From: Andrew South <llew@werple.mira.net.au>


SCHOLAR 
 
In a typical DragonQuest world not many people are literate; in fact, the 
majority of learning occurs through the verbal histories passed on by bards 
and the telling of tales from father to son. There are, however, those 
individuals who desire to learn more and they become Scholars, seeking out 
knowledge wherever it may be found and preserving their findings for the 
good of the whole world. 
 
1. A Scholar must be literate. 
 
He must be able to read and write at Rank 8 in one language to even choose 
this skill, and may not advance to a Rank higher than his greatest Rank in 
reading and writing in any one language. 
 
2. A Scholar learns languages with less effort. 
 
Experience Point costs for learning new languages or increasing Rank with 
ones already known are halved. 
 
3: A Scholar will specialize in one or more areas of knowledge. 
 
Upon attaining Ranks 1, 4, 7 and 10, the Scholar may select an area of 
knowledge from the list below. This list is not exhaustive, and the GM 
should feel free to add further categories of knowledge suited to his own 
campaign. 
 
1. Art*                       7. Mathematics 
2. History*                   8. Physics 
3. Legends & Folklore*        9. Fauna 
4. Religion & Theology*      10. Flora 
5. Heraldry & Signs          11. Monsterology 
6. Geography                 12. Magic 
 
The Scholar will become especially knowledgeable in any area chosen. If the 
character wishes to do so, it is possible to specialize by race in any area 
of knowledge marked by an asterisk (see point 4). 
 
If the Scholar wishes to gain additional areas of expertise after attaining 
Rank 10, he must expend 2000 Experience Points for each new area of 
knowledge. 
 
4. A Scholar may specialize by race. 
 
Within those areas denoted, a Scholar may elect to have his expertiss refer 
specifically to a certain race of intelligent humanoids. In such a case, he 
will know little in that area concerning other races, but will be an expert 
in the race he has chosen to specialize in. If the Scholar does not 
specialize in such an area, he will gain a general understanding of the 
subject for all races. 
 
5. The ability of a Scholar to answer a question is a function of his Rank, 
his areas of knowledge, and his racial specializations (if any). 
 
The percentage chance that a Scholar will know the answer to a question can 
be calculated by use of the following formula. 
 
Success % = 5 + (N x Rank x Difficulty Factor) 
 
The value of "N" will vary according to the expertise of the Scholar in the 
area of knowledge to which the question pertains, as set out below. 
 
N=1 if the Scholar has no specialized knowledge of the area in question. 
N=3 if the Scholar has specialized knowledge of the area in question, but 
has not specialized by race. 
N=5 if the Scholar has specialized knowledge of the area in question, and 
has specialized by race. Note that the question must pertain to the race 
chosen, or the Scholar will be treated as not having specialized in the 
area of knowledge (i.e. N=1). 
 
The difficulty factor is applied by the GM based on the difficulty of the 
particular question being answered. This is entirely in his hands, because 
it relates to the flow of information in his campaign. As a guide, a general 
type of question would have a difficulty factor of 5, a specific question 
would have a difficulty factor of 3 and a very exacting question would have 
a difficulty factor of 1 or lower. 
 
The GM should roll percentile dice, and compare the result with the 
Scholar's success chance. If the result is equal to the success chance or 
lower, then the character has correctly divined the desired information. 
Otherwise, he is unsure of the answer to the question posed. If the dice 
roll was greater than (90 + Rank)%, or on a roll of 100 in any event, then 
the Scholar will unknowingly gives an incorrect answer (determined by the 
GM). 
 
6. A Scholar must maintain a library. 
 
To advance beyond Rank 2 in this skill, a Scholar must construct and 
maintain a library. It costs 4000 silver pennies and takes 3 months of game 
time to construct a library, and a further 1000 + (Rank x 100) silver 
pennies per year to maintain the timeliness of the books and scrolls 
contained within. This cost is exclusive of any specific costs assigned by 
the GM for the purchase of specific tomes the Scholar may work with. 
 
7. Working in a library gives a Scholar a better chance of finding an 
answer. 
 
If searching for an answer in a library it will take the Scholar (50 – Rank 
– [Difficulty Factor x 5]) hours to possibly find an answer, but after that 
time, the difficulty factor of the question is raised by the Scholar's 
(Rank/3), rounded up. 
 
8. A Scholar has knowledge of the location of other libraries in the world. 
 
If a Scholar is unable to divine the answer to a question, he may be able to 
know the location of a tome or scroll which would give him a second chance 
to attempt the answer. The chance that he will know the location of such a 
tome is equal to his Perception + (Rank x 6)%. Obviously, this knowledge 
does not allow for unforeseen circumstances, such as the book being recently 
stolen or on loan. This chance also applies to sources of information other 
than the written word, such as oracles, other scholars, and so on. Upon 
finding the new source of information, the Scholar would either have a 
second chance to answer the question in the case of a written source (see 
point 9), or simply gain whatever the source has to give in the case of an 
oracle or other scholar (presumably played by the GM). 
 
9. A Scholar sometimes has a second chance to discover an answer. 
 
If the question was posed during an adventure in which the Scholar did not 
have access to his library, or the library method proved futile and the 
Scholar has gained access to other written sources through the above method, 
he can attempt to roll again to see if he has discovered the answer. The 
percentage chance remains the same. If this attempt also fails, it can be 
assumed that with his present sources and knowledge the Scholar cannot 
answer that particular question. The only time another roll may be attempted 
for that question is when the Scholar has subsequently raised his Rank, and 
only then if 3 months of game time have elapsed since the question was first 
posed. 

10. Experience point costs for the Scholar skill are as follows.

Rank     EP Cost
  0         800
  1         250
  2         600
  3        1650
  4        2900
  5        4450
  6        6700
  7        9850
  8       12000
  9       14000
 10       15550