What every trait, skill and region actually does. Generated from the game's own source on each build — the status column is computed by looking for a real reference to the name outside the module that defines it, so this page cannot claim something works when nothing reads it.
Something in the raid reads it. You can watch it happen.
Read between raids — desertion, succession, price.
Men get better at it and no rule looks at the result.
Nothing reads it. It is a word on a screen.
Ten opposed axes; a man holds at most one per axis and four to seven in all. The rune is how a roster row says who he is without spending a line of text on him.
| Trait | What he does | Status | |
|---|---|---|---|
| BRAVEvalour | Stands. Drives desertion and who is chosen to lead. | IN THE CAMPAIGNRead by 25-campaign, 76-s-crew. | |
| CRAVENvalour | Runs, and runs first. | IN THE CAMPAIGNRead by 25-campaign. | |
| WROTHtemper | Will not break off. Engages from more than twice as far away, and keeps fighting after you have called the crew back to the boat. | ON THE SANDRead by 51-raidsim. | |
| PATIENTtemper | Never over-extends. Engages late, and comes when called. | ON THE SANDRead by 51-raidsim. | |
| GREEDYpurse | Will not put silver down because somebody is coming. He drops the sack when the man is nearly on top of him, and often that is too late. | ON THE SANDRead by 25-campaign, 51-raidsim, 76-s-crew. | |
| CHARITABLEpurse | Drops the sack early and goes to help. | ON THE SANDRead by 25-campaign, 51-raidsim. | |
| DILIGENTlabour | Marked for cutting. No felt effect could be named for it without inventing a chore. | NOT WIREDNothing in the game reads this. | |
| SLOTHFULlabour | Marked for cutting. | NOT WIREDNothing in the game reads this. | |
| GREGARIOUStongue | Marked for cutting — it exists for a SPEAKING skill, in a game with no dialogue. | NOT WIREDNothing in the game reads this. | |
| SHYtongue | Marked for cutting. | NOT WIREDNothing in the game reads this. | |
| PROUDpride | Wants it known. Weighs heavily in who becomes chief. | IN THE CAMPAIGNRead by 25-campaign. | |
| HUMBLEpride | Holds and says nothing. Will not put himself forward. | IN THE CAMPAIGNRead by 25-campaign. | |
| CRUELmercy | Kills what is cornered in a doorway, and will cut down somebody already cowering. The town hears about it — every one of these raises TERROR. | ON THE SANDRead by 25-campaign, 51-raidsim, 96-run. | |
| KINDmercy | Takes them to the ship instead. The one case where a trait overrides the crew’s hardness rather than being overridden by it: a kind man grabs even when a bloodied crew would not have bothered. | ON THE SANDRead by 25-campaign, 51-raidsim, 96-run. | |
| HONESTword | Will not desert. | IN THE CAMPAIGNRead by 25-campaign, 76-s-crew. | |
| DECEITFULword | Deserts, and deserts with a share of the hoard. | IN THE CAMPAIGNRead by 25-campaign. | |
| ZEALOUSfaith | Proposed — relishes a minster, demands the rites, reads the omens. | IN THE CAMPAIGNRead by 25-campaign. | |
| CYNICALfaith | Proposed — refuses the rites and is unmoved by omens. | NOT WIREDNothing in the game reads this. | |
| AMBITIOUSroot | Leaves to start his own crew if you stay small. | IN THE CAMPAIGNRead by 25-campaign. | |
| CONTENTroot | Stays. Cheap, and he will still be there next spring. | IN THE CAMPAIGNRead by 25-campaign. |
What a skill does, as the arithmetic it actually performs — because “speed at sea” is a label and “30% faster at ten” is a decision. Four families; some are personal to a man, some are set by the best man aboard, some by the chief.
