Page 35 - Chronicles of Darkness

separate, make amazing intuitive leaps, and can which stories are likely to be actual supernatural events and
easily see patterns in massive amounts of data. which are just rumors. That said, there are a lot of strange
things out there, and many of them defy easy categoriza-
••••• Master: Sherlock Holmes. This character’s inves- tion. The Occult Skill doesn’t necessarily give a character
tigative instincts are perfect, and no clue escapes a line on the absolute “truth” about what’s going on, but
his notice. instead represents an array of knowledge about encounters
and theories that others have had, and the ability to build
Medicine on those theories herself.
Sample actions: Debunk a fake (Intelligence + Occult),
Medicine is a character’s knowledge of the human Identify a sliver of truth (Wits + Occult), Relate similar myths
body and the medical techniques used to keep it healthy. It (Intelligence + Occult)
represents a practical and applicable knowledge of biology, Sample Specialties: Eastern European Folktales, Ghosts,
anatomy, and chemistry. A character with the Medicine Skill Mothman Sightings, Psychic Phenomena, Urban Legends
can use it to treat wounds and diseases, diagnose illness, apply Sample contacts: Anthropology Professor, Neo-Pagan
first aid, or even perform surgery. Author, Weird Hermit Down the Street
Sample actions: Diagnosis (Wits + Medicine), Perform
surgery (Dexterity + Medicine), Treat disease (Intelligence Levels:
+ Medicine) • Novice: This character is scratching the surface of
Sample Specialties: Cardiology, First Aid, Pathology, the strange and creepy stories out there. She has
Pharmacology, Surgery heard of many different phenomena, and is aware
Sample contacts: Bio-Tech Company Researcher, Chronic of many obvious fakes and debunked stories, as
Patient, EMT well as some of the more plausible tales.
Levels:
•• Professional: This level of Occult represents
• Novice: A student or someone with basic medical someone who has done a great deal of research
training. At this level, a character can perform first into folklore, myth, and urban legends, and can
aid and stabilize injured people, identify common find slivers of truth in what he has read. He has
diseases, and care for serious (but non-critical) injuries. a solid understanding of major stories, and can
identify and disregard many false claims.
•• Professional: A character with two dots in
Medicine can work as an EMT, nurse, or other ••• Experienced: A character with this level of Occult
practitioner with a good general knowledge of has been working with weird things for a while,
Medicine. She can handle emergency treatment, and is very good at sifting actual facts and useful
administer medication and care for patients, and information from rumors and stories. She may
identify most conditions and disease. have seen a variety of strange things herself, or she
may simply be very good at recognizing common
••• Experienced: The character can work as a doctor, patterns in various legends.
specialist, or surgeon. She can treat most illness
and injuries and care for people with serious or •••• Expert: A character with four dots in Occult is
obscure health problems. very tuned into the strange, and can remember a
number of obscure and useful pieces of informa-
•••• Expert: A character at this level is one of the best tion about just about any odd occurrence. He
doctors in the region, possibly even the country. may well have pieces of the truth about various
He can diagnose and treat obscure conditions, and supernatural creatures, and is very good at putting
can handle just about any medical emergency that those pieces together.
comes his way.
••••• Master: At this level of Occult, the character is
••••• Master: The character is one of the top doctors able to almost unfailingly identify actual super-
or surgeons in the world. She can perform near natural events and creatures. Even when running
miracles, and has knowledge of pretty much any into a completely new phenomenon, her instincts
illness or injury she comes across.
are impeccable.
Occult Politics

The Occult Skill is a character’s knowledge of myth, Politics represents a character’s knowledge of political
folktales, and urban legends about the strange things that bodies, figures, and issues. It helps a character to navigate
exist in the dark corners of the world. Occult can help a bureaucracies and play the political game to get what he
character separate fiction and myth from fact and determine
wants. He knows how to follow the money and how to play
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the face in the mirror-Characters