(Mood music for the long reading)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gw9fKuymA0I

The Athenaeum

Truth and Usefulness

Method in Which Research Is Applied

Author - Wugon Shan

1. Introduction: The purpose of this project is to propose a method that ensures the most impactful and
rewarding way to conduct research role-play. This method aims to offer a more engaging research
role-play experience and bring it to life in context to the in-game environment. The intended focus of
this system is simplicity and fun. It will allow each player to exercise their creativity while,
simultaneously, stimulating guild activity. This system was set up with the mindset that a blend of
mundane RP and streamlined RP Mechanics will permit everything a player's imagination can conjure
while staying true to the guild's role-play standards. It is my hope that this will foster many amazing and
unforgettable role-playing experiences; driven, directly, by each individual player! I believe that when it
comes to an intellectual Organization, this system will help to drive character development(s) and
provide consistent rewards for dedication. This specific system is intended to provide these amenities
with great ease. The thought process, during its inception, was to encourage players to host more
events, to allow them to choose their own rewards, and to provide a great deal of interaction with other
players; fostering an environment that rewards not just the RP but, the mundane as well. This system is
separated from the Player character sheet system thus, all the experience that would be ascertained, via
The Athenaeum, is valid to spend in-house ONLY. This "XP" will be called "Knowledge Power" (Or KP)
and differs from the guild's XP in a few ways. To research in the Collegiate, you don't need to be working
in The Athenaeum. The Athenaeum isn't beholden to the intention of substitution of any pre-established
guild mechanics. Its primary intention is to encourage players to gather and to have fun experimenting
with fresh new mechanics as they create more events. This gives players an alternative outlet to
experience a deeper immersion into the realms of research RP, etc.

2. What is the Athenaeum (IC)?

Lore masters who seek all the keys to all the doors of locked or forgotten knowledge, The Athenaeum
seeks you to join our ranks. We desire knowledge for the sake of knowledge. Knowledge provides
insight, enlightenment, power, and creates opportunities for new discoveries! The Athenaeum is a sub
faction, within the Collegiate, authorized by Headmistress herself. It is a place where players can gather
and roleplay their research with greater intensity. It will hold regular meetings, so people can evolve
their characters, make new friends, and strengthen their bonds; while making powerful discoveries.

This is not only a research group. We are bound by a philosophy and consider ourselves protectors,
creators, curators, and even warriors of knowledge. Our scientists know the power that can be attained
with enough research and dedication and seek not only to discover but to disseminate this knowledge to
other members of the Coalition. Thus, anybody is welcomed into the ranks of The Athenaeum.

3. Operation Azerite

Have you ever wondered of the gargantuan sword pierced through the heart of Silithus? Are you not
curious as to why we are not studying, further, the blade of the fallen titan, Sargeras, and the effects it is
having on the environment; on our world? Have you ever considered that Azeroth may be a living being
and Azerite is her lifeblood being spilled all over the planet? Must it be said that, without blood, bodies
do not survive?

Both alliance and the horde are mining this new and powerful resource without considering any of these
consequences. We are here to make a difference. We are here to protect Azeroth from anyone who
abuses it. If we fail, Azeroth could very well erupt into another Outland… this time, by our own hands.

Operation Azerite was where this sub-faction began. We are bound by this prerogative, not only
research. We are fellow defenders of Azeroth and we are the ones that watch over the mining of
Azerite; philosophizing all its consequences. We tend to work directly with Azerite, pursuing those
whose grand ambitions, greed, and selfishness may cause harm to Azeroth (Be it Horde or Alliance).

We care not if you wield blade or brain as your weapon, all we care about is: If you have the passion to
change people's mind about the Azerite and if you wish to defend your friends and the planet. If so, then
you are a good candidate for our ranks.

(OOC) Why you may want to join:

The Athaneum is a place where we encourage you to exercise your creativity, share ideas with people,
and experience stories, both unusual and mundane alike, with your friends. This is just the tip of the
iceberg though. The entire ruleset will is tailored to allow members to create a chain of interaction;
giving greater meaning to their research and intentions.

