#Courtier

[bethdehart]

August Adipose Day 2: Courtier

She's so fancy... I really like this design. What would a good name for her be?

(For $1 a month you can see exclusive sketches, sneak peeks at upcoming adoptables, and behind the scenes content of my comic hallowed hijinks! https://ko-fi.com/bethdehart )

[shewhoworshipscarlin]

Female Courtier On a Rampart Smoking a Hookah, While Watching a Flight of Birds, early 1800s, India.

[illustratus]

The Sword of Damocles by Richard Westall

[jeannepompadour]

Ruth, Lady Francis Granville Godolphin Osborne and Flora, Mrs William Bourchier Sherard Wrey wearing court dress, 1899 

[cachicabra]

We’re married, but only one of us knows it

[cielery-stick]

Lord Famine Belongs to @anamsgith

[haaaaaaaaaaaave-you-met-ted]

Doji Saori (Exp) by Drew Baker

[auto-toons-animations]

Catnap thought he was a better driving instructor than anyone at the DMV

[flirtatious-slenderman]

BRING IN THE BIRTHDAY BEAST

...?

???

Where did they go?

[heliosail]

As a master of social games, the Courtier always knows just what to say and when to act. They have friends in high places, are owed many favors, and know everyone's dirty little secret.

Courtier art art! This lovely piece was done by the very talented @lunarskeletonart. Courtiers are wound up in the complex politics of the colonies. They are found in every corner of society, working in roles that help them gain social power.

Features

Critical Attributes

Social. You use your Social modifier for Perception checks, your Proficiency bonus, and to calculate your Attribute Save DC.

Skills

Courtiers get special Tricks for the Captivation, Etiquette, Insight, and Leadership skills. Choose at least 2 of these as your first skills. You may take all 4 if you like. After you have chosen, you can fill out the rest of your core skills with any skills you wish.

Combat Proficiencies

Signature Weapon. Choose 1 from: Dirk, Fan, Spear, Sword, Claws, Martial Arts, or Pistol. Add your Proficiency Bonus to attacks made with this weapon.

Actions. You can take [1 + Social Modifier] Actions per round in combat.

Reactions. You are proficient in the Quip Reaction. When you take this Reaction in combat, add your Proficiency Bonus.

Archetypal Abilities

Address Book

Every Courtier has an Address Book for important contacts. These contacts are non-player characters who are in a position to help you along your journey. A Courtier can maintain relationships with up to 4 contacts at a time. Each contact can provide 2 kinds of favors for you: a major favor and a minor favor. Each day, you can ask for a number of favors equal to the number of contacts currently in your Address Book.

Major favors count as 2 favors towards your limit per day. Once you have asked a contact for a favor, you cannot ask them for anything else until after your next Rest. If you ask them for a major favor, you cannot ask them for anything else for three in-game days. You must maintain good relationships with your contacts, and asking for a major favor too many times from one of them can sour your relationship. (This means that your game’s Captain can put reasonable limits on how often you can use a major favor.)

When you add a new contact to your Address Book, you must choose which niche they fill. A contact’s niche determines what favors they offer you. You can have more than 1 contact fill the same niche, as long as they provide their benefits in different ways. For example, you could choose to have 2 contacts who are both Experts, but in different topics. Or, you might have 2 Kingpins, who operate on different sides of society. A mob boss can fulfill all the same favors as a politician, but would go about it in different ways, such as forging papers for you instead of providing genuine ones.

Favors from your Address Book do not stack with one another for the same roll. So if you have 2 Socialites in your address book, you cannot call on both of them to give you proficiency on your Social skill check at the same time.

It is possible to lose contacts throughout the game. For example, if an NPC who is your contact dies, or if you do something that makes them so angry they cannot forgive you, you will lose that contact and the benefits that they provide. You can also choose to replace a contact with a different one at any point, or simply drop them from your Book. If you drop or replace a contact, you can never add that contact again- you must find someone else to fill their niche if you need it.

The Socialite

The Socialite is any person who is well connected and well thought of. They could be an entertainer, a celebrity, or simply someone well respected in their community.

The Expert

The Expert is a savant in their field. This could be pretty much any field of interest or study you can imagine. They may be an inventor or scientist, an animal trainer, or perhaps even an art enthusiast. They are second to none in their knowledge of the topic.

The Broker

The Broker is someone with access to information that is difficult to come by. They may be an actual information broker, but they could also be a well-read librarian, another courtier who likes to gossip, or a private detective who is good at tracking down a secret. The Broker has access to most information, but the Captain can put reasonable limits on what they know, based on who they are and what information you are asking for.

The Kingpin

The Kingpin is someone with influence. They could be a mob boss, with complex connections to the criminal world, or a politician with influence over the government and military. They may even be the “power behind the throne” in the form of a clerical aide or the spouse of someone powerful. Regardless, what makes someone a Kingpin is that they can make things happen for you.

The Investor

The Investor is someone with money. They could be a wealthy aristocrat, a banker, someone embezzling from their company, or a pirate lord. Only two things matter: they have money, and they’re willing to give some of it to you.

The Meathead

The Meathead is someone strong and intimidating. They could be a gym rat, an athlete, a bouncer or bodyguard, or a seasoned pirate.

Ship Action: Gala

While traveling, a Courtier can throw a party on the ship, bringing the crew together for a long night of fun and socializing. The planning and hosting of this party requires the Courtier to spend both their Ship Actions for that week. Attending the party requires guests to spend a Ship Action (the Courtier automatically attends). Anyone who attends has their morale set to 10, no matter how low it was. Throwing a party costs f100 per crew mate attending, including the Courtier. This cost should be deducted from the ship’s funds during the planning phase that week.

To see the full information about the Courtier, check out the announcement post on Patreon! The post is free to view, as are most of the posts about the game.

[unscramblerer]

Todays Word Of The Day is: Toady

Toady originated in the 17th century as a shorter form of toad-eater(a charlatan's assistant who pretended to eat toads). Toads were falsely believed to be poisonous. Eating a toad was seen as a way to demonstrate the charlatan's curing ability.

[william-the-ladyfinger]

A few very fine Gentlemen

Darling @lady-lord-cornbury I recently had a meeting with several very handsome and promising more or less young men, all of them aspiring courtiers. Would you consider one or two of them as toy boys for our pleasure valets?

[tomoleary]

Léon Bakst (1866-1924) Color Design for a Courtier in The Sleeping Princess (1921)

Source (47MP)

[jeannepompadour]

"A gathering in the Royal Gardens" by Hieronymus Janssens, 1650-71

[courtier-automotive]

Last Christmas

[tenth-sentence]

Autolycus. Whether it like me or no, I am a courtier. Seest thou not the air of the court in these enfoldings? hath not my gait in it the measure of the court? receives not thy nose court-odor from me? reflect I not on thy baseness court-contempt? Thinkest thou, for that I insinuate, or toaze from thee thy business, I am therefore no courtier? I am courtier cap-a-pe; and one that will either push on or pluck back thy business there: whereupon I command thee to open thy affair.

William Shakespeare: The Complete Works, The Winter's Tale (Act IV, Scene IV)