? about Specialty Lores

[Beorn]

Is it possible you can gain new or change specialty lore? Does a Hero that starts with Shadow-Lore the only way to gain it, as per the rules. I have looked in the core but the answer eludes me. I have no problem house-ruling it but would like to know if I'm just blind. Thank you in advance.

[zedturtle]

You are allowed to trade out Traits as a Fellowship Phase action... there are very few restrictions on it, just an appeal for common sense, actually.

[Morgoth]

Actually, you're only allowed to trade Distinctive Features. By the rules, you can't trade out Specialties like Shadow-Lore or Fire-Making or such.

A player who has played his adventurer for a long time might eventually grow tired of the set of distinctive features of his hero, and feel the need for a change. During a Fellowship phase, a player may replace an old Distinctive feature with a new one (it is not possible to gain a new Speciality).

Players looking for a change should exercise some common sense when they choose the new Trait, and the old one being replaced, to avoid completely reinventing their characters.

[Morgoth]

However there is at least one example of gaining a trait as a reward for an adventure. In the adventure Those Who Tarry No Longer, heroes can possibly gain the trait Elf-Friend.

[zedturtle]

Actually, you're only allowed to trade Distinctive Features. By the rules, you can't trade out Specialties like Shadow-Lore or Fire-Making or such.

A player who has played his adventurer for a long time might eventually grow tired of the set of distinctive features of his hero, and feel the need for a change. During a Fellowship phase, a player may replace an old Distinctive feature with a new one (it is not possible to gain a new Speciality).

Players looking for a change should exercise some common sense when they choose the new Trait, and the old one being replaced, to avoid completely reinventing their characters.

Revised Rulebook, page 197:

GAIN NEW DISTINCTIVE FEATURE OR SPECIALITY
Indeed, within a week they were quite recovered, fitted out in fine cloth of their proper colours, with beards combed and trimmed, and proud steps.
A player who has played his adventurer for a long time might eventually grow tired of the set of Traits belonging to his hero, and feel the need for a change. During a Fellowship phase, a player may replace an old Distinctive Feature or Speciality with a new one.

So that's been changed.

[Morgoth]

Well, I stand corrected. Thank you Zed.

[zedturtle]

Well, I stand corrected. Thank you Zed.

It is confusing, having two or three sets of rules floating around.

[Stormcrow]

Something to keep in mind: traits aren't a list of k3wl p0w3rz your character has; they're a list of his shticks, the things he does that gives him narrative hooks. When you swap out one distinctive feature for another, it doesn't mean you lose abilities the old distinctive feature gave you; it means the old distinctive feature is no longer something you can use to take control of the developing situation.

Take, for instance, the Tall trait. This doesn't necessarily mean you're taller than someone without the Tall trait. It means you can use your Tallness to do things like Unforseen Actions ("My character is Tall; he should get a chance to see the ambush before it happens, because he can see over the boulders the goblins are hiding behind.") and Automatic Actions ("My character is Tall; he succeeds automatically at the Awe task because he towers menacingly over his audience."). If the player were to swap out the Tall trait for something else, the character wouldn't shrink; he just wouldn't be making special use of his height anymore.

So you can swap traits rather freely. You're not fundamentally changing the character in doing so; you're changing his emphasis in the ongoing narrative.

[artaxerxes]

Could a Hobbit without Burglary take it then, in addition to say Rhymes of Lore? By dropping, say, Smoking.

[Glorelendil]

Could a Hobbit without Burglary take it then, in addition to say Rhymes of Lore? By dropping, say, Smoking.

If your LM allows it, sure. But hopefully there is some reason, from previous adventures, why this makes sense, and not simply, "Gosh I wish I had that trait."

And while I'm at it, I personally think it's fine...again, with LM approval...to pick traits during character creation that aren't on the official lists for that calling/background, if it fits well with the character concept.