| Skill | The arithmetic | At ten | Taught by · favoured by |
|---|---|---|---|
| SEAMANSHIPSEA IN THE CAMPAIGN | Voyage speed ×(1 + s·0.030). Storm risk ×(1 − s·0.064), capped at 64%. | 30% faster, and 64% less likely to founder | not taught |
| PILOTINGSEA IN THE CAMPAIGN | The risk of running for shelter ×(1 − p·0.06), capped at half. | halves what it costs to sit out weather | not taught |
| THE OARSEA IN THE CAMPAIGN | Voyage speed ×(1 + o·0.015). Averaged over every man, not the best one. | 15% faster — the crew’s number, not a star’s | bank |
| THE AXEWAR ON THE SAND | Damage per swing = 7 + a·0.5. His own, not the ship’s. | hits for 12 instead of 7 | swing, hit, chop, slew |
| SHIELDWORKWAR ON THE SAND | Hit points = 26 + s·1.5. | 41 hp instead of 26 — several more blows | forced |
| SCOUTINGWAR IN THE CAMPAIGN | Accuracy of the approach report = (landed ? 0.52 : 0.10) + s·0.055. | an unseen town reads 65% true instead of 10% | escaped |
| TERRORWAR IN THE CAMPAIGN | Tribute ×(1 + t·0.035). Their resolve ×(1 − t·0.03). And it sets how frightened the town is before you land. | +30% silver, −30% resistance | torch, collapse |
| HAGGLINGHALL IN THE CAMPAIGN | Trade spread = 0.16 − h·0.012, both directions. Tribute ×(1 + h·0.045). | you keep 12% more on every trade, and demand 40% more | loot |
| LEECHCRAFTHALL NOT WIRED | Nothing yet. | — | die |
| SHIPWRIGHTHALL IN THE CAMPAIGN | Hull wear ×(1 − w·0.045) per day at sea. | 40% less wear | not taught |
| HUSBANDRYLAND IN THE CAMPAIGN | Hold output ×(1 + hand·0.09) on beasts and fields. | +90% from the settlement | not taught |
| BUILDINGLAND IN THE CAMPAIGN | Hold output ×(1 + hand·0.09), and how fast a thing goes up. | +90% | not taught |
| SMITHINGLAND IN THE CAMPAIGN | Hold output ×(1 + hand·0.09) at the forge. | +90% | not taught |
| FORAGINGLAND IN THE CAMPAIGN | Food eaten ×(1 − f·0.035) on every voyage. Also a hold job. | 30% less food | not taught |
| THRALLKEEPINGLAND IN THE CAMPAIGN | What a captive fetches ×(1 + t·0.05). | +45% a head — and due to be rebuilt as MANAGEMENT rather than price | not taught |
Proposed, not built. Judged on one test: does it produce a decision or a felt difference? Not “is it referenced” — a hire-price modifier is a number on a screen, not a moment at the table. Three go; four are kept but need wiring before they are worth anything.
| Skill | Why | Fed by | |
|---|---|---|---|
| SEAMANSHIPSEA | KEEP | SPEED AT SEA, AND LIVING THROUGH WEATHER | AMBITIOUS |
| PILOTINGSEA | KEEP | SHALLOWS AND RIVERS | PATIENT |
| THE OARSEA | KEEP | SPEED WITH NO WIND | HONEST |
| THE AXEWAR | KEEP & WIRE | Nothing in the raid reads it. A man’s axe should be his damage. | BRAVE WROTH |
| SHIELDWORKWAR | KEEP & WIRE | Nothing reads it. It should be what stops him dying. | PATIENT PROUD |
| SCOUTINGWAR | KEEP & WIRE | The approach screen already exists — scouting should decide how true it is. | CRAVEN |
| TERRORWAR | KEEP | MAKING THEM RUN INSTEAD OF FIGHT | CRUEL |
| HAGGLINGHALL | KEEP | PRICES, AND WHAT THEY WILL PAY YOU TO GO AWAY | GREEDY DECEITFUL |
| LEECHCRAFTHALL | KEEP & WIRE | Wounds already mend over days at a FIXED rate. It should be his rate. | KIND CHARITABLE |
| SHIPWRIGHTHALL | KEEP | REPAIRS AND WHAT A HULL WILL TAKE | HUMBLE |
| HUSBANDRYLAND | KEEP | BEASTS AND FIELDS | CONTENT |
| BUILDINGLAND | KEEP | RAISING WALLS AND ROOFS | HUMBLE |
| SMITHINGLAND | KEEP | IRON, AND WHAT IT BECOMES | CYNICAL |
| FORAGINGLAND | KEEP | FOOD WHERE THERE IS NONE | CONTENT |
| THRALLKEEPINGLAND | KEEP | CAPTIVES WHO DO NOT RUN OR RISE | KIND |
A trait gives a man a head start in the skills it favours and makes him learn them faster, for as long as he lives. There is no ceiling: the old system capped an opposed man at 3 of 10, which made him permanently useless at something you could not see until you had spent forty days on him. Slopes, not walls.
