt to speak with Alchemy Professor" during the third slot. What do you want to do instead? (Choose one)
[] Collect seeds and cuttings from Professor Kunrath. Get on with some gardening. (+2 xp towards Durability, +1 xp towards Knowledge)
[] Go with Philander to the meeting of the Apathy Society (???)
[] Get Philander and Venta together. Attempt to bridge the gap between them (+xp towards Social Skills?)
[] Do some extra studying (+2 xp towards chosen subject)
[] Ask to speak with Green Flame
-[] Tell her that you're worried about whoever paid your school fees for this year.
-[] Tell her that you're worried that some of the school meals are having a strange effect on your mind.
-[] Ask her for help with teaching Isolia how to read.
-[] Tell her that Venta and Philander aren't getting along.
--[] Ask for her help in getting them to be friends.
-[] Say something else to her (write in).
Do something else (write in).
I mean, I think I've covered most of the things you might want to do, but I always include the 'write in' option just in case anyone has a good idea which I haven't thought of.
[X] Get together with Cadre 1k to practice Literacy (gain 2xp towards Literacy, help Isolia gain Literacy)
[X] Collect seeds and cuttings from Professor Kunrath. Get on with some gardening. (+2xp towards Durability, +1xp towards Knowledge)
[x] Get together with Cadre 1k to practice Literacy (gain 2xp towards Literacy, help Isolia gain Literacy)
[x] Collect seeds and cuttings from Professor Kunrath. Get on with some gardening. (+1xp towards Durability, +1xp towards Knowledge)
I wouldn't mind seeing Green Flame next.
...I wonder if there is a potion improving one's ability to understand a complex topic and/or attention span. If we can make a healing potion, perhaps we could also make a potion of Insight?
...I wonder if there is a potion improving one's ability to understand a complex topic and/or attention span. If we can make a healing potion, perhaps we could also make a potion of Insight?
I'm all for making fantasy nootropics, but I would want us to do a lot of research before actually using them. That sounds like something that could very easily cause permanent damage.
I considered putting a disclaimer in there, but then I remembered we were making health potions on our first lesson. That sounds like it can cause no less damage if handled incorrectly, simply because it affects one's health directly.
Magic is inherently dangerous. We were warned about it already.
The entire "let them experiment and think for themselves" angle doesn't really inspire confidence in me when we are talking poisons and potential explosives (i.e. primary dangers that are associated with alchemy/chemistry) handled by children, but then again, this is no ordinary school. The Headmaster's speech made it crystal clear.
[X] Get together with Cadre 1k to practice Literacy (gain 2xp towards Literacy, help Isolia gain Literacy)
[X] Collect seeds and cuttings from Professor Kunrath. Get on with some gardening. (+1xp towards Durability, +1xp towards Knowledge)
I am not so worried about the dangers of making an Insight potion as I am of it's relative action economy. It might worth it for some kind of make-or-break Insight check, but creating a potion is far from a sure thing, and I am dubious we can get more than a +1 to Insight for one action right now. Even if we get alchemy xp from trying, we have other things to study and do.
Cost might also be an issue, though the good news is it sounds like real skill at alchemy can create treasure from trash.
Fave professor found? Also interesting idea with someone locking us into debt.
[X] Get together with Cadre 1k to practice Literacy (gain 2xp towards Literacy, help Isolia gain Literacy)
[X] Collect seeds and cuttings from Professor Kunrath. Get on with some gardening. (+1xp towards Durability, +1xp towards Knowledge)
[X] Ask to speak with Green Flame
-[X] Tell her that Venta and Philander aren't getting along and ask for advice on how to handle Philander's behavior without starting a fight.
[X] Get together with Cadre 1k to practice Literacy (gain 2xp towards Literacy, help Isolia gain Literacy)
[X] Collect seeds and cuttings from Professor Kunrath. Get on with some gardening. (+1xp towards Durability, +1xp towards Knowledge)
I like these options. I question if gardening will be useful in the long term though. It seems too easy to be valuable. No magical education is needed to garden magical plants. Although, I could believe that assessment is wrong.