-Ranks

What is it?

Rank represents your intellectual Capacity and/or your Affinity for knowledge and research as well as
your place in the Hierarchy of The Athenaeum. If you are a Censor, you have +2, due to your dedication
to study, and thus your roll is enhanced because you are already trained in a specific art. In addition, this
rank dictates the number of projects you can undertake at any given time as well as the number of
projects you can assist other players in doing. As a Censor, you can work on 1 Research Project and
Assist 1 player(s) in their research; at any given time. Mechanics will be explained later in this document.

(+5) Magister - The one who is responsible for inspecting each project. The Magister has the last word in
any manner of authorization and they take notes of all student's activities; involved in the Atheneum.

(+4) Curator - Keeper and custodian of an Atheneum.

(+3) Savant - Those who train in a certain field to preserve its knowledge. (Specialized Study)

(+2) Censor - Safekeepers of artifacts who protect them from abuse by unenlightened hands. The censor
also warns people not to abuse their creations or discoveries and determines if they may be dangerous.

(+1) Acquisitor - Field agents that search for items/places of great value that have already created
something and participated in classes as well as Research. Now they belong to the Acquisitor Squad;
which helps other people, in the field, as well as within the Atheneum.

(+1) Exemplum - New initiated members who have proven that they have the potential to succeed in the
Athenaeum and have great interest in broadening their horizons.

How does rank effect my Character?

Ranks are based on one's merit and dedication. You aquire higher ranks by completing research
projects. The higher your rank, the more you will be able to work on various research projects. Rank
impacts the time it takes to complete a project and even allows you to assist other players in completing
research projects. You also gain a dice bonus to all your rolls; in your area of specialization both inside of
class and at research events.

How do I increase my Rank?

Since this is an Intelectual themed sub-faction, you increase your rank through the quantity of research
projects you complete; in your time in the Athenaeum. You can also increase your rank by working,
diligently, in the role of which you have been assigned.

What if My Character is from another Organization? Can aquire a higher rank?

Yes. Those Ranks are privilege only for the people associated with the Athenaeum, the Collegiate shares
the space of study. You can be from any organization and start working in the athenaeum to get your
initial ranks.

I dont want to Join the Athenaeum but I still want to participate in research projects, can I do it?

Yes, If you dont want to join, you can request, form the Athenaeum member, to work on their project
and for you to act as an assistant, to them, until it has concluded. When the item/research is complete,
you will ask *Your responsible Org Leader* to put that Item into play for cross organizational use.

-Research.

What is it?

Its using your imagination to create, build, or make something cool, such as; Tools, Mechanical items,
Extended Triggered Spells, Living Objects, Potions, Enchanted Weapons, etc. The sky is the limit!

How does it happen in-game?

You build an idea > Share with the Magister in the Atheneum Meeting IC at the Research Phase > the
Magister establishes a difficulty based on your ideas and you make a D20 roll adding the establish
bonuses if you got any aid. This roll represents your research progress through the week (TAKE NOTICE
THAT IC YOU ARE NOT DOING THE RESEARCH THAT EXACT MOMENT OF THE ROLL IT REPRESENTS A
FULL WEEKS WORTH OF WORK). The Dice Result will fill up a numeric pool; based on the difficulty set by
the DM. When you complete filling up this pool, your project is complete.

How do I start my research project(s)?

Research projects are suggested and started in the Atheneum Meeting Event. We recommend you to
come up with your idea, prior to the meeting, and bring it up during our reunion. The reunion has a
Pattern to follow so be sure to share your ideas are shared at the right time; during the meeting. The
Pattern of the Event is: Phase 1: News > Merits/Rewards>Questions -- Phase 2: Opens to Research
Project Ideas (Your time to expose your Research) > Considerations and Rolls > Free RP. Further
mechanics should be discussed later OOC.

How do the research projects come into play later? Do you have to roll and Eureaka?

