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Expanded Sorte Rules

Reading the Strands

Expanded TNs for Distant Targets

A strega may attempt to find a strand between two people when one of them is not currently visible. The difficulty in so doing depends on how well the strega knows the absent person's strands, and whether she has ever found the strand before.

Relationship to absent party TN

Basic roll: Person in room 15

Close family or friend, strands seen daily 20

Acquaintance, local priest, regular visitor, strands seen weekly 25

Parent not seen since marriage, family seen only at weddings and funerals, public figures seen on major civic or religious occassions 30

You met this person, once 35

You have never met this person, but his or her Reputation is sufficiently large (> 80) that you feel as if you have 40

If the strega has found the strand she is currently looking for within the past year, decrease the TN by 5 (but not below 15).

Example: Gianina wants to see if her sister Francesca is still in love with Marco, but Marco isn't in the room. She lives in the same house as Marco and sees his strands frequently, so the TN would usually be 20. However, she has been checking this particular strand frequently of late and is familiar with it. The TN is reduced to 15. If Marco were in the room, the base TN would be 15 and it would not decrease to 10.

Additional Information by Mastery Level

More experienced strega can intuit more about the strands they see.

Clotho: Clotho gain only the information described in the Player's Handbook if they make their roll to see a strand.

Lachesis: Lachesis automatically learn the direction(s) of the strand. For instance, if she sees a Cups, she can see who loves whom.

Atropos: Atropos automatically learn the "flavor" of the strand. They can differentiate the Cups between two siblings from the Cups between two lovers, for instance.

Additional Information by Making Raises

Regardless of mastery level, strega can attempt to understand the strands more deeply by making additional rolls with raises. They must always first simply perceive the strand they wish to examine more closely, using the rules above. Once they have found the strand, they can make another Wits + (Sorte Knack) roll to get details. The base TN for this roll is 20; additional Raises may be needed; see the table below.

Desired information # Raises

Direction of strand 0

Subtype or "flavor" of strand 1

Age of strand, in years 2

Relative importance of strand 3

Direction of strand: Not all relationships are reciprocal. The strega can tell who loves whom, who owes whom money or loyalty, and so on.

Subtype or "flavor" of strand: The strega can attempt to see the finer details of the relationship.
Cups: Common flavors would be familial, romantic/passionate, or universal love, or simple lust.
Coins: The relationship between a debtor and his lender, between two business partners, and between an employer and an employee would all look slightly different.
Swords: A rebellious son will read as different than a rival with a blood feud; a "hot" conflict with the potential for physical violence could read as different than a "cold" one where all the maneuvers are political or diplomatic.
Rods: Mutual bonds of loyalty between friends, loyalty owed a sovereign, and loyalty coerced by threat might appear different, as might the authority of a spouse verses a parent versus one's lord.

Age of strand, in years: The strega has a general idea how long this relationship has been around.

Relative importance of strand: The GM should consider whether the strand is one of the character's three most important strands, is a very important strand, a moderately important strand, or a less important strand. Clotho and Lachesis can use this reading to attempt to discover a target's other most important strands through trial and error.

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