[x] Get together with Cadre 1k to practice Literacy (gain 2xp towards Literacy, help Isolia gain Literacy)
[x] Collect seeds and cuttings from Professor Kunrath. Get on with some gardening. (+1xp towards Durability, +1xp towards Knowledge)
[x] Get together with Cadre 1k to practice Literacy (gain 2xp towards Literacy, help Isolia gain Literacy)
[x] Collect seeds and cuttings from Professor Kunrath. Get on with some gardening. (+2xp towards Durability, +1xp towards Knowledge)
Given how popular gardening is supposed to be when students realize that they can use it for expensive alchemy ingredients, we should go garden while there will be older students at gardening club and beg for more seeds before they've given away what they're willing to give. Going to Green Flame for help with Venta and Philander is tempting, but she said during the tour that settling problems within our group are our own responsibility.
@Tascion gardening is useful as a second source of Knowledge xp. From classes we only get 1 Knowledge xp per week compared to 2 xp for Alchemy and 4 xp for Ritual Magic and Literacy. If we want to rank up Knowledge in good time, which we have been told that we'll want to as part of our magical education, we need to get enough Knowledge xp per week that we can attempt to rank up fairly often.
@Chandagnac how does learning specialties work? For Knowledge we have a Numeracy specialty and the possibility of an Alchemy specialty and a Botany specialty. Also, there are 45 weeks in the school year, but how many months is that divided into? I'm curious because of the monthly 1 shard fee for the Gardening club.
Current known sources of Knowledge xp:
Alchemy class
Gardening Club
Likely Sources of Knowledge xp:
Astronomy Club
Mathematics Club (we have a knowledge specialty in Numeracy and Professor Kunrath has indicated it would be useful)
Possible Sources of Knowledge xp:
Any Club? (I'm not sure if Knowledge includes Sports, Boardgames, or Fitness information)
Something else to keep in mind is that other clubs might have dues as well, though they're not providing a plot of land like the Gardening Club.
The entire "let them experiment and think for themselves" angle doesn't really inspire confidence in me when we are talking poisons and potential explosives (i.e. primary dangers that are associated with alchemy/chemistry) handled by children, but then again, this is no ordinary school. The Headmaster's speech made it crystal clear.
The 'healing potion experiment' which Kunrath set up for you is probably one of the least dangerous magical things you'll be doing at this school. None of the ingredients he offered you were toxic or explosive, you didn't even need to heat anything up, and the professor was keeping a careful eye out for anyone doing anything silly. It's much more likely that a failed potion would have been useless rather than dangerous – the only way it could have been dangerous was if you'd pumped it full of a huge quantity of magic, but that would have taken additional time during which the professor would have stopped you.
It's not entirely foolproof, but the only danger in this experiment is if you really, really screw up. Kunrath is trying to ease you in gently. Later on, you might be required to work with more dangerous ingredients, but hopefully by then you'll have learned some practical skills.
It's a long-term commitment. You get out of it what you put into it. It'll be months before you can grow any useful plants and during that time you'll need to keep spending action slots on Gardening which you could be using for something else instead.
None of the plants you've seen so far are magical plants. They're all real plants which can be grown in the real world by real people with no magical education. (However, I have emphasized some of the 'alternative medicine' uses of these plants, beneficial properties which real doctors might consider to be pseudo-scientific or unproven.)
You only get extra Knowledge xp from gardening if you go on a night when the Gardening Club is in session (it represents the fact that you can go to the older club members and ask questions and benefit from their greater experience).
Otherwise, the "Gardening" action on its own will get you 2 Durability xp.
@Chandagnac how does learning specialties work? For Knowledge we have a Numeracy specialty and the possibility of an Alchemy specialty and a Botany specialty.
There are a lot of different knowledge skills I could have included, but I decided to simplify the system by lumping them all together as a single general Knowledge skill. The specialties represent subjects which you have a particular interest in and where you have a greater depth of knowledge. The DC for Knowledge skill checks where you can apply your specialty is lowered.
You get to choose a new specialty each time you level up your Knowledge skill.
(There are some other skills where you may gain specialties. For example, in my Tinpot Princess quest, the main character had Social Skills specialties. But Knowledge is the main one.)
I probably won't go into that much detail with the Board Games Club, Poetry Club, Literature Club, and Music Club, but you will gain some kind of xp from them.
You won't get much xp from watching Bladderwrack, but by the time you've got enough magical power to be able to play it, it will be a good source of xp for your magical skills.