Researches works by filling up a pool of numbers establish by the difficulty of the project. The more
powerful, the larger the pool and bigger rewards. You have one roll per week, only in the Atheneum
Classes, that represents the time you spent studying and working on your project. When you fill that
previously established number, you will have completed your project.

Can I speed up my research? It seems like it takes a long time to conclude!

Yes you can speed up your research in many ways!

Getting help from others: The first way to do this is by asking players to assist you in your
project! Make sure the assisting player(s) have assist slots available (Determined by their Rank)
otherwise, they cant help. If they are already assisting on another research project, and have only have 1
slot total, they cannot assist with your project. Th exception is, if they abandon their current project at
the next Atheneum Meeting (Collegiate players using the assist system to help others will add their
Atheneum rank bonus to the main player dice pool. Other Org players will add only a +1 bonus).
 Taking the Risk: This is a great way to boost and complete your research but, it's very
dangerous! You can ask for one more roll but the DC will increase and, if you fail critically, (Roll a NAT 1),
your project pool accumulation will reset. This will cause you to start from zero the following week.
You can request to take a risk as many times you want but, be aware, that the difficulty level will always
stack up. (The stack never resets in the following meeting). If you manage to critically fail a roll, you
will earn a temporary disvantage to all characters involved in the research project (If they agree to take
part in the "Take the Risk"). If a player drops out of "Taking the Risk" he will be able to return but, not
until the following week. If you roll a NAT 20, you will earn an avantage. If you fail the DC check, you lose
5 progress and have to stop rolling until next week.

TLDR: critical failure = ( NAT 1) your research resets and you gain a disvantage / normal failure = loses 5
from the success pool and forces you to stop rolling for the week / success, sum +4 dificulty for the next
roll and sum the success to your current success pool / critical success, dont sum +4 difficulty to
your next roll or gain an advantage (establish by the DM).

[Rules for Stacking Difficulty]

Just add 4 starting from 12
12 - 16 - 20 - 24 - 28

Start a Quest: The other way to gain experience is by hosting an event based on it. This will
grant you a fixed 10 success points into your research success pool; per event hosted.
Rules: You will need, at least, two players not counting yourself (You cannot create epic quests that have
impact on the whole world or Guild). The event must be concluded. You cannot assume your research is
100% completed if your success pool is not filled with your 10 points earned by this event. You can
create 2 events per week and take at least 1 screenshot of the event and send to your DM on discord to
prove you made it and completed it.

How do Ranks effect my research?

You have a +1 in d20 rolls for each Atheneum Rank when used in the research tests. This also effects the
quantity of research projects you can do simultaneously and the quantity of assists you can give to other
players researches.
 Mechanics:

-Chart for Rank and Research Cap:

+1 in d20 rolls for each Atheneum Rank as described in the first paragraph. But when you enter the
Atheneum you establish your area of specialization so your bonus will only increase in that area.

Rank 1 Research Slot: 1 Assist Slot: 1

Rank 2 Research Slot: 1 Assist Slot: 2

Rank 3 Research Slot: 2 Assist Slot: 3

Rank 4 Research Slot: 2 Assist Slot: 4

Rank 5 Research Slot: 3 Assist Slot: 4

-Increasing Rank Chart Criterion

(+1) Initiate/Exemplum - At this rank you just got to the Athenaeum! Welcome!

(+1) Acquisitor – To be an Acquisitor the players needs to help in other player's researche projects until
they end or are completed. At least 1 event assist is required (Or spend 10kp).

(+2) Censor – To become a Censor you need to act as a prime example to your fellow scholars. To be a
Censor you need to complete at least 2 research projects or run a short Campaign for the Athenaeum.
(Or spend 10kp after achieving Acquisitor).

(+3) Savant – The Savant needs to choose a specialized Area, they are our professors and research
specialists. Start and complete at least 3 research projects to gain the Savant Rank (Or spend 10kp afetr
becoming a Censor).

