Yamahasu Library


The Court library contains many works, great and small. It is organized by category, in alphabetical order by author's surname. Below are listed some of the most prominient works, though the library contains over 400 titles. After each title below, a trait and score is listed. This is the maximum score a character can raise that trait by studying that particular title. Studying multiple titles of the same trait's nature can only raise the maximum potential score by one. For example, a student reads all of Miyamoto Musashi's works. The highest her Military Science Knowledge could be raised to is 3.

For mages seeking to improve Spheres through the Background of Library, consider the Court library to have a rating of 3. It offers non-specifically helpful lore and hints to aid in the development of the Spheres Forces, Life, Matter, Prime, and Spirit up to Rank 3 and any other Sphere up to Rank 2. Strictly Western mages' paradigms will find this library less useful (assume it only offers a Library score of 1 for the study of Spheres, though Knowledge development is treated as Library 3 still).

As you can see below, Nekoko and Daitan Shindashi are among the authors. Some of you may recall that the Yamahasu Pagoda has been in Nekoko's possession before the Court was created, and their library was formed a couple years ago. You may also wonder how if Nekoko is so smart why does the library contain such low-level books? That is smart, heh.

Martial Arts


  • The Art of War - Sun Tzu (Military Science 2)
  • The Book of Five Rings - Musashi Miyamoto (Military Science 2)
  • Mirror of the Way - Musashi Miyamoto (Military Science 1)
  • Thirty-Five Articles on Strategy - Musashi Miyamoto (Military Science 1)
  • A Hundred Thousand Rivers - Fujibayashi (Martial Arts 1, Stealth 1)
  • Iai: The Art of Drawing the Sword - Darrell Craig (Fast-Draw 1, Melee 1)
  • Various Kobudo Books - Fumio Demura (Melee 1)
  • Methodologies of Demon-Hunting - Nekoko (Martial Arts 1, Military Science 2, Occult 2)

Alchemy & Herbalism


  • Harmony of the Rock - Lord Cody Hamilton (Alchemy 2, Stone Lore 2)
  • The Yellow Emperor - unknown (Herbalism 2, Medicine 2)
  • Purple Yin - Hu (Herbalism 1, Poisons 3)
  • The Five Elements of Tao - Lu Chunji (Alchemy 3)

Classics


  • Book of (Chinese) History (History 2)
  • Book of Odes (Literature 2)
  • Book of Changes (Divination 2, Philosophy 2)
  • Book of Rites (Etiquette 3)
  • Spring & Autumn Annals (History 1)
  • The Great Learning (Philosophy 1)
  • Book of Mencius (Philosophy 2)
  • Doctrine of the Mean (Philosophy 1)
  • Analects (Philosophy 2)

The Shen


  • A Fragile Path - Porthos (Tradition Mage Lore 2)
  • Book of Nod - Aristotle deLaurent (Kindred Lore 2)
  • Revelations of the Dark Mother - Rachel Dolium (Kindred Lore 2)
  • Tao Te Hsien - T'u (Hsien Lore 2, Classics 1)
  • Chronicles of the Monkey King - T'u (Hsien Lore 1, Classics 1)
  • Lo Shu - T'u (Hsien Lore 2, Classics 1)
  • Ki Chuan - Ki (Kuei-jin Lore 2)
  • Book of Infinite Mercy - Ju Lung (Kuei-jin Lore 1, Law 1, Philosophy 1)
  • Celestial Nail - O (Demon Lore 2, Kuei-jin Lore 1)
  • Treatise on the Clans of Caine - Nekoko (Kindred Lore 3)
  • Dreams in the Dusk - Nekoko (Faerie Lore 2, Garou Lore 2)
  • Tenacity of the Samurai - Daitan Shindashi (Jade Kingdom Lore 2)
  • Through the Smoke - Daitan Shindashi (Cosmology 3, Jade Kingdom Lore 1)
  • The Essence of Kaja - Kao Wu (Kaja 2, Occult 1)
  • Record of the Ages - Bao Lung (Hengeyokai Lore 2)
  • Another Book of Hell - Nekoko (Demon Lore 3)
  • Ghosts at Play - Hong Nimul (Spirit Lore 3)