The Fitness Club is a bit special because you'll get to choose what kind of xp you want from it (either 2 Agility xp and 1 Durability xp, or 2 Strength xp and 1 Durability xp). It all depends on what kind of fitness training you want to concentrate on.
@Chandagnac thank you for the in depth response. Gardening seems well worth it, especially as a source of money. What type of plot did Isolia choose? When we're selling off the the remains of last year's plot, we can give money to her until her plot starts producing. How many months are in the school year that we need to pay for the plots?
I like your specialty system.
It's fortunate that the day that has the Astronomy club is two rest periods this week.
So Bladderwrack is like Gardening in that we invest time now to get opportunities later. I like it, especially since we're only one level away from having out Magic at a professional 4. Would we be taught the skills by the League or do we need to advance our skills through schooling to take part? Moving a ball around seems on par with other Cantrips.
Fitness club remains tantalizing. With our Strength so low, we'll likely have trouble with heavier gardening tools, and Agility is helpful for the in-genre sneaking about after curfew.
Clubs seem like a good way to socialize with our team while still advancing skills. We have Gardening with Isolia and we know that Philander likes Bladderwrack, but we should probably find out what club(s) Venta is interested in and join one of them.
So Bladderwrack is like Gardening in that we invest time now to get opportunities later. I like it, especially since we're only one level away from having out Magic at a professional 4. Would we be taught the skills by the League or do we need to advance our skills through schooling to take part? Moving a ball around seems on par with other Cantrips.
If you want to take part in the Bladderwrack league, the older players will probably teach you a few simple cantrips to get you started. Using magic to move a ball around is the most basic level of play. However, at higher levels, it can involve much more powerful and esoteric magic, including but not limited to: making some of your players temporarily invisible, using telekinesis to move the other team out of the way, creating a force field in front of the goal to block the ball, reversing gravity to leave your opponents helplessly suspended in midair, summoning animated vines to tie up your opponents to give you a clear shot at the goal, and so on.
Clubs seem like a good way to socialize with our team while still advancing skills. We have Gardening with Isolia and we know that Philander likes Bladderwrack, but we should probably find out what club(s) Venta is interested in and join one of them.
Today, in study hall, the supervisory member of staff is someone you don't know. Dressed in white, with blonde hair pulled back in a tight bun, wearing shiny round spectacles and a stern expression, her name is Kira Quazellian and she is the school's Mistress of Ice Magic. She appears deeply engrossed in her own work, so she doesn't bother to reprimand any of the first-year pupils who aren't obviously misbehaving in some way, talking too loudly, or running around the room. Which suits you just fine: as long as you're quiet about it, she doesn't stop you getting up to join the other members of Cadre 1F. Together, you try very hard to help Isolia learn how to read.
Philander and Venta aren't talking to each other. It's not like they're deliberately ignoring each other, more like they don't know what to say to bridge the gap which has grown up between them. At least they're not engaged in active hostilities. You wish that there was something you could do or say which would make them realise that they could be friends. But, even if there was, this isn't a good time or place for it. You don't want to make a scene in front of all the other first-years.
It's a good thing that Isolia seems so determined to learn. She listens avidly to everything that you and the others try to teach her: the letters of the alphabet and the sounds they represent, how to string those sounds together to make words, and the basic rules of spelling, grammar, and punctuation. However, despite her attentiveness, learning to read is not a swift process. Thinking back to your early childhood, you remember your mother taught you how to read when you were four or five years old. It took months. More than that, it took years of practice before you were any good at it. And yet, you're hoping to cram all of that knowledge into Isolia in only a few days, a couple of weeks at most, because her being illiterate is a serious obstacle to her magical training. And because you're worried about what Professor Witt will say or do to her if he's unhappy with her progress.
Perhaps there's a better way to do this, you think. None of you are teachers, your only experience of teaching is from being on the receiving end, and you don't know the best techniques to use to help someone to learn. You're just fellow pupils, muddling through as best you can. It might be a good idea to ask for help. Not from Professor Witt, obviously. But there must be someone else who could give Isolia the tuition she needs.
You gained 2 experience points towards improving Dorian's Literacy skill.
