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The Dresden Files => DFRPG => Topic started by: toturi on August 15, 2010, 03:28:19 AM

Title: Accords Lawyer
Post by: toturi on August 15, 2010, 03:28:19 AM
Which skill is appropriate to lawyering the Accords? Lore or Scholarship?

Lore is occult knowledge which the Accords technically are. But at its heart it is nothing more than a set of legalese. So which skill is more appropriate if someone was exploiting the loopholes within the Accords?
Title: Re: Accords Lawyer
Post by: MWKilduff on August 15, 2010, 03:37:34 AM
Well I imagine the first hurdle you need to overcome is to get access to the accords.  They are not listed in the books.  I imagine the point is that most people have no access to that information to help prevent people taking advantage of them.  Once you have them written out you should be able to give a person that knowledge with a mixture of scholarship to know about the accord and lore to understand the implications.  But this needs to be a huge part of the character's background otherwise it is dangerous information to allow the PC to have access to in the game.
Title: Re: Accords Lawyer
Post by: JosephKell on August 15, 2010, 03:50:03 AM
If you mean like an "Emissary of the Accords"?

I would say Lore.

The Accords are published, they just aren't distributed through respectable channels (or if they are they are classified as "fiction").

However there are no emissaries of the accords.  That is why third parties from the signatories are chosen to act as "referees" for disagreements and duels.
Title: Re: Accords Lawyer
Post by: toturi on August 15, 2010, 04:10:30 AM
He is a pure mortal lawyer with the Venatori Umborum.
Title: Re: Accords Lawyer
Post by: Deadmanwalking on August 15, 2010, 05:34:32 AM
Honestly? I'd say you need both. Lore to understand the context and Scholarship for the legalese.

Though a Stunt granting the ability to use, say, Lore instead of Scholarship for purposes of the Accords (and legal information more generally) seems reasonable enough.
Title: Re: Accords Lawyer
Post by: Ophidimancer on August 15, 2010, 05:50:01 AM
Honestly, I think Lore by itself would be fine, considering this:

Quote from: "YS134
Other than the subject matter, Lore behaves exactly like the Scholarship skill when it comes to the functions and methods of research, allowing most of Scholarship’s trappings (page 140) to be used, with the focus changed to arcane and occult matters.

Of course, taking an Occultist Stunt with the Accords as your subject matter wouldn't hurt at all.
Title: Re: Accords Lawyer
Post by: Jaroslav on August 15, 2010, 10:55:50 AM
I think you just would just need high scholarship to be an accords lawyer. With that you should be able understand the accords and how they apply to you client. A high lore while useful wouldn't be strictly necessary. Even Hand spoiler:
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Title: Re: Accords Lawyer
Post by: Ophidimancer on August 15, 2010, 01:59:42 PM
Quote from: Jaroslav on August 15, 2010, 10:55:50 AM
(click to show/hide)

Our World says Marcone has Good (+3) Lore and no Scholarship, so he defaults to Mediocre (+0).
Title: Re: Accords Lawyer
Post by: Deadmanwalking on August 15, 2010, 02:11:25 PM
Quote from: Ophidimancer on August 15, 2010, 01:59:42 PM
Our World says Marcone has Good (+3) Lore and no Scholarship, so he defaults to Mediocre (+0).

More specifically, it doesn't list his Scholarship...which doesn't mean much of anything, actually. Scholarship isn't a trait he demonstrates much, and so Billy is unaware of his rating, which means nothing abut what it is.
Title: Re: Accords Lawyer
Post by: Sh33p on August 15, 2010, 03:01:23 PM
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I'd rate that as more scholarship than lore.
Title: Re: Accords Lawyer
Post by: mostlyawake on August 15, 2010, 03:20:07 PM
Don't forget presence (for asserting your position), rapport (for using small-talk to break the ice during negotiations, and keep both sides happy), empathy (for reading how happy the client is with your work), investigation (to figure out who did what, so you can then apply the accords to their actions), contacts, and discipline (I'd better pass on the second beer so I can get home and study some more).  

With all that studying, you probably want to just hit the gym instead of rock-climbing or the like, so you might want a little athletics.
Title: Re: Accords Lawyer
Post by: mostlyawake on August 15, 2010, 03:24:00 PM
Stunt (Lore) The Old Ways - The character uses lore instead of scholarship for rolls when dealing with legal issues regarding the older way of thinking, such as that of the fey, demons, the Accords, and ancient wizard traditions.

Stunt (Lore) Master of the Accords - The character gains +1 to rolls of any legal issue when the parties both operate in the Old Ways, and an additional +1 if the accords are directly involved.  

-- basically, the answer to your original question is, either can be appropriate with a stunt.  Because Lore seems to fit the rest of the character better (who he works for), I put the stunt in Lore.
Title: Re: Accords Lawyer
Post by: Ophidimancer on August 15, 2010, 04:01:21 PM
Quote from: mostlyawake on August 15, 2010, 03:24:00 PM
Stunt (Lore) The Old Ways - The character uses lore instead of scholarship for rolls when dealing with legal issues regarding the older way of thinking, such as that of the fey, demons, the Accords, and ancient wizard traditions.

I don't think this is necessary.  Lore and Scholarship do the same things already, except that Lore is concerned with the Occult.