(+4) Curator – Is the protector of the Athenaeum and its members. Start and complete at least 4
researches (Or Spend 10KP after becoming a Savant)

(+5) Magister – You are the head of the Athenaeum you keep you eye on every little tiny detail. If you
become a Magister, the Athenaeum will form a council and you will share the table with all the other
Magisters. (Or Spend 10KP after achieving the Curator rank)

You need all the previous ranks to buy the next one.

-Knowledge Power [KP]-

KP is the knowledge Power you have. It represents how much the Athenaeum has affected you and how
often you are active and helpful broadening the horizons of your own mind. Incridible things can happen
for those with great knowledge and those with a great amount of KP sometimes find enlightenment.
After that they can see and do unimaginable things Because, Knowledge is Power.

Your standard KP point pool is max 0/3. Every player starts with 0 points in a pool of the max of 3.

To increase your pool you must pay 2 KP to increase your limit by 1. KP cost for each KP cap. 2 – 4 – 6 – 8
– 10 – 12 – 14 – 16 .... so on.

Aquiring KP:

• KP Is aquire by completeing research projects. The amount of KP earned varies depending upon
the dificulty; Easy dificulty reaserch = 1 kp. Medium dificulty = 3 kp. Hard research = 5 kp
research.
• Assist a player until the end of their research. = 0.5 KP
• Participating in the the main Atheneaum campaign you gain 1.5 KP per event
• Hosting events with Athenaeum Theme = 1.0 KP
• Hosting research events: 10 success points to your research earned by event (Limit 2 events
week, following the rules of Start a Quest) Or talk to the DM if you want to host a whole series
of events to conclude your research the group gaining 0.5 KP per event hosted.
• KP can be earned by voluntarily picking up additional Drawbacks, completing story goals,
and at the Narrator's discretion, doing "cool" stuff. = 1 KP

Standard KP uses:

• Increase your rank bonus by 2+ for the week: 2 KP (You can stack +2 bonus for +2KP)
• Increase your Assist Cap Limit by 1 for the week: 2 KP
• Increase your Research Cap limit by 1 for the week: 3 KP

Advanced KP uses:

With KP you can use your Knowledge gathered in the Athenaeum to shape your destiny
For the cost of 4 KP
• Add +5 to your regular dice result (Research not included).
• Automatically succeed on one test as if you had rolled the Difficulty exactly.
• Remove all damage and injuries.
• When defeated, decide the consequences of your own defeat.
• Transform another character’s successful test into a failed test.
 • Permanently remove the penalties associated with a negative quality.
• Negate the effects of another character’s burned KP.
• Add a significant detail to a scene, such as gaining a major clue, finding a way out of a nasty
predicament, or some other significant and useful element that moves the story along in your
favor.
• Avoid certain death. When you use this option, your character is presumed dead and is removed
from the story until such time as the Narrator deems it appropriate for the character’s return

-Research Difficulty Criterion:

Easy Medium Hard

25-45 46-65 66-100+

-Creating Researches Criterion:

The Criterion for Research is not static. They are examples. This provides a general idea on how we
manage research projects. The rules bellow are for item creation only but, your research can be 100%
RolePlay and not require any mechanics. Here some examples: 1) You want to research the cure for your
characte’s illness 2) You want to research magical spots or points of interest 3) You want to research how
powerful an item you aquired, in the Campaign, may be. Keep in mind this is just a general setup, not
static rules. Everything can be discussed.

Lesser:

Atributes/Habilities Limit: 1

Uses: 1-3 for consumables

Quantity limit: 6

Repeating Research: 15 Points Bonus Granted

(If the player already done this research project, the next time the player will earn 15 bonus points to the
success pool wtihout even rolling)
 Average:

Atributes/Habilities Limit: 2

Uses: 3-6 for consumables or temporary (2 Events only)

Quantity limit: 12

Repeating Research: 10 Points Bonus Granted

(If the player already done a research project, the next time the player will earn 10 bonus points to the
success pool wtihout even rolling)

Greater:

Atributes/Habilities Limit: 3

Uses: If only 1 item is going to be created it can get the "Rechargeable" hability for free. It is used 1 time
per event. (The greater research projects have to be something hard to make or discover, attention
for epic proportion, they are far away from the Greater Research Concept)

Quantity limit: 16+

Repeating Research: 5 Points Bonus Granted

In-game example

Gnome Peppy has a great idea and wants to make Mecha-Cat that turns Invisible wihout limit of uses!