You're still ruminating on this later on, when you go back to Professor Kunrath's laboratory to pick up the box which he has prepared for you. Opening it, you find five glass jars, all of them half full of water and labelled with the names of the plant cuttings which are growing out of them. One is a branch of lemon thyme. Another is a green peppermint stalk. According to the labels, the others contain sprigs of basil, catnip, and sage. Also, there are seven little paper packets, each containing a different type of seed: wispy dandelion seeds; pinstriped sunflower seeds; rounded brown rosemary seeds; marigold seeds like little black paintbrushes; primrose, lavender and valerian seeds like tiny chips of bark.
'Thank you, sir,' you say, glancing over to where the professor is sitting at his desk, writing something.
'It was my pleasure,' he says with a nod. 'Good luck with everything.'
'I'm disappointed that there isn't an alchemy or potions club I could join.'
'Ah, well, it was thought to be too risky. The societies of pyromancers and cryomancers were forcibly disbanded for much the same reason.'
You decide not to tell him that yesterday you saw Green Flame going to a "study group for people who want to learn more about fire magic", a group which is "legally distinct" from the Society of Pyromancers. That's information you don't want to spread too widely, in case it gets her into trouble.
Before you leave, the professor calls out to you, 'One last thing, Dorian: would you mind giving those jars back to me when you've finished with them?'
'No problem, sir,' you say, opening the door. 'See you next week.'
Outside, you join the other members of the Gardening Club. Isolia is there too. You ask one of the older members what to do with the cuttings which Professor Kunrath gave to you. He recommends that you keep them floating in the glass jars until they've grown a root system. After that, you can plant them outside. For the time being, they need to be somewhere out of the wind: he takes you into one of the school outbuildings where you can put them on the window sill. As a way of staking your claim on them, you get a stick of charcoal and write your name on each of the labels.
Then, you go to your little plot of land, carry on weeding and turning the soil, all the while thinking about what you're going to do with it. Before you even start planting anything, you have a few dahlias, lavender, a little crab-apple tree, and some crocuses. Actually, the dahlias are brightly-coloured and blooming, exotically beautiful flowers which you should probably sell as soon as possible before they go to seed. It might be a good idea to prune them and remove some of the deadheads first, but you're fairly sure that you could get a decent amount of money for them. It seems a bit strange that the previous occupant left them behind for you, but according to some of the other gardeners she left early in the summer and didn't have enough time to do anything with them.
One corner of your plot is getting overrun with weeds: stinging nettles and burdock, mostly. Your initial impulse is to get rid of them, but then you consider that they might have some alchemical uses. Besides, you'll need some very thick gloves before you can do anything with the nettles.
As promised, Fen gives you a few onions, and some radish and carrot seeds. Now, you have to decide what you want to plant. It might take you a few sessions to finish planting, but you can at least make a start.
I'm going to try to abstract this as much as possible. Let's say that your garden consists of a hundred squares (10x10). In this table, I will represent the plants already growing in your garden as squares which have been filled:
Type of plant
Number of squares
Crab apple tree
1
Dahlias
5
Crocuses
10
Lavender
3
Nettles
8
Burdock
3
In total you've already got 30 squares filled. You have 70 empty squares which you could choose to fill. However, you will need to leave at least five empty squares so that you can plant the cuttings which Professor Kunrath gave you.
Therefore, you have 65 empty squares to play with.
What do you want to do?
[] Get some thick gloves and a knife. Then, get rid of the stinging nettles. (Will give you +8 spaces in your garden)
[] Get some thick gloves and a knife. Then, get rid of the burdock plants. (Will give you +3 spaces in your garden)
[] Get rid of any other plants (write in: what do you want to get rid of).
[] Talk to some of the other Gardening Club members about potting the dahlias and getting them ready to sell.
[] Plant some onions. (You have enough onions to fill a single space.)
You've gained 2 experience points towards improving Durability and 1 experience point towards improving Knowledge.
Yay! Gardening Simulator 2020!
Radishes, carrots and onions are useful as food. You can find the alchemical properties of most of the other seeds here.
I realise this could get very fiddly. What I suggest you do first is discuss what you want to do. Think about how you want to fill the available space. Then, maybe somebody could come up with a plan and other people could vote for it? I leave it up to you.
EDIT: Or, I just realised that you could quite easily plant all of the seeds you've got available. Afterwards, you'd still have plenty of space left over.
Since nettles and burdock may have useful properties, checking to see if they're useful for potions we could make and sell seems smart. Even if at the very least, we tear them out and make potions from them instead of throwing away ingredients.