This is no longer one-to-one. Dropping the bijection is what lets a skill have two roads to it — HAGGLING rewards a greedy man and a deceitful one for entirely different reasons — and lets a trait serve more than one craft. That freedom is the whole reason these pairings can be obvious instead of forced.
| Trait | Skills it favours | |
|---|---|---|
| BRAVEvalour | storm THE AXE | |
| CRAVENvalour | SCOUTING | |
| WROTHtemper | THE AXE | |
| PATIENTtemper | PILOTING SHIELDWORK | |
| GREEDYpurse | HAGGLING | |
| CHARITABLEpurse | LEECHCRAFT | |
| DILIGENTlabour | CUT | |
| SLOTHFULlabour | CUT | |
| GREGARIOUStongue | CUT | |
| SHYtongue | CUT | |
| PROUDpride | SHIELDWORK | |
| HUMBLEpride | BUILDING SHIPWRIGHT | |
| CRUELmercy | TERROR | |
| KINDmercy | LEECHCRAFT THRALLKEEPING | |
| HONESTword | THE OAR | |
| DECEITFULword | HAGGLING | |
| ZEALOUSfaith | lore | |
| CYNICALfaith | SMITHING | |
| AMBITIOUSroot | SEAMANSHIP | |
| CONTENTroot | HUSBANDRY FORAGING |
Every living trait against every other, generated from the game rather than retyped. Read it as row regards column — it is directional on purpose, because a brave man despises a coward considerably more than the coward resents him, and that asymmetry is what makes a shield wall a social object rather than a stat block. The diagonal is what it is worth that two men are alike, which is not always positive: two proud men are arguing about precedence before they have spoken. Shaded cells share an axis. Blank is zero, which most of it is, because a man is indifferent to most of what another man is.
| regards → | BRAVE | CRAVEN | WROTH | PATIENT | GREEDY | CHARITABLE | PROUD | HUMBLE | CRUEL | KIND | HONEST | DECEITFUL | ZEALOUS | CYNICAL | AMBITIOUS | CONTENT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BRAVE | +5 | -12 | +4 | +2 | +1 | +3 | +2 | +2 | +2 | +3 | -1 | |||||
| CRAVEN | -5 | +1 | -4 | +3 | +2 | -2 | +3 | -3 | +2 | -4 | +2 | |||||
| WROTH | +4 | -5 | -4 | -5 | -2 | +2 | -2 | +4 | -3 | +1 | -3 | -3 | ||||
| PATIENT | +2 | +3 | -4 | +2 | -2 | +2 | +3 | +2 | ||||||||
| GREEDY | +1 | -2 | -5 | -8 | -1 | -2 | -3 | +3 | +2 | +4 | -2 | |||||
| CHARITABLE | +2 | -6 | +6 | +3 | -4 | +5 | -4 | +3 | -3 | |||||||
| PROUD | +3 | -6 | +2 | -2 | -1 | -7 | -5 | -2 | -3 | -3 | -2 | +4 | -2 | |||
| HUMBLE | +2 | -2 | +2 | +3 | -3 | +3 | -2 | +3 | +2 | +3 | -2 | |||||
| CRUEL | +2 | +4 | -4 | -2 | +4 | -13 | -3 | +1 | -2 | +2 | ||||||
| KIND | +2 | -4 | +3 | -3 | +5 | -2 | +3 | -15 | +6 | +1 | +3 | |||||
| HONEST | +2 | -3 | +1 | -3 | +2 | -3 | +6 | -13 | +4 | -1 | -2 | +2 | ||||
| DECEITFUL | +2 | -3 | +3 | -4 | +1 | +1 | -7 | -6 | -6 | +4 | +2 | |||||
| ZEALOUS | +3 | -4 | +3 | -3 | +3 | +1 | +4 | -6 | +7 | -12 | -1 | +2 | ||||
| CYNICAL | -1 | +2 | -2 | -2 | -1 | +4 | -6 | +3 | +1 | |||||||
| AMBITIOUS | +2 | +4 | -3 | +4 | -2 | +2 | -2 | +2 | -1 | +1 | -8 | -4 | ||||
| CONTENT | +2 | -3 | -2 | -2 | +3 | +2 | +2 | -2 | +3 |
Straight out of the opinion table, not retyped. Two men on opposite poles of one axis already take [object Object]; sharing a pole is worth +[object Object]. These are the judgements across axes, on top of that.
