Memory
| General Information | |
|---|---|
| Parent Stat | Mind |
| Values | |
| Stat Min | -10 |
| Base Value | 0 |
Memory represents a character's ability to retain, recall, and accurately reproduce information. It governs feats of recollection ranging from remembering a conversation or recognizing a familiar face to reproducing a complex spell, recalling a forgotten passage of scripture, or remembering the details of a place visited long ago. A character with strong Memory can retain information with greater clarity and retrieve it when it matters, even when that information has not been used for some time.
Memory also plays an important role in research and the development of new spells, potions, artefacts, and other creations. A character may need to remember the precise words of an incantation, the sequence of ingredients in a potion, the details of an ancient diagram, or the teachings of a long-dead master. Memory can also serve as a defense against deception. When magic, psychic powers, or other effects attempt to alter a character's perception of the world, a strong Memory may allow the character to recognize that something is wrong because the world no longer matches what they remember.
Memory Checks
When performing a feat that relies upon recollection, the GM may ask for a Memory Check. A basic Memory modifier is zero, but characters with exceptional memories, such as Divines, Sawdager Kuuliks, or a Sawdager Kuulik Divine, may have high Memory modifiers even at low levels of Power.
A Memory Check is performed by rolling a 20-sided die, to which the Memory bonus is added, or the Memory penalty subtracted. A total roll of 11 or higher indicates success. Extremely difficult tasks may require a higher roll, as determined by the GM. Critical successes occur when the required total is reached or exceeded on a natural 20. This may inspire the GM to sweeten the outcome of the check. Conversely, a natural 1 is an automatic failure, even if the addition of a bonus would otherwise exceed the required roll. This Critical Failure may inspire the GM to impose additional consequences upon the failed feat of memory.
Feats of Memory are extremely varied and might include reciting a recently read litany for a Divine spell, recognizing whether a familiar person looks subtly different, recalling a song and its lyrics, remembering a code word, reproducing a complex sequence of instructions, recalling the details of a map, identifying a symbol seen previously, or remembering the precise appearance of an object or location.
Memory may also be used to reproduce something that has been learned rather than merely to identify it. A character might remember the correct sequence of gestures for a ritual, the ingredients required for a potion, or the precise construction of an artefact they have previously studied.
Memory Saving Throws
When something happens to a character that Memory alone can mitigate, the GM may call for a Memory Saving Throw. The player rolls a 20-sided die and adds their Memory modifier to the roll. The resulting total indicates to the GM whether the character recognizes and resists the effect or is subjected to the calamity requiring Memory.
These kinds of attacks are more common than one might expect and often involve spells, psychic powers, illusions, or other abilities that reshape the victim's perception of the outside world. Memory can provide an anchor against such effects. A character may realize that a familiar room has somehow changed because they remember where the furniture was, recognize that a companion's face has been altered because they remember what that person actually looks like, or notice that an apparently ordinary object should not be where it is.
Examples of situations that might call for a Memory Saving Throw include:
- Recognizing that a familiar location has been magically altered.
- Realizing that a person has been disguised or magically transformed.
- Detecting that a familiar object has been replaced or changed.
- Recognizing that memories or perceptions are being manipulated.
- Remembering a person's true identity despite an illusion or magical disguise.
- Recognizing that an apparently familiar situation does not match previous experience.
- Resisting an effect that attempts to overwrite, obscure, or distort a memory.
- Remembering an important detail when a magical effect attempts to make the character forget it.
- Distinguishing a genuine memory from an implanted or fabricated one.
Memory Saving Throws therefore have a somewhat different character from most physical saving throws. The character is not necessarily resisting an effect through force of will. Instead, Memory provides something against which the false perception can be measured. The world may be telling the character one thing, but the character remembers that it was not always so.
Loss of Memory
A character's Memory may be diminished by disease, curses, special creature attacks, magical effects, psychic assaults, or other conditions that interfere with recollection. A reduction in Memory results in a corresponding reduction of the character's Memory modifier and may also cause the loss or suppression of powers that require a minimum Memory modifier. Such effects can be particularly disruptive to characters whose abilities depend upon learned knowledge, remembered rituals, or the accurate reproduction of complex information.
The effects may be temporary or permanent. A temporary impairment may disappear when the underlying disease, curse, spell, or other condition has been overcome. A permanent loss can be considerably more serious, potentially leaving a character unable to recall information that was once familiar or maintain abilities that depend upon their Memory. Permanent losses of Memory can be recovered by Powering Up and converting Power to Memory in the Player's Workshop.
Related Stats
Memory is one of the three Mind stats, along with Intelligence and Charisma. Together, these stats describe the fundamental capabilities of a character's mind. Intelligence represents reasoning, deduction, invention, and problem-solving; Memory represents the retention and retrieval of information; and Charisma represents the ability to express the self and influence others.
The three Mind stats are also used to calculate increases in a character's Mind Point totals, making them particularly important to spellcasting characters such as Divines and Shamans. Memory is especially valuable to characters whose powers depend upon learned knowledge, sacred texts, rituals, languages, histories, or other information that must be accurately retained. Intelligence may discover something new, but Memory ensures that the character does not have to rediscover it every morning.
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