An amnesiac's take on storytelling...

You know, IMS we tend to REDUCE the ammount of needed skills (i.e.: we only have 2 supernatural lores), but this sounds sensible. For "arousing the masses" we have been using leadership, but maybe rethrorics might be a better thing for grand speeches. Thanks for pointing this put :slight_smile:

Cheers,

Xavi

Because in this system, that skill, by itself, is far too narrow in comparison to the scope of the average skill.

Maybe it should be included somewhere, but "where"?

Nice threadomancy, tho'. :wink:

Teaching.

In fact you can REMOVE teaching and substitute it with "narration" skill encompassing both skills. The ability to talk in public without boring the audience to death.

Cheers,

Xavi

Good one

In the previous edition it was jourglery. In the current one? Profession (X) for each profession.

Yeah of course you can go that route as well, but the reason i dont like those kind of "5 in 1" kind of skill settings is the kind of side effects i mentioned(someone practising one thing becoming just as skilled in something else as well).

:open_mouth:
Equating storytelling and teaching? While storytelling can be effectively used for teaching, it ISNT teaching for sure.

Heh, well not that old... If it had been from dec 2004 or something... :wink:

Guess my version just dropped the "Profession" part then.
There´s a world of difference between a pro storyteller and someone doing for fun Cuchulain.
Think about it, medievally, storytelling was sometimes a fulltime JOB. People lived on it fulltime.
If you add to that consideration the fact that most people couldnt read(or at least not much, and books were just about not there anyway), and no "media", one of the things that replaces those are story tellers...

I'd argue for (Area) Lore, which covers legends and history, and thus stories by extension.

But that only says you might KNOW a story, it says nothing what so ever about how well you might tell it!

A good storyteller can make even the simplest tale become absolutely mezmerising.
Just knowing the story doesnt give you that.

That sounds like it depends upon the character's Presence or Communication, or Virtues like Inspirational or Free Expression. Couldn't you use Intelligence + Area Lore to see how well your character remembers a story, but Presence + Area Lore to describe how well your character tells it to others?

Such a skill should not only encompass knowing the "good stories", but the ability to make up something, or embellish on it, either extemporaneously or as authorship. And good delivery, both verbally and written. And holding the interest of the audience, whether that is a rowdy crowd at a tavern, over a glass of sherry with a noble, or a congregation on a Sunday morning. It doesn't matter if the story is pure and obvious fantasy or a first-hand narrative. It's part fast-talk and part entrancement, combined with an artistic and dramatic sense, and more.

With any skill system this "grainy", not every character will make use of every possible facet of a skill. (Some honest entertainers who excell at Legerdemain may never pick a pocket in their life, even if they "could" BTR - that's all RP decisions.)

Other skills may well add to this. Just as someone with Survival does better if they know where they're going with Area Lore, so various Lores may help the "Storyteller" skill. Or Intrigue, Folk Ken, Hunting - all depends on the story they're telling, the audience, and the focus/purpose of the story itself.