| Pair | Regard | |
|---|---|---|
| ZEALOUS & DECEITFUL | -6 | |
| PROUD & CRAVEN | -6 | |
| WROTH & CRAVEN | -5 | |
| CHARITABLE & DECEITFUL | -4 | |
| CRUEL & CHARITABLE | -4 | |
| KIND & WROTH | -4 | |
| ZEALOUS & CRAVEN | -4 | |
| CRAVEN & WROTH | -4 | |
| HONEST & GREEDY | -3 | |
| HONEST & CRUEL | -3 | |
| ZEALOUS & PROUD | -3 | |
| CONTENT & WROTH | -3 | |
| CHARITABLE & AMBITIOUS | -3 | |
| PROUD & DECEITFUL | -3 | |
| KIND & GREEDY | -3 | |
| DECEITFUL & WROTH | -3 | |
| WROTH & KIND | -3 | |
| HONEST & CRAVEN | -3 | |
| BRAVE & SLOTHFUL | -3 | GOES WITH THE CUT |
| HONEST & AMBITIOUS | -2 | |
| CONTENT & PROUD | -2 | |
| HUMBLE & AMBITIOUS | -2 | |
| GREEDY & KIND | -2 | |
| PROUD & KIND | -2 | |
| CRUEL & HUMBLE | -2 | |
| GREEDY & WROTH | -2 | |
| HUMBLE & WROTH | -2 | |
| PATIENT & PROUD | -2 | |
| CYNICAL & CRUEL | -2 | |
| CYNICAL & PROUD | -2 | |
| CONTENT & GREEDY | -2 | |
| CRAVEN & PROUD | -2 | |
| GREEDY & PROUD | -1 | |
| PROUD & GREEDY | -1 | |
| CYNICAL & BRAVE | -1 | |
| CYNICAL & HONEST | -1 | |
| AMBITIOUS & ZEALOUS | -1 |
| Pair | Regard | |
|---|---|---|
| KIND & CHARITABLE | +5 | |
| DECEITFUL & CYNICAL | +4 | |
| HONEST & ZEALOUS | +4 | |
| BRAVE & WROTH | +4 | |
| AMBITIOUS & GREEDY | +4 | |
| AMBITIOUS & PROUD | +4 | |
| CRUEL & WROTH | +4 | |
| CRAVEN & SHY | +3 | GOES WITH THE CUT |
| GREGARIOUS & CHARITABLE | +3 | GOES WITH THE CUT |
| DILIGENT & CONTENT | +3 | GOES WITH THE CUT |
| CRAVEN & PATIENT | +3 | |
| DECEITFUL & GREEDY | +3 | |
| CRAVEN & KIND | +3 | |
| ZEALOUS & BRAVE | +3 | |
| ZEALOUS & CHARITABLE | +3 | |
| CHARITABLE & HUMBLE | +3 | |
| ZEALOUS & HUMBLE | +3 | |
| CONTENT & KIND | +3 | |
| KIND & HUMBLE | +3 | |
| KIND & PATIENT | +3 | |
| BRAVE & PROUD | +3 | |
| SLOTHFUL & SHY | +2 | GOES WITH THE CUT |
| ZEALOUS & CONTENT | +2 | |
| AMBITIOUS & PATIENT | +2 | |
| AMBITIOUS & DECEITFUL | +2 | |
| CYNICAL & GREEDY | +2 | |
| DECEITFUL & CRAVEN | +2 | |
| KIND & CRAVEN | +2 | |
| CHARITABLE & CRAVEN | +2 | |
| CONTENT & CRAVEN | +2 | |
| PATIENT & HUMBLE | +2 | |
| HUMBLE & BRAVE | +2 | |
| CONTENT & HONEST | +2 | |
| HONEST & HUMBLE | +2 | |
| BRAVE & HONEST | +2 | |
| PATIENT & BRAVE | +2 | |
| CRUEL & BRAVE | +2 | |
| AMBITIOUS & CRUEL | +2 | |
| PROUD & WROTH | +2 | |
| HONEST & WROTH | +1 | |
| CYNICAL & AMBITIOUS | +1 | |
| ZEALOUS & CRUEL | +1 | |
| DECEITFUL & KIND | +1 | |
| GREEDY & BRAVE | +1 | |
| DECEITFUL & PROUD | +1 |
