Advisor

The position of Advisor is one of several Council positions common at every level throughout The Kingdom of Somercrag. They are responsible for advising their Lord/Lady on academic issues and gathering information for them. Naturally, ths position is most commonly held by a Spire Advisor. In those situations where a council is unable to meet the terms of The Spire's Arrangement, it may be filled by anyone, though of course as the role involves a great deal of reading, it is usually limited to those of noble birth. The Advisor rarely has need to call on their liege's authority, as they are rarely acting, though they can call upon it to gain access to locations or documents. Again, as many Advisors are affiliated with The Spire, they can already expect unrestricted access to any information they should need.

Council Actions

Each month the Advisor may be directed to take one of the following actions. Bolded actions require the Advisor's presence for the month, making them unavailable for any other duties.

Research - The Advisor spends the month producing a report on one topic, target, area, etc to the council. They take an Advisor skill check against the Scheme Defence of the target (if any), or any other relevant difficulty, with the resulting report being influenced by the success or failure of this check. For some rare or difficult to research topics this may require the Advisor's absence whilst they are researching.

Tutor - The Advisor spends the month advising a specific member of the council, or another character. Until the end of the next council session that character adds a number of b equal to the Advisor skill to all applicable checks. If the target is a child, they will also gain basic learning during this time - continuing this tutorship for prolonged periods will lead to a child becoming educated and may also have other effects.

Support Project - The Advisor can be attached to an Ongoing Project or Action carried out by another council member for the duration of that project or action (they must begin the Support Project action when that project or action begins). If the Advisor remains in support for the entire duration of the project or action they will provide the following benefits: The project or action has its Duration reduced by one month to a minimum of one month; if at least 2 Revenue are spent on the project each month, each month 1 Revenue is added to the council's Coffers. When supporting a bolded task, this action requires the Advisor to be absent for the month.

Training (Academic) - The Advisor spends the month training an individual's knowledge skills. At the end of the month they take an Advisor skill vs the target's Intellect. If they fail nothing happens, if they succeed the target gains a new Knowledge Skill that the Advisor and/or the resources they have access to could conceivably confer. For each additional s or every aa they may gain an additional Knowledge Skill or a rank in a related Skill. For each h they suffer 1 Strain.

Produce Manuscript - The Advisor spends the month compiling information and making progress toward a completed manuscript, which will eventually produce a finished document. When they begin the project they will agree with the DM a difficulty and a target total - starting from a base difficulty of d and a target total of 50. They take an Advisor skill check against the chosen difficulty. For each s and every aa they add one point to a cumulative score for the manuscript. Once this score reaches the agreed total the manuscript is complete.
This Action can be taken in conjunction with any other Action, but unless that Action is Tutor or Training one of its d will be upgraded, and if they fail the project will lose progress for each f.
If this Action is taken in conjunction with a Tutor or Training action they may spend a single s or aaa to have the target of the Tutor or Training Action also contribute to the project using their Intellect and any relevant skill.