Her Rank is [1] Acquisitor, so she knows that she has: Research Slot: 1 Assist Slot: 1 and a +1 in all
rolls based on her specialization (Robots). But she is not an engineer yet so no dice bonus for
engineering.

While Roleplaying Gnome Peppy discovers that another Gnome friend wants to help her research! Peppy
accepts right away! Since the Gnome friend is an engineer all his dice bonuses, including the rank, will go
towards Peppy’s weekly roll. So, Peppy will get a +4 too; because Gnome Friend is an Engineer and an
Acquisitor! Now Gnome Friend cant help anyone else because the assist Slot is filled until next week.
Seiiko Aproaches and wants to help Peppy too! but she doesn't understand a thing about engineering.
She can pick up a tool and make coffee to help Peppy through the week. So Seiiko will give Peppy a bonus
to his roll.

Gnome Peppy seems ready to tell the Magister her idea! So she will wait until the Research Phase, of the
meeting, to aproach and express the idea and make the roll , taking into consideration, all the help she
has gotten.

Peppy Aproaches and expresses everything, her objective with the research, her comrades assistance and
waits for our Leader Answer.

The Magister or other responsible player will take notes of other player’s ranks and specialities to add-on
to their roll(s). This is determined for Peppy that since she wants to create a Mecha-Cat from nothing,
using scrap, and unlimited invisibility uses for her Mecha-Cat this would be a Greater roll; in the Success
pool of 80. With all the help from Gnome friend and Seiiko she will earn +4 from the gnome friend and
+2 from Seiiko, +1 from himself. Counting he has 7+ fixed to her dice rolls.

The Magister calls for the d20+7roll

Peppy Rolls result in an 15+7 so she got the total of 22 for the research success pool.

Peppy is frustrated and think this will take too long to complete (80 is so much!)! So she calls for "Taking
the Risk" and will try to push foward her Success Pool.

Seiiko having the Rank of "Censor" warn him that if he fail... Everything can go wrong and be forced to
restart the project only next week. Not only that, someone could get hurt if he rolls a 1.

Peppy doesn't care and wants to make a roll. But, Seiiko doesn't want to help in this roll, she is too afraid
of Taking the Risk with the Gnome. Gnome friend keeps his Assist to Peppy.

Start dificulty stablished is 12 for Taking The Risk ability, if he rolls below 12 his project will reset.

The Magister asks for the roll without Seiiko’s bonus.

Peppy rolls D20+5 and gets an 13+5! = result 18! now her success pool total is 40!
Peppy jumps in happiness but is too scared to try again and potentially fail.

Peppy’s turn is over, the other players present their researche projects and follow the same rules.

The Atheneum Meeting "ends.”

Through the week, Peppy doesn’t have anything to do and decides to Host an event to help her research.
She schedules the event on the calendar, calls for Seiiko, Gnome Friend, and a random dude to
participate. She knows that she can DM, herself, but she doens't want to ruin her own experience so she
has Gnome friend DM for her; in this simple event (related to her research). The event happens and
everything went without a hitch! She screenshots the event and sends it to the Magister or Curator, on
discord, proving that happend. Now she can add +10 to her success Pool automatically! Now her
success Pool is already 50!

Peppy knows she can call for another event to earn more 10 points in this week so she asks for gnome
friend, Seiiko, and the random dude to come over! but Seiiko cannot participate this time. The player
limit is 2, at least ( it doesn't need to be the player assisting the project ), though, so it’s fine. She runs the
event and screenshots the result; sending it to the Magister or Curator, again, earning +10 points to his
Research pool counting now to 60!

Peppy understands that all she could do is already done, this week, so she will have to wait the next
meeting to complete her project!