Culture and faith are separate questions and come apart in both directions: THE ISLES are Norse and Christian, THE EAST WAY is pagan and Wendish. Kin is culture, not faith — a Norwegian sacking Hedeby is raiding his own people whatever gods they keep.
| Region | Culture | Faith | Places | Note | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| THE HOME FJORDSvestfold | NORSE | The old gods | KIN | 4 | Where you are from. Everyone here knows your name whether you like it or not. |
| DANMARKdanmark | NORSE | The old gods | KIN | 4 | Kings, tolls and the biggest market in the north. |
| SVITHJODsvithjod | NORSE | The old gods | KIN | 3 | Eastward-facing. Arab silver comes up the rivers to here. |
| THE EAST WAYaustrvegr | WEND | The old gods | 3 | Amber, wax and the slave road. Pagans like you, which complicates a raid. | |
| THE ISLESsudreyjar | NORSE | Christian | KIN | 3 | Norse settlers already here. Kin, rivals, and the stepping stones west. |
| ALBAalba | PICT | Christian | 2 | Poor, hard country. The monasteries are the only soft thing in it. | |
| ÉIREeire | GAEL | Christian | 5 | A hundred small kings and more monasteries than any land needs. | |
| NORÐYMBRALANDnorthumbria | SAXON | Christian | 4 | Rich houses of God on open beaches. This is where it started. | |
| MIERCEmierce | SAXON | Christian | 3 | Inland power. You have to go up a river to reach the good part. | |
| WESSEXwessex | SAXON | Christian | 4 | They have been expecting you for a generation and they have built for it. | |
| FRISIAfrisia | FRISIAN | Christian | 3 | The looms and the wine road. Worth more as a customer than as a target. | |
| FRANCIAfrancia | FRANK | Christian | 2 | The richest and the most dangerous. Their swords are better than yours. |
What a place thinks of you is 20 + what you did here + what they heard,
clamped to ±100. News travels 55 world units with a squared falloff and
fades over 200 days.
| Band | From | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| WELCOMED | 45 | YOU ARE WELCOME HERE |
| TOLERATED | 15 | THEY WILL TRADE |
| WATCHED | -20 | THEY WATCH YOU |
| BARRED | -55 | THE HARBOUR IS SHUT TO YOU |
| HUNTED | -100 | THEY WILL FIGHT YOU AT THE BEACH |
| Deed | To the people it was done to |
|---|---|
| RAID | -26 |
| BURN | -10 |
| KILL | -1.2 |
| TRADE | +7 |
| TRIBUTE | -12 |
| THRALL | -3 |
| HIRE | +1 |
tool/build-wiki.js.
20 traits, 15 skills, 40 named places,
180 small landings, 12 regions.