Religion & Philosophy


  • Rig Veda (Theology 1)
  • Sama Veda (Theology 1)
  • Yajur Veda (Theology 1)
  • Atharva Veda (Theology 1)
  • Hidden Beneath the Leaves - Yamamoto Tsuetomo (Philosophy 1)
  • Bushido: The Soul of Japan - Inazo Nitobe (Philosophy 1)
  • The Bible (Revised) (Theology 1)
  • Quran (Theology 1)
  • Tao Te Ching (Philosophy 1)
  • Upanishads (Theology 1)
  • Cullavagga (Theology 1)

Special
Others


There are also sections on Science & Medicine and General Occult. Most of the works in these sections are good, solid books, but are primarily Sleeper-written works. They will allow one, as the section names suggest, to study up to Science 3, Medicine 3, or Occult 3. Alternatively, one can advance along certain Secondary Skills or Knowledges in these fields. In the field of Science, one can advance up to 2 in Biology, Chemistry, Metallurgy, Geology, Psychology, or Physics. In Medicine, one can advance up to 2 in the Skill of First Aid. In Occult, one can advance up to 2 in Astrology, Numerology, Parapsychology, or Gematria.

Just because one sees the words "library" or "book" thrown about, doesn't mean every work is hundreds of pages long. Some are more the size of driver's manuals (and read like them, too!). Some are even smaller, but that doesn't change the worth of information within. As this is one of the Court's greatest assets, the Ministry of Lore has at least one attendant in the Library at all times.

Education in the Court


The Ministries of Education and War both have responsibilities to tutor their Courtmates in different fields. The ULAG uses the usual Instruction dice system to gain the benefits of these teachers. Below are listed each Minister and Agent's Manipulation+Instruction dicepool. On the honor system, players may make the rolls themselves once per month of study or training to put 1 XP per success towards purchasing or raising the Trait(s) defined. The number listed is the Instruction dicepool. The difficulty of the roll is 11 minus your character's Intelligence (so a maximum of difficulty 6 for a character with Intelligence 5).

Ministry of Education

Parma Tempus: 3 (European History, Linguistics, Kindred Lore)
Isamu: 4 (advanced Computer, Science)
Kazuma "Hadji" Kawajiri: 4 (Computer)
Nariko Haikumo: 5 (various Lores)

Ministry of War

Gotetsu Hironue: 6 (Martial Arts)
Adri Gan Khon: 5 (Athletics)
Konton: 4 (Melee)
Denko: 1 (Firearms)

If a trait reads "advanced", that means that character teaches the advanced classes. One can learn up to **** in that trait from that character. Otherwise, assume a character cannot obtain higher than a *** from the teacher. In the case of the Ministry of War, while most of them can teach a student above ***, students are graduated out of the program upon reaching that level. They will have to pursue further education on their own.

Mentor & Instruction Rules for the ULAG Troupe


The Storytellers of the ULAG Troupe decided to create a universal system for the Mentor Background used as a tutelage system. Just like in real life, most people develop skills and learn facts from teachers. Even in antiquity, the best educated individuals were not wholly self-taught. There are several good reasons for the use of the following systems. For explanation on any of them, contact Cam.

Instruction
Whether the system presented in 2nd edition or Revised is preferred, the base facts remain the same. The Instruction Talent can only be used to teach Abilities, namely Skills and Knowledges. Some Talents can be taught (Storyteller's discretion). However, all XP gained from the benefit of Instruction may be "stored up". That is, an XP pool may be set aside provided the character remains an attentive student to the instructor for many months. This differs from the Mentor system (see below) in that excess successes are simply dropped and cannot be stored. (The other benefit of Instruction over Mentor is the larger potential dicepool, and thusly the greater amount of tutelage XP possible.)

Between editions, only the dice-roll changes for this Talent. The core rules of the system remain as follows:

  • Instruction can only be rolled once per month; if a student is learning multiple Abilities, whether from the same teacher or not, he must choose which Ability he focuses on (as it were) the most to gain the tutelage XP.
  • The student must roll Willpower (difficulty 8) to stay on task (and thus earn tutelage XP) in the face of any distractions (like a Storyline, heh).
  • Regardless of XP earned, any Ability can only be raised one level per month. This isn't The Matrix. Most Abilities take years to master.
  • The instructor cannot comprehensively teach any Ability in which he has a score of less than 3.
  • The instructor can teach any Skill or Knowledge, and certain Talents.
  • All XP gained through an Instruction roll must be spent on the Trait being taught.
  • Any XP gained through an Instruction roll and not spent may be saved and put towards the next level of the Ability provided the student is learning from the same teacher (teacher-student bond does affect learning!).


Mentor
This is an extrapolation from Mage and Changeling put towards all of the White Wolf games used in the ULAG Troupe. It allows players to roll their Mentor Background to gain tutelage benefit towards certain Traits, similarly to the Instruction Talent. However, unlike Instruction, Mentor XP can be put not just to Abilities but to appropiate Advantages -- namely, "magic powers". That includes Spheres, Wu Tan, Arts, Arcanoi, Paths, & Disciplines. It does not apply to the Gifts of shapeshifters; learning a Gift from a fellow shifter is actually harder than hunting down a spirit and learning it the old-fashioned way (this difficulty is made up for in Gifts' comparative cheap costs). In short, the character rolls his Mentor rating at difficulty 6. Each success reduces the XP cost of the Trait -- Ability or "magic power" Advantage -- by one.

Mentors were always meant to be more than teachers. Indeed, teaching is usually not the mentor's primary responsibility. And even if it is, even the most prestigious elder is limited by his own knowledge. Therefore, despite the rating of a character's Mentor Background, the number of dice rolled to gain tutelage XP is limited to the Mentor's score in the particular Trait being taught. (Obviously, it should go without saying that the Mentor must at least have one dot in the Trait to be taught!) The following rules also apply to the Mentor Background used as a tutor system:
  • Mentor can only be rolled once per month; if a student is learning multiple Traits, whether from the same Mentor or not, he must choose which Trait he focuses on (as it were) the most to gain the tutelage XP.
  • The student must roll Willpower (difficulty 8) to stay on task (and thus earn tutelage XP) in the face of any distractions (like a Storyline, heh).
  • Regardless of XP earned, any Trait can only be raised one level per month. This isn't The Matrix. Most Traits take years to master.
  • The Mentor Background's dicepool for tutelage XP is limited by the Mentor's own ability -- only a number of dice equal to the Mentor's ability in that Trait can be rolled. If the Mentor's ability in that Trait exceeds the Mentor Background, roll the Mentor Background as a full dicepool but do not add dice.
  • The Mentor can teach any Skill or Knowledge, certain Talents, and Advantages of the "magic powers" category (Disciplines, Arcanoi, Spheres, Wu Tan, Arts, Paths).
  • All successes rolled can only be applied to the one Trait being focused on.
  • "Cross-species" Mentors cannot teach "magic powers" to one another, only Abilities. Thus, regardless of paradigm similarity, hsien cannot teach mages Sphere magick, wraiths cannot teach vampires Disciplines, and so forth. The only exception is true mages and hedge mages. If the paradigm is alike, a mage can instruct a hedge mage in her Paths so long as he also has the Hedge Mage Lore Knowledge to bridge the gap.


The following rules apply to both Mentor and Instruction:
  • Instruction and Mentor tutelage rolls can be botched, but such botches only have social repercussions.
  • They cannot be used in conjunction -- not in the same month at any rate.
  • If the player has access to both, he must choose which to roll per month. He can't gain the benefits of both Traits even if they're two seperate teachers for two seperate Traits.
  • In any event, any Trait will always cost the player at least 1 "regular" XP! Nothing's free!


The Library Background works the same as Mentor and obeys the same laws as noted above.

Remember, these systems are more to present a real-life approach to learning and acquiring new skills and abilities. They are not means to superpower your characters in under six months. Hence the restrictions which help to accurately reflect real-life learning